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Bronchiectasis: A retrospective study of clinical and aetiological investigation in a general respiratory department
Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia (English Edition). 2015;21(1):5-10
Journal Title: Revista Portuguesa de Pneumologia (English Edition)
Society/Institution: Sociedade Portuguesa de Pneumologia
LCC Subject Category: Medicine: Internal medicine: Specialties of internal medicine: Diseases of the respiratory system
Country of publisher: Netherlands
Language of fulltext: English
Full-text formats available: PDF, HTML
A. Amorim (Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal; Pneumology, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, EPE, Porto, Portugal; Corresponding author.)
J. Bento (Pneumology, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, EPE, Porto, Portugal)
A.P. Vaz (Pneumology, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, EPE, Porto, Portugal)
I. Gomes (Pneumology, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, EPE, Porto, Portugal)
J. de Gracia (Faculty of Medicine, Autonomous University of Barcelona, Spain; Pneumology, CIBER Enfermedades Respiratorias (CIBERES) Hospital Vall dâHebron, Barcelona, Spain)
V. Hespanhol (Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal; Pneumology, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, EPE, Porto, Portugal)
A. Marques (Faculty of Medicine, University of Porto, Portugal; Pneumology, Centro Hospitalar de S. João, EPE, Porto, Portugal)
Time From Submission to Publication: 8 weeks
Background: Bronchiectasis can result from many diseases, which makes the aetiological investigation a complex process demanding special resources and experience. The aetiological diagnosis has been proven to be useful for the therapeutic approach. Objective: Evaluate how accurately and extensive the clinical and aetiological research was for adult bronchiectasis patients in pulmonology outpatient service which were not following a pre-existing protocol. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the records of 202 adult patients with bronchiectasis, including the examinations performed to explain the aetiology. Results: The mean age of the patients was 54 ± 15 years, there was a predominance of female (63.9%) and non-smoker (70%) patients. Functional evaluation showed a mild airway obstruction.The sputum microbiological examination was available for 168 patients (43.1% had 3 or more sputum examinations during one year). Immunoglobulins and α1-antitrypsin were measured in around 50% of the patients. The sweat test and the CF genotyping test were performed in 18% and 17% of the patients, respectively.The most commonly identified cause was post-infectious (30.3%), mostly tuberculosis (27.2%). No definitive aetiological diagnosis was established in 57.4% of the patients. We achieved a lower aetiological diagnosis if we compare our series with studies in which a diagnostic algorithm was applied prospectively. Conclusions: The general characteristics of our patients were similar with other series. Detailed investigation of bronchiectasis is not a standard practice in our outpatient service. These results suggest that the use of a predefined protocol, based on current guidelines, could improve the assessment of these patients and facilitate the achievement of a definitive aetiology. Keywords: Adult, Bronchiectasis, Clinical investigation, Aetiology, Respiratory service
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KDE Users Database
Submitted by Rael
A few days ago, we've opened a new section on our Polish K Desktop Environment website called "KDE Users Database". This is not only for Polish users, it's international. After some time it'll be good rate of KDE users number all over the world. Every registered user can save generated certificates and put them on his desktop or website. So, let's register! Please note, that this is not an official KDE users counter - but, maybe in future - it might change.
wow, I am quick this time...
This is the first time I can actually have "Mark" as my login name on any website. :p But I am sure this number is going to increase lot's and lot's more.
the website is simple clean and proffesional and easy to use. having people registered is important because this way companies can get an impression of the ammount of linux users out there.
I wish everybody out there good luck and hope that many many people will register themselves!
By Mark Hannessen at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: Cool!
Maybe giving people the option to sign up, when they first run KDE would be nice (would have to be something that one can get rid of with a single click and it'll go away and also something that would allow people to enter existing username and password).
It could also create an account for KDE related websites so that it's actually usefull for people to fill it in.
Finally, if it could also load my KDE settings from the internet, whenever I use a new computer, that would be _really_ cool. Shame that I never manage to find time to do KDE coding.
By DS at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
I don't really like any kind of "go out register yourself behaviour" But if you really would want something like this I would prefer a weblink/shortcut on the desktop. popup something the user didn't ask for can and will be considered anoying. But a small lovely icon sitting on the desktop will not harm anybody.
"(...)companies can get an impression of the ammount of linux users out there."
By multiplying the number of KDE users by 10 (the other 90% uses GNOME ;).
It would be interesting to have a similar database for GNOME too, maybe the author can put a list of window managers for linux in the registration form (but I dont think it would). If anybody out there can set up a postgres or mysql database I can code the application to start the GNOME database... But I think this is not the best place to put this comment (kde.org!!)
As we say in my country, I'm probably in the wrong place!
Happy Coding...
By Pedro Solorzano at Mon, 2004/06/07 - 5:00am
Wheres the USA
Wheres the USA in the country list?
By Indrid at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: Where's the USA
Funny that "Reunion" (slightly smaller than Rhode Island) gets mentioned. It sort of makes sense, though--the rest of the world doesn't like us. I mean, because GWB is our President, we must all be evil, right?
By MarkN at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: Where's the USA - page admin emailed
I have just sent an email to site's admin. It must be mistake, there is no conspiracy against US :)
By manux at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
Re: Wheres the USA
Either who compiled the country list was falling asleep or this site is bound to fail. Like us or not, a LOT of KDE users are in the USA.
By Will Stokes at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
eh, we all know gwb won't try to register himself as a kde user :)
By Someone at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
> Wheres the USA in the country list?
I wonder why that "Rael" does not speak up here.
I'm not from the US, and also I am against this kind of exclusion-politics.
I even wonder if that wasn't the kde-users count-site only puropose... to start a fire/flamewar...
>I even wonder if that wasn't the kde-users count-site only puropose... to start a fire/flamewar...
Oh, don't be silly! It would be a little overkill to make a that kind of site just to start a flamewar. There is easier ways to start a flamewar, let me demonstrate:
Vi! (now just wait for the emacs people) :)
By 138 at Fri, 2004/06/04 - 5:00am
Considering that this is a standard list of countries (apart from the USA) I can't see the ommission of the USA as being an oversight. There are quite a few American users (from the US of course).
Is it under something else?
That's what I'm wondering. I'll admit a lot of Americans are assholes, but this is flat-out insulting. I looked over the entire list, and I just don't see it. It seems fairly standard, so I wonder how United States of America could be unintentionally left out.
I really hope this was just an accident.
By jameth at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
NO USA
The United States is not listed. If this is an oversight, ok. There are probably more kde users in the US than is any other single country. Please don't have a euro-centric attitude for kde.
By greg at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: NO USA
Can the US please be added? I am sure this is simply an overwight.
brockers
By brockers at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
If this is not solved, could we start complaining on the "comments" field as a p.s. note? If this gets too political it will be useless as a KDE users database, i.e. will be too segregated.
By Cloaked Penguin at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
It is not Euro-centric. It appears to have everybody except for USA.
I would guess that the info came from a file that was feed into db/flat-file.
Whoever did this ( Most likely Rael ), would have to excluded USA purposely.
I hope that Rael will mature a little and follow the KDE group in avoiding politics.
In fact Rael, you do a disservice to KDE and your own effort by making the # of users appear to be much less than what they are. In fact, I am guessing that you have now managed to piss off a % of users who will continue to use KDE but will not register.
By a.c. at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
An oversight
I think the author doesn't isn't ready for the million of people in the US to register that's why US is not on the list. They probably need to ramp up their server before they put it in.
I don't know when the author will be ready.
To me the website is now pretty slow, and taking US off is a necessary thing to keep the website snappy.
JMHO
By a.c. 2 at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Whilst I don't know Rael personally, I find it hard to believe he did that purposely. Like GWB or loathe him, it bares nothing on who uses KDE. An honest mistake I like to think.
By Martin Galpin at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
I just hope it's an accident. As I said, gwb doesn't come here anyway, so why bother about him?
or...just maybe... They had USA at the top and din't want it there. thinking that it was there twice, they got rid of the top one without checking for the one after the U.K...
but then again, we are having a fact-free discussion here, and this will get us nowhere.
By standsolid at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
> we are having a fact-free discussion
Ah, so we should take it to Slashdot, then. 8-)
By Tukla Ratte at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
>> we are having a fact-free discussion
>Ah, so we should take it to Slashdot, then. 8-)
Heh, that made me smile :)
I put Ireland. My ancestors were Irish. Who knows where my kids will live... I'm hoping for grandkids to have the opportunity to not live on Earth.
If this is a protest, I think it's quite mean spirited; it's like blaming the people of North Korea because their leader is an egomaniac. Or excluding the people of your own country who are of a particular political party. Those sort of exclusionary actions are sad to see in KDE. Perhaps we should work to keep it men only as well? Or possibly have a nice racial purity? Or only those who believe in a particular diety?
If it isn't a protest, it's one heck of an oversight, especially since it appears to have been snarfed from a list of countries.
By Evan "JabberWok... at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
KDE, the 4th reich... no I don't like the sound of it... (sorry I'm horrible at spelling in english, and even worse at german)
By Corbin at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
> it's like blaming the people of North Korea because their leader is an egomaniac.
Not really. A democracy's leader is supposed to be acting on behalf of his/her country's citizens, so ultimately, it's the citizens' responsibility to make sure their president does what he is supposed to. North Korea isn't a democracy, so you can't hold its citizens responsible for what their government does.
On the other hand, some people might claim that GWB wasn't democratically elected...
In any case, I think it's far too soon for people to be screaming "USA hater!!!1" before they've even got a response from the webmaster.
By Jim at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
May be a mistake.
I don't think at all it is political (protest gagainst TCPA whatever) and I also don't believe that many persons in the US use KDE. However, I believe that "US" requires federal states as well.
Relax, the project just got started.
By gerd at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
> I also don't believe that many persons in the US use KDE.
> I believe that "US" requires federal states as well.
Contrary to what you believe. The numbers comming out of Linux usage polls by in the US show that KDE is actually used MORE than Gnome. Even on Redhat the KDE/Gnome split is within the margin of error. So whatever anyone thinks about Gnome, KDE is prefered the world over.
By brockers at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
Iraq and East Timor
By the way, Iraq is not listed either, strange coincidence?
Timor Lorosae (East Timor) is missing to, but this is one is most probably an oversight, as it is the most recently born country.
By John Iraqi-KDE ... at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: Iraq and East Timor
yea strange very strange, plese add US Irak and East Timor i have a fried thare that i know he uses kde.
By nunopinheiro at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Missing USA - Solution... konqueror bug
Hello US friends,
Here is one simple JavaScript hacky solution (unfortunately it works only with mozilla for me):
1) open in mozilla the registration page URL:
http://users.kde.pl/?page=register
2) in the location bar paste this and press Enter:
javascript:alert(document.forms[0].country.options[0].text="United States");
//(Afghanistan country will get replaced with United States)
3) Submit your data and you are in
This solution will work can work with any work for any other country too (just replace "United States" with another country name). This site seems to not use CountryID (and a separate table with the countries) but a regular VARCHAR column for the countries.
I hope this will work, I haven't tried it since I don't want to experiment with incorrect data.
But here is another (offtopic) issue. While implementing this simple hack for the site I discovered that in fact Konqueror, the javascript: protocol does not work from location bar. Instead it just searches in google what i entered in the location bar. Konqueror developers may want to add this simple feature by default because it's important for web developers.
I hope that the guy who built that site will fix it, add USA and will not delete the US kde users.
European Friend
By Anton Velev at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: Missing USA - Solution... konqueror bug
Seems that it works:
http://users.kde.pl/?page=showdb&do=showcountry&country=United+States
hmm....I guess I should have checked the dot before I figured it out myself.
Ah well...for the record I'm a US citizen and I deplore what the US government is doing in the Middle East and the world in general. History has taught us that if the people want change, the people will do everything in their power. While I think Saddam was a menace I think the Iraqi people as a whole would have said to hell with their differences and revolted against him. I could be wrong but that's how the US was founded. Also while I feel that terrorist organizations are a threat to not just the US, but to the world as a whole I think that we are just as responsible for them hurting others as their open supporters are. Historically speaking the majority of the terrorist organizations are using arms, or money given to them by the US to help us protect/forward our interests/ambitions...think Afghans vs Russians...I also feel that we should stop supporting Israel while they play Nazi to the Palestinian people.
You know what to hell with all I've said before..I think the US should mind it's own business, and work for the people on a national level. Our homeless rate is getting larger, over a quarter of the population is without health care, and our education system is in the rut. Instead of playing international bully and forwarding our international ambitions we need to focus on our own citizens.
So now that I've used the first amendment in all its glory I'm going back to tinkering with the latest CVS of krdc.
Nexistenz - Morphing Dwarfs
By Nexistenz at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
>>Historically speaking the majority of the terrorist organizations are using arms, or money given to them by the US to help us protect/forward our interests/ambitions...think Afghans vs Russians...I also feel that we should stop supporting Israel while they play Nazi to the Palestinian people.<<
Other than you being completely wrong, imo, take your bs elsewhere. I come to this site for KDE information. Not for your ignoramus rant.
By rizzo at Sun, 2004/06/06 - 5:00am
lets hope that this is pointed out as a major back door.
all data input should always be scanned.
How Childish
I find it hard to believe that the omission of the United States simply an oversight. It makes me sad to think that the author of the site could be so immature about things.
By Dusty at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: How Childish
I think you should give the guy a break. He was definitely trying to help KDE and did not omit anything on purpose (he already stated that on this website). Please try to help in a constructive way instead of complaining and accusing people.
By Fabrice Mous at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
Not that I care, but where did he said that? Could you provide an url?
By John Evidence Freak at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
Opss editors note on the top... how did I missed that :)
By John Gotcha Freak at Fri, 2004/06/04 - 5:00am
Probably because it wasn't there when you wrote your comment :) at least I didn't noticed it until today.
Umm...
...I'm a bit late reading this and am quite surprised about
the reactions posted here so far.
I recently needed a country list at work for a completely different
purpose and searched the web for one.
Interestingly there were *LOTS* of country lists omitting the U.S.
Why? I suppose it's because many country lists on the internet are
compiled in the U.S. And like often the earth is omitted whenever
all planets in the solar system are listed - many U.S. people just think
of themselves as "earth". This way of thinking is much more common
in the U.S. then anywhere else as I can tell from many different experiences.
Guess that's why Americans often tend to send their solidiers to war and
wonder later on where the heck all those body bags are coming from
(outer space perhaps?)...
So it might well be that the U.S. just was not on the list.
I sincerely hope so because *intentionally* not listing any one country
would be very childish indeed. It's not as if the typical Bush supporter
likes to use Open Source software... In fact there might be Bush supportes
enlisting from other countries as well.
What's truly shocking though is the reaction of people here so far:
As explained it might or not be that the U.S. has been left out intentionally.
We just don't know.
But nearly everyone is almost SURE that it cannot be the case.
I really HATE that behaviour! How can the glorious U.S. just be forgotten?
So now I can tell you this: They can - Period.
It's just a list. The author does not live in the U.S. and they can be
forgotten just like any other country.
Nobody seems as shocked that Iraq is missing or Bosnia-Herzegovina or
whatever. Seems there are quite some countries missing.
All these upset folks here. Quite ridiculous...
By Martin at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Re: Umm...
thanks for your words martin, I agree completely. Sorry for this "me too" post, but I was just about to write the same.
good night!
By me at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
Perhaps a new poll should be taken of people who support Bush and use open source software.
But on a more serious note.
America, seeing that we used the most resources, have the most money, and are the best country by far -- we ought to have our country mentioned not once, but about 10 times.
If your not with us, your against us
By Nothing at Wed, 2004/06/02 - 5:00am
...flamebait?
By Martin Galpin at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
I thought you we're serious when I start reading. Ten times, you got to be kidding! We have at least 23x more money than anyone else, we have and last time I checked over about 15.6x more resources than any country including New Caledonia! Our cars are better, our food is better, we went to the moon first and we are about to get to mars. Linux was invented by Red Hat which is American, Gnome is ours and since Novell bought SuSE KDE is ours too. So 10 times is a joke, at least half the countries listed should be U.S.A.!
By GWB at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
so the discucion as come to this i say 50 times biger
the deficit
the import volume from china
the car's must be the best! sooooooooooo why do you all love mercedes porche and ferrary and crysler does not seel a car in europe
and affrica as the bigests ...........
and nipon as the smallest..............
and economy EU is the biguest market in the world
and wellfare in us is non exitent.
By nunopinheiro at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
Come on, no need to be sarcastic towards sarcastic posts.. the above comments were just jokes :-)
But yeah, the author missing the country that is likely to have the largest number of KDE users is a bit "iffy", if you ask me.
If it really was an accident, it's no biggie, fix it. If it wasn't, such political statements surely doesn't deserve a story on this website, and I'd urge the editors to yank it.
By smt at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
Perhaps a new poll should be taken of people who support Bush and use open source software
You're joking right? To quote "If your not with us, your against us" comes to mind. Bush supports propriatary software beyond anything imaginable how can he not when the President of Diebold has promised him Ohio come this November?
Honestly though somehow I don't see how Bush supporters can support anything that's vaguely open source. Remember to the uninformed open source equates to communism and we're trying to sell democracy? If Bush or even Bush supporters were to embrace open source the press would jump on it asking how he/they can support a communist license while imposing new sanctions on Cuba.
Damn straight we're the bestest of the bestest best. We've more money (not per capita but who cares since what we say goes!), more freedoms (not since the PATRIOT act was passed but once again who cares what we say goes!), and the best beer in the world -- bud light (unless you look at Belgian, German, Finish, or even India for quality..what am I saying who cares bud's the best becase we say so and what we say goes!)
Honestly though...no offence Anheuser-Busch but what were you thinking when ya named Budweiser Budweiser? Didn't you do your history and notice that there's another brand with the same name that's been out much longer and tastes much better?
Nexistenz
By Nexistenz at Thu, 2004/06/03 - 5:00am
A reply because of my apparant idiocy.
Do tell what's with the whole don't parse the html? It said they were valid and didn't cough or hiccup when I clicked add so I'm going on the assumption that I didn't do something, or did something wrong. Maybe that or the dot doesn't like me using Opera and doesn't offer html as an encoding option. Either way no more including HTML for me.
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For best results, put specific keyword, title or phrase in quotes. (i.e. “Ash Wednesday”)
Administration and Personnel OfficeAlcohol and Drug MinistryArchivesArkansas CatholicCalvary CemeteryCatholic Adoption ServicesCatholic Arkansas Sharing AppealCatholic Campaign for Human DevelopmentCatholic Campus Ministry OfficeCatholic Charities of ArkansasCatholic Relief ServicesCatholic Schools OfficeCatholic Youth Ministry OfficeChancery OfficeContinuing Education of the ClergyDiocesan OfficialsDiocesan TribunalDivine Worship OfficeFaith Formation OfficeFamily Life OfficeFinance OfficeHispanic Ministry OfficeHispanic Youth MinistryHouse of FormationImmigration Services - Little RockImmigration Services - SpringdaleInformation Technology OfficeMinister for ReligiousMinister to Deacons OfficeMinister to PriestsOffice of the BishopParish Social Ministry OfficePrison Ministry OfficeProject RachelRefugee Resettlement OfficeRespect Life OfficeSafe Environment ProgramSocial Action OfficeSociety for the Propagation of the FaithSt. John Catholic CenterStewardship and Development OfficeVocations and Seminarians OfficeWestside Free Medical Clinic
The following offers the latest information about events and activities happening in the Diocese of Little Rock.
Is your marriage in trouble? Try Retrouvaille
The next Retrouvaille weekend will be held Feb. 21-23 at St. John Catholic Center in Little Rock. The weekend is followed by a series of 6 to 12 post-weekend sessions over a three-month period. It provides tools to help couples with troubled marriages to heal. The main emphasis of Retrouvaille is on communication in marriage between husband and wife. It gives couples the opportunity to rediscover each other and examine their lives together in a new and positive way. Separated and divorced couples are also encouraged to attend. To attend, register online at www.helpourmarriage.org. ... More
Discern religious life at Feb. 14-15 retreat
The 2020 Women's Religious Discernment Retreat will be held Feb. 14-15 at St. John Catholic Center in Little Rock. Single women ages 16 to 35 who want to learn about and discern a vocation to the religious life are welcome to attend. This free retreat provides insight about the vocation to the religious life as it is lived through the religious of our diocese. In an intimate setting, retreat participants learn the vocation stories and spiritual journeys experienced by members of various religious communities serving in Arkansas. Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate Mass during ... More
Pray, act to respect life in events in January
Father John Connell, vicar general, will celebrate the annual Mass for Life Sunday, Jan.19 at noon in the Wally Allen Ballroom at the Statehouse Convention Center in Little Rock. This event, along with the Hearts for Life Conference, Weekend for Life and Eucharistic Procession for Life, are being hosted by the Diocese of Little Rock to mark the anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's Roe v. Wade and Doe v. Bolton decisions that legalized abortion in the United States in 1973. Everyone is welcome to come and pray together for an end to abortion and for all life, from ... More
Bishop-elect Malone to be ordained Jan. 28
Bishop-elect Francis I. Malone, JCL, PA, will be ordained and installed as the third bishop of the Diocese of Shreveport, La., at 2 p.m., Tuesday, Jan. 28 in the Shreveport Convention Center. This is a change from the previous location of the Cathedral of St. John Berchmans. This event was moved to a larger space to allow more people to attend. Because the convention center will allow seating for 2,500 people, no tickets are required and the event is open to the public. A reception will be held following the ordination and installation Mass on the ... More
2020 MLK Memorial Mass to be Jan. 11
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor will celebrate the 34th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Mass at 4:30 p.m. on Saturday, Jan. 11 at the Cathedral of St. Andrew in Little Rock. He will present the Daniel Rudd Award to a black Catholic who is active in his or her parish and community during the Mass. All are invited to attend. This Mass is sponsored by the Diocesan Council for Black Catholics. For more information, contact Rosalyn Pruitt at (501) 375-9617. In 2019, the bishop presented the award to Tereze Harris, a member of St. Mary Church in McGehee. ... More
Epiphany reveals Jesus king of all nations
The wise men from the East followed the star of Bethlehem until it led them to the newborn king, Jesus Christ. They prostrated themselves and presented him with gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh. (Matthew 2:1-12) Among Western Christians, tradition holds the names of the wise men to be Casper, Melchior and Balthasar. They are regarded as saints and their relics are enshrined in the cathedral at Cologne, Germany. We assume there were three because they presented three gifts and the belief they were kings riding camels comes from two Old Testament prophecies: ... More
Youth to apply for Búsqueda #47 team
Applications are now being accepted for the team to lead Búsqueda #47. Download and return the application form with fee to the address provided by Jan. 15. Team members are required to attend a team retreat in February and planning meetings through April. The cost to appy for the Busqueda #47 team is $65, which includes all meetings, materials, retreats, lodging, food and T-shirt. For more information, contact Sr. Patty Nava, MCP, associate director of Hispanic youth ministry, at (501) 664-0340, ext. 364. Búsqueda #47 will be held May 22-24 at St. John Catholic Center in Little Rock. ... More
Seminarians now candidates for ordination
Bishop Anthony B. Taylor installed 10 Diocese of Little Rock seminarians as lectors, acolytes and candidates during the 4:30 p.m. Mass at Our Lady of Good Counsel Church in Little Rock on Saturday, Dec. 14. These included: John Paul Hartnedy of Little Rock and Mark Johns of Jonesboro as lectors, which allows them to proclaim the Word of God during liturgies and catechize the faithful; Nathan Ashburn and Daniel Wendel, both of Little Rock, and Jose Jaime Nieto of Springdale as acolytes, which allows them to serve at the altar during Mass, assist in the purification ... More
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Bentley considers its own all-electric car based on the upcoming Porsche-Audi electric platform
- Nov. 5th 2018 7:16 am ET
While almost all of Volkswagen’s brands are announcing upcoming new EVs left and right, Bentley still hasn’t pulled the trigger.
Now the automaker is considering to jump-start the electrification of its lineup with its own all-electric car based on the upcoming Porsche-Audi electric platform.
With heavy luxury sedans and the Bentayga SUV, Bentley’s fleet has quite an important carbon footprint.
Yet, it has yet to follow other Volkswagen brands, like Porsche and Audi, in the electrification of its lineup.
Last year, it unveiled a new all-electric concept called ‘EXP 12 Speed 6e Concept’ and it requested feedback on it, but it didn’t confirm any intention to bring the vehicle to production.
Last week, the company announced a 57 million euros operating loss.
During the earnings call, VW Group finance chief Frank Witter said that electrification is an important issue for the company and that the brand could end up using the PPE platform to come to market faster with VW shared technology.
As we previously reported, Porsche and Audi greenlighted a cooperation on a shared architecture for electric and autonomous vehicles.
Several electric vehicles, like the 2020 Audi electric Sport e-tron GT, are planned to use the Porsche Taycan platform, which is sort of becoming a shared electric platform between Volkswagen brands.
But that’s not the same as the new one Audi and Porsche are working on. It’s next-gen platform called Premium Platform Electric (PPE) and it is expected to be ready around 2020 or 2021.
While Witter said that Bentley is welcomed to take advantage of it, Bentley CEO Adrian Hallmark doesn’t seem in a hurry to greenlight an EV (via Automotive news):
“When is the first full-electric Bentley? That is currently in the decision process, but our target is definitely before 2025,”
They are not too worried about falling behind on that front and they attribute most of their losses to a slow production ramp up for the new Continental GT.
Before 2025? What? That’s a 7-year window.
Like I have been saying for the past few years, I think there will be a point between 2020 and 2025 when virtually no customer in their right mind will want to buy a car that is not electric.
If you are an automaker without an extensive electric lineup at that point, I think you are in big trouble.
For its own survival, Bentley should hurry up and invest whatever it can on bringing an EV to market – whether through the PPE platform or one of its own.
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Carolina Herrera was born and raised in Venezuela, where she was exposed to international culture and fashion from the start. In the early ’80s, after Diana Vreeland (then editor-in-chief at Vogue) approached her about starting her own line, Herrera founded her eponymous brand, and introduced bridal just six years later.
The Carolina Herrera bride has old money elegance and quiet strength. She is a sophisticate, who recognizes that following tradition doesn’t equate to being boring or dull. She is also a woman of her times: think Caroline Kennedy and Olivia Palermo, both of whom wore the line on their wedding days.
Tracy Diers and Darryl Davy Rang in the New Year By Saying “I Do” at the Crescent
Blue, White, and Butterflies All Over for This Dallas Country Club Wedding
Photo by John Cain Photography
Caroline Thompson and David Richards’ Rio Roca Ranch Wedding
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Patron: Dr Tshepo Motsepe
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Tshepo Motsepe is a medical doctor. Her Masters in Public Health is in Maternal Child Health and Aging. She completed a Social Entrepreneurship Certificate Program.
Her service includes:
Worked in both private practice and in hospitals in South Africa and Zimbabwe
Non-executive director – Wits Health Consortium and Wits Hospice
Patron – South African Civil Society for Women’s, Adolescents and Children’s Health (SACSoWACH)
Patron – Students Sponsorship Program (SSP)
Served as Chairman of Gauteng Health Department’s Accreditation Committee
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Former board member Kids Haven Foundation
Membership – National Medical and Dental Association
She is guided by the belief that “economic and social development is a pre-requisite for communities to lead socially and economically productive lives’” as stated in the Alma Ata Declaration of 1978.
Chairman: Ms Anthea Gardner
Anthea Gardner started her finance career at HSBC as an equity sales trader whilst completing her MBA at Wits Business School. Since 2004, she has occupied various investment management positions, including at Rand Merchant Bank, Morgan Stanley (London) and African Development Bank (Tunisia). Anthea ran her own property business, 43°Nord.com in the south of France before returning to South Africa to start Cartesian Capital, an asset management business, in 2014. She is a founding member of the Rainmaker Foundation (UK) and enjoys kitesurfing, squash, triathlon and is an avid reader.
Vice-Chairman: Dr. Brian Chinsamy
Brian Chinsamy is an educationist who taught English at a secondary school in Durban for 14 years. He later headed the Education Management Development and School Governance Unit in the Gauteng Department of Education.
In 1999 he was appointed Education Director of the District Development Support Programme where he researched school improvement in South Africa. During his time with Denel as the Head of Learning he introduced a new learning strategy for para-statals in the Department of Public Enterprises. In 2007 Brian joined ABSA where he introduced a new learning and performance improvement strategy for Retail Franchise. Brian was appointed as Head: Leadership, Learning and Talent for Barclays Africa in 2011.
Bachelor of Pedagogics
Masters in Educational Leadership and Management (Rhodes)
PHD in School Improvement (Univ of KwaZulu and Nottingham jointly)
Mrs Nonto Nhleko
Nonto Nhleko is a business woman and registered debt counsellor.
She completed her schooling in Swaziland before undertaking tertiary studies in the United Kingdom and South Africa. After working with Dairymaid Nestle as a senior human resources officer, Nonto went on to run her own successful franchise business for a number of years. Nonto divides her time between her debt counselling agency and raising her family of two daughters and a son.
Matriculated – St Michaels High School, Swaziland
Diploma in Business and Finance – U K
Bachelor of Commerce – University of Witwatersrand
Life Coach – Results Coaching System
Registered Debt Counsellor – South Africa.
Mr Jonathan De Villiers
Jonathan de Villiers is a Chartered Accountant who started his career with Deloittes. Following a two year stint in France where he completed an MBA, Jonathan joined the Hollard Insurance group and was a partner in their Capricorn Ventures private equity partnership. Jonathan has been running his own private equity business since 2003 which is involved in investment into private education, property and various other investment sectors.
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Polo Leteka is currently Chief Executive Officer of Identity Development Fund Managers.
Previously: Chief Director: BBBEE for the DTI, Fund Manager for Standard Property Income Fund; Research Analyst for Aloecap (Pty) Ltd; Trainee Accountant at Gobodo Inc.
Trustee on the SAB Entrepreneurship Foundation, Deputy President of ABSIP, Trustee of the AECI ESOP, Board member of the Financial Services Charter Council.
Formerly a Trustee of the National Empowerment Fund and Member of its Investment Committee, Advisory Council member for the Wits Business School Centre of Entrepreneurship, Board member of the South African Venture Capital Association.
Qualifications: B.Com (Accounting), University of the Western Cape; B.Compt Honours/CTA, UNISA; Post Graduate Diploma in Auditing, UNISA.
Deanne Chatterton
Deanne holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and started her career in Human Resources. In 1998 she relocated to the UK where she joined the Royal Bank of Scotland where she headed up the integration committee project managing the acquisition by RBS of NatWest. In 2004 she was appointed Business Manager (2IC) to the Global Head of Sales and Marketing overseeing Great Britain, Europe, US and Asia.
In 2007 she left banking to open her own communication and production company with offices based in the UK and Hong Kong with the focus on supporting her clients on strategy development and execution, content creation, engagement and communication. She has extensive experience in the financial service, retail, motor, and consumer sectors. Her financial services clients included PAG, Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds, RBS, Standard Chartered, BNY Mellon, Morgan Stanley, Soc Gen and Deutsche Bank.
Deanne joined Instinctif Partners in 2014 and was appointed CEO in February of 2015.
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News from October 2018
6,039 borrowers in default on student loans after attending 2-year colleges in Illinois
By East Central Reporter Reports | Oct 1, 2018
Lincoln Land Community College, Lake Land College and Illinois Eastern Community Colleges - Lincoln Trail College are among two-year universities in Illinois that reported borrowers defaulting on school loans they started repaying in 2014, according to a Higher Education Tribune analysis of federal data.
From Prairie State Wire
Illinois college football fields 3,544 players
By East Central Reporter Reports | 1 year ago
Illinois ranked seventh most popular for college football among the 50 states, according to a Prairie State Wire analysis of college sports participation.
Former state university employee Pederson paid in $175K to pension fund, could collect $3.5M in retirement
Former state university employee Charles Pederson, who retired in September 2018, saved $175,456 toward a pension over 30 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Jose A. Castro Jr. sells 303 E Pine, Robinson
On Oct. 1, 2018, Gary D Short purchased a home at 303 E Pine, Robinson from Jose A. Castro Jr. for $142,000.
Former state university employee Watson paid in $105K to pension fund, could collect $1.61M in retirement
Former state university employee Rick Watson, who retired in September 2018, saved $104,606 toward a pension over 19 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Statewide test results: low income students score 1.4 points lower at Lake Crest Elementary School
At Lake Crest Elementary School, a 1.4-point achievement gap persisted between low income and non low income students in 2017.
Former state school employee Henry paid in $2K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $41K in retirement
Former state school employee Renee Henry, who retired in September 2018, saved $1,880 toward a pension over 1 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.
Former state university employee Drake paid in $161K to pension fund, could collect $2.93M in retirement
Former state university employee Allen Drake, who retired in September 2018, saved $161,276 toward a pension over 26 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Former state school employee Hatfill paid in $69K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $1.4M in retirement
Former state school employee David Hatfill, who retired in September 2018, saved $69,131 toward a pension over 23 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.
87.5 percent of Charleston teachers stay put; average earns $46,731 per year
More than 87.5 percent of teachers stay at Charleston Middle School year to year, according to the 2017 three-year average in the latest Illinois schools report card.
Jacob G. and Ashlyn N. Daugherty acquire 1409 Wabash Ave., Mattoon
On Oct. 1, 2018, Jacob G. and Ashlyn N. Daugherty purchased a six bedroom, three bathroom property at 1409 Wabash Ave., Mattoon from Ssc Services Inc. for $83,000.
Former state university employee Gordon paid in $93K to pension fund, could collect $1.71M in retirement
Former state university employee Evgeny Gordon, who retired in September 2018, saved $93,390 toward a pension over 20 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Daniel Dust acquires 303 N. Oakland Road, Ashmore
The two bedroom, one bathroom home at 303 N. Oakland Road, Ashmore was sold on Oct. 1, 2018 by C. Christine Hood Hood (trustee) for $52,000. The buyer was Daniel Dust.
How much revenue has Robinson CUSD 2 received from local taxpayers?
The revenue Robinson Community Unit School District 2 received through local taxes increased 38.8 percent from fiscal year 2008 to 2017, adjusted for inflation, according to a East Central Reporter analysis of public schools data.
Former state university employee McCausland paid in $97K to pension fund, could collect $1.7M in retirement
Former state university employee Joan McCausland, who retired in September 2018, saved $96,686 toward a pension over 30 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Former state school employee Trueblood paid in $27K to teachers' pension fund, could collect $341K in retirement
Former state school employee Deborah Trueblood, who retired in September 2018, saved $27,406 toward a pension over 4 years working for public schools, Teachers' Retirement System of the State of Illinois records show.
Statewide test results: low income students score 16.4 points lower at Marshall Junior High School
At Marshall Junior High School, a 16.4-point achievement gap persisted between low income and non low income students in 2017.
Former state university employee Benedict paid in $161K to pension fund, could collect $2.69M in retirement
Former state university employee William Benedict, who retired in September 2018, saved $161,421 toward a pension over 25 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Former state university employee Dao paid in $190K to pension fund, could collect $3.98M in retirement
Former state university employee Minh Dao, who retired in September 2018, saved $190,133 toward a pension over 30 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
Former state university employee Bunton paid in $165K to pension fund, could collect $3.2M in retirement
Former state university employee Cathy Bunton, who retired in September 2018, saved $165,327 toward a pension over 29 years working for state universities, State Universities Retirement System of Illinois records show.
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EPS News
News For Electronics Purchasing And The Supply Chain
Buying Strategies
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InvenSense Expands into Automotive Market
San Jose, Calif. – InvenSense, Inc., a provider of MEMS sensor platforms, has entered the automotive market with the introduction of automotive sensor solutions for safety and non-safety applications. Entrance into the market was driven by increased demand for personalized in-vehicle experience, improved safety, assisted automated driving, and predictable maintenance systems. The company is developing MEMS…
October 28, 2015 Leave a commentComponent Sourcing, News Analysis, SensorsBy Gina Roos
Taking LED Controllers to the Next Level
Selecting a LED controller for your lighting application is not an easy task. There are a host of device variations that have to be considered along with the expertise of the power supply designer. But assuredly most purchasers of LED controllers are looking to accomplish three things – lower system losses (higher efficiency), achieve a…
October 28, 2015 Leave a commentComponent Trends, Featured Blogs, New Products, News Analysis, SemiconductorsBy Gina Roos
Apple Posts 22% Revenue Growth in FYQ4
Cupertino, Calif. — Apple® today announced financial results for its fiscal 2015 fourth quarter ended September 26, 2015. The Company posted quarterly revenue of $51.5 billion and quarterly net profit of $11.1 billion, or $1.96 per diluted share. These results compare to revenue of $42.1 billion and net profit of $8.5 billion, or $1.42 per…
October 28, 2015 1 CommentNews Ticker, News WireBy News Desk
Mouser Offers Molex MediSpec Connectors
Mouser Electronics, Inc. is now stocking the MediSpec™ Medical Plastic Circular (MPC) Interconnect System from Molex. This affordable, high-performance interconnect solution combines premium performance and ease-of-use to meet the stringent standards of medical devices. In addition, the MediSpec is also recommended for use in avionics, high-use entertainment equipment, and test and measurement devices. The Molex…
October 28, 2015 Leave a commentIP&E, News Ticker, News WireBy News Desk
What Do Apple’s New 6-Digit Passcodes Mean for your BYOD Policy?
Apple has been making lives easier for years with its personal electronics devices, and its new step towards security will bring relief to many people, and in the age of BYOD (bring your own device) many businesses with be grateful. An increase in two digits, from four to six, might not sound like a big…
October 28, 2015 Leave a commentFeatured Blogs, Guest Blog, News AnalysisBy Kate Lee
Lantronix Signs Distribution Deal with Avnet
Irvine, Calif. – Lantronix, Inc. (NASDAQ: LTRX) — a specialized networking company providing smart IoT and M2M connectivity solutions — today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with the Avnet Electronics Marketing Americas business region of Avnet, Inc., (NYSE: AVT) a $27 billion leading technology distributor. Under terms of the agreement, Avnet will distribute Lantronix’s IoT-enabling modules and solutions…
October 28, 2015 Leave a commentNews Ticker, News WireBy News Desk
InvenSense Releases Ultrasound Fingerprint Sensor for Review
San Jose, Calif. — InvenSense, Inc. (NYSE:INVN), the leading provider of MEMS sensor platforms, today announced it has released for OEM review UltraPrint™, its ultrasonic fingerprint imaging solution, manufactured on the proprietary InvenSense CMOS-MEMS Platform (ICMP), offering ramp to production in calendar year 2017. As the world’s largest fabless MEMS SOC innovator and source for the eutectically…
Exar Appoints Division VP of Asia Operations
Fremont, Calif. — Exar Corporation (NYSE: EXAR), a leading supplier of high-performance integrated circuits and system solutions, today announced the appointment of Edward Yang as Division Vice President of Asia Operations, effective October 19, 2015. Mr. Yang brings 15 years of industry experience to his new role. Most recently, he served as Director of Manufacturing…
Arrow Electronics Reports Q3 Sales of $5.7B
— Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share of $1.40 — — 2015 Non-GAAP Earnings Per Share Expected to Be in Excess of $6.00 — Centennial, Colo.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct. 28, 2015– Arrow Electronics, Inc. (NYSE:ARW) today reported third-quarter 2015 net income of $109.2 million, or $1.15 per share on a diluted basis, compared with net income of $146.9 million, or $1.47 per share on a diluted basis, in the third quarter…
America II, GP Batteries Sign Distribution Agreement
St. Petersburg, Fla. – America II Electronics, Inc., one of the world’s largest distributors of semiconductors and electronic components, today announced it has entered into a franchise distribution agreement with GP Batteries, a leading manufacturer of primary and rechargeable batteries. Under terms of the agreement, America II will distribute GP Batteries’ entire portfolio of products…
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Nacido en: 1970 Dinamarca
Anual: $ 4.303.566.695,00
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Hollywood reporter Oct 2018: $1.2 million per episode for the last 6 episodes. Independent and Express April 2017: Game of Thrones season 7's top five actors are reportedly being paid up to £2 million per episode, which would make them the highest-paid actors in television history - 2017 season contains 6 episodes, or £12 million a year. Deadline June 2016: The actors will make more than $500,000 per episode in season seven and the potential eighth season. With the usual 10 episodes per season, annual salary would be $5 Million, although speculation has been that both Season 7 and Season 8 would be shorter than the standard for the show 10 episodes. Mirror Oct. 2014: Games of Thrones biggest stars, amongst them Nikolaj Coster-Waldau, will be paid $300,000 an episode - or $2.1 million per serie, after negotiating new contracts for a seventh season. According to Deadline They negotiated $1 million per episode, or $7 million for the 10th and final season.
Picture: Wikipedia
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Text: Mirror
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Text: Express
Update: 2018-10
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Wiener Library for the Study of the Nazi Era and the Holocaust
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home page > Sourasky Central Lib... > Wiener Library > Past Headlines > Seminars and Workshops
Workshop: Israel and Europe: Probing Mutual Perceptions and Interpretations in the Diplomatic Archives, 1948-1990
A joint workshop sponsored by the University of Maryland, College Park, and Tel Aviv University. The research project that we hope will emerge from this planning workshop is intended to examine these mutual perceptions and interpretations.
At War with Israel: East Germany and the West German Radical Left, 1967-1989
The lecture is a history of the antagonism to Israel from the late 1960s to the end of the Cold War in 1989-90.
“The World Is Not the Same: Narratives of Betrayal in Holocaust Survivors’ Accounts”, led by: Prof. Denis Klein
The goal of this workshop is to scrutinize survivors’ memoirs for expressions of betrayal, to contextualize the reality of endemic betrayal in light of the recent scholarship on neighbors...
Holocaust survivor's contribution to Israeli society
Holocaust survivors in the Kibbutzim and Moshavim movements | The contribution of Holocaust survivors to Israeli society: culture and faith | Holocaust survivors in the IDF and the security forces |
The contribution of Holocaust survivors to research and commemoration
Spain and the Jews, 1933 - 1950
the encounter between Jews and Spaniards during WWII and the Holocaust; the propagandistic use of Antisemitism in Spain during that period; and the Spanish civil war in the Judeo-Spanish press of Saloniki
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Guide to the Brooklyn Bridge
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Celebrated in song, glamorized on celluloid and immortalized in poetry, the postcard-perfect Brooklyn Bridge stands as one of New York City’s most recognizable symbols—not to mention a magnificent feat of engineering. Visit the Guide to the Brooklyn Bridge to learn more.
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Category: Michigan Wolverines
Braylon Edwards apologizes for U-M tweets, stands by stance
Braylon Edwards told The Detroit News that his original tweet criticizing Michigan on Saturday night was “excessive” and it was a mistake to call out players by name, but said he stands by his message.
Edwards was criticized by Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh on Monday for his tweet and then suspended indefinitely by the Big Ten Network. Edwards tweeted an apology on Monday but went into further details in an interview with The Detroit News, including that he was drinking when he posted his original tweets, which were later deleted.
“I admit I was excessive and emotional and inebriated. Mix those together. But the focus of my tweets remains intact. I stand by that. I was over-excessive Saturday night at 10:29, but I don’t back down on my overall stance as an alum and a fan. I’ve always defended Michigan. Even this year, I was high on Michigan,” he told the newspaper.
In his tweets on Saturday night after the Wolverines lost 24-17 to Notre Dame, Edwards, a former All-America wide receiver at Michigan, criticized offensive lineman Cesar Ruiz, calling him “weak,” and said Michigan quarterback Shea Patterson is “scared.” Edwards went on to tweet, “f—ing Michigan offense so predictable … Michigan football is sadly one thing … Trash.”
Edwards told The Detroit News he plans to reach out to Ruiz and Patterson through his brother, Berkley Edwards, who is a running back on the Wolverines. He said former Wolverines coach Lloyd Carr “called me out in the media” and he realizes now he shouldn’t have done the same to Ruiz and Patterson.
“I’m a man. We make mistakes. I’m sorry. I should not have gone that way. I still agree with the overall message — what do we do now (as a program)? But I apologize — shouldn’t name individual players. They’re still kids. That’s what I apologize for,” he told the newspaper.
ESPN’s Tom VanHaaren contributed to this report.
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24574454/braylon-edwards-michigan-wolverines-tweets-excessive-stance-same
Photo: AP Photo/Tony Ding, File
Posted on September 4, 2018 September 4, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan WolverinesTags Big Ten Network, Braylon Edwards, college football, Jim Harbaugh, Michigan Wolverines, NCAAF, Notre Dame, suspendedLeave a comment on Braylon Edwards apologizes for U-M tweets, stands by stance
Expert picks: Which four teams will make the CFP?
ESPN Staff
As the 2018 season gets underway in earnest this week, it’s time to break out the crystal ball and predict the College Football Playoff field and eventual champion. It’s no surprise that Alabama and Clemson dominate these lists from our 42 experts, but some picks are sure to surprise (hello, Michigan!).
Title picks: Clemson 22, Alabama 14, Georgia 3, Wisconsin 2, Michigan 1
Playoff picks: Clemson 42/42, Alabama 39/42
ESPN EXPERTS’ PLAYOFF PREDICTIONS
Rece Davis
Lee Corso
Desmond Howard
Sean McDonough
Todd McShay
Greg McElroy
Laura Rutledge
Trevor Matich
Jon Vilma
Heather Dinich
Ryan McGee
Adnan Virk
Mark Schlabach
Bob Wischusen
Dan Orlovsky
Andrea Adelson
Tom Luginbill
Brock Huard
Cole Cubelic
Anish Shroff
Rod Gilmore
Olivia Dekker
Jake Trotter
Chris Cotter
Anthony Becht
Mitch Sherman
Adam Rittenberg
Kyle Bonagura
David M. Hale
Myron Medcalf
Mike Corey
Dave Pasch
Ivan Maisel
Chris Doering
Alex Scarborough
Todd Blackledge
D.J. Shockley
Photo by Joe Faraoni / ESPN Images
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24464244/espn-predictions-2018-college-football-playoff-teams
Posted on August 28, 2018 August 28, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan State Spartans, Michigan WolverinesTags college football, College Football Playoff, Michigan State Spartans, Michigan WolverinesLeave a comment on Expert picks: Which four teams will make the CFP?
UM coach Beilein undergoes heart surgery
By Blake Froling
University of Michigan men’s basketball coach John Beilein underwent successful double bypass surgery, according to a university release.
Beilein, 65, will be in the hospital for a few more days before returning home to recover. Assistant coach Saddi Washington will coach the team in place of Beilein during their upcoming trip to Italy.
“Coach Beilein underwent a two-vessel coronary bypass graft surgery Monday morning,” said Francis D. Pagani, M.D., Ph.D., the doctor who performed Beilein’s surgery, in a statement. “The procedure is designed to improve blood flow to the heart, by taking a healthy artery or vein from another part of the body and grafting it to the obstructed coronary artery. The operation went well, and we expect him to make a full recovery and be back to his usual activities within a few weeks.”
“I feel grateful and blessed that this surgery was performed at the University of Michigan,” Beilein said in the statement. “Kathleen, and our family appreciate all of the world-class care that was provided for us. Dr. Kim Eagle, Dr. Francis Pagani, Dr. Stanley Chetcuti and all of their staffs at the Frankel Cardiovascular Center are so talented and performed like champions over this past week. I am going to work very hard in my rehabilitation to be stronger than ever by the time practice begins for this upcoming season.”
Posted on August 7, 2018 August 7, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan WolverinesTags basketball, John Beilein, Michigan, surgeryLeave a comment on UM coach Beilein undergoes heart surgery
The 50 best players in college football
Who will be the best college football players in 2018? Sure, there will be plenty of representation from Alabama and Clemson — a list-high five players apiece — and a load of quarterbacks.
But it all starts up front with a game-wrecking Group of 5 defensive tackle. Not only does Houston’s Ed Oliver top most NFL draft boards, he leads the way here.
And remember, this is about what players will do in 2018, not what they’ve done to this point. So you’ll find Tua Tagovailoa high on this list, as well as breakout candidates like Georgia RB D’Andre Swift and Clemson WR Tee Higgins.
No true freshmen made the list, so check out our list of instant-impact first-year players here. And what fun is a list like this without some heated debate? Check out our roundtable on snubs, who’s overrated and underrated and which Group of 5 players deserved more love.
To get the final ranking, we had our expert panel vote on pairs of players. Bryce Love vs. Christian Wilkins. Trace McSorley vs. Jonathan Taylor. We asked, “Which player will be better in 2018?” To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each player’s contributions to his team’s ability to win games.
1. ED OLIVER
DT, Houston
Key stat: Currently No. 1 on Mel Kiper’s 2019 Big Board
The last defensive lineman to finish in the top five of the Heisman voting was Nebraska’s Ndamukong Suh in 2009. The unblockable Oliver could replicate Suh’s feat on the way to potentially becoming the No. 1 overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft.
2. BRYCE LOVE
RB, Stanford
Key stat: 2,118 rushing yards in 2017
The speedster is just the third player in college football history to return to school after rushing for 2,000-plus yards and has a chance to become the first Heisman Trophy runner-up to win the award the following year since Georgia’s Herschel Walker in 1982.
3. WILL GRIER
QB, West Virginia
Key stat: Threw for 3,490 yards in 2017
Arguably the top returning quarterback in the country, Grier was second nationally in passing touchdowns and third in passing yards before breaking a finger last season. Armed with one of the top receiving corps in the country, Grier’s recently launched Heisman campaign could be a viable one.
4. CHRISTIAN WILKINS
DL, Clemson
Key stat: Mel Kiper’s No. 1 senior defensive tackle
There’s so much talent on Clemson’s roster, it’s hard to pick one player as the team’s best, but there’s no question about who the heart and soul of the locker room is. That’s Wilkins, a senior defensive tackle who does everything from rushing the passer to catching passes on special teams to ensuring the rest of the group is out on the field early for offseason workouts. Wilkins’ return to the defense this season was a surprise to many, but the truth is, the guy loves playing college football, and he has a chance to make his mark as one of the Tigers’ all-time greats.
5. DEXTER LAWRENCE
DT, Clemson
Key stat: No. 9 in Todd McShay’s way-too-early mock draft
You don’t need to watch much film to see how fearsome Lawrence is at blowing up the pocket or annihilating a run play. But the truly scary thing is, we’ve yet to really see Lawrence at his best. In 2016, he was a true freshman playing behind veterans on the line. He got a lot of work, but he was still refining his craft. Last year, injuries plagued Lawrence’s season, and while he did his best to stay on the field and make an impact, it was clear he wasn’t 100 percent. In 2018, we might finally get to see what a monster Lawrence can be when he’s clicking on all cylinders, and that’s bad news for the rest of the ACC.
6. NICK BOSA
DE, Ohio State
Key stat: 8.5 sacks in 2017
The younger Bosa’s first two seasons have been a step ahead of the trajectory his All-American brother, Joey, took before getting drafted in the first round after three years at Ohio State. That bodes well as Nick heads into a junior year where he’ll be the top pass-rusher on a reloaded defensive line. Bosa’s balance, technique, speed and tendency to never give up on a play make him nearly impossible to stop.
7. JONATHAN TAYLOR
RB, Wisconsin
Class: Sophomore
Key stat: Averaged 6.6 yards per carry in 2017
By breaking Adrian Peterson’s FBS freshman rushing record with 1,977 yards, Taylor put himself on the national radar last year. Don’t be surprised if he tops his 2017 performance after a full season in the program and running behind arguably the nation’s best offensive line. He has speed, power and durability, recording 10 100-yard performances and three 200-yard performances on 299 carries.
8. RASHAN GARY
DL, Michigan
Key stat: No. 3 on Mel Kiper Jr.’s Big Board
One of several talented juniors on Michigan’s defense, Gary has great speed and impeccable footwork for a 285-pound pass-rusher. He approached offseason workouts with renewed focus, which should help him keep pace with the high expectations he created the past two seasons and as the No. 1-ranked prospect coming out of high school.
9. TRACE MCSORLEY
QB, Penn State
Key stat: Threw for 3,570 yards and 28 TDs in 2017
Those lamenting the departure of Saquon Barkley seem to forget the Heisman Trophy contender still in Happy Valley. McSorley has won big at every level of his career. He matured into an accurate, reliable field leader last year after filling the highlight reel in 2016. After throwing 59 touchdown passes, McSorley could become the best statistical quarterback in PSU history.
10. JARRETT STIDHAM
QB, Auburn
Key stat: Threw for 3,158 yards last season
After a somewhat slow start to his first season at Auburn, the former Baylor transfer still threw for 3,158 yards and 18 touchdowns. With a year under his belt and more control at the line of scrimmage, his numbers could climb.
11. TUA TAGOVAILOA
QB, Alabama
Key stat: Zero career college starts
It was a small sample size but a memorable one. After appearing only in mop-up duty during the regular season, Tagovailoa saved the day as a true freshman in the title game against Georgia, entering at halftime to throw three touchdowns, including the winner in a 26-23 overtime victory.
12. CLELIN FERRELL
DE, Clemson
Key stat: No. 3 on Mel Kiper Jr.’s DE underclassmen rankings
After a breakout finale to the 2016 season, Ferrell became a household name as a sophomore in 2017, finishing the year with 9.5 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, seven QB hurries and two forced fumbles. He’s a high-motor rusher off the edge, and his instincts for the position make him arguably the most dangerous pass-rusher on a line absolutely loaded with NFL talent.
13. DAMIEN HARRIS
RB, Alabama
Key stat: 7.4 yards per carry in 2017
He flies under the radar sometimes, but all Harris has done in each of the past two seasons is rush for 1,000 yards. During his senior season, he could climb up the chart for career rushing yards at Alabama.
14. JUSTIN HERBERT
QB, Oregon
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 1 underclass QB
When Herbert was on the field last season, Oregon was one of the most dangerous offenses in the country (the Ducks scored 49.1 points and averaged 516.5 yards per game in his eight starts). If he plays to his potential this year, an early departure to the NFL might loom.
15. JAKE BROWNING
QB, Washington
Key stat: Has thrown for 9,104 yards in three years
After finishing sixth in the Heisman Trophy voting and leading the Huskies to the playoff in 2016, Browning wasn’t nearly as productive in 2017, but the senior is a primary reason Washington is viewed as the best team on the West Coast.
16. NICK FITZGERALD
QB, Mississippi State
Key stat: Had both 100 rushing and passing yards in six 2017 games
One of the first things Joe Moorhead did when he got the job as head coach at Mississippi State was to call his starting quarterback to tell him to make room for a Heisman Trophy. While Fitzgerald might fly under the radar on Heisman lists, with 66 combined touchdowns (36 passing, 30 rushing) the past two seasons, he has some serious production already under his belt.
17. RAEKWON DAVIS
DL, Alabama
Key stat: Projected first-round pick by Todd McShay
Da’Ron Payne was the anchor of the Alabama defense last season, but now it’s another 300-pounder’s turn. Davis, a lean 6-7 and 306 pounds, enters the spotlight after earning All-SEC honors last season by posting 69 tackles, 10 of which were for a loss.
18. DAVID SILLS V
WR, West Virginia
Key stat: Tied for FBS lead with 18 TD receptions
A finalist for the Biletnikoff Award, Sills led the country with 18 touchdown receptions in his first season as a full-time wide receiver. Because of added depth to West Virginia’s receiving corps, Sills might not replicate that gaudy touchdown number. But the former quarterback figures to be even better with a season of experience playing receiver behind him.
19. KHALIL TATE
QB, Arizona
Key stat: Set FBS QB single-game rushing record with 327 against Colorado
Arguably the most exciting player to watch in the country, Tate enters the season as a legitimate Heisman Trophy contender under new coach Kevin Sumlin. Though he’s known more as a runner, Tate’s ability as a passer should not go overlooked — he throws one of the best deep balls in the country.
20. MCKENZIE MILTON
QB, UCF
Key stat: Threw for 494 yards to 2OT win over Memphis
UCF has begun the Heisman pitch for its star quarterback, after a sophomore season in which he set single-season school records for passing yards (4,037), passing touchdowns (37) and rushing yards by a quarterback (613). Hopes are high for UCF to keep its forward momentum going with Milton back behind center.
21. CAM AKERS
RB, Florida State
Key stat: Ran for career-high 199 yards against Syracuse
Last season, Akers broke Florida State’s single-season freshman rushing record with 1,024 yards, but the expectations are even higher this season. And those expectations come from Akers himself. Already a preseason All-ACC selection, one of Akers’ goals this season is to rush for 2,000 yards. The other is to win a championship.
22. DEVIN BUSH
LB, Michigan
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 1 underclass ILB
The new leader of Michigan’s stacked defense had a team-high 102 tackles and five sacks in his first season as a starter. Good instincts and a fearsome attitude will make Bush the tone-setting centerpiece for another fast, aggressive group in Ann Arbor.
23. J.K. DOBBINS
RB, Ohio State
Key stat: Rushed for 1,403 yards in 2017
Ohio State fans want to see more of Dobbins, who last fall averaged 7.2 yards a carry and 100.2 yards per game despite only 13.9 carries per game. Mike Weber is still in Columbus, but Dobbins should move into more of a featured role. He had a team-high 16 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or longer last season.
24. AUSTIN BRYANT
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 4 senior DE
There was a play against Virginia Tech last season that perfectly illustrated why Bryant is the unsung hero of Clemson’s elite defensive line. He was lined up in coverage, split wide against the Hokies’ speedy receiver Sean Savoy on a fourth-down play. A swing pass to Savoy was caught and immediately blown up by Bryant, who converged with his 270-pound frame to drop Savoy for a 5-yard loss. That’s an astonishing amount of athleticism for a guy considered the fourth-best defensive lineman on his own team.
25. SHEA PATTERSON
QB, Michigan
Key stat: Threw for 2,259 yards before season-ending injury
The former Ole Miss starter is now the preordained savior in Ann Arbor. Patterson’s ability to extend and make plays will — provided he wins the starting job — give Jim Harbaugh’s staff a weapon it has not had under center at Michigan. Wolverine faithful are hoping he’s the missing piece to a Big Ten title run.
26. A.J. BROWN
WR, Ole Miss
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 1 underclass receiver
Arguably the best pro prospect at his position, Brown caught 72 passes for 1,252 yards and 11 touchdowns as a sophomore last year. Brown also eclipsed 100 receiving yards six times, with five of those resulting in him gaining at least 150 yards. At 6-foot-1, 225 pounds, Brown can outmuscle just about any defensive back.
27. DEVIN WHITE
LB, LSU
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 1 underclass OLB
White probably will be the first linebacker taken in next year’s NFL draft, and for good reason. In just his second season with the Tigers, he collected 133 tackles and 4.5 sacks in 2017. The sideline-to-sideline linebacker registered double-digit tackles in eight of 13 games last year.
28. MYLES GASKIN
RB, Washington
Key stat: 4,055 career rushing yards over three seasons
Gaskin is already the school’s all-time touchdowns leader (45) and has a chance to become the first Pac-12 player and 10th in FBS history to rush for 1,000 yards in four seasons. He enters the season with 4,055 rushing yards.
29. JEFFERY SIMMONS
DT, Mississippi State
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 4 underclass DT
He’s 6-4 and 310 pounds, but he’s nimble, reportedly having just 15 percent body fat. He already has found the end zone twice, and last season racked up a whopping 41 quarterback pressures, earning first team All-SEC honors from the league’s coaches.
30. JAKE FROMM
QB, GEORGIA
Key stat: Threw for 2,699 yards in leading UGA to title game
He has been somewhat overshadowed by Tua Tagovailoa’s emergence in the title game and No. 1 recruit Justin Fields’ arrival on campus, but Fromm deserves to stand on his own. As a true freshman, all he did was throw 24 touchdowns and only seven interceptions, leading the Bulldogs to within an overtime of a national championship.
31. JONAH WILLIAMS
OL, Alabama
Key stat: Crimson Tide rushed for 3,509 yards in 2017
There’s a reason he has started from day one. Already at 29 career starts, Williams won a spot on the SEC All-Freshman team in 2016 and followed that up with third team AP All-America honors last season. The right tackle has been one of the most consistent linemen on the roster, proficient in the run game as well as pass protection.
32. DWAYNE HASKINS
QB, Ohio State
Key stat: Completed 40 of 57 passes in 2017
J.T. Barrett’s 50-game run in Columbus is over, and the Haskins era begins this fall. Haskins impressed in relief of Barrett last year at Michigan Stadium, rallying the Buckeyes past their archrival. The strong-armed sophomore steps into the featured role for an offense loaded with options at the skill positions.
33. D’ANDRE SWIFT
RB, Georgia
Key stat: 618 rushing yards on only 81 carries in 2017
With longtime backs Sony Michel and Nick Chubb gone, it’s Swift’s turn in the spotlight. In a supporting role last season, the sophomore showed flashes of big-play ability, averaging 7.8 yards per touch (rushing and receiving).
34. LEVONTA TAYLOR
CB, Florida State
Key stat: Recorded two interceptions against rival Florida
Taylor came into his own last season in his first year as a starter, and goes into 2018 as one of the best cover cornerbacks in the ACC. Thanks to several key departures, including Derwin James, Taylor is now the veteran among the group and will be asked to anchor a unit that has the potential for a big year.
35. DREW LOCK
QB, Missouri
It went largely unnoticed as Missouri struggled to find its footing last season, but its quarterback shined throughout, finishing just 36 yards shy of 4,000 yards passing. He didn’t miss the mark, though, when he set an SEC record for passing touchdowns in a single season with 44.
36. A.J. DILLON
RB, Boston College
Key stat: Rushed for 895 yards in final five games of 2017
Here are the numbers for Dillon from his true freshman season: 1,589 yards, 14 touchdowns, five straight games with at least 149 yards to end the season. That’s all pretty good, but don’t forget he wasn’t even Boston College’s starting running back until Week 5. So when Dillon says he has a lot he can still improve upon, that’s a frightening thought, and he’s the biggest reason there’s real enthusiasm about Boston College’s chances for a big season in 2018.
37. GREEDY WILLIAMS
CB, LSU
Key stat: No. 6 pick in Todd McShay’s way-too-early draft
Williams’ nickname fits him perfectly. He’s coming off of a sophomore year in which he led the SEC with six interceptions and was second in the league with 17 passes defended. Arguably the best cover corner in the SEC — and maybe beyond — the first-team All-SEC member is getting tons of All-America attention this season. Williams is a rangy, big-bodied corner who absolutely sticks to receivers but isn’t afraid to lay the lumber.
38. KYLER MURRAY
QB, Oklahoma
Key stat: No. 9 overall pick in 2018 MLB draft
Having signed with the Oakland Athletics for $4.7 million over the summer, Murray now faces the enormous task of replacing Heisman winner and No. 1 overall NFL draft pick Baker Mayfield. The Sooners, however, are loaded around the quarterback on offense again. And Murray, a former five-star recruit, has the talent to propel Oklahoma back into the CFP.
39. GREG LITTLE
OL, Ole Miss
Key stat: No. 4 pick in Todd McShay’s way-too-early mock draft
Perhaps the most talented offensive lineman in the SEC, Little has a chance to play his way into the first round of next year’s NFL draft. The former freshman All-America and Outland Trophy watch list member is tasked with protecting the blind side of Rebels QB Jordan Ta’amu.
40. TEE HIGGINS
WR, Clemson
Key stat: No. 18 prospect in 2017 recruiting class
Clemson’s sophomore receiver said he grew up idolizing former Georgia star A.J. Green, and that’s fitting. Higgins is a carbon copy. At 6-4, 200 pounds, Higgins is an imposing target, and his long strides and quick breaks make him nearly impossible to defend. He came on strong late last season before an injury derailed his Sugar Bowl, but he utterly owned the field during Clemson’s spring game and appears poised to become one of the ACC’s best players in 2018.
41. DERRICK BROWN
DL, Auburn
Key stat: No. 15 pick in Todd McShay’s way-too-early mock draft
Those at Auburn believe they have the most talented defensive line in the country, and it starts in the middle with Brown. The 6-5, 325-pound defensive tackle is a run-stuffer who can also get into the backfield, as evidenced by his four sacks and 9.5 tackles for loss.
42. DAVID EDWARDS
OL, Wisconsin
This mainstay on Wisconsin’s offensive line during the past two seasons started his career as a tight end before bulking up to play tackle. He was as good of a blindside protector as anyone in the Big Ten last year and is part of the talented and massive group that paves the way for Heisman candidate Jonathan Taylor.
43. T.J. EDWARDS
LB, Wisconsin
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 1 senior ILB
The Badgers are replacing seven starters on defense, which makes Edwards an essential player for their continued success. He was a Butkus Award finalist last year after making 81 tackles in the middle of one the nation’s most stingy defenses. He, Ryan Connelly and Chris Orr should make the linebacker spot a huge strength for Wisconsin.
44. RODNEY ANDERSON
RB, Oklahoma
Key stat: Rushed for more than 110 yards in 6 of last 8 games
After taking over Oklahoma’s starting running back job early last October, Anderson led the country in yards from scrimmage, culminating with more than 200 rushing yards in the Rose Bowl. Anderson and speedy quarterback Kyler Murray could form a devastating rushing combination out of the Sooners backfield.
45. MONTEZ SWEAT
DE, Mississippi State
The second of Mississippi State’s two first team All-SEC defensive linemen, Sweat is as good a pass-rusher as there is in the conference. Last season, the 6-6, 241-pounder tied for the SEC lead in sacks and tackles for loss.
46. CHASE WINOVICH
Winovich built on a solid 2016 season by boosting many of his key stats, from tackles for loss (9.5 to 18) to sacks (5 to 8) to forced fumbles (1 to 2). The first-team All-Big Ten selection bypassed the NFL draft for one more shot at a Big Ten title as he joins fellow All-America candidate Rashan Gary on Michigan’s line.
47. DEEBO SAMUEL
WR, South Carolina
Key stat: Mel Kiper Jr.’s No. 1 senior WR
Injuries cut Samuel’s 2017 season short, but according to coach Will Muschamp, he was one of the most explosive players in college football when healthy. A true all-purpose player, he can catch passes, rush the football and make a difference in the return game. In only three games last season, he scored six touchdowns.
48. SHAQ QUARTERMAN
LB, Miami
Quarterman has started every game he has played at Miami (26). Going into his junior season, he has the potential for an All-America type season. The heart of the Hurricanes’ defense, Quarterman had 83 tackles a year ago and picked up the most votes among linebackers on the preseason All-ACC team.
49. MACK WILSON
LB, Alabama
Injuries have been an issue at times, but when he’s on the field he’s a productive playmaker, dating to his eye-popping hits on special teams as a freshman. Last season the gifted inside linebacker had 40 tackles, and despite being used mostly in a reserve role, he led the team with four interceptions.
50. DEVIN SINGLETARY
RB, Florida Atlantic
Nobody really calls him Devin. They call him “Motor,” a nickname from his dad, but it is fitting given the way he plays. Singletary led all FBS players with 32 rushing touchdowns last year, and rushed for 1,920 yards — fourth in the nation. He needs 589 yards this season to set the school career rushing mark.
Writeups by Andrea Adelson, Edward Aschoff, Kyle Bonagura, David M. Hale, Dan Murphy, Adam Rittenberg, Alex Scarborough, Jake Trotter
Photo: Peter Yang for ESPN
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24264151/college-football-preseason-player-rankings-ed-oliver-leads-way
Posted on August 6, 2018 August 6, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan WolverinesTags Chase Winovich, college football, Devin Bush, Michigan, Rashan Gary, Shea Patterson, Top 50, WolverinesLeave a comment on The 50 best players in college football
MSU No. 12, U of M No. 14 in preseason Coaches Poll
Now that fall practice is starting and we’re less than a month away from real, live college football, it’s time to get riled up by preseason polls.
The Amway Coaches Poll was released Thursday afternoon and featured the usual suspects — Alabama, Clemson, Ohio State — at the top. Michigan State was voted No. 12 and Michigan came in two spots behind at No. 14.
The Spartans and Wolverines were two of the five Big Ten teams selected in the top 15, along with Ohio State (3), Wisconsin (7) and Penn State (9). Northwestern also received votes.
Looking ahead, Michigan State will play three ranked opponents this season and Michigan will face five, including the season opener in South Bend against No. 11 Notre Dame.
The Big Ten, SEC and Big 12 each had five teams voted into the poll, while the ACC had four and the PAC-12 had three. University of Central Florida, the self-proclaimed “national champions,” were ranked No. 23.
1 Alabama(61) 0-0 1621
2 Clemson(3) 0-0 1547 — —
3 Ohio State(1) 0-0 1458 — —
4 Georgia 0-0 1452 — —
5 Oklahoma 0-0 1288 — —
6 Washington 0-0 1245 —
7 Wisconsin 0-0 1243
8 Miami 0-0
9 Penn State 0-0 1050
10 Auburn 0-0 1004
11 Notre Dame 0-0 892
12 Michigan State 0-0
13 Stanford 0-0 768
14 Michigan 0-0 752
15 USC 0-0 691
16 TCU 0-0 530
17 Virginia Tech 0-0 524
18 Mississippi State 0-0 407
19 Florida State 0-0 328
20 West Virginia 0-0 310
21 Texas 0-0 265
22 Boise State 0-0 261
23 UCF 0-0 259
24 LSU 0-0 254
25 Oklahoma State 0-0 168
Others receiving votes: South Carolina 138, Florida 135, Oregon 105, Utah 81, Texas A&M 67, Northwestern 67, Kansas State 35, Florida Atlantic 27, Memphis 23, Boston College 23, NC State 22, Arkansas State 19, Troy 19, Appalachian State 16, San Diego State 15, Kentucky 8, Iowa State 8, Iowa 8, Washington State 7, South Florida 6, Duke 5, Fresno State 4, Louisville 3, Arizona 2, Houston 2, Army 1, Northern Illinois 1
Posted on August 2, 2018 August 2, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan State Spartans, Michigan WolverinesTags Big Ten, Buckeyes, coaches poll, college football, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, rankings, Spartans, WolverinesLeave a comment on MSU No. 12, U of M No. 14 in preseason Coaches Poll
Big Ten power rankings: Can anyone catch Ohio State?
Urban Meyer and the Buckeyes have reloaded and are our early pick to defend their title as Big Ten champions. Here are ESPN.com’s preseason Big Ten power rankings:
1. Ohio State Buckeyes
The Buckeyes finished atop the Big Ten last season and are returning 15 total starters from last season’s team. Quarterback Dwayne Haskins showed promise in his limited time, completing 40 of his 57 passes and throwing four touchdowns in the process. Haskins has an opportunity to shine this season and help lead Ohio State back to the conference championship game. Nick Bosa should help lead a defense that lost quite a bit to the NFL, but defensive backs Kendall Sheffield, Jeffrey Okudah and Jordan Fuller should all be poised to take on bigger roles and pick up the slack in the secondary.
2. Wisconsin Badgers
The Badgers lose some big contributors on defense, including Conor Sheehy, Derrick Tindal and Natrell Jamerson, but there is still a lot left to like. After finishing 13-1 last season, with the only loss to Ohio State in the conference championship game, quarterback Alex Hornibrook returns some of his bigger weapons, including running back Jonathan Taylor. The sophomore broke records last season and finished third in rushing yards behind only Rashaad Penny and Bryce Love. Taylor will have his entire offensive line returning to help propel his rushing stats even further this season, and potentially help launch the Badgers back to the league title game.
3. Penn State Nittany Lions
This was an interesting offseason for head coach James Franklin as he saw star running back Saquon Barkley get drafted No. 2 overall, his offensive coordinator and running backs coach leave for Mississippi State and his wide receivers coach leave for Alabama. On top of that, the Nittany Lions lose eight defensive starters, including linebacker Jason Cabinda and defensive backs Grant Haley, Marcus Allen and Troy Apke. But Franklin and staff have recruited so well the past few years that there is talent on the depth chart that should be able to come in and fill those gaps. Young stars such as Miles Sanders, Justin Shorter and Micah Parsons can rise fast and help keep Penn State among the Big Ten’s best programs.
4. Michigan State Spartans
This one might cause some debate between Spartans and Wolverines, but Michigan State loses only four total starters from last season. That team had 10 wins and brings back one of the more important pieces in quarterback Brian Lewerke. All of Lewerke’s offensive weapons are coming back, and the Spartans are really only replacing center Brian Allen on the offensive side. Defensively, linebacker Joe Bachie and defensive back Josiah Scott should be able to build off strong 2017 campaigns, which will make Michigan State tough to beat in 2018.
5. Michigan Wolverines
The Wolverines once again have the talent to contend for a Big Ten title, but four years into the Jim Harbaugh era they have to start proving it on the field before they climb any higher in the rankings. The defense returns bona fide NFL prospects at all three levels and should once again be good enough to keep any game close. Ole Miss transfer Shea Patterson — the front-runner to take over at quarterback — and some new blood on the coaching staff will be tasked with jump-starting an offense that struggled in 2017.
6. Northwestern Wildcats
Clayton Thorson returns as the Big Ten’s most experienced quarterback, but he’ll have to up his game without his old backfield partner and the Wildcats’ all-time leading rusher, Justin Jackson. If the coaching staff finds a way to replace a couple of big losses in the secondary, Northwestern’s defense should have the strength to dictate field position and the pace of many of its games. Pat Fitzgerald’s program has averaged nine wins in each of the past three seasons and should remain a team to be wary of in 2018.
7. Iowa Hawkeyes
The steady Hawkeyes finished last season in third place in the West, and that’s where they start 2018. Leading rusher Akrum Wadley is gone, as are three fast, veteran linebackers, headlined by All-American Josey Jewell. This season’s Iowa team will have to lean more on its deep defensive line and its passing game. Nathan Stanley returns at quarterback and has a pair of sturdy tight ends (Noah Fant and T.J. Hockenson) to serve as a good foundation for moving the ball through the air.
8. Nebraska Cornhuskers
Scott Frost’s arrival makes the Cornhuskers one of the country’s most interesting teams to watch at the start of the season. With a first-year starter at quarterback (redshirt freshman Tristan Gebbia and freshman Adrian Martinez are front-runners in the upcoming training-camp battle), it might take some time for the talent level and the understanding of Frost’s new offense to match the level of excitement in Lincoln. Not to mention that the new staff got saddled with having to play Ohio State, Michigan State and Michigan from the East this fall. Playmakers like Stanley Morgan Jr. and JD Spielman make Nebraska a dangerous opponent for schools with title hopes.
9. Purdue Boilermakers
Jeff Brohm did a remarkable job getting Purdue to a bowl game — and a bowl victory — in Year 1. Momentum is building in Boiler Country, and Brohm’s offense once again should be fun and productive. Quarterbacks Elijah Sindelar and David Blough both return from major injuries, along with a deep running backs group and wideout Jackson Anthrop. But Purdue lost almost all of its top contributors on defense, a vastly underrated unit that became stingy in Big Ten play and helped the team to bowl eligibility. Purdue will score a lot, but it also probably will give up a lot unless it can build around lineman Lorenzo Neal Jr. and linebacker Markus Bailey.
10. Indiana Hoosiers
Tom Allen’s first season as Hoosiers coach featured four single-digit losses and no bowl game. To close the gap, Allen will rely on young players, particularly with a defense returning only four starters and just one in the front seven. Allen is a terrific defensive coach, but the personnel situation will test him. Indiana has some nice pieces on offense with running back Morgan Ellison and wide receivers Luke Timian and Nick Westbrook, who returns from an ACL tear after a 54-catch season in 2016. The immediate question is quarterback as Peyton Ramsey, who started four games last season and will compete with Arizona graduate transfer Brandon Dawkins and others for the starting job.
11. Minnesota Golden Gophers
The Gophers probably will get younger this season, as P.J. Fleck wants to get an upgraded recruiting class into the mix sooner than later. Fleck is playing the long game at Minnesota, which was exposed for much of Big Ten play last fall. The Gophers need to build their passing game behind a yet-to-be-determined new quarterback (Tanner Morgan or Zack Annexstad) after finishing 121st nationally in pass offense last fall. Senior running back Rodney Smith is a reliable producer, and the defensive backfield should be a strength with Antoine Winfield Jr. returning from a hamstring issue. But Minnesota might be a year away from a substantial step forward.
12. Maryland Terrapins
A promising start disintegrated in coach D.J. Durkin’s second season last fall as injuries at quarterback took a huge toll — first with the loss of Tyrrell Pigrome in the season-opening victory over Texas and then when Kasim Hill went down in Week 4. They’re both back, as is Max Bortenschlager, who started eight games in 2017. Much-traveled Matt Canada is in as offensive coordinator. Defensively, the Terps might get a boost from high-profile transfers Byron Cowart and Marcus Lewis, formerly of Auburn and Florida State, respectively.
13. Rutgers Scarlet Knights
The Scarlet Knights enter camp after the recent dismissal of two key players on defense amid a potential scandal involving a reported credit-card scam that could derail this season before it starts. Third-year coach Chris Ash brings back some talent on defense, led by senior linebacker Deonte Roberts, and might start a true freshman at QB in Artur Sitkowski, once pledged to Miami (Fla.). Aside from a Week 2 visit to Ohio State, the early schedule is manageable ahead of a brutal stretch in November.
14. Illinois Fighting Illini
Things went from bad in coach Lovie Smith’s first season to worse in his second year with the Illini. That is the nature of a complete rebuild, but patience will wear thin if Illinois fails to show notable improvement this fall with a youthful roster that features promising skill at running back with Mike Epstein and the return from multiple injuries of veteran wideout Mike Dudek. Defensive end Bobby Roundtree and safety Bennett Williams are back as talented sophomores.
Photo: AP Photo/Michael Conroy
http://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/24150992/big-ten-preseason-power-rankings
Posted on July 23, 2018 July 23, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan State Spartans, Michigan WolverinesTags Big Ten, Brian Lewerke, Buckeyes, Jim Harbaugh, Joe Bachie, Josiah Scott, Michigan State, Ohio State, Shea Patterson, Spartans, University of Michigan, WolverinesLeave a comment on Big Ten power rankings: Can anyone catch Ohio State?
Beilein signs rollover contract extension
The University of Michigan just locked up the best coach in program history for a very long time.
John Beilein signed a new rollover extension today that runs through the 2022-23 seasons, according to the university. With the rollover, the contract will automatically be extended every year until Beilein or the university decide not to exercise the option. Essentially, Beilein has a lifetime contract.
“I am grateful for the opportunity the University of Michigan has given to me over the past 11 years,” said Beilein in a statement. “Kathleen and I love Ann Arbor, our University, our fans and the state of Michigan. We will continue to work very hard in the future to have our basketball team reflect the greatness of this University. I thank Mark Schlissel and Warde Manuel for their faith and commitment to our coaching staff and basketball program. The future of men’s basketball is bright and I am excited to be a part of it.”
Beilein, 65, recently flirted with the idea of leaving Ann Arbor for the Detroit Pistons, but ultimately pulled his name out of consideration when the news went public.
“I am thrilled to ensure John’s leadership of our basketball program today and into the future,” said Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel. “I am very pleased with our shared dialog throughout the process, and I am extremely happy that one of the game’s great coaches is representing the University of Michigan.”
The Wolverines are fresh off their second National Championship appearance in the last six seasons and have the No. 16 ranked recruiting class according to ESPN. Michigan also returns Charles Matthews, who was the team’s second-leading scorer last season. Beilein is the winningest coach in program history.
Photo: Mark J. Terrill/AP
Posted on July 18, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan WolverinesTags Big Ten, contract, Detroit Pistons, John Beilein, University of Michigan, Warde ManuelLeave a comment on Beilein signs rollover contract extension
Pistons agree to deal with former Wolverine Robinson III
Free-agent small forward Glenn Robinson III has agreed to a two-year, $8 million deal with the Detroit Pistons, a source told The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears.
The contract has a team option on the second year, the source said.
The deal can’t be officially announced until Friday but Robinson tweeted Sunday that he was headed back to Michigan, where he played collegiately for two seasons with the Wolverines.
Motor city!!! Back in Michigan on a new level!! @DetroitPistons @UMich #overlydedicated
— Glenn Robinson III (@GRIII) July 1, 2018
Robinson, 24, was limited to 23 games for the Indiana Pacers last season after he suffered an injury to the medial and lateral ligaments in his left ankle during a Sept. 29 practice. He underwent surgery in October and didn’t make his season debut until late February.
The 2017 NBA Slam Dunk champion, he blossomed into a solid contributor the previous season for Indiana when he averaged a career-high 6.1 points and 3.6 rebounds in 20 minutes per game. Robinson shot .392 from the 3-point line, converting 49 of his 125 attempts.
At the time of his injury last season, he was shooting .412 from 3-point range, making 14 of his 34 attempts.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23966202/glenn-robinson-iii-agrees-join-detroit-pistons
Posted on July 1, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Detroit Pistons, Michigan WolverinesTags Detroit Pistons, Glenn Robinson III, Indiana Pacers, NBA, University of MichiganLeave a comment on Pistons agree to deal with former Wolverine Robinson III
Beilein: Offer from Pistons would have been tough decision
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — John Beilein said he was never offered the Detroit Pistons’ coaching job.
“I never really had to make the decision,” the Michigan coach said. “That would have been a tough one.”
Beilein is now looking ahead to another season of college basketball after briefly emerging as a candidate for the Pistons. Not long after the news broke about Beilein’s talks with Detroit, he said he would be back at Michigan. The Pistons eventually hired Dwane Casey earlier this month.
On Tuesday, Beilein held a news conference to talk about the offseason. He led Michigan to the national title game this year before falling to Villanova, so the possibility of losing Beilein to the NBA was a jolt to Wolverines fans.
Mark J. Terrill/AP
“I was not offered the job by the Pistons,” Beilein said. “We certainly had some mutual interest. I think they had a great candidate in Dwane Casey.”
Beilein said he was intrigued by the possibility of coaching in the game’s top league.
“I love coaching basketball a lot, and you’re watching the NBA playoffs, and you’re seeing what guys are doing, and you’re looking, like, they’re running stuff that we run,” Beilein said. “I don’t know if they watched us or I watched them. You can see, boy, if you have really highly skilled players — [Boston Celtics coach] Brad Stevens kept telling me, ‘I’m having a blast.’ When you hear those words, and your season’s over — so that was appealing.”
With the Pistons’ search behind him, Beilein can prepare for the 2018-19 season with the Wolverines. Michigan announced Tuesday that the team will go on a tour of Spain from Aug. 17 to Aug. 26 that will include exhibition games.
The Wolverines lost star big man Moe Wagner early to the NBA, but some key players return from what was one of the best defensive teams in the nation. Charles Matthews, Zavier Simpson, Jordan Poole and Isaiah Livers will be joined by what is expected to be a strong group of new recruits.
So Beilein has plenty to look forward to at the college level, and he indicated there might not be any more flirtations with the NBA.
“I think that I ran that race, and you can’t run that race too many times,” he said. “I don’t know what I would have done, but I was really impressed with everybody in that organization, and I’ll be rooting for them like I always have.”
The other intriguing bit of recent news that at least partially involved the Michigan basketball program was Chris Webber’s appearance with Wolverines football coach Jim Harbaugh on Ann Arbor’s WTKA radio last week. Harbaugh asked Webber to be an honorary captain for the football team next season, and Webber sounded amenable to the idea.
A return to Ann Arbor by Webber — even if it’s for football — would be a big deal. He led the Michigan basketball team to the Final Four in 1992 and 1993, but a federal investigation revealed that a booster gave Webber and three other players more than $600,000 while they were student-athletes, and the NCAA forced the school to dissociate from them until 2013.
“There was five or six years where I was limited what I could say about that era. Since the ban’s been off, I’ve reached out to Chris several times,” Beilein said. “I continue to do that, and we’re going to continue to try and build bridges and just really work at making sure there’s a lot of healing going forward.
“I want every player that ever played here to feel like he’s a part of that building, including Chris and anyone else.”
http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/story/_/id/23919902/michigan-coach-john-beilein-says-was-never-offered-detroit-pistons-job
Posted on June 27, 2018 June 27, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Detroit Pistons, Michigan WolverinesTags basketball, Big Ten, Detroit Pistons, John Beilein, Michigan, NBA, NCAA, Tom GoresLeave a comment on Beilein: Offer from Pistons would have been tough decision
UM’s Wagner slides into first round with the Lakers
Ohm Youngmisuk
ESPN Staff Writer
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — The Los Angeles Lakers added some size, rebounding and shooting Thursday night by drafting Michigan big man Moritz Wagner with the 25th pick of the first round.
Lakers team president Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka hope they were able to find another late first-round gem in Wagner, a 6-foot-11 forward who helped lead the Wolverines to the national title game last season. Last year during their first draft together, Johnson and Pelinka found Kyle Kuzma and Josh Hart with the 27th and 30th overall picks.
The Lakers were impressed by Wagner during their interview with him at the Chicago pre-draft camp. Head coach Luke Walton said Wagner’s personality electrified the room.
AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall
“Selecting Moe Wagner was a big target for Magic,” Pelinka said. “When you build a team, you have to have pillars that you build on. For us we are sticking to those core principles, which are guys that are high IQ basketball player that play the game the right way and can shoot and have length and have versatility and play with toughness.
“The game, as you know, requires bigs that can spread the floor. What we noticed in all the games we went to in person is, he is a tremendous passer and great screener in pick-and-roll situations, coached by John Beilein, who is a terrific coach. And Luke felt that when we had him in our building that he had off-the-charts basketball IQ. Magic had to get over a Spartan drafting a Wolverine but once we got over that, he was our guy.”
The Lakers went all international with their draft this year. After tabbing the German Wagner, the Lakers used the 39th pick (acquired from the Philadelphia 76ers in exchange for their 2019 second-round pick via the Chicago Bulls and cash) on another German, 6-9 forward Isaac Bonga. And with the 47th pick, the Lakers tabbed 6-8 shooting guard Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk, a Ukrainian native who set a Kansas single-season record with 115 made 3-point field goals.
Wagner said he grew up influenced by Germany’s greatest NBA product, Dirk Nowitzki, but that he also liked Kevin Garnett’s game. He said he considers another player of that generation, Kobe Bryant, to be the greatest Laker of all time.
“I am a big Kobe fan,” Wagner said when asked who he considers to be the greatest Laker in the storied franchise history. “I think I got to go with Kobe, especially since he stayed there for his entire career. Magic is up there, of course. This is a question where I can’t win.”
The Michigan product, though, likes how the current Lakers are trying to play as fast as the Showtime Lakers did.
“They obviously are a flashy franchise, they like to play fast,” Wagner said. “Coach [Luke] Walton used to play, he is a player’s coach, he wants his players to play and be confident, and they focus on playing fast, and that is something I am very excited to prove.”
Thursday night’s draft came a little more than a week before what could be the Lakers’ most important free agency period since Shaquille O’Neal signed in 1996.
With Julius Randle about to hit restricted free agency, the Lakers’ selection of Wagner gives them some depth inside. Wagner, 21, averaged 14.6 points and 7.1 rebounds and shot 52.8 percent from the field last season while earning second-team All Big-Ten honors. He joined Larry Bird and Hakeem Olajuwon as the only players to have 20 points and 15 rebounds in a national semifinal.
The Lakers, in need of perimeter shooting, now have a fiery big who shot 39.4 percent from 3-point range over the past two seasons, draining 108 3s during that span.
“I’m speechless,” said Wagner, who fought back tears after being selected. “I am just going to give it all, my 100 percent every day. … I am going to love it and leave it all out there [for the Lakers].”
This was the first time in five years that the Lakers were not drafting in the lottery. After taking Randle with the seventh overall pick in 2014 and D’Angelo Russell (2015), Brandon Ingram (2016) and Lonzo Ball (2017) with the second overall picks in the past three drafts, the Lakers had to wait until near the end of the first round to pick this year.
The Lakers’ own pick, No. 10 overall, belonged to Philadelphia as part of the Steve Nash trade in 2012. The Sixers used the pick on Villanova’s Mikal Bridges before trading him to Phoenix for Texas Tech’s Zhaire Smith, who was selected 16th, and a 2021 first-round pick via Miami.
But Johnson and Pelinka acquired the 25th pick from the Cleveland Cavaliers during a February trade-deadline deal that sent Larry Nance Jr. and Jordan Clarkson to the Cavs for Isaiah Thomas and Channing Frye.
That deal helped the Lakers clear cap space and put them in position to pursue two max free agents in July when Los Angeles will be in the running for LeBron James and Paul George. With Kawhi Leonard reportedly hoping to play in Los Angeles, the Lakers will be busy exhausting all avenues to significantly improve their roster.
The Lakers worked out 125 players over the past few months.
http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/23868530/moritz-wagner-michigan-taken-los-angeles-lakers-25th-overall-pick-2018-nba-draft
Posted on June 22, 2018 Author Tanner HoopsCategories Michigan WolverinesTags Los Angeles Lakers, Michigan, Moe Wagner, NBA Draft, WolverinesLeave a comment on UM’s Wagner slides into first round with the Lakers
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Keyword Author
How to Understand the Catholic Sex Abuse Crisis
By Andrew M. Haines
Few things are as evil as churchmen sexually abusing minors—or knowingly covering it up. Such evil, by itself, is not reasonable; it's not something we can process by looking merely at causal forces. It contradicts the very goodness of our nature, and defies the deep coherence in reality, the ultimate truth, we desire.
The Catholic Church's sex abuse crisis in 2018 has become, for many Christians, a crisis of faith, one to which some simple reply or reassurance is not possible. Faith is not a product of sufficient thought, but a gift from God. And losing one's faith is a real possibility, especially if that gift is not properly received and cultivated. The institutional dimension of faith—the holiness of the Church—is essential to receiving faith the way it's given. When the sinfulness of churchmen, or even our own sinfulness, overwhelms us, faith becomes harder to square with our everyday, integrated experience.
A crisis of consciousness
This points to the idea that, on another level, our present crisis is really one of consciousness. When faith suddenly "drops out," an abscess forms in our self-perception. We find that faith isn't so much something we "have," but something that shapes and even creates the "I" we inhabit.
Losing faith doesn't mean that the propositions of faith no longer make sense to us—that Jesus is the Son of God, or that Mary is the immaculate virgin mother of God. Losing faith means that these propositions no longer help to form our perspectives on other propositions: e.g., that belief in divine causes is more sane than reductive materialism, or that the Church is a culturally important, even indispensable institution.
This epistemological rupture is nothing new. Great thinkers have seen it coming for decades; it's part of a global trend away from tradition and institutions in favor of modern isolationism and radical autonomy. Although, I think it's safe to say, the present dimensions and scale could hardly have been predicted exactly.
Accepting our fate
For those who want to cling to faith, things will only get worse before they get better. There's a certain healthy fatality to accept, here. This fatality is not fatalism, though, which comes in two forms. Either it says that faith is insufficient, and that the answer to any problem is more knowledge; or that we must replace the broken framework of faith with a new, better one.
These alternatives are closely related. On the one hand, to keep faith but demand more from it is a type of gnosticism. It's rampant among responses to the sexual abuse crisis, and manifests by way of endless personal opinions on complex, contingent topics. This fatalism exerts the energy and attention of faith on less worthy, very fleeting ends. On the other hand, replacing faith with something better invariably means to replace it with politics—either Church politics or secular politics. Politics can easily fill the abscess left by a loss of faith, since it also creates and shapes our "I" in powerful ways. For most of us, playing Church politics is far worse than secular politics, since it viciously misrepresents the degree to which faith, itself, is lacking. Politics as a replacement to faith is a type of motivated reasoning that is both naturally and emotionally unfulfilling.
Radical change is spiritual change
The sooner we reject false fatalism, the sooner we can get on with addressing the Church's deepest problems at their root. These problems are spiritual, and their roots are buried well beyond the reach of one generation. Thus, there is both an "active" and "passive" dimension to our work. The active dimension involves positively reforming the institutional Church in whatever ways we can, given our state in life, our awareness of specific situations, our skills and capabilities, etc. The passive dimension involves a disposition of filial concern, not only for the veracity of sacred doctrine, but for the Church's "incorporation" itself.
And so, we have a responsibility to demand more from our bishops, to reject their stagnant committee-forming and policy-making. As members of the baptized, we have a duty to promote the truth of the Gospel, and to question short-sighted or wrong-headed plans when we see them. We even have the right to suggest, with charity, better avenues for picking our spiritual leaders, themselves. But none of this will work in the Church's favor, or in ours, if we don't also reflect deeply on the causes and affections of our faith in the first place. If we don't reject a self-help mentality that only glorifies "better" and "smarter."
We will never begin to understand the Church's sexual abuse crisis—or our own crisis of consciousness—if we don't first appropriate the same radical unity that animated the first Christians to begin building the magnificent culture, and the wonderful identity, we fear we're losing.
Andrew M. Haines is the editor and founder of Ethika Politika, and co-founder and chief operating officer at Fiat Insight.
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Underestimating Our Humanity
Mattias A. Caro
By Paying a Great Price
© 2020 Ethika Politika. All Rights Reserved.
Essential essays
Duc in Altum: Ratzinger's 'Ocean of Uncertainty' and Our Present Epistemological Crisis
Christ Delights in Me
Sexuality as Transcendence: An Interview with Fabrice Hadjadj
On the Unseen Racism
About Ethika Politika Submissions guidelines Editors
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EU-CIVCAP
Improving EU capabilities for peacebuilding
Consortium Structure
View all lessons
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Lesson 04: Standing resources
EU capabilities for conflict prevention and peacebuilding are highly contingent on possessing adequate resources to carry out certain tasks, whether in the form of physical/material or ideational/conceptual resources (including ICT/data). Some of these resources also may be viewed as permanent or standing capacities largely under the control of EU institutions (i.e., standing resources), while others are compiled on a case-by-case basis through contributions by EU member states and/or contracts (i.e., mission resources). EU-CIVCAP research has already identified several areas of opportunity here, beginning with the issue of standing resources.
As noted in other lessons, DL 2.1 found a delay in the EU’s implementation of the Goalkeeper system; if this issue is addressed it might help to improve the EU’s pool of standing staff resources for conflict prevention tasks (among other things).
In addition, DL 2.1 also noted that the EU might benefit from integrating data generated by simple (i.e., mobile phones) and more complex (drones, satellites, etc.) technologies within its early warning system and from providing a common picture and understanding of a conflict-related situation among the various actors operating in the conflict prevention and peacebuilding realm, given ICT’s function in generating, collecting, and sharing data. This finding was echoed by the research in DL 3.1 in two ways: 1) a need for the EU to reflect upon how new technologies such as ICT and Big Data could be added, in a sustainable manner, to the existing technological tools for early warning and conflict analysis; and 2) a need to assure that technological tools for early warning and conflict analysis are aligned with EU policies on conflict prevention and vice versa. DL 3.1 also found, more generally, that the EU would benefit from updating, mainstreaming, and coordinating various ICT/Big Data capacities and their use within different services dealing with conflict early warning and conflict analysis, in order to bridge gaps, improve interconnectivity, and avoid duplication. This would require investment, of course, but could help make the EU more cost-efficient in terms of deploying other resources when and where they would be most effective.
Similarly, DL 3.2 observed that the EEAS/Commission should make sure that SECPOL.2 and DEVCO B.7 are adequately resourced in terms of personnel and expertise, while any implementation plans for the EUGS should ensure that conflict prevention and peacebuilding is prioritised across all thematic areas and adequately resourced.
Finally, DL 4.1 found that funding for conflict prevention and peacebuilding activities could be moved from the operational CFSP budget to the administrative budget of the EEAS as necessary (such as to improve mission support services), while the EU should attempt to devise some form of standing civilian capacities (including administrative staff) for rapid deployment and its support, which would be especially useful during the early warning/conflict prevention/crisis response stages of a conflict. DL 4.1 also notes that various forms of this model have been used with success by the UN and the OSCE.
Make better use of ICT/data in conflict prevention activities and use/enhance standing CFSP budgetary resources more effectively.
Related Deliverables
DL 2.1: Procedures, Personnel and Technologies for Conflict Prevention and Peacebuilding: An Assessment of EU Member States’ Capabilities
Authors: De Zan, T., P. Tessari and B. Venturi
Institution: Istituto Affari Internazionali
[PDF, ~2.1MB; click to access]
DL 3.1: Report on Technological Shortcomings in Early Warning and Conflict Analysis
Authors: Berglund, J. and D. Bruckert
Institution: European Union Satellite Centre
DL 3.2: The EU’s Capabilities for Conflict Prevention
Authors: Davis, L., N. Habbida and A. Penfrat
Institution: European Peacebuilding Liaison Office
[PDF, ~1MB; click to access]
DL 4.1: Reacting to Conflict: Civilian Capabilities in the EU, UN and OSCE
Authors: Dijkstra, H., P. Petrov and E. Mahr
Institution: Maastricht University
Published: 2 November 2016
Lesson 02: Staff recruitment and selection
Lesson 09: Integrating new technologies I – Imagery & analysis
Lesson 10: Integrating new technologies II – Support & ICTs
Regions/countries: N/A
Institutions: EC EEAS UN OSCE
Policy phases: Planning Implementation
Conflict-cycle stages: Conflict prevention Crisis response Conflict management Conflict resolution & peacebuilding
Cross-cutting issues: Warning-response gap
Topics: Resources Technology
Back to the Catalogue of Lessons Identified
Previous Previous post: Lesson 03: Training
Next Next post: Lesson 06: Internal coordination
How can the EU better understand and improve civil-military synergies? November 30, 2018
Local ownership in EU local capacity building November 5, 2018
Coordination and coherence in EU local capacity building November 5, 2018
Post-Election Troubles in Bosnia: What Role for the EU? November 1, 2018
Civilian Capabilities for the Civilian Compact October 15, 2018
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© 2018 EU-CIVCAP Project
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no.: 653227. The content reflects only the authors’ views, and the European Commission is not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains.
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in articles on this website are those of the authors of those articles and do not necessarily reflect the position of EU-CIVCAP.
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LangEUR
Functional jackets
Pants (trousers)
Streetwear pants
Knit shorts
Sweatshirts, hoodies, sweaters
Casual underwear
Flip-flops, slides
Multisport gloves
Trekking socks
Ski boot covers
Total: 0,00EUR
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Department of Public Information Havana, Cuba39
United Nations Conference on Trade & Employment20
United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment16
I.C.I.T.O. : Executive Committee4
United Nations Conference on Trade Employment4
United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre4
United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre Geneva2
Department of Public Information Havana, Caba1
Department of public Information Havana, Cuba1
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GATT Publications[remove]48
United Nations Conference on Trade & Development1
You searched for: Collection GATT Publications Remove constraint Collection: GATT Publications Date Range 1948 Remove constraint Date Range: 1948 Date 1948 Remove constraint Date: 1948
1. 19th Plenary Meeting nine additional nations state views on Havana charter
19th Plenary Meeting nine additional nations state views on Havana charter.
Department of Public Information Havana, Cuba and United Nations Conference on Trade & Employment
United Nations Conference on Trade & Employment, March 23, 1948
Press Release ITO/215 and ITO/195-228
GATT Publications
2. 53 Nations sign final act, end of Conference
53 Nations sign final act, end of Conference.
3. Address by Licenciado Ramon Beteta, President of the Mexican Delegation, in the Closing Plenary Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade & Employment
Address by Licenciado Ramon Beteta, President of the Mexican Delegation, in the Closing Plenary Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade & Employment.
Press Release ITO/192 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
4. Address of Chief Canadian Delegate to the Final Plenary Session of United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment
Address of Chief Canadian Delegate to the Final Plenary Session of United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment.
5. Correction in speech by the Delegate from Haiti
Correction in speech by the Delegate from Haiti.
Press Release IT0/199/Corr.1 and ITO/195-228
6. Corrigendum in english translation of address by Mr. Walter Muller of Chile
Corrigendum in english translation of address by Mr. Walter Muller of Chile.
Press Release ITO/188/Corr.1 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
7. Corrigendum in text of speech by Delegtate of Brazil
Corrigendum in text of speech by Delegtate of Brazil.
Press Release ITO/214/Corr.1 and ITO/195-228
8. Corrigendum in text of speech of Dr. H. C. Coombs, Australia
Corrigendum in text of speech of Dr. H. C. Coombs, Australia.
Department of Public Information Havana, Cuba and United Nations Conference on Trade & Development
United Nations Conference on Trade & Development, March 23, 1948
9. Corrigendum in text of speech of Indian Delegate
Corrigendum in text of speech of Indian Delegate.
10. Executive Committee opens Second Session at Geneva
Executive Committee opens Second Session at Geneva.
Interim Commission : International Trade Organization and United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre Geneva
United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre Geneva, August 25, 1948
Press Release No.512 and PRESS RELEASE NO.420-628
11. Future Work Program Discussed Including ITO Site Recommendations
Future Work Program Discussed Including ITO Site Recommendations.
I.C.I.T.O. : Executive Committee and United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre
United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre, September 3, 1948
12. ICITO discontinues examination of Swiss Trade problem
ICITO discontinues examination of Swiss Trade problem.
United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre, September 30, 1948
13. Insert in text of speech by Dr. Wunz King, Chief Delegate of China
Insert in text of speech by Dr. Wunz King, Chief Delegate of China.
Press Release ITO/179/Add.1 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
14. Remarks of Ambassador Dana Wilgress, Chairman of the ICITO Executive Committee, at the Opening Session, August 25th, Geneva
Remarks of Ambassador Dana Wilgress, Chairman of the ICITO Executive Committee, at the Opening Session, August 25th, Geneva.
Interim Commission: International Trade Organization, Executive Committee, and United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre Geneva
15. Second Session Opens
Second Session Opens.
United Nations Office at Geneva Information Centre, August 25, 1948
16. Spech by the President of the Delegation for Peru at the final Plenary Metting
Spech by the President of the Delegation for Peru at the final Plenary Metting.
17. Speech by Dr. H. Coombs, head of the Australian Delegation before Final Plenary Session
Speech by Dr. H. Coombs, head of the Australian Delegation before Final Plenary Session.
18. Speech by Mr. A. B. Speekenbrink of the Netherlands Delegation at final act ceremony
Speech by Mr. A. B. Speekenbrink of the Netherlands Delegation at final act ceremony.
19. Speech by Mr. Carmelo La, rose of the Italian Delegation at the Final Plenary Session
Speech by Mr. Carmelo La, rose of the Italian Delegation at the Final Plenary Session.
Department of Public Information Havana, Caba and United Nations Conference on Trade & Employment
20. Speech by Mr. Guillermo Gutierrez Vea Murguia, Head of the Bolivian Delegation, before the Final Plenary Session
Speech by Mr. Guillermo Gutierrez Vea Murguia, Head of the Bolivian Delegation, before the Final Plenary Session.
Department of Public Information Havana, Cuba and United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment
United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment, March 22, 1948
21. Speech by South African Delegation at Closing Plenary Session
Speech by South African Delegation at Closing Plenary Session.
22. Speech by the Head of the Delagation of Venezuela before the final Plenery Session
Speech by the Head of the Delagation of Venezuela before the final Plenery Session.
23. Speech by the Head of the Delegation the Dominican Republic before the Final Plenary Session
Speech by the Head of the Delegation the Dominican Republic before the Final Plenary Session.
24. Speech delivered at the Seventeenth Plenary Meeting on behalf of the Delegation of Colombia by H. E. Dr. Fulgencio Lequerica Veles Minister of Colombia in Cuba, Delegate to the Conference ambassador extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentlary
Speech delivered at the Seventeenth Plenary Meeting on behalf of the Delegation of Colombia by H. E. Dr. Fulgencio Lequerica Veles Minister of Colombia in Cuba, Delegate to the Conference ambassador extraordinary and Minister Plenipotentlary.
25. Speech delivered by Mr. Gustavo Gutierrez, Acting Head of the Delegation of Cuba at the Plenary Session on 23 March 1948
Speech delivered by Mr. Gustavo Gutierrez, Acting Head of the Delegation of Cuba at the Plenary Session on 23 March 1948.
26. Speech delivered by Mr. J. Woulbrown, Delegate of Luxembourg, at the Final Plenary Session
Speech delivered by Mr. J. Woulbrown, Delegate of Luxembourg, at the Final Plenary Session.
27. Speech Delivered by Mr. P. Grousset, Minister of France, Head of the French Deligation at the Final Plenary Session
Speech Delivered by Mr. P. Grousset, Minister of France, Head of the French Deligation at the Final Plenary Session.
28. Speech Delivered by the Head of the Delecation of Ecuador, Mr. Frnesto Chiriboca, before the Plenary Session Held on 23 March 1948
Speech Delivered by the Head of the Delecation of Ecuador, Mr. Frnesto Chiriboca, before the Plenary Session Held on 23 March 1948.
29. Speech delivered by the Head of the Delegation of El Salvador
Speech delivered by the Head of the Delegation of El Salvador.
30. Speech made by Mr. Angelo Arturo Rivera, Minister Plenipotentiary and head of the Delegation of Guatemala, at the final Plenary Session
Speech made by Mr. Angelo Arturo Rivera, Minister Plenipotentiary and head of the Delegation of Guatemala, at the final Plenary Session.
Prees Release ITO/203 and ITO/195-228
31. Speech of the Cuban Minister of State Dr. Rafael P. Gonzalez Munoz
Speech of the Cuban Minister of State Dr. Rafael P. Gonzalez Munoz.
32. Speech to be Delivered by Mr. Ariosto D. Gonzalez at the Final Plenary Session, on behalf of the Uruguayan Delegation to the Conference on Trade and Employment at Havana
Speech to be Delivered by Mr. Ariosto D. Gonzalez at the Final Plenary Session, on behalf of the Uruguayan Delegation to the Conference on Trade and Employment at Havana.
33. Speech to be Delivered by Mr. Walter Muller, President of the Delecation of Chlle to the Conference on Trade and Employment, Havana, Cuba
Speech to be Delivered by Mr. Walter Muller, President of the Delecation of Chlle to the Conference on Trade and Employment, Havana, Cuba.
34. Speech to be Delivered by Sardar H.S. Malik, Leader of the Indian Delegation, at the Flnal Plenary Session
Speech to be Delivered by Sardar H.S. Malik, Leader of the Indian Delegation, at the Flnal Plenary Session.
Department of public Information Havana, Cuba and United Nations Conference on Trade Employment
United Nations Conference on Trade Employment, March 19, 1948
ITO/178 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
35. Speech to be delivered by the Chief Delegate of China at the closing session of the Havana Conference
Speech to be delivered by the Chief Delegate of China at the closing session of the Havana Conference.
36. Statement by Dr. Urbano A. Zafra acting Chairman, Philippine Delegation, before the Plenary Session
Statement by Dr. Urbano A. Zafra acting Chairman, Philippine Delegation, before the Plenary Session.
Press Release ITO/l84 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
37. Statement by Rt. Hon -Walter Nash, Delegate for New Zealand
Statement by Rt. Hon -Walter Nash, Delegate for New Zealand.
38. Statement by the Honorable William L. Clayton, Chairman Delegation of the United States of America
Statement by the Honorable William L. Clayton, Chairman Delegation of the United States of America.
Press Release ITO-194 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
39. Statement by Trygve Lie, the Secretary-General of the United Nations to be read by Mr. David Owen on the occasion of the signing of the charter of the International Trade Organization at Havana, Cuba on March 24, 1948
Statement by Trygve Lie, the Secretary-General of the United Nations to be read by Mr. David Owen on the occasion of the signing of the charter of the International Trade Organization at Havana, Cuba on March 24, 1948.
40. Statment by Mr. S. L. Holmes for the United Kingdom Delegation before the Final Plemary Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment on 23 March 1948
Statment by Mr. S. L. Holmes for the United Kingdom Delegation before the Final Plemary Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Employment on 23 March 1948.
ITC/198 and ITO/195-228
41. Swiss Problem discussed
Swiss Problem discussed.
42. Text of Address by Mr. Morrisseau Leroy, Head of the Delegation of Haiti, in Plenary Meeting
Text of Address by Mr. Morrisseau Leroy, Head of the Delegation of Haiti, in Plenary Meeting.
43. Text of speech by Mr. Sergic I. Clark of Cuba, Conference President, at final act ceremony
Text of speech by Mr. Sergic I. Clark of Cuba, Conference President, at final act ceremony.
44. Text of speech to be delivered by the Delegate of Brazil at the Closing Session
Text of speech to be delivered by the Delegate of Brazil at the Closing Session.
45. The following changes to press release ITO/211 - Mr. P. Grousset's speech - were requested by the French Delegation
The following changes to press release ITO/211 - Mr. P. Grousset's speech - were requested by the French Delegation.
PRESS RELEASE ITO/211/Add.1 and ITO/195-228
46. The following corrections to DOC ITO/208 had been requested by the Delegate of Luxemburg. Mr. J. Woulbrown
The following corrections to DOC ITO/208 had been requested by the Delegate of Luxemburg. Mr. J. Woulbrown.
ITO/208/Corr.1 and ITO/195-228
47. The following corrections to ITO/178 ( Sardar H. S. Malik's speech) have been requested by the India
The following corrections to ITO/178 ( Sardar H. S. Malik's speech) have been requested by the India.
ITO/178/Corr.2 and ITO/73-194/CORR. 1
48. United Nations ITO Interim Commission established at Geneva
United Nations ITO Interim Commission established at Geneva.
European Office of the United Nations Information Centre Geneva
European Office of the United Nations Information Centre Geneva, August 11, 1948
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Diane Boumenot
Diane MacLean Boumenot specializes in southern New England genealogy research, including work on her own ancestors, who were among the original settlers of Massachusetts and Rhode Island. She publishes her genealogy adventures on her website, One Rhode Island Family. In 2018 she co-authored, with Maureen Taylor, the National Genealogical Society's NGS Research in the States volume, Research in Rhode Island. Additionally, Diane has a long career in association management and believes strongly in the powerful combination of organizations and members pursuing their passion. She holds a B.A. in American History and English from Wesleyan University. Diane is also a graduate of ProGen 28.
Top Genealogy Destinations in Rhode Island
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Finding Your Colonial Rhode Island Ancestors
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School of Fashion
The Power of Collaboration
WWD New Designer Spotlight: Jacqueline Rabot, BFA Fashion Design’2012
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180 Magazine Issue 8 is Now Available!
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Press Releases & News Announcements
School of Fashion Annual Portfolio Review, Graduation Fashion Show and Awards Ceremony
Academy of Art University Spring 2019 & Fall 2019 Menswear and Womenswear Collections
Academy of Art University at New York Fashion Week SS2019 Pre-Show Press Release
What’s up Quoc?
School of Fashion July 27, 2009
Quoc Lieu graduated in 2000 with a BFA in Knitwear Design, but instead of knitting his way to the top, he decided to go on a different route: jewelry.
“Jewelry has always been a passion of mine,” says Lieu, who currently resides in Brooklyn. “I started making jewelry when I was in High School and have kept at it since. Even though I was studying knitwear, I always tried to incorporate the two together. In some ways I look at knitwear the same way as jewelry. They both take a lot of time and patience, but the reward is fantastic.”
With prismatic, three-dimensional charm, his jewelry maintains a style that straddles the line of sci-fi and avant garde. But from any angle, his structurally sound rings, necklaces and pendants fashioned out of giraffes and matchsticks have an unmatchable personality that would probably entice unconventional minds – perhaps someone by the name of Lady Gaga? I mean, she’s already worn a chic space age shoulder piece by Mike Feeney. Why should she stop there?
Nonetheless, Ashley Johnson (Academy of Art University student and 180 magazine contributor) had a chance to catch up with Lieu.
What is your creative process when you’re creating your pieces?
There really isn’t a specific process that I go through in creating my jewelry. If I get inspired by something, then I either try and work it out in my head or draw it out on paper. I hate drawing, so most of the time I work it out in my head and then go straight to work on metal. It sometimes comes out the way I imagined. Sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s how you come up with new things.
Lieu’s 3-D diamonds
Where have you found inspiration lately?
Moroccan tiles. The patterns they create are amazing.
What’s your favorite thing about New York City?
The energy. There’s always so much going on. Whatever you’re looking for there’s something going on for everyone: art, food, wine, clubs, communities – you never get bored!
What about San Francisco?
The calmness. I always say it’s a place to retire to – not that I’m saying it’s for old people or anything (but) it’s such a beautiful city that I can see myself growing old there.
What was your favorite thing about the School of Fashion?
Working late nights in the sewing, textile and knitwear labs. That’s when the most fun and the real creativity starts.
Do you have any advice for a graduate wanting to start their own company?
Always remember what your passions are and never give up.
For more info on Quoc Lieu and his jewelry, visit www.quoclieu.com
· October 28, 2019
· September 27, 2019
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ST Telemedia Global Data Centres named 2019 Singapore Data Center Service Provider of the Year by Frost & Sullivan
SINGAPORE, Nov. 15, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- ST Telemedia Global Data Centres is named 2019 Singapore Data Center Service Provider of the Year by Frost & Sullivan at the annual Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Best Practices Awards banquet in Singapore on 14 November 2019.
Frost & Sullivan recognises that ST Telemedia Global Data Centres successfully aligned its value proposition to address the growing data centre demand in Singapore from multiple customer segments, including cloud service providers, government, and enterprises.
Nishchal Khorana, Director, ICT at Frost & Sullivan noted that ST Telemedia Global Data Centres adheres to both local and international standards, such as the TVRA in Singapore and PCI DSS internationally, to cater to segment-specific needs and create sustainable customer value.
"ST Telemedia Global Data Centres has successfully aligned its value proposition to address the growing data center demand in Singapore from multiple customer segments, including cloud service providers, government, and enterprises. This includes adherence to both local and international standards, such as the TVRA in Singapore and PCI DSS internationally, to cater to segment-specific needs and create sustainable customer value," said Nishchal Khorana, Director, ICT of Frost & Sullivan.
"Its recent announcement to build its largest hyperscale data center facility in Singapore (STT Loyang) with an IT load capacity of over 30MW supported by investments in innovation and sustainable development to drive efficiency across design and build, further underscore the strong market focus of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres. The company continues to strengthen its capabilities via its investor operator model and strategic partnerships, accelerating its value within the data center space," he added.
"This is a truly remarkable recognition of us as the 2019 Singapore Data Center Service Provider of the Year by Frost and Sullivan, one of the most respected analysts globally. This is a strong testament to our firm commitment in delivering service and operational excellence, and such achievement would not have been possible without our people as the key driving force behind the success of our business," said Clement Goh, Chief Executive Officer, Southeast Asia of ST Telemedia Global Data Centres.
The recipients of the annual Frost & Sullivan Asia-Pacific Best Practice Awards were identified based on in-depth research conducted by Frost & Sullivan's analysts. The award categories offered each year are carefully reviewed and evaluated to reflect the current market landscape and include new emerging trends. The short-listed companies were evaluated on a variety of actual market performance indicators which include revenue growth; market share and growth in market share; leadership in product innovation; marketing strategy and business development strategy.
About ST Telemedia Global Data Centres
ST Telemedia Global Data Centres is a leading data centre provider headquartered in Singapore. With a global platform of data centres in the world's major business markets of over 90 facilities across Singapore, China, India, Thailand and the UK, STT GDC offers a full suite of best-in-class, highly scalable and flexible data centre solutions, connectivity and support services that best meet customers' current and future colocation needs.
Frost & Sullivan, the Growth Partnership Company, works in collaboration with clients to leverage visionary innovation that addresses the global challenges and related growth opportunities that will make or break today's market participants.
For more than 50 years, we have been developing growth strategies for the global 1000, emerging businesses, the public sector and the investment community. Is your organization prepared for the next profound wave of industry convergence, disruptive technologies, increasing competitive intensity, Mega Trends, breakthrough best practices, changing customer dynamics and emerging economies?
Corporate Communications, Asia Pacific
E: melissa.tan@frost.com
Source: Frost & Sullivan
http://www.frost.com
Keywords: Computer Hardware Computer/Electronics Telecommunications Telecommunications Equipment
ZTE and MTN launch the first 5G SA network in East Africa
5G: Striving for Sustainable Growth amid Expectations
Allegro DVT Unveils the Industry's First VVC Compliance Test Bitstreams
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Home Breaking News MPM Specialist Vehicles appointed Broshuis sales partner in Ireland
MPM Specialist Vehicles appointed Broshuis sales partner in Ireland
Hillsborough, County Down-based MPM Specialist Vehicles has been appointed as the exclusive all-Ireland dealer for the renowned range of Broshuis trailers. It’s the first time the Netherlands manufacturer will have a permanent presence in Ireland.
With more than 130 years’ experience in the industry, Broshuis is the oldest manufacturer of semi-trailers for special transport, and like MPM Specialist Vehicles, it is a family run customer-focused business.
“We are delighted to add the Broshuis name to our growing portfolio of leading brand specialist equipment,” said MPM Specialist Vehicle’s Managing Director Mark McCluskey. “We have a big product range, from shunter trucks to specialist industrial trailers and fuel storage tanks, but the only thing missing was a specialist heavy duty semi-trailer range, and with Broshuis we have been able to fill that gap.”
Broshuis has a long-established UK operation which is headquartered at Oakham in Leicestershire, and this increased focus on developing and supporting the Irish market will certainly be well received. “We believe the range has great potential in both the north and south of Ireland and we look forward to helping Broshuis increase their market share in this specialist trailer sector. The Broshuis name is highly regarded in the industry, as are their innovative products,” added Mark.
Commenting on the appointment, Broshuis Director Marcus England said: “We have great confidence in the future in Ireland. MPM Specialist Vehicles is a well-respected and reputable company, with an in depth knowledge of the industry, and enjoys the same family values and quality standards as ourselves, so it was an easy decision to collaborate.”
With its head office based in Hillsborough just off the main A1 dual carriageway to Dublin, MPM Specialist Vehicles will be offering the complete Broshuis range, supported by a comprehensive aftersales service, across the island of Ireland.
With over 130 years of expertise, Broshuis continues to lead the way in specialist trailer innovation, with its extensive portfolio of trailers for the heavy haulage sector. With the introduction of such products as the SL-AIR, and the new generation SL2 alongside more recent innovations from Broshuis such as the PL2 HD, a new generation of pendular axle, they are able to allow users to choose the axle which best suits their requirements and budget.
MPM Specialist Vehicles is currently building up its stock of Broshuis trailers to ensure good availability: “We see this new partnership as a great opportunity to further grow our business throughout Ireland and we look forward to developing a successful and lasting relationship with the manufacturer whose products perfectly complement our own specialist equipment offering,” concluded Mark.
Numerous key model launches at CV Show 2019 – Future under...
Clean Ireland Recycling opens CNG refuelling station
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Find the best flight offers from Belfast to Manila
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AES (AES) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know
Zacks January 9, 2020
In the latest trading session, AES (AES) closed at $20.26, marking a +1% move from the previous day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.67%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.74%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.81%.
Coming into today, shares of the power company had gained 6.08% in the past month. In that same time, the Utilities sector gained 1.73%, while the S&P 500 gained 3.55%.
AES will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect AES to post earnings of $0.38 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 5.56%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $2.86 billion, up 9.16% from the prior-year quarter.
Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for AES. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.
The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 1.39% higher. AES currently has a Zacks Rank of #1 (Strong Buy).
Digging into valuation, AES currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 13.74. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 19.22, which means AES is trading at a discount to the group.
Meanwhile, AES's PEG ratio is currently 1.51. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. AES's industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.67 as of yesterday's close.
The Utility - Electric Power industry is part of the Utilities sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 160, putting it in the bottom 38% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
To follow AES in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
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To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
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Axogen to Participate at AAHS ASPN ASRM 2020 Annual Meetings
GlobeNewswire January 2, 2020
Clinical evidence supporting the company’s platform for nerve repair will be featured in several presentations during the scientific sessions
ALACHUA, Fla., Jan. 02, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Axogen, Inc. (AXGN), a global leader in developing and marketing innovative surgical solutions for damage or transection to peripheral nerves, today announced its participation at the combined 2020 meetings of the American Association for Hand Surgery (AAHS), American Society for Peripheral Nerve (ASPN), and the American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery (ASRM). The meetings will take place in Ft. Lauderdale, FL from January 8-14, 2020. The annual combined meetings bring together hand and reconstructive microsurgeons to learn about emerging clinical evidence and surgical techniques in a peer-to-peer setting.
Axogen will host an educational symposium, “Nerve Repair 2020”, on Thursday, January 9, 2020 at 1:00 p.m. ET. The symposium will feature an interactive, evidence-based panel discussion on which nerve repair procedures and techniques should be taken into the new decade. A faculty panel of renowned surgeons will review the techniques and procedures they have incorporated into their practice, techniques and procedures that are still evolving, and others that are getting left behind. The panelists will use clinical cases to demonstrate the most common reasons for nerve repair failures and reveal the techniques and algorithms helping them to achieve more consistent meaningful outcomes. The symposium will leverage interactive polling to allow participants to engage in the program and generate discussion topics.
“Our technologies, techniques, and clinical studies will be highlighted throughout these scientific meetings and we believe this indicates an increasing recognition of our platform for nerve repair,” said Karen Zaderej, chairman, CEO, and president. “We look forward to talking with attending surgeons about how we can work together to further revolutionize the science of nerve repair.”
By visiting Booth #T14 in the exhibit hall, conference attendees can learn more about Axogen’s platform for nerve repair, participate in a hands-on demonstration with a microsurgery expert, and discuss any of the 105 peer-reviewed clinical publications featuring Axogen’s product portfolio.
About AAHS
The American Association for Hand Surgery represents a diverse but cohesive mix of highly respected professionals working in all disciplines of hand surgery and hand therapy. Members include orthopedic surgeons, plastic surgeons, general surgeons, microsurgeons, hand therapists, nurses, and basic scientists from the United States, Canada, and many other countries. For more information, please visit: www.handsurgery.org.
About ASPN
The American Society for Peripheral Nerve was established to stimulate and encourage study and research in the field of neural regeneration, to provide a forum for the presentation of the latest research and relevant clinical information and to serve as a unifying authority on all areas of neural regeneration and restorative neuroscience. For more information, please visit: www.peripheralnerve.org.
About ASRM
The American Society for Reconstructive Microsurgery was established to promote, encourage, foster, and advance the art and science of microsurgery and complex reconstruction and to establish a forum for teaching, research and free discussion of reconstructive microsurgical methods and principles. For more information, please visit: www.microsurg.org.
About Axogen
Axogen (AXGN) is the leading company focused specifically on the science, development and commercialization of technologies for peripheral nerve regeneration and repair. We are passionate about helping to restore peripheral nerve function and quality of life to patients with physical damage or transection to peripheral nerves by providing innovative, clinically proven and economically effective repair solutions for surgeons and health care providers. Peripheral nerves provide the pathways for both motor and sensory signals throughout the body. Every day, people suffer traumatic injuries or undergo surgical procedures that impact the function of their peripheral nerves. Physical damage to a peripheral nerve, or the inability to properly reconnect peripheral nerves, can result in the loss of muscle or organ function, the loss of sensory feeling, or the initiation of pain.
Axogen's platform for peripheral nerve repair features a comprehensive portfolio of products, including Avance® Nerve Graft, a biologically active off-the-shelf processed human nerve allograft for bridging severed peripheral nerves without the comorbidities associated with a second surgical site; Axoguard® Nerve Connector, a porcine submucosa extracellular matrix (ECM) coaptation aid for tensionless repair of severed peripheral nerves; Axoguard® Nerve Protector, a porcine submucosa ECM product used to wrap and protect damaged peripheral nerves and reinforce the nerve reconstruction while preventing soft tissue attachments; and Avive® Soft Tissue Membrane, a processed human umbilical cord intended for surgical use as a resorbable soft tissue barrier. The Axogen portfolio of products is available in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, and several other European and international countries.
Axogen, Inc.
Peter Mariani, Chief Financial Officer
InvestorRelations@axogeninc.com
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U.S. Markets close in 7 mins
Doré Copper Options the High-Grade Joe Mann Gold Mine in Québec
CNW Group January 2, 2020
TORONTO , Jan. 2, 2020 /CNW/ - Doré Copper Mining Corp. (the "Corporation" or "Doré Copper") (DCMC.V) is pleased to announce that it has entered into an option agreement to acquire a 100% interest in the Joe Mann gold mine ("Joe Mann") located in Québec. The mine is located approximately 50 km from the Corporation's Copper Rand mill, where mineralized material from Joe Mann was processed from 2004 until its closure in 2007, and is accessible by all season roads. Joe Mann has been privately held since 2008. The Corporation does not currently consider Joe Mann to be a material property for the purposes of National Instrument 43-101.
Production of 1.173 million ounces of gold at a grade of 8.26 g/t Au, 607,000 ounces of silver at 5 g/t Ag and 28.7 million pounds of copper at 0.25% Cu (Source: Technical Report on the Joe Mann Mining Property dated January 11, 2016 , prepared by Geologica Inc.).
Mineralization remains strong and persistent at depth with Hole EE-189B intersecting 26.66 g/t Au over 1.8 m and Hole EE-188 intersecting 30.3 g/t Au and 1.3% Cu over 3.02 m extending the Main Zone 170 meters down dip.
The more recently discovered West Zone, a potential structural off-set that allows much thicker, higher-grade veins to form, remains open and is a high priority exploration target with historic intercepts including 2.44 m @ 24.62 g/t Au, 3.93 m @ 31.54 g/t Au, 2.62 m @ 24.28 g/t Au and 3.2 m @ 16.1 g/t Au.
Exploration potential remains excellent including new parallel zones identified by recent surface prospecting work that lie just several hundred meters to the south of the main mine.
Significant infrastructure in place including power and a shaft down to the 1,145-meter level.
Ernest Mast , President and CEO of Doré Copper commented, "Joe Mann was closed during a period of low gold prices. This is a rare opportunity to secure a significant high-grade gold underground asset that remains open at depth and along strike with numerous high priority exploration targets. An exploration program at Joe Mann will focus on the significant potential to extend high-grade mineralization at depth as well as defining new zones of mineralization, all accessible from the 3,775-foot shaft (see Figure 1). We believe Joe Mann may demonstrate similar potential to Wesdome's Eagle River , Alamos' Island Gold or Kirkland Lake's Macassa mine where the high-grade gold deposits not only continue at depth but with improved grades while yielding new discoveries. Joe Mann fits into our exploration and development plans, adding another high-grade gold-copper project to our portfolio to leverage our strategically located mill."
Figure 1: Long Section. Mineralization remains open in all directions and has not been mined below the 3,450-ft level. Blue and red are the two parallel vein zones at Joe Mann. (CNW Group/Doré Copper Mining Corp.)
Joe Mann Property
Joe Mann operated for 27 of the years between 1956 and 2007, with mineralized material processed at an onsite mill, the Principale mill, and Doré Copper's Copper Rand mill.
Joe Mann consists of 55 mineral titles comprising 1,990.2 hectares of land. Doré Copper already owns 22 claims in the Joe Mann area via its 100% owned subsidiary CBAY Minerals Inc. Four of the 22 claims were recently acquired and are currently being transferred to CBAY Minerals Inc.
Joe Mann is characterized by E-W striking shear hosted veins that extend beyond 1,000 m vertically with mineralization identified over 3 km in strike. Gold mineralization at Joe Mann occurs within deformed quartz-sulphide veins hosted in high strain shear zones affecting mafic intrusions and felsic volcanic rocks metamorphosed to lower-amphibolite assemblages.
Substantial infrastructure remains at Joe Mann with the shaft down to the 3,775-foot level (1,145 meters). Significant potential remains at Joe Mann to extend the mineralization at depth and along strike, including the West Zone and potential new zones to the North and South. Thick, high-grade gold mineralization was encountered at depth between the 2750 level and the 3450 level (see Figure 2). In 2007-2008, after the mine closed, three holes were drilled from underground to test the depth extensions of the mine approximately 170 m below the lowest level (3,450 ft below surface). Hole EE-189B intersected the Main Zone and returned 26.66 g/t Au over 1.8 m and 14.72 g/t Au over 1.2 m . Hole EE-188 intersected the Main Zone, 30.3 g/t Au and 1.3% Cu over 3.02 m and the South Zone, 9.23 g/t Au over 0.91 m . One of the holes did not reach the Main Zone. These drill holes show that the mineralization is still strong and persistent down dip with excellent potential along the entire untested strike at depth. These holes represent the latest drilling results on the property.
Figure 2: Long section of the Joe Mann mine and isometric interpretation from Campbell Resources Inc. The intercepts in the upper diagram have been mined, however the intercepts display the thick, high-grade shoots that exist at Joe Mann. (CNW Group/Doré Copper Mining Corp.)
The plunge of the mineralized body is to the east, with the West Zone being one of the most promising areas of upside potential for thick high-grade mineralization because of the limited amount of drilling and exploration done in that area historically down dip/plunge of the known mineralization. The West Zone might be an area of structural off-set (jog) that allows a much thicker, higher-grade vein to form, with more drilling and study required to confirm. Historic intercepts include: 2.44 m @ 24.62 g/t Au, 3.93 m @ 31.54 g/t Au and 2.62 m @ 24.28 g/t Au (mined) and 5.0 m at 10.3 g/t Au, 3.2 m @ 16.1 g/t Au and 3.3 m @ 10.4 g/t Au (unmined).
New parallel zones have been identified by recent surface prospecting work that lie just several hundred meters to the south of the main mine.
A high-grade core was identified from the 2750 level down to the 3450 level including 18.4 g/t Au over 7.5 meters (0.537 oz/t over 24.6 feet) and 9.70 g/t Au over 18.1 meters (0.283 oz/t over 45.3 feet). The drill holes from 2007 to 2008 intersected the vein 170 m below the lowest level shown and indicated that the high-grade mineralization continues down dip. The shaft that was deepened in 2001 goes to a depth of 1,145 meters.
In 2017 a high resolution airborne magnetic survey was completed and several magnetic anomalies of moderate to strong amplitudes were identified. In addition to Joe Mann being open along strike and at depth, Joe Mann was poorly explored to the south, and the magnetic survey has identified numerous high-priority exploration targets at Joe Mann.
Figure 3: Plan view image of the magnetic anomaly map with new exploration targets to the south and south-west of the Joe Mann mine. From Lac Norhart West (Joe Mann Property) NTS 32G/08 Québec, MRB & Associates, November 30, 2018. John Langton (M.Sc. P. Geo.) (CNW Group/Doré Copper Mining Corp.)
Terms of Option Agreement
The Corporation has entered into an option agreement with the owners of Joe Mann, Ressources Jessie Inc. ("Ressources Jessie") and Legault Metals Inc. ("Legault"), to acquire a 100% interest in Joe Mann on the following terms:
A cash payment of $1,000,000 to Ressources Jessie and 400,000 common shares of Doré Copper ("Doré Copper Shares") to be issued to Legault at a deemed price of $1.25 per share on the effective date of the option agreement ("Effective Date").
A cash payment of $250,000 to Ressources Jessie and $500,000 in Doré Copper Shares to be issued to Legault on the first anniversary of the Effective Date.
A cash payment of $1,000,000 to Ressources Jessie upon completion of 5,000 meters of drilling at Joe Mann or on the earlier of the second anniversary of the Effective Date or 18 months from the commencement of drilling.
A cash payment of $500,000 to Ressources Jessie and $500,000 in Doré Copper Shares to be issued to Legault on the second anniversary of the Effective Date.
A cash payment of $1,500,000 to Ressources Jessie and $1,000,000 in Doré Copper Shares to be issued to Legault on the third anniversary of the Effective Date.
Spending $2,500,000 in qualifying exploration expenditures before the third anniversary of the Effective Date.
A cash payment of $1,000,000 to Ressources Jessie and $1,500,000 in Doré Copper Shares to be issued to Legault upon the commencement of commercial production at Joe Mann.
A 2% net smelter return royalty will be granted to Ressources Jessie and the Corporation will hold the option to buy back 1% for $2,000,000 and buy back a further 0.5% for $4,000,000 .
The terms and conditions of the option agreement are subject to approval from applicable regulatory authorities, including the TSX Venture Exchange.
The historical technical information disclosed in this news release about Joe Mann was taken from the Technical Report on the Joe Mann Mining Property dated January 11, 2016 , prepared by Geologica Inc., Alain-Jean Beauregard , P. Geo, OGQ.
Andrey Rinta , P.Geo., the Exploration Manager of the Corporation and a "Qualified Person" within the meaning of National Instrument 43-101, has reviewed and approved the technical information contained in this news release.
About Doré Copper Mining Corp.
Doré Copper is engaged in the acquisition, exploration and evaluation of mineral properties. Doré Copper completed a qualifying transaction on December 13, 2019 establishing itself as a copper – gold explorer and developer in the Chibougamau area of Québec, Canada . Doré Copper, through its wholly-owned subsidiary CBAY Minerals Inc., holds a 100% interest in the exploration-stage Corner Bay Project and the exploration-stage Cedar Bay Project, both located in the vicinity of Chibougamau , Québec, as well as the 2,700-tpd Copper Rand mill. Doré Copper has an option to earn a 100% interest in the Joe Mann property.
For further information regarding Doré Copper, please visit the Corporation's website at www.dorecopper.com or refer to Doré Copper's SEDAR filings at www.sedar.com.
This news release includes certain "forward-looking statements" under applicable Canadian securities legislation. Forward-looking statements include predictions, projections and forecasts and are often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as "seek", "anticipate", "believe", "plan", "estimate", "forecast", "expect", "potential", "project", "target", "schedule", "budget" and "intend" and statements that an event or result "may", "will", "should", "could" or "might" occur or be achieved and other similar expressions and includes the negatives thereof. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this release, including, without limitation, statements regarding the timing and ability of the Corporation to receive necessary regulatory approvals, and the plans, operations and prospects of the Corporation and its properties are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are necessarily based upon a number of estimates and assumptions that, while considered reasonable, are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors which may cause actual results and future events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Such factors include, but are not limited to, actual exploration results, changes in project parameters as plans continue to be refined, future metal prices, availability of capital and financing on acceptable terms, general economic, market or business conditions, uninsured risks, regulatory changes, delays or inability to receive required regulatory approvals, and other exploration or other risks detailed herein and from time to time in the filings made by the Corporation with securities regulators. Although the Corporation has attempted to identify important factors that could cause actual actions, events or results to differ from those described in forward-looking statements, there may be other factors that cause such actions, events or results to differ materially from those anticipated. There can be no assurance that such statements will prove to be accurate, as actual results and future events could differ materially from those anticipated in such statements. Accordingly, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. The Corporation disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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 news release.
SOURCE Doré Copper Mining Corp.
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Edited Transcript of ORLY earnings conference call or presentation 25-Jul-19 3:00pm GMT
Thomson Reuters StreetEvents July 27, 2019
Q2 2019 O'Reilly Automotive Inc Earnings Call
SPRINGFIELD Jul 27, 2019 (Thomson StreetEvents) -- Edited Transcript of O'Reilly Automotive Inc earnings conference call or presentation Thursday, July 25, 2019 at 3:00:00pm GMT
TEXT version of Transcript
Corporate Participants
* Gregory D. Johnson
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Co-President & CEO
* Jeff M. Shaw
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Co-President & COO
* Thomas G. McFall
O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Executive VP & CFO
* Bret David Jordan
Jefferies LLC, Research Division - Equity Analyst
* Christopher James Bottiglieri
Wolfe Research, LLC - Research Analyst
* Christopher Michael Horvers
JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Senior Analyst
* Daniel Robert Imbro
Stephens Inc., Research Division - Research Analyst
* David Leonard Bellinger
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division - Associate
* Katharine Amanda McShane
Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division - Equity Analyst
* Michael Lasser
UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - MD and Equity Research Analyst of Consumer Hardlines
* Seth Ian Sigman
Crédit Suisse AG, Research Division - United States Hardline Retail Equity Research Analyst
* Seth Mckain Basham
Wedbush Securities Inc., Research Division - MD Of Equity Research
* Simeon Ari Gutman
Morgan Stanley, Research Division - Executive Director
* Zachary Robert Fadem
Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - Senior Analyst
Operator [1]
Good morning, and welcome to the O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Brandon, and I'll be your operator for today. (Operator Instructions)
I will now turn the call over to Mr. McFall. You may begin, sir.
Thomas G. McFall, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Executive VP & CFO [2]
Thank you, Brandon. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us. During today's conference call, we'll discuss our second quarter 2019 results and our outlook for the third quarter and full year of 2019. After our prepared comments, we'll host a question-and-answer period.
Before we begin this morning, I'd like to remind everyone that our comments today contain forward-looking statements, and we intend to be covered by and we claim the protection under the safe harbor provisions for forward-looking statements contained in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. You can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as estimate, may, could, will, believe, expect, would, consider, should, anticipate, project, plan, intend or similar words. The company's actual results could differ materially from any forward-looking statements due to several important factors described in the company's latest annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2018, and other recent SEC filings. The company assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements made during this call.
At this time, I'd like to introduce Greg Johnson.
Gregory D. Johnson, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Co-President & CEO [3]
Thanks, Tom. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the O'Reilly Auto Parts second quarter conference call. Participating on the call with me this morning are Jeff Shaw, our Chief Operating Officer and Co-President; and Tom McFall, our Chief Financial Officer. David O'Reilly, our Executive Chairman, is also present.
I'd like to begin our call today thanking Team O'Reilly for their continued dedication to providing the excellent service that earns our customers' business every day. Our team remains relentlessly committed to our customers and the growth of the O'Reilly brand in all of our markets.
In the second quarter, we generated a 3.4 comparable store sales growth as our core underlying business was very solid. However, we faced some adverse weather headwinds during the quarter, which resulted in comparable store sales coming in towards the bottom end of our guidance range. We saw a strong start to our quarter in April but experienced unseasonably cool and rainy weather in many of our markets as we moved through the quarter, which significantly impacted the demand we typically see in seasonal peak season categories.
As we called out in our press release yesterday, the significant precipitation we have seen thus far in 2019 has also delayed new store construction and pushed back our anticipated new store opening schedule, which Jeff will discuss in his prepared comments. The combination of these top line pressures, coupled with continued headwinds in SG&A expenses from an inflationary cost environment, resulted in our second quarter earnings per share performance of $4.51, falling below our guided range of $4.55 to $4.65. We are not pleased whenever our actual results fall short of our expectations, but remain confident in the drivers of underlying demand in the automotive aftermarket and in the ability of our team to outperform our competition and grow market share.
Now I'd like to provide some additional color on the composition of our second quarter comparable store sales results. Both the DIY and professional sides of our business contributed positively to our comp growth in the second quarter, with professional again being the stronger contributor. In aggregate, comparable store sales gains continued to be driven by increased average ticket as a result of continued increasing parts complexity and inflation. Comparable ticket counts for the quarter were flat with solid growth on the professional side offset by a pressure to the DIY ticket counts, consistent with our recent trends as customers on this side of the business remain more susceptible to rising prices.
On a year-over-year basis, we experienced product acquisition inflation driven by tariffs and other input cost increases passed on from our suppliers. As has been the historical practice in our industry, these acquisition cost increases have been rationally passed through to increase pricing.
During mid-June, the additional round of 15% tariffs went into effect, and we anticipate the related acquisition price increases will be passed along in selling price. However, we expect the incremental benefit in same SKU pricing will likely be offset by pressure to ticket counts and good, better, best product mix headwinds.
Next, I would like to provide some additional details on category performance and the cadence of our comparable store sales growth during the second quarter. As I previously mentioned, the quarter started off well but demand slowed as we moved into May and June. Typically, we see a seasonal increase during these months in heat-related categories such as air conditioning and refrigerants. However, with the unseasonably cool and rainy weather in many of our markets in May and June, we experienced sluggish demands in these categories. Excluding the headwinds we saw on these categories, we saw -- we continued to see solid demand in both sides of our business, in line with our expectations, and are pleased with the performance of key under car hard part categories, including brakes, ride control and chassis. We continued to have a positive outlook on the strength of our industry, including positive trends in core underlying demand drivers, steadily increasing miles driven and increasing age and complexity of vehicles. While weather conditions can cause short-term volatility in our business, our team remains focused on providing the best possible service to our customers every day in all of our markets, and this consistency in execution drives our ability to take share in all market conditions.
With more normal summer weather we have experienced thus far in the quarter, we're off to a solid start in the third quarter and are establishing our third quarter comparable store sales guidance in 3% to 5%. Based on the first half performance and our unchanged expectations for the demand conditions in our industry, we are maintaining our full year comparable store sales guidance of 3% to 5%.
For the quarter, our gross margin of 52.8% was a 36 basis point improvement over second quarter 2018 margin and in line with our full year gross margin guidance.
During the quarter, our slower-than-anticipated seasonal sales resulted in a mixed benefit to gross margin percentage, and the year-over-year stability in gross margin highlights our industry's ability to pass along acquisition price increases. For the year, we're leaving our full year gross margin guidance unchanged at 52.7% to 53.2% of sales. Although based on year-to-date results and second half expectations, we now expect to be above the midpoint.
Our operating profit dollar growth was 4% for the second quarter and 4.5% for the first half of 2019, and we continue to expect our full year operating profit as a percent of sales to be within our previously guided range of 18.7% to 19.2%.
For earnings per share, we're establishing our third quarter guidance at $4.73 to $4.83. We are maintaining our full year EPS guidance of $17.37 to $17.47. Based on our year-to-date results, expected headwinds from delayed new store openings and continued anticipating pressure to SG&A, we expect to come in near the bottom of the range. Our full year guidance includes the impact of shares repurchased through the call but does not include any additional share repurchases.
Before I turn the call over to Jeff, I would like to again thank our team of over 81,000 dedicated team members for their continued dedication and commitment to our customers. We remain very confident in the long-term drivers for demand in our industry, and we believe we're very well positioned to capitalize on this demand by consistently providing industry-leading services to our customers every day.
I'll now turn the call over to Jeff Shaw. Jeff?
Jeff M. Shaw, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Co-President & COO [4]
Thanks, Greg, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to join Greg in thanking Team O'Reilly for their hard work and steadfast method to outhustling the competition to earn our customers' business by providing the best service in our industry. Our team continues to successfully navigate a choppy sales environment by staying focused on the fundamentals of our business and ensuring we are doing everything possible to take care of our customers.
I'd like to begin my comments today by discussing our SG&A results for the quarter and provide some color on our approach to executing our business model and managing expenses. SG&A as a percent of sales was 33.6%, a deleverage of 64 basis points from 2018. On average per store SG&A basis, our SG&A grew 3.4%, which is higher than our expectations for the quarter, while total SG&A dollar spend was on plan. The majority of the deleverage from the prior year was expected as we continue to see structural cost pressure from rising wage rates and other variable costs in a tight labor market. At the same time, we continue to invest in our goals to continually enhance customer service both in-store and in our omni-channel and technology initiatives.
The higher-than-expected per store SG&A growth is the result of delays in new store openings. When a new store's opening day is pushed back a month or 2, a portion of the staff for the new store has already been hired and is in training in an existing store. Adjusting for these delays is extremely difficult, especially in this tight labor market. Our field management teams have flexibility to adjust staffing levels to appropriately respond to persistent trends in our business but will not adjust drastically in short periods of time in an attempt to hit a short-term target. We're very confident in this strategy and feel that our consistency in delivering excellent customer service in all market conditions has been critical to our long-term success. However, we do encounter pressure to our SG&A when facing sales volatility, particularly when we experience significant weather-driven swings in the business in the short term. We constantly evaluate the opportunities we have to drive increased sales and profitability. We can and will prudently adjust expenses over time when appropriate for our business.
As Greg discussed earlier, as we look forward to the remainder of 2019, we continue to have a positive outlook for the demand in our industry and are maintaining our sales guidance. As a result, we're also maintaining our guidance range for full year growth in SG&A per store of 2.5% to 3% with the expectation we will come in towards the higher end of that range based on the results in the first half of 2019.
Next, I'd like to provide an update on our store expansion during the quarter and our plans for the remainder of the year. In the second quarter, we opened 43 net new stores, bringing our total 2019 store openings to 105 through the first 6 months of the year. While the construction, installation and opening of over 100 stores in the first half of the year is a result of a significant amount of hard work and dedication by our team, we unfortunately are well behind the planned schedule for new store openings we established coming into 2019. This shortfall is the result of the significant level of precipitation we saw in markets with new store projects in development. Consistent with our approach in previous years, our projected calendar for new store openings is more heavily weighted towards the front half of the year, which affords us the opportunity to put a new team in place and let them get their feet underneath them before entering the busy summer season.
We're accustomed to seeing and adjusting to delays for any number of reasons, including weather, and typically would not have a material impact to our overall schedule. Unfortunately, the wet weather in 2019 has been widespread and persistent enough on a week-to-week basis that it has delayed many projects for extended periods of time and has impacted our overall schedule significantly. As Greg mentioned earlier, this delay created top line pressure in our second quarter that will persist as we catch up in the back half of the year. However, we remain very confident we'll achieve our goal of opening at least 200 new net new stores for 2019.
Now before I turn the call over to Tom, I'd like to provide an update on a couple of other expansion projects. During the second quarter, we successfully completed the conversion of 20 Bennett Auto Supply stores acquired at the end of 2018 and merged the remaining 5 stores into existing O'Reilly locations. The Bennett team has been a great addition, and we're pleased with the opportunities to continue to grow our business in Florida, which remains a key growth market for us.
Finally, I'm pleased to report that we continue to progress on schedule in the development of our 3 DC projects with planned new facilities in Twinsburg, Ohio, just South of Cleveland; in Lebanon, Tennessee in the Metro Nashville market; and in Horn Lake, Mississippi, just South of Memphis. We've established an aggressive schedule for these projects with a planned opening of Twinsburg in the fourth quarter followed by Lebanon opening in the first half of 2020 and Horn Lake opening in the second half of 2020. Our DC team has repeatedly demonstrated the ability to successfully manage multiple ongoing new distribution projects while consistently achieving the high standard of service to allow our stores to get hard-to-find parts in our customers' hands faster than our competitors. We're the industry leader in the investments we've made to establish a robust distribution infrastructure that supports the best parts availability in the aftermarket, and we will aggressively work to enhance our distribution capabilities to maintain this competitive advantage.
As important as the physical locations of our 27 DCs and our network of 350 hub stores are to our strategy, it's equally important that we execute on our business model of deploying the right inventory at the right location within our supply chain and effectively and efficiently delivering the right part to our customers faster than our competitors. We're extremely confident in the ability of our teams to execute at a high level and lead the industry in inventory availability, but we will not rest on our past success as we strive to expand our industry-leading advantage. I'd like to once again thank our store and distribution teams for their continued dedication to providing the best customer service in our industry. Despite the fluctuations in industry demand we experienced in the first half of the year, our team has produced solid results, and we're in a great position to finish the year strong.
Now I'll turn the call over to Tom.
Thanks, Jeff. I would also like to thank all of Team O'Reilly for their continued commitment to our customers, which drove our solid results in the second quarter.
Now we'll take a closer look at our quarterly results. For the quarter, sales increased $134 million, comprised of an $81 million increase in comp store sales, a $54 million increase in noncomp store sales, which includes the contribution from the acquired Bennett stores, and $1 million increase in noncomp, nonstore sales and a $2 million decrease from closed stores. For 2019, we continue to expect our total revenue to be $10 billion to $10.3 billion.
As Greg previously mentioned, our gross margin was up 36 basis points for the quarter as we saw benefits from product mix. On a year-over-year basis, second quarter gross margin also benefited from the sell-through of [on hand] inventory that was purchased prior to the tariff-driven acquisition price increases which went into effect at the end of 2018 and the beginning of 2019 and the corresponding retail and the wholesale price increases. Within our guidance expectations coming into 2019, this benefit to gross margin was expected to be more significant to gross margin in the first half of the year. And as Greg mentioned earlier, we are leaving our full year guidance unchanged, but our actual results will be impacted by the most recent round of tariffs and the timing of corresponding market price increases. We remain confident that margins will remain rational in our industry as the nondiscretionary nature and immediacy of need of the parts we sell affords us and our competitors significant pricing power.
Our second quarter effective tax rate was 23.9% of pretax income, slightly above our expectations and comprised of base rate of 24.4%, which was on plan, reduced by 0.5% benefit from share-based compensation, which was less than expected. This compares to the second quarter of 2018 rate of 21.5% of pretax income, which was comprised with a base rate of 24.5%, reduced by a 3% benefit for share-based compensation. For the full year of 2019, we continue to expect an effective tax rate of approximately 23.5%, comprised of base rate of 24.1%, reduced by a benefit of 0.6% per share-based compensation. While the benefit from share-based compensation will fluctuate from quarter to quarter, we expect these variations to even out over the course of the year and are leaving our full year tax rate expectation unchanged. We expect our base rate to be relatively consistent with the exception of the third quarter, which may be lower due to the totaling of certain open tax periods.
Now we'll move on to free cash flow and the components that drove our results for the quarter and our guidance expectations for the full year of 2019. Free cash flow for the first 6 months of 2019 was $541 million versus $632 million in the first 6 months of 2018, with the reduction driven by increased CapEx and a higher accounts receivable balance, which is timing related due to the date -- day of the week the quarter ended, offset in part by higher pretax income and a reduction in our net inventory investment. For the full year, we're maintaining our free cash flow guidance in the range of $1 billion to $1.1 billion.
Inventory per store at the end of the quarter was 610,000, which was down slightly from the beginning of the year and up 1.6% from this time last year. We continue to expect to grow per store inventory in the range of 2% to 2.5% this year as a result of acquisition cost increases and the fourth quarter opening of the Twinsburg DC putting pressure on the growth percentage.
Our EPD inventory ratio at the end of the second quarter was 108%, which is up from 106% from the end of 2018. We still expect to finish 2019 at approximately 106%.
Finally, capital expenditures for the first half of the year were $296 million, which is up $71 million from the same period of 2018, driven by our ongoing investments in new distribution projects, the conversion of the bonds -- excuse me, conversion of the Bennett stores and new store growth and technology investments. We continue to forecast CapEx to come in between $625 million and $675 million of the full year.
Moving on to debt. We finished the second quarter with an adjusted debt-to-EBITDA ratio of 2.35x as compared to our ratio of 2.23x at the end of 2018. The increase in our leverage ratio reflects our May bond issuance and borrowings on our unsecured revolving credit facility. We're below our stated leverage target of 2.5x, and we'll approach that number when appropriate.
We continued to execute our share repurchase program. And year to date, we repurchased 2.6 million shares at an average share price of $359.63 for a total investment of $921 million. Subsequent to the end of the second quarter and through the date of our press release, we repurchased 0.2 million shares at an average price of $380.79. We remain very confident the average price -- repurchase price is supported by expected discounted future cash flows of our business, and we continue to view our buyback program as an effective means of returning available cash to our shareholders.
Before I open up our call to your questions, I'd like to thank the O'Reilly team for their dedication to our company and our customers. This concludes our prepared comments.
And at this time, I'd like to ask Brandon, the operator, to return to the line, and we'll be happy to answer your questions.
(Operator Instructions) And from Jefferies, we have Bret Jordan.
Bret David Jordan, Jefferies LLC, Research Division - Equity Analyst [2]
Just a follow-up on your inflation commentary. I mean I guess as we look at anniversarying last year's tariffs but then some potential new tariff additions this year, how do you see the inflation stacking up in the second half of the year?
So our second quarter inflation was a little bit over 2, similar to the first quarter. We would expect as these tariffs start hitting our acquisition costs that we will flow through that into price. So we would expect that we'll see a higher number. Originally we thought 2 for the year with it easing in the back half, but that looks like there will be additional pressure there. It will depend on how long these tariffs stay in place. Our plan right now is that they will continue as is.
Okay. Great. And then a question, I guess, when you look around the market, you talked about even in this space of slow demand, pricing was pretty rational. Are you seeing any either pass-through of tariffs in lower prices from competitors or more aggressive activity around, I don't know, small commercial accounts or large national accounts?
Jeff, do you want to take that one?
Well, I mean for the most part, I mean, everybody is under the same pressure from the price increases. And what we're seeing in the field is everybody is adjusting their prices accordingly. I mean any time there's pressure on sales, you'll see some competitors try to use price as a tool to gain business. But for the most part, that's not the case.
Yes. I mean -- yes, I'm sorry. We -- it's been very rational, Bret, and to Jeff's point, any exceptions to that from some of these small regional players I wouldn't attribute to tariffs or inflation, it's just typically some of the things they do during the course of a quarter.
From Goldman Sachs, we have Kate McShane.
Katharine Amanda McShane, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division - Equity Analyst [9]
Just after these first 2 quarters of cost being closer to 3% than the 5%, we're wondering what you're seeing that gives you confidence that you could potentially still reach the high end of that range. And do you have an estimate of how much your business was impacted by the wet weather?
Thomas G. McFall, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Executive VP & CFO [10]
What we would tell you is when we look at our category-by-category performance that our underlying nonseasonal business has been very strong. Where we've run into problems are our seasonal business. We would tell you that absent the pressure we saw in the HVAC refrigerant category that Greg spoke to, we would have been happy with our comps this quarter. So when we look at the rest of the year we always plan for a normal weather and that core underlying demand for hard parts remains good and gives us confidence in the last -- second half of the year.
Katharine Amanda McShane, Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Research Division - Equity Analyst [11]
Okay. And just with the delayed store openings, I just can't, of the top of my head, recall a time when this has been the case before. Is it purely just weather? Or is it just -- is there more specific circumstances as to why this is happening now than maybe not happening before? Is it the timing of the number of stores versus...
Jeff M. Shaw, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Co-President & COO [12]
We had a fairly aggressive plan in 2019 front-loaded to the first half of the year, but it's entirely weather related. I mean we've always got issues year-to-year when you're making a plan and a forecast. I mean it could be environmental, regulatory, whatever the case may be. There is always weather issues and normally the second quarter is the most volatile quarter of new store openings during the year. That's when we have the most impact from weather, and this year was just extremely tough and widespread and persistent. What I would add to that, Kate, is all of the locations for the year are in progress. So we're not looking for additional locations. It's just how quick we can get the doors open on the buildings.
Operator [13]
From Wells Fargo, we have Zack Fadem.
Zachary Robert Fadem, Wells Fargo Securities, LLC, Research Division - Senior Analyst [14]
You talked about the benefit of selling through pre-tariff merchandise at post-tariff pricing, curious how much of a tailwind this has been for you so far these year? And then as the more inflationary products start to roll in, in the back half, curious if you could walk us through the puts and takes here? And at what point do you think this dynamic could shift to a gross margin headwind?
So we would tell you that the faster-moving products there's less benefit because those are the ones we're most quickly reordering. So it's more of the back end of the lines where we're seeing the benefit. And we tell you that it's a modest benefit, and it's something that helps our gross margin. But ultimately, we look at last buy -- what was our last buy purchase price, and that's how we're managing our business. So when we look at the ongoing forward tariffs, we're going to take a look and make sure that we're priced appropriately for the market. And looking at what margin we think we need to make and should make based on GM ROI of each product to set those prices. So we think that the impact will not be a negative going forward. And we think we'll be able to sustain our margin percentage.
Okay. And on the SG&A side, how much of the 64 basis points of deleverage would you specifically assign to the delayed new store openings? And going forward with SG&A per store expected up about 3% for the year, are there any other buckets where you anticipate a step down in the growth rate from here?
So last year, we talked about SG&A -- people invest in SG&A with the part of the funds they receive from the tax reduction. And then going forward, if we saw higher-than-average SG&A growth, we would expect to see inflationary pricing in the top line being a benefit. And that's what we've seen this year as the labor market continues to be tighter. So when we looked at our guide this year, we were going to anniversary some of those investments we made last year in store payroll, primarily more heavily weighted in the first and second quarter as they ramped up. We would tell you that when we look at our guidance and you look at the guidance from the beginning of the year, the midpoint of our operating profit was an expectation of a decrease because of those pressures. We would tell you that when you look at the second quarter specifically that most of the deleverage was planned based on these higher structural store payroll numbers, but that -- a meaningful amount is due to slower comp sales than expected and lighter noncomp sales due to the stores not opening at that time.
From Stephens Inc., we have Daniel Imbro.
Daniel Robert Imbro, Stephens Inc., Research Division - Research Analyst [19]
Just a follow-up on the last SG&A question actually. One of your larger peers has talked more recently about investing more heavily into supply chain and DC wages. Are you feeling any specific pressures from those kind of investments in that part of your business or is it more broad-based wage pressure?
Gregory D. Johnson, O'Reilly Automotive, Inc. - Co-President & CEO [20]
I'd say it's across the board. And we're seeing some wage pressure in some of our store markets that's driven by minimum-wage changes where they're escalating some of those that are on the West coast. But across the country, across really in the corporate office and the DCs and in the stores, we're seeing wage pressures and wages moving up. One of the biggest areas we've seen some wage pressures is with our DOT truck drivers and our DCs. That's become a very aggressive market. Supply hasn't kept up with demand over the last couple of years, and we've seen a lot of inflation and wage pressure there.
Okay. And then I think it was last quarter or the call before that, you guys talked about the market becoming more rational and being able to raise retail prices to offset some of these wage pressures. So curious if you still think the market's in a similar place? Or what's changed to keep you guys from being able to pass through, since these are industry-wide cost pressures, being able to pass it through in the form of inflation?
Well, I think we've spoken to the first and second quarter of same SKU inflation being up slightly over 2, which is a reflection of passing through the inflationary pressures across the cross retail through our pricing to cover both the tariffs and increase in expenses, and I think you see that in our increasing gross margin percentage.
From Wolfe Research, we have Chris Bottiglieri.
Christopher James Bottiglieri, Wolfe Research, LLC - Research Analyst [24]
Wanted to go into a little bit of tariffs? Just hoping you may be give us a lay of the land in terms of the percentage of SKUs affected and the levels of price increases. And then just for clarity, the next 15, those are the same SKUs affected or has that become more expensive SKU set? And then just like holistically thinking about this, given some of your reservations on deferred demand and customer trade down, is this something you've already seen in the first round of tariffs, that's what gives you the confidence that you won't see comps accelerate on the next 15? That'll be helpful.
Chris, I'll take the first part of that and let Tom back to back-end question. There's been a total -- I think, this is the fourth round of tariffs. The first was more of a component tariff increase and then we hit more and more SKUs in the second and third round. The third round was the most impactful. It was a 10%. And this latest round is an additional 15% on the 10% for basically the same base of SKUs. As we said in previous quarter calls, just because there was a tariff increase, either at the component level or at the SKU level of 10%, that doesn't mean that we're going to take the full 10% tariff on that. We direct import a very smaller subset of our SKU base. Most of our direct -- most of our import lines coming from China flow through one of our supplier's facilities here in the U.S. So the impact of tariffs is a little less for us than if we direct imported all of that product. So what we would expect and what we've seen thus far is this next round of 15%, we would also take a less than 15% increase on this round.
In relation to your second question, we started to see some inflation on commodity-type items second quarter of the last year. And as prices go up, especially on items that are more discretionary, what we see is pressure on our lower-end consumer, our DIY consumer, and that's been reflected in pressure around their traffic counts. We see less of that pressure on our professional side of the business as the general demographic there is less impacted by price increases. So when we look at rolling through this additional round of tariffs, we'd expect the professional side of business to be less impacted on traffic and see a benefit there in average ticket. On the DIY side, we'll see the ticket average go up, but we would expect to see additional pressure on traffic as people work harder to defer to save money.
Got you. That's helpful. And then just a quick strategic question. Is there anything you can do to address this? I know the tool thing's pretty difficult, but is there any way to diversify outside of China so you're not exposed to 1 country? Is that something that's feasible? Or would you lose some of the benefit of scale from doing that and it's just not a road worth traveling?
No, it's definitely an option. It's just not a short-term option. We try and for years we've tried to diversify where we buy our products across multiple suppliers to mitigate risk and where we can across multiple countries to also mitigate some of that risk. So for brake category, for example, we've got brake products coming in from China, from India and from some other smaller countries. So we're continuing to work with our suppliers to see what alternate sourcing locations we have, but that's just typically not a short-term change because it's not like the capacity's sitting there in these other countries, they have to build that capacity.
From Crédit Suisse, we have Seth Sigman.
Seth Ian Sigman, Crédit Suisse AG, Research Division - United States Hardline Retail Equity Research Analyst [30]
I just wanted to clarify on the full year guidance. So I think the earlier comment was that you're expecting EPS to now be at the low end of the range for the year. Is that due to the first half performance or are you actually modifying your expectations for the second half as well?
Well, I think the specific word we used was lower. It's based on really 2 factors that are different: second quarter results and our expectation that we're going to continue to be -- have a drag from new store openings where we're not going to generate as many noncomp store sales dollars as we expected as we both catch up and stores that open later in the year don't generate quite as much revenue as they have a later date to start ramping up their business.
Okay. Makes sense. And then a follow-up question on the gross margin. Can you just talk about the performance in the quarter, specifically you highlighted mix as a benefit. If you can quantify that, that would be really helpful. And then I think previously you talked about gross margin being flattish for the second half of the year. Is that still the right way to think about it? I mean you do have higher pricing now, I guess, incremental to what you expected previously. So should we actually expect that, that could be a little bit higher for the year or at least for the back half of the year?
We've maintained our guidance. We think we'll be a little bit above the midpoint of the guidance. Seth, I'm sorry, will you repeat the first question?
The first part was just around the gross margin performance in the quarter. You highlighted mix. I'm just wondering if you could quantify that.
I'm sorry about that. We're not going to get into the nitty-gritty of the details, but what we would tell you is that a lot of the seasonal products in HVAC and refrigerant are big-ticket items but carry a lower gross margin percentage. So not having those sales hurt our comps but help our gross margin percentage mix.
From Wedbush Securities, we have Seth Basham.
Seth Mckain Basham, Wedbush Securities Inc., Research Division - MD Of Equity Research [37]
My question is around the trends between DIY and DIFM. If you could give us a sense of whether or not the performance gap of comps between those 2 customer segments widened this quarter relative to the last quarter, that would be helpful.
Yes. Overall, the spread was very similar to what we saw last quarter with professional outcomping DIY.
Right. And as you look back further in 2018, was it a narrower gap than we've seen thus far in 2019?
It's been pretty similar for the last 4 quarters.
Got it. And just lastly, as you roll forward and you think about the impacts of tariffs and the pressure on DIY customer. Do you think this next round leading to higher price increases and more pressure on the DIYers' pocketbooks is going to lead to a further widening of the gap?
I think it likely will. And it's not just that, Seth. It's the complexity of products that are impacting that as well. And it's not just our industry. We talk a lot about the average DIY consumer. Their spend is being impacted in everything they buy because of these tariffs. So their discretionary income and discretionary money they have to spend on nonessential items is just -- it's less than it was. And they will likely postpone any repairs that they don't have to make.
From Oppenheimer, we have Brian Nagel.
David Leonard Bellinger, Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., Research Division - Associate [44]
It's David Bellinger on for Brian. So first, I want to push a little further on the monthly cadence of sales. Anything in particular there that you can point to in terms of underlying demand improving as the quarter progressed? Maybe certain category trends or geographical trends they could get into to help give us further comfort that comps in the back half of the year could potentially track better than what we've seen so far in the first 2 quarters?
Sure. David, I'll take that and then I'll let Jeff speak to the regional trends. On the last call, the team talked about a more normal winter with the follow up -- with the normal weather, you have road conditions deteriorating, you have breaking of under car products, things like that -- or product categories rather. And that's -- to Tom's point earlier, that's what we saw in the quarter. So we had a more normal weather pattern for April. So April was the strongest month of the quarter. And then in May and into June, those weather patterns changed, and it was cooler weather than we normally see during that time of year, and much wetter across most of the country than we normally see. And that impacted primarily those heat-related categories that Tom spoke to and I said in my prepared comments. So what we would say is from a cadence standpoint, April would have been our strongest month of the quarter followed by June and then May would have been the softest month in the quarter.
Got it. And then on the continued expense pressures you're seeing mostly on the wage side, are there any indication that those impacts are subsiding in any way? And how should we think about overall expense growth over the next couple of quarters if comps potentially track towards that lower end, the 3% to 5% range, and also as we begin to look more towards 2020?
So our expectation is that payroll will continue to be a pressure item as unemployment stays very low and people are out there competing for folks. When we look at our SG&A, your expectation is that we're going to have solid sales for the last 2 quarters, absent -- with the exception of some pressure from new store opening timing but our comps will be solid and that our SG&A will come in at the high end of our average SG&A growth per store for the full year, which means being on plan for the third and fourth quarter.
From JPMorgan, we have Chris Horvers.
Christopher Michael Horvers, JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division - Senior Analyst [49]
So just want to -- I want to follow up on the gross margin with respect to the tariffs and understand your comments, Tom. So is it that -- why wouldn't gross margin -- you see the similar gross margin benefit. So asked another way, are people not raising ahead of it and sort of waiting to roll into that acquired inventory and then raise the price on it? And is that sort of the different behavior in the competitive marketplace around pricing?
Well, what we see is an uneven application of the increase of price. So some of it has to do with whether it was on the water, it depends on how much is in your supply chain here. What we've typically seen is that when the faster-moving items, which are the higher-value items, when you're starting to reorder those and then you sell through it, obviously, at a much faster rate, when you're reordering those at the higher prices and starting to sell through them, that's when we're seeing the prices be addressed in the market. So the slower-moving items that you have many more days of supply are the items where you get that benefit.
And the first time around last fall, did the prices go up more quickly on the slower-moving items?
Well, they go up across the line. Typically the tariffs will be addressed across the line. It's just when you are ordering them. What I would tell you is that the first round of tariffs, you -- the pass-through was more uneven than what we see here in the latest round of tariffs. Obviously, it's a bigger number. We've all gone through this process so we are expecting a more even, probably quicker application of those price increases.
So does that suggest that -- so it seems like people in the marketplace are sort of feeling their way through this price increase. Is that the right way to think about it?
Got it. And then in terms of -- understood. And then in terms of -- I'm not sure, just 2 follow ups. With May negative and then also from a regional performance, was this Midwest with the flooding and the rains, is it California, which is cooler versus the Northeast? Not sure if you touched on that yet.
Yes. May was not negative. We didn't have any negative months or weeks during the quarter. May was just softer than June and April. And Jeff, do you want to take the regional?
On the regional performance, really, the underperformance we saw in the quarter was consistent across most of our markets as you'd expect with the weather conditions across the majority of the country. Where we experienced the most unfavorable wet weather we saw more impact on our business, especially our DIY business, and it's calling out the areas that were most impacted, that would be really the center part of the country and the West Coast.
From Morgan Stanley, we have Simeon Gutman.
Simeon Ari Gutman, Morgan Stanley, Research Division - Executive Director [59]
Ex the weather, if we look at the first half in total, not just the second quarter, do you have a sense of where the comp would end up? Would it be at the midpoint or could have been at the high end of the full year guidance?
We're not going to get into details that specific. What we would tell you is, especially given the second quarter, if weather was more normal and those categories that were impacted performed okay, we would be happy with our comps.
Okay. That's fair. And I forget, was it the first quarter, did you make the similar comment that weather -- you underperformed. I remember there was a soft part of that quarter as well, maybe February. So look, I was just trying to get a sense of...
So when we look at the first quarter, we had a deferral of a lot of the spring weather into April, which was a positive. And that get out and clean up in the spring is more of a DIY side of the business. And we caught up on that in April. When we look at the drivers of hard parts, we had a more normal winter from a precipitation standpoint, spring just didn't break quite as early. So when we look at the first quarter and the second quarter, we look at the core categories that really display long-term demand in our business, the wear parts, the under car parts, are people taking care of their vehicles, is there wear and tear on their vehicles, those categories have looked solid all year and thus translated into a more solid professional side of the business. The seasonal categories, when spring hit, how much air-conditioning business did we do, those have been a little bit of a headwind. When we look at the back half of the year, that core underlying demand for the key categories in our industry is what gives us confidence to reaffirm our guidance for the year.
Okay. That's helpful. My follow-up is your view on -- towards larger chains. I think it seems like the consolidation at the shop level is picking up a bit. And I know in the past, you've tended to veer away from some of these chains because it's not been good for margin. Just wanted to see if that's still the case?
Well, there's a tremendous amount of shops in the country. And there has been some consolidation. When we look at performance, there's a lot of regional chains that do a fantastic job. When we partner, we want to partner with people that are providing great customer service, have a model that we're efficient in supplying. And we've got a lot of regional and national customers that fit that, and we do a lot of great business with them. So I wouldn't say that we would shy away from any of that business. We're going to make sure that we lead with service in all the business we do.
And from UBS, we have Michael Lesser.
Michael Lasser, UBS Investment Bank, Research Division - MD and Equity Research Analyst of Consumer Hardlines [66]
So thus far this year you've done a 3.3% comp or so in the first half. Last year, you did 3.8% comp for the full year. This year, you've had 100 basis points of incremental inflation, suggesting that units are below where they were last year running at a slower pace of growth than they were last year. But why would that...
I'm sorry. Did you cut off there, Michael?
So my question is it seems like you're seeing a greater elastic demand to the price increases than what's suggested or than what's perceived by -- what you had assumed in your guidance. Your comps year-to-date are running below where they were last year. And this is with more inflation than you experienced last year.
So what we would tell you is our professional business continues to be strong. We're seeing more of that volatility on the DIY side of the business. A lot of DIY business also carries a very low average ticket with high volumes when you look at some of the maintenance items and -- in some of the appearance items that we do business in. So appearance, obviously, has been under pressure with -- the late March weather wasn't very good. And when you look at things like oil changes, a lot of volume, not as high a ticket. Those are items that either the customer can forgo or defer and that has created pressure on DIY traffic. What we'll tell you is that the hard parts category has continued to perform well.
So when you look at the second half of the year, do you -- is your expectation that consumer is not going to defer these projects as much, and that will -- that's what will drive an improvement in the business?
In the second half, when we look at it, there is less seasonal categories that drive our business than in the first half.
Okay. And then coming back just to the longer-term outlook. It's been several years since O'Reilly has comped up 5%. Is the business now just in a different stage as the industry has become more consolidated, you're doing higher per store volume, that it's just going to be more difficult for O'Reilly to comp up 5%?
We had the same question in 2010, 2011. What we would tell you is that our business is a cyclical business, kind of 7-year cycles. The professional side of the business is much more stable. When we see good DIY years for many different reasons, whether it's weather-driven, whether it's increase in miles driven, wages, when we have those good DIY years, that's when we see the industry outperform. When that DIY consumer is under pressure, you see the industry put up numbers not quite as good. And I tell you that at the current phase, we're in that beginning part. If we -- that second part where DIY customer is under pressure. If we look back 3 years, we saw a run of 3 years where the DIY business swung up. And it will go through these cycles over time.
And we have reached our allotted time for questions. I will now turn the call back over to Mr. Greg Johnson for closing remarks.
Thank you, Brandon. We'd like to conclude our call today by thanking the entire O'Reilly team for your continued hard work and delivering another solid quarter. I'd like to thank everyone for joining our call today, and we look forward to reporting our third quarter results in October. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes today's conference. Thank you for joining. You may now disconnect.
Stock market news live: Stocks end lower as global elite flock to Davos; Boeing slumps
#DeleteFacebook on the rise amid Zuckerberg scrutiny
Did Trump give into pressure from the vaping industry?
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Oprah’s HUMAN DESIGN: and Mastering Your Genetic Definition
(Photo by Paul Drinkwater/NBCUniversal via Getty Images)
With my upcoming Conscious Relating with Human Design webinar training, and Cecil B. Demille lifetime achievement award recipient Oprah’s recent inspiring speech at the Golden Globes, and rumors of her running for office in 2020 – I wanted to share in this essay one of the core concepts of Human Design – the 9 Energy Centers and their status as Defined or Undefined in us. The focus is on Oprah’s open throat center.
The throat is one of 9 “energy centers” in the Human Design bodygraph, which function similar to chakras. An understanding of the Nine Centers is essential to interpretation of a Human Design bodygraph. Similar to the chakras, these nine centers represent primary energetic matrices, which also include specific biological associations such as glands and organs, in addition to their more purely energetic symbolism.
Knowing which centers are Defined or Undefined in you and how to navigate this definition most consciously, is the real crux of Human Design’s empowering wisdom. Definition also shows us our Inner Authority for making key decisions in life, as well as gives us our energy type, such as Generator, Manifestor, or Projector. But the foundation rests in the the definition of the 9 centers.
Defined Centers represent areas which have reliable and consistent energetic flow for us. In essence, we strongly identify with these centers. They are how we condition the world around us. They are the filters through which we perceive and we cannot remove these filters. Thus, even though we may be empowered, we may also be limited by that which defines us.
On the other hand, Undefined Centers are a foreign land for us. They represent areas of fascination, discovery, and education in this life, without an attachment to a specific expression. The challenge with Undefined Centers is our intrinsic insecurity in these areas. Since we do not have reliable energetic flow through these centers, we are not quite certain how to function with them. Thus we may compensate by trying to become like those in our environment who have these centers defined. Subsequently, these undefined centers become prominent sources of conditioning in our lives, often occurring in our early upbringing through parents, siblings, teachers, friends, and extended family.
Just as in astrology, a planet in a sign, house, or aspect can be navigated with intention and consciousness or in reaction, defense, or ignorance, I like to think of the potential expressions of energy in Human Design as a frequency of possibility. I use the terms Shadow, Neutral, and Luminessence to describe the frequency spectrum which one can apply to any aspect of their Human Design bodygraph.
In the chart of Oprah Winfrey, we see that she is a very “defined” individual. She has a strong sense of who she is. But her throat is undefined. We wonder, how can a talk show host have an undefined throat center?
In her shadow expression, Oprah talked over guests and did not allow them to finish, which is the compensations of the undefined throat, tying to force words where they aren’t invited. But in her higher expression of her undefined throat, she patiently waited, and probed her guests with the right question. Active listening and accurately reflecting what the other is saying is the real gift of the undefined throat center. Oprah amplifies a guest’s statement in a loud, boisterous, passionate commentary to the audience, and thus, does not offer her own opinion, but rather enlarges what the other has said. Undefined Centers can always amplify the Defined Centers in their environment, for better or worse.
*Learn more about the 9 Energy Centers in this essay.
**Where are you Genetically Defined or Undefined? Receive the liberating and empowering insights of your Human Design consultation here.
Discover your Calling! – Join us for:
Business and Career Success with Human Design Training – May 8 – June 12, 2019
Divine Timing Coaching
Copyright 2018 VerDarLuz
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Adoption from abroad
Team Finland in Malaysia, the Philippines and Brunei
Opportunities in development cooperation for companies
Finland and Philippines
Representation of Philippines in Finland
Consular Office, Manila
Embassy, Kuala Lumpur
Consular Office of Finland, Manila
The fees are paid in advance in Philippine pesos into the Consular Office's local bank account according to the list of service charges below. The payment receipt must be presented during your appointment at the Consular Office.
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If you have filled in your application through Enter Finland portal, you can pay the fee via Enter Finland.
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Customer service: Consular Office of Finland, Manila
Customer service at the Finnish Consular Office in Manila is only open for customers with appointment. Appointments can be booked through the electronic customer service system.
Customer service at the Finnish Consular Office in Manila is open on
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Published: 10/15/2017 Words: Father Gore Post navigation
Lore – Season 1, Episode 3: “Black Stockings”
TERRORVISION’s Intellectual Decay
Lore – Season 1, Episode 6: “Unboxed”
Season 1, Episode 6: “Unboxed”
Directed by Michael E. Satrazemis
Written by Tyler Hisel
* For a recap & review of the previous episode, “The Beast Within” – click here
South of Mexico City there is an island with a “disturbing history” called Island of the Dolls, originally Isla de las Muñecas. In the 1950s, Don Julian Santana abandoned his family to go live on the island. A long while later, he found a drowned girl there. Not far he found a doll, likely belonging to the girl. He thought it was a “curse” because he left his own family. So, he kept the doll like it was his own child. He looked for more dolls, sometimes going into the mainland to find them. They were hung as “offerings” to the girl’s spirit, to ward off her anger.
He eventually drowned in the same water where he’d found the girl, leaving all his dolls strung up on the island, left to the decay of time.
Aaron Mahnke reminds us how dolls become special objects to children, as a “trusted friend” and more. However, many of us are creeped out by dolls, their strange eyes. All a product of the primitive brain. Mahnke speaks of the “uncanny valley,” which is a reason why Tom Hanks in The Polar Express is unsettling, something too close to human yet not quite human. And this is ultimately why dolls, mere objects, hold power of us. Sometimes they won’t relent, either.
We go to 1904, in Key West, Florida. Thomas and Minnie Otto (Joe Knezevich & Kristin Bauer van Straten) lived there with their son Robert a.k.a Gene (J.T. Corbitt). His Aunt Bridget (Sandra Ellis Lafferty) sends the lonely little boy a doll from her trip in German. Because the kid was a bit different, the doll had a quick effect on him, they became best friends. He was like a real boy to Gene, he sat at the table with the family, he had a meal set out for him, as well. Dad doesn’t dig it, he’s upset by the neighbours talking about his son, though mom realises the object is their child’s “only friend.”
One day Minnie believes she hears her husband upstairs. Yet there’s only her son, the doll, whom the boy’s named after himself: Robert. Just the lads, laughing and chatting together. Even dad starts hearing things, someone running around upstairs when his boy’s asleep not far from him in the next room. Things are beginning to turn up broken, and Gene swears it wasn’t him. When he claims the doll did it all, it sounds insane, naturally.
“Robert is real. And he doesn‘t like it when you scold me.”
Mahnke discusses ventriloquism, why it’s unsettling to people. In 19th century America, people were interested and likewise a bit repelled by the act. Some were accused of witchcraft. Others were believed to be mediums, channelling “voices of the dead” into their dolls. A razor’s edge between entertaining and eerie.
Edgar Bergen and his doll Charlie were the most famous American ventriloquist act. Years later, his daughter revealed the doll was treated as a member of the family. It had a room. It even got his inheritance, left behind for him rather than Edgar’s daughter: the very famous Candice Bergen.
Aunt Bridget gets to Florida, upset over Gene’s relationship with Robert the doll. She brings out the Bible to get across her point, lamenting these “new beliefs of the Suffragette.” Everybody’s worried about the kid. Except for mom. Thomas and Bridget want to get rid of the doll, whereas Minnie doesn’t want to do that to Gene.
So they lock the doll away in a crate, nailing it shut to be kept in the attic. Afterwards, things got weird. First Bridget turns up dead. Then Robert the doll is back sitting next to Gene’s bed as he sleeps. Mahnke questions when dolls gain their power over us. He tells us about a woman named Frances Glessner Lee. She made dolls, only to kill them all in various ways. She made forensic science miniature crime scenes based on real cases: “The Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death.” This helped revolutionise the way scenes were thought about, the care for minute details; today, these are still used for teaching purposes.
Aunt Bridget supposedly had a stroke. Wasn’t necessarily what everyone in the house believed. Mom asks her son how Robert got out of the box. He replies he can’t tell, implying the doll has strange powers. This prompted Minnie to break down and send him away to a boarding school.
Mahnke talks about “reborns,” which are lifelike, custom-made dolls. Made painstakingly to look like a newborn baby. This is a truly strange evolution in the concept of the doll. Watching them being made, watching women cradling them like actual children, even how they’re broken out of a bag as if they’ve truly come out of a human, it’s terrifying. This is the power an object can hold over a person.
Just as poor Minnie believed Robert the doll was responsible for everything bad in their home. She nailed him up again in the attic for good. Skip ahead, 24 years later, and Gene (Michael Patrick Lane) is a painter who travelled Europe. Thomas died, and Minnie was left at home with the doll. When her boy returned, he was grown and experienced and their reunion was wonderful – he also brought his wife, Anne (Haley Finnegan).
But Minnie starts warning the new bride, that they’ve offended Robert. He won’t be happy his friend Gene is being taken away by the women in his life. It all sounds nuts to the young woman, of course. A product of those years alone with only the doll in that house. Despite it all, the couple moved into the home, and the influence over Gene began all over again. Terrifying.
Anatoly Moskvin, Mahnke tells us, was a special sort of strange. He had dozens of dolls, whom he dressed, drank tea with, read to; inside their chests, he installed music boxes. See, Anatoly stole corpses for a decade. At home, they were his “companions.” He mummified the bodies and turned them into dolls. He felt they’d, someday, come back to life. Yikes.
One night, Anne took Robert outside, doused him in petrol, and took a match to him. Next day? He’s back sitting at the table with her husband, fresh and clean. Obviously things got especially scary from there on in, decades of Robert living with them. People would say they saw him staring from the window. His legacy lived on, longer than his owner. He went on haunting the house, until a museum took Robert, where he’s become a famous tourist attraction.
Just don’t take a picture with him unless you ask his permission. Or he’ll get… angry, and do “bad things.”
My favourite episode of Season 1 as a whole, because there’s so much within the story, true history I never knew (Candice Bergen!), and on top of that the entire tale is macabre and weird and super creepy. Just a fantastic episode.
I’ve not yet heard anything, but I do hope this will be successful enough for a Season 2. Mahnke is excellent, he’s a wonderful narrator. The subjects of the podcast were interesting enough, this show gives it the best possible visuals to add that extra OOMPF. Give us more.
DEATH TO VIDEODROME - LONG LIVE THE NEW FLESH!
Aaron Mahnke
Anatoly Moskvin
Don Julian Santana
Frances Glessner Lee
Isla de las Muñecas
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Agencies on the path to P3P
By Sara Michael
"Agencies eye Web privacy"
OMB Memo on Privacy Provisions of the E-Gov Act
"OMB issues privacy guidance"
One piece of the E-Government Act of 2002 aims to make Web site policies easier for users to understand.
Developing privacy policies that can be understood by Web browsers would be another step in the right direction, but most federal agencies are lagging behind the commercial world, privacy officials said today.
"It's very difficult as a consumer to know what's going to happen with your information today," said Ari Schwartz, associate director for the Center for Democracy and Technology, speaking today at a workshop hosted by CDT and the American Council for Technology.
Section 208 of the E-Gov Act requires agency Web sites to include privacy policies in a machine-readable format. This is intended to allow users to easily understand how their personal information is used, stored and shared. The format allows users to set their privacy preferences into the browser and receive notice if sites match the preferences, Schwartz said. Today, users have to comb through an often long and esoteric privacy statement available on the site, he said.
The only way for agencies to adopt these policies is by using the Platform for Privacy Preferences Project (P3P) developed by the World Wide Web Consortium. The P3P policy directs the browser to notify the user, block certain cookies and provide a summary of the policy.
"It's a computer-readable language for coding all the common elements of the privacy policies," said Lorrie Faith Cranor, the P3P Specification Working Group chairwoman at Carnegie Mellon University, also speaking at the workshop. "Once [the browsers] read the policies, we would like them to do something useful for us."
Despite the legal mandate, most federal Web sites do not have machine-readable policies, Schwartz said.
"Government sites were not becoming compliant at the same rate as commercial sites," he said. "In fact, government sites are far behind the commercial sector today."
But Schwartz said there are two major incentives for adopting the policy: adherence to the law and Congressional wrath expected in the spring. Congress is expected to ask the General Accounting Office to study federal compliance to the machine-readable format mandate after March 1, when the Office of Management and Budget will be reporting to Congress on agency's compliance with the E-Gov Act.
According to Brian Tretick of Ernst and Young LLP, 23 percent of the top 500 Web domains were P3P compliant. Of those, one out of 19 government sites, including state sites, were complaint.
Tretick, presenting at the workshop, outlined five basic steps for agencies to follow to implement a P3P policy:
Baseline: Understand the various domains and Web sites with one agency site, the types of users accessing the site and the information gathered. Agencies should also review the privacy statements and practices.
Diagnose: Review the practices against the policy, including services and elements provided to the site by a third-party, such as images or a survey.
Improve: Remedy the privacy policy and determine whether the site needs several P3P policies or a single policy. Agencies should then develop the P3P policy, using assistive software.
Verify: Test the site to make sure it is indeed P3P compliant.
Deploy and maintain: Review the policy and compliance periodically and establish processes for changing the P3P policy.
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FlyingInIreland
THE Irish Aviation Website
Jump to: Board index Flying In Ireland Events
Clifden Air Show to exclude military aircraft
Please notify to this forum any events going on in the country related to Irish Aviation
PlaneCrazy
Unverified User
Location: Clane
Contact PlaneCrazy
Post by PlaneCrazy » Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:30 pm
Some Jerk Off called Cllr Seosamh Ó Cuaig Connemara councillor has commended the organisers of Clifden's Air Show for their decision not to invite foreign military aircraft to the event, which will take place in June.
The Clifden Air Show on 15 June will therefore be an excellent family occasion in a perfect location. As a member of the Galway Alliance Against War, I actively opposed the presence of warplanes at the infamous Salthill Air Show. Warplanes at a public air show inevitably sanitise the horrors of what these weapons of mass destruction inflict on poor peoples around the world. By barring warplanes from the Clifden event, the organisers are showing that people can appreciate the wonders of aviation without resorting to these death machines. Well done Clifden!"
Is this guy living in the dark ages or what when are they going to smell the sh^* they are shoveling
Im sure the Irish Pilatus will be there what does he think we got them for ?????????? Popping down to the local shop cause the mammy is out of tea bags !!!!!!!
Click on my poll
Location: At a computer Enemy: Gravity
Contact Nanolight
Post by Nanolight » Wed Feb 18, 2009 8:51 pm
Not sure if the descriptive adjective Some Jerk Off will bode well with the moderators here as a term to describe Mr Ó Cuaig, but I would imagine your sentiments would be echoed throughought the GA community nonetheless.
Military aircraft make airshows, for me. They represent the very pinnicle of engineering achievement and pilot skill and people should be allowed admire and appreciate them for this reason. I don't like my day being ruined by a bunch of tree hugging no good do-gooders.
They're not good for much else in fairness.
Smoke me a kipper, I'll be back for breakfast.
Whisky Tango
Post by Whisky Tango » Wed Feb 18, 2009 10:34 pm
I dunno, while I'm certainly no tree hugger, I do have a problem with military aircraft been flaunted at shows. In fact, I have a problem with the whole military industry as a whole, ie. it's a trillion dollar industry so it must be sustained by continual conflict; take away the wars and there are a whole lot of people outta work. Where would the like of Lockheed Martin etc be without these big orders? But let's not go down that road....
To be honest I don't really have much interest in military planes. Yes the agility and manoeuvrability of these machines is amazing but give me Eddie Goggins any day! Having fighters displaying their moves at a public show is in itself a move to try to win over the public and glamourise what are indeed weapons of mass destruction.
And before you bite my head off, it's just my opinion....I'm entitled to it! And unlike what nanolight says, I'm not so sure the consensus is as great as he thinks.....
kilo delta
Location: Athlone
Post by kilo delta » Wed Feb 18, 2009 11:20 pm
Lets remember folks, that it's not aircraft that wage war...but people. I grew up in the UK during the seventies and the sights and sounds of low level Phantoms, Hunters, Lightnings etc instilled an interest in aviation that has lasted throughout my life.
Regards the PC-9's...........they are a very capable aircraft for their intended role in the IAC.
Location: Co Limerick
Contact hum
Post by hum » Thu Feb 19, 2009 7:59 am
I suppose an RAF SAR Sea King would be out of the question?
The ultimate aim of military aircraft is to prevent war..
Location: EIAB
Contact willo
Post by willo » Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:26 am
Was the Vickers Vimy not a bomber in the first place!!!
Its the usual claptrap.
At all the Salthill & Air Specs, there were always a few who proclaimed to represnt the silent majority. Meanwhile, the silent majority were eating chips with their kids and watching the F-15s in the sky.
The sad thing about this is that Clifden Chamber of Commerce have apparently accepted it, without a whimper
Post by Whisky Tango » Thu Feb 19, 2009 11:22 am
hum wrote: The ultimate aim of military aircraft is to prevent war..
Well they don't do a very good job now do they....being the No. 1 weapon of choice in carrying out war!!!
Post by Nanolight » Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:48 pm
Were it not for military research and development, we wouldn't have many of the advances in aviation and general technology we enjoy today.
GPS started off in the military, as did the use of radios for comms, carbon fibre, supersonic travel, satellite communication, nuclear power, semiconductor technology, ... the INTERNET originated as a means for unites states military establishments to communicate.
I do not condone exploding villages full of children or the proliferation of weapons for the purposes of economic sustainance. As an engineer I appreciate the technology. As I pilot I enjoy watching the manouvers.
Regardless of all of the above, why should the shouting minority prevent me from enjoying a military display? As was said above, the silent majority are too busy enjoying the aircraft to get involved in a debate such as this. I like Extra300 displays too, but there's a need for a bit of variety, no?
ifty
Location: Mayo
Post by ifty » Thu Feb 19, 2009 9:49 pm
Nanolight wrote: Were it not for military research and development <snip> the INTERNET originated as a means for unites states military establishments to communicate.
I thought t'internet was developed by CERN (them of the big bang machine).
As an aside I think military aircraft are the mutts nuts and most people I know think the same.
You pass this way but once, there is no such thing as normal. There is you and the rest, now and forever. Do as you damn well please or you could end up being a pot-bellied, hairless boring old fart.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ARPANET
ok fair enough but see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet then scroll down to growth.
Although the basic applications and guidelines that make the Internet possible had existed for almost two decades, the network did not gain a public face until the 1990s. On 6 August 1991, CERN, a pan european organisation for particle research, publicized the new World Wide Web project. The Web was invented by English scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.
Post by Flyer1 » Fri Feb 20, 2009 11:43 am
I'm amazed how quickly topics change here ....
For me, warplanes are good to watch for the sheer noise and power factor. A large airshow would not be complete without them.
hibby
Location: Sandyford, Dublin
Post by hibby » Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:10 pm
ifty wrote: ok fair enough but see here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internet then scroll down to growth.
[...]The Web was invented by English scientist Tim Berners-Lee in 1989.
The internet isn't the same thing as the world wide web. The internet was around for a long time before 1991.
Post by willo » Fri Feb 20, 2009 2:09 pm
And it switches back off-topic.
If you want to discuss the formation of the internet, can i suggest boards.ie or some other forum, but leave this one to flying
Post by Nanolight » Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:10 pm
Look, my points are as follows:
*Military aircraft represent the next stage in technology, and that this has generally always been the way throughout history. Giving out about military technology using a means of communication invented and developed for the military is... well... slightly ironic I suppose.
*Most people like military aircraft at airshows. I personally believe that an airshow wouldn't be the same without them. But people just don't feel strongly enough about seeing them to campaign for their presence. Conversely, a minority are opposed to their involvement, but this minority feel much more strongly about it, and hense are louder and get much more attention than they deserve. It's like when I was in college a load of hippies held a vote to ban coca cola because it was 'evil'. The only people who voted were the ones who held this opinion and while 99% of students disagreed (or indeed like myself acknowleged that Coca Cola was evil but didn't care because it tasted nice), Coke got banned and we all had to do without it.
*They should invite them from other countries. What about neutral countries even?
Last edited by Nanolight on Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:18 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Foresight Solar Fund Limited: Trading Update : Acquisition facility refinancing and extension of Wymeswold Solar Plant
Foresight Solar Fund Limited ("The Company”) is pleased to confirm the refinancing of its acquisition facility which has also been extended from £100m to £120m. The facility has been refinanced through RBS and Santander at preferential terms against the original facility as below.
To read or print this announcement from a pdf click here
Facility Tenor Libor +
£100m 3 yr 225bps
£20m 1 yr 185bps
This facility will be drawn to fund future operational UK solar power plant acquisitions. It is expected that the facility will be repaid through utilisation of further equity issuance under the £200m Placing Programme which remains open until September 2015 and which has already raised £96.2m, and/or refinancing with a long-term debt facility.
In addition, the Company is pleased to announce a 2.2MWp extension to its Wymeswold plant in Leicestershire at a total cost of £1.8 million. Wymeswold was the first operational plant acquired by the Company in November 2013 at 32.2MWp with a ROC accreditation of 2.0ROCs, having been connected to the grid in March 2013. This 2.2MWp extension represents a 7% increase in capacity at the plant, bringing it up to 34.4MWp, and has been connected to the grid before the 31 March 2015 deadline for 1.4ROC accreditation. This 2.2MWp extension at 1.4ROCs does not affect the 2.0ROC accreditation obtained for the initial 32.2MWp of installed capacity.
Ben Thompson bthompson@foresightgroup.eu +44 (0)20 3667 8100
Foresight Group was established in 1984 and today is a leading independent infrastructure and private equity investment manager with over £1.3 billion of assets under management. As one of the UK’s leading solar infrastructure investment teams Foresight funds currently manage £1 billion in 50 separate operating Photovoltaic ("PV”) plants in the UK, the USA and southern Europe.
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Jita Park Speakers Corner
EVE Forums » Council of Stellar Management » Jita Park Speakers Corner » Some questions for the CSM
Some questions for the CSM
Sebiestor Tribe
DeBingJos
#1 - 2011-09-07 05:44:14 UTC | Edited by: DeBingJos
Is Mittens acting on his own in his crusade against CCP or does everybody in the CSM agree.
Do you feel the CSM is obsolete? I know you guys have put in a lot of work and I appreciate it, but how do yoiu guys feel about it?
Why is there so little communication with the community from CCP? I'd rather have a heated discussion with some CCP employees than the total silence we have now. I can't shake the feeling that nobody is allowed to talk about it. (Which is very bad ofc)
Ungi maðurinn þekkir reglurnar, en gamli maðurinn þekkir undantekningarnar. The young man knows the rules, but the old man knows the exceptions.
Redshift Industrial
Rooks and Kings
Meissa Anunthiel
There's no crusade against CCP, there's constant dialog. 90% of it goes wonderfully.
Sometimes there's hiccups, and after attempts at solving the situation peacefully and quietly so that everyone's happy, if we can't reach consensus our job is to tell you "we're trying but we can't seem to agree". That's what's going on. No crusade. And everyone in the CSM agrees with that stance.
The CSM isn't obsolete, as I said 90% of the collaboration with CCP goes very well. Constructive dialog with CCP has never been better, particularly when it comes to specific items (ie, features/changes in development). When it comes to more structural things, we still have progress to make, but we're working on that, as we have been working on getting the dialog over features to work.
Conversations require a mutual understanding, and sometimes that's hard (on both sides). We're filling that gap, or at least trying to. That said, after the initial work, you'll find that devs enter public conversations with the public at large despite the low signal:noise ratio. Check the features & idea subforum where CCP Greyscale has been posting a lot recently.
If conversations get heated they sometimes generate needless drama, hence the efforts in trying to solve things quietly first.
Member of CSM 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7
Vile rat
I like meissa's answers but I'll word it my own way.
Is Mittens acting on his own in his crusade against CCP or does everybody in the DSM agree.
Absolutely not. We're in constant communication between all members on a persistent Skype channel coordinating, wordsmithing, and brainstorming ways to get our message across in the most effective way possible. Some of you wanted to elect people who they knew would go out there and fight effectively (and not just fiail around impotently) to fix the overall game and that's what we've done, as a team. Mittens actions are support by all of us and his words are usually the product of a lot of editing by the csm as a whole.
Ask me after we accomplish a thing. I think we've been effective in a great many areas but the proof of it is going to come with change actually occuring. I have reasons to be positive but it's a long road from coming to an understanding with CCP and seeing that bear fruit.
A lot of CCP members don't interact with the community. Some do but they tend to get dogpiled when they post. Some do and frankly deserved to get dogpiled for their posting. Ultimately there are a lot of good people in CCP who want to do good logical things but CCP is a business with a hierarchy that isn't always on the same messaging page and when they do speak out the message is sometimes tone deaf and really awkward. I'd personally encourage them to interact as much as possible because that's the only true way to get the pulse of the game you work on but we can be a scary crowd to interact with, especially when things get ugly.
Thanks for the clear answer.
However if you read this topic 'CSM chair declaring war on CCP, tells players to bring gasoline' you must agree that it looks more like a crusade than like a civil discussion.
Trebor Daehdoow
DeBingJos wrote:
Mittens is not on a crusade. The CSM is united as a body, but each of us has our own style of messaging. His is more in tune with his alliance audience, mine is more analytical and dispassionate, for example. But our goals are aligned -- more resources for FiS, fix the long-standing problems in the game, etc.
Part of the whole "CSM is obsolete" thing is that a lot of what we do is under the surface. There is lots of communication between CSM and CCP and internally in CSM about a lot of stuff that never rises to public attention. This is an issue I'm trying to address, but it is in the early stages.
As for comms, first CCP was on vacation, and then they were consumed with release planning. I'm sure once things settle down they'll be back to trolling the community.
Private Citizen • CSM in recovery
Tactically Challenged
Tactical Supremacy
AnzacPaul
Why are we being forced to use the Captain's Quarters? Many people are not interested in this feature at all. Is it purely to entice people to use the nex store?
The problem with asking a question like this is, you want to ask a crapload more, but most of them answered by CCP get the typical Soon ™ reply.
AnzacPaul wrote:
It's a combination of factors. The "old" hangar relied on outdated rendering technology CCP is trying to get rid of (and is doing so one bit at a time). Also, a little bird tells me there's concern within some parts of CCP that if they don't make it mandatory, few people will use it and it will be pointed at as another example of failure.
This latter point is something we've tried vehemently to get CCP not to do during CSM 5, but they wouldn't budge. I believe if the feature is compelling enough, people will use it and that's it. Skewing the metrics to show you were right is wrong.
A valid counter point to my own argument that has been made is that people are resistant to change and if you don't put in their face, they'll never try it out when they might have liked it. That's an argument I'm sympathetic with, but is insufficient to justify the end result.
Then performance issues piled on top of it, but that's secondary to the main issue, except insofar as we were promissed we wouldn't be forced into getting into CQ unless the UI became responsive in more or less the same time than it took before (and that's not the case).
You'll get a longer answer to "new hangar" etc. in the minutes when they'll be released.
Nasty Pope Holding Corp
Ingvar Angst
Are they aware that a lot of us don't use it anyhow? Even when I had it active, as a rule I'll head to empire on occasion from the hole, pop into a station, buy, sell and leave. The character stands there, never taking a step. There's a lot of us that quite often simply want to get in, get done and get gone.
I can appreciate that they're trying to expand the game into the stations... it's kind of adding an MMO "feel" to it with avatars that will interact. But there should, ideally, be considerations for those that prefer to play the game that exists outside the stations.
Six months in the hole... it changes a man.
Meafi Corp
VaMei
Vile rat wrote:
Some of you wanted to elect people who they knew would go out there and fight effectively (and not just fiail around impotently) to fix the overall game and that's what we've done, as a team.
Do you think you are having any success persuading CCP to create a team dedicated to design/balance review? Early on in this CSM, a getting CCP to create a team like this was a major talking point.
Team BFF has done great things from the 'Thousand Papercuts' angle, but there is much more that really needs attention. Many of those problems are likely outside of BFF's control since they are strictly speaking 'working as intended'; the problem being that what used to make good sense when a design was created, doesn't make sense in hindsight or after other game changes.
Aperture Harmonics
VaMei wrote:
We haven't gotten a whole team, but we did get a dev, CCP Tallest. He posted on the old forums about the Dramiel and Logi ships, and we have been talking to him a lot about how to fix supercaps. We haven't given up on pushing for this, it certainly is needed.
CSM 7 Secretary CSM 6 Alternate Delegate @two_step_eve on Twitter My Blog
#11 - 2011-09-07 15:56:53 UTC | Edited by: VaMei
Two step wrote:
Getting a Dev is a good start, but it does leave me a bit concerned. Can any one Dev actually have a good understanding of how any one part of Eve interacts with the rest of the game in all of its environments; let alone how all aspects interact with each other?
To use Logis as an example (and I think a simple one), how many of Eve's hardcore gamers actually have a good understanding of how all 4 logis work in small gang, fleet, Empire PvP, WH PvE, and Incursions? If the players that use them day in and day out can't claim to have that level of understanding, how can a single Dev be expected to have it or how long will it take to get it? Without that understanding, there is a good chance that fixing one thing will break something else.
As a more difficult example, make Gallente viable in solo, small gang, and fleet without making them OP. The players that fly them (or fly against them) day in and day out can barely agree what the problem is let alone how best to fix it.
But I digress. Eve is the deepest, most complex game I know of, and it is continually evolving. I hope that CCP doesn't think that any one person can actually hope to balance it; even with the impartial help of unbiased players.
Well, the one dev can talk to other devs, as well as to the CSM and to the public (see the feedback thread on the dram/logi on the other forums).
Our basic philosophy on this sort of stuff is that this is why it is important to make balance a continuous process. If balance changes happened every 2 months, making a ship a bit OP for a while is no big deal, it can be fixed in the next patch.
Di Mulle
This was one of the most agreed points through all CSM members (and I totatlly support this).
However, we aren't seeing this implemented so far. One already half-forgotten Tallest devblog with no actions barely counts.
What are, I don't know, organizational, production or simply attitude reasons for that ?
<<Insert some waste of screen space here>>
Di Mulle wrote:
This is an area where the CSM/Player communications need to improve. After Tallest's initial batch of changes, he started work on the supercap balance changes. The CSM and a bunch of CCP devs have a 5 page thread on the old forums talking about some of his proposed changes. I think he has a final version of the changes ready for us (and you) to look at, hopefully we will all see that soon.
Just an idea: make the CSM-CC¨forums readable by everyone. Only CSM and CCP can post (like it is now) but everybody can see what is happening.
Terrible idea. That forum works because there's a mutual understanding with the CSM and CCP. That comes from having had long interactions with CCP and understanding how they function.
It means that we can argue back and forth openly, without anyone having to fear players would run with "CCP X said ******** thing Y". It also prevents plans/ideas to be taken as promises.
One of the lingering issues with CCP communications is that any statement is taken as a promise, and when CCP fails to deliver the players are up in arms because "they promised".
There's quite a few players who'd be able to read those forums correctly, but I don't think as a whole it would be beneficial in the least.
Meissa Anunthiel wrote:
There's no crusade against CCP, there's constant dialog.
Update on this: The Mittani Declares War
About the CSM-CCP forums: I gues you are right. However, a bit more communication to the playerbase both from CCP and CSM wouldn't hurt.
Zagam
Communication from the CSM has been pretty forthcoming, actually. (see: This entire forum) Their biggest impediment to more detailed conversation is the NDA, which not much can be done about.
Communication from CCP hasn't been great, but based on experience from several other MMO (AO, DAOC, FFXI, WoW), there is worse out there.
Of all the things that needs improvement regarding communication, CCP's communication and direct community involvement needs the most help.
Body Count Inc.
Seleene
#19 - 2011-09-08 13:45:36 UTC | Edited by: Seleene
I don't think there is a 'crusade' going on so much as an 'awakening'. That being said, Mittens usually runs his larger statements by the rest of us in order to ensure we all have common ground to stand on if for no other reason than to ensure our overall message is as loud and clear as possible.
I'm going to agree with what Vile has said - time will tell just how effective we have been. I personally believe this CSM has managed to open doors of communication with CCP that no other CSM has so far. Even amidst all of the DRAMA, there are still cordial exchanges taking place between the CSM and CCP. If nothing else, that alone will make things much easier for future CSM's.
I can't really answer that other than to say CCP doesn't really like folks to get into 'headed discussions' on the forums with players very much.
I've said my bit about the whole mess here in my recent blog post: Reality Check. We're not really aiming to start riots and all that, but I think most players agree that something is wrong with EVE and there's nothing wrong with a concerted effort pointing that out.
2004-2008: Mercenary Coalition Boss
2007-2010: CCP Game Designer | 2011-2013: CSM6 Delegate & CSM7 Chairman
2011-2015: Pandemic Legionnaire
2015- : Mercenary Coalition Boss
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Dusty Warrior
So... the rest of you CSM guys are in full support of Mittens eh? Help him in editing his reponses even? That's great!
I find myself wondering if this show of support is because you think everyone has forgotten what an ass Mittens made of himself on the old forums and you think people have forgotten or you just think it's the cool thing to do now.
I remember his self centered vile spewing, meh!
Either way I still support the idea of terminating the CSM as it serves little more purpose than to allow the members to preen in front of a player base.
Some suggestions from the old forums:
1) Terminate CSM - It's apparent by their own admissions from the old forums they have no interest in listening to anyone who didn't vote last election. ( I understand the concept and if this were in a RL situation, however this is not. This is a game in which EVERYONE pays subscriptions to play.) Implement a log-in survey and allow anyone who logs in have a voice.
^*Not sure what the publicity stunt is for and why all the hype after the new forums pop up. I suppose the CSM/CCP is hoping we've forgotten about the abuse with no apology.*^
2) Remove Sov mechanics.
3) Remove any and all CCP employees from the game as players within corps/alliances. Corporate policy should not allow an employee to be a part of the playerbase for reasons we are all aware of, hence the formation of the CSM.
4) CCP, start acting like you are the best. It worked for you for several years and you gave this awesome game life. Now it's time you remove the constraints (CSM) and move forward as you were meant to do.
CCP you created an awesome game, while I do not like the CQ or NEX, your game is still intact. You've got to get rid of the politics though. Lose the CSM and the sov mechanics and you'll be able to go back to spending your money on the things that matter to most of the players.
If you need help cleaning the towers and blockade/sov units etc. I and I'm sure many other carebears are willing to buckle up and fly down to 0.0 to help in the removal process.
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Search in titles only Search in Politics only
First charges filed in the Mueller investigation
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Re: First charges filed in the Mueller investigation
Who, precisely, is "we?"
"We", IMO, is the manic uber liberals who want to "progressively" run this country into the toilet. The list is too long to name. FrankBurns is as manic as the day is long.
sigpicThe truth is that if Israel would lay down their arms there would be no more Israel, and if the Arabs would lay down their arms there would be no more war.
Boltdiehard
Funny thing is it is Executive Order #13526 signed by Obama in 2009 being used to kick things off and get the Declas going.
Rosenstein is next he’s done President won’t even meet with him.
It’s gonna get bumpy.
Nerts to you
Everyone opposed to this shameless piece of shiat traitor. The guy could save a family of puppies from a burning building and it wouldn't even be close to redeeming himself with any kind of respect. So put that in your pipe and blow. I will never accept this piece of shiat and neither will most people in this Country. Get used to it, it's not the media, it's the population of this Country.
Oh, and there is nothing you can do about that. So suck it.
We have the right to speak up, it's not about "hammering Obama" it's about questioning his performance. ~Bullseye
Originally posted by wonderboy View Post
Hey Tom, you got an ally. You must be so proud to have a non-science homophobic friend. Well, that's the company you're hanging with.
Just think, if you guys win, you can control all woman the way you want and tell them what to do and think and exterminate those that are gay and have everyone live in fear. Wow, you must be so proud, salvation is so close you can taste it. Just keep pushing for it, cause I'd rather die than live in that world.
Originally posted by Frank Burns View Post
Get a grip, dude. Your anxiety level is off the charts. No wonder you think a guy who is a clownish moderate democrat turned clownish moderate Republican is actually the second-coming of Hitler. It's hard to think when you're gripped that thoroughly by the MSM's propaganda campaign.
See, this is where your over generalized stereotype makes you look foolish. I bet you have been saying that schtick for the last 20 years. The term Democrat or Republican has no meaning with Trump. This is a guy with no loyalty to anyone or anything but himself. A guy with no scruples or any kind of morality. Now, if you don't see a problem with that, you're just part of the problem, you're not thinking at all.
How can anyone who claims to love free speech above all else think the leader of the free world attacking the press and calling everything they say as lies, like dictators do, as just no big deal? All is cool. Meanwhile, his buddy in Russia is poisoning people that speak against him. Wake up man.
I don't know how it's possible, but you always sound like you think you're the only one with a brain, but you always come across as a half-wit. How do you do it?
But I think you're giving Trump way to much credit.
It's 'too' much credit. And I'm not really concerned with what you think. Trump comes off as a moronic baffoon, that doesn't mean he's not dangerous. The guy doesn't listen to his advisers and has shown to be impulsive and hot headed, it would be foolish to think he is benign.
Who said Trump is benign?
That doesn't mean all laws, ethics, and morals suddenly get suspended because you don't like the guy. If you're so filled with hate you can't see that the guy in the Oval Office is actually beside the point, you should bow out of any future discussions on the issue because we're not arguing about the same thing. You hate Trump so much, you'd support WW3 to get him out of office. It's not about Trump. It's about the obvious corruption of the deep state. The obvious UNDENIABLE corruption of the executive branch of the government AS A WHOLE, including the deep state that underpins everything. It's obvious the corruption was there before Trump got into office, so you can't blame him for it, no matter how much you hate him.
I mean, unless you think it's totally okay for the FBI to willfully try to affect the outcome of a presidential election and then sabotage a president they don't like. What else would you find okay, as long as it's Trump in the crosshairs? Maybe a little Dealy Plaza action? Look the other way? It's okay because it's Trump?
Yeah, were not talking about the same thing. I don't buy the conspiracy theory. First off, the dossier was created by the GOP which you willfully ignore. I'll skip to the end and question if Comey and his gang of so called Trump haters are trying to stop him, why reopen the email investigation days before the election? Doesn't jive with trying to stop Trump, it helped him.
I don't get the WW3 reference, doesn't really make sense, civil war, yes.
Media bias, absolutely proven. Bias by social media giants up to and including the will to censor, absolutely, proven.
You're rather quick to say proven. Sure there's bias in the media, but the bias is all over the spectrum from far right to far left to completely fake news, no credibility with an intent to deceive like Alex Jones. There's even least bias media like https://www.publicintegrity.org
Censorship by companies is not censorship. Companies don't guarantee a platform for free speech, you have to conform to their terms of service, just like this forum.
Carl Spackler
Major Domo
Drama queen. Or King? Or ... what's the transgender word? Drama It?
See, this is where your over generalized stereotype makes you look foolish.
Originally posted by Carl Spackler View Post
Your argument is clear and concise, the points you made were elegant and well formed with an infallible premise. The logos of your argument was undeniable and true; while your ethos qualified the debate. A true joy to read; splendid.
Appreciate the compliment. You're OK in my book.
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Edwards Whipple Wheelock
BIRTH: 19 Sep 1824, Sturbridge, Worcester, Massachusetts
Father: Hiram Wheelock (____ - ____)
Mother: Fanny Corey (12 Dec 1793 - ____)
_Hiram Wheelock _____|
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!SOURCE: Email from N. Combs to Weldon Whipple, 20 Oct 2005. Cites Vital Records of Sturbridge, Massachusetts to the Year 1850: "Edwards Whipple Wheelock, s/o Hiram and Fanny, was born Sept. 19, 1824 in Sturbridge"
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When lipids meet hormones: plants’ answer to complex stresses
By Isabel 16/05/2018 September 9th, 2019 Blog, Research
This blog has been reposted with permission from the MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory.
Unlike animals, plants can’t run away when things get bad. That can be the weather changing or a caterpillar starting to slowly munch on a leaf. Instead, they change themselves inside, using a complex system of hormones, to adapt to challenges.
Now, MSU-DOE Plant Research Laboratory scientists are connecting two plant defense systems to how these plants do photosynthesis. The study, conducted in the labs of Christoph Benning and Gregg Howe, is in the journal, The Plant Cell.
At the heart of this connection is the chloroplast, the engine of photosynthesis. It specializes in producing compounds that plants survive with. But plants have evolved ways to use it for other, completely unrelated purposes.
Their trick is to harvest their own chloroplasts’ protective membranes, made of lipids, the molecules found in fats and oils. Lipids have many uses, from making up cell boundaries, to being part of plant hormones, to storing energy.
If plants need lipids for some purpose other than serving as membranes, special proteins break down chloroplast membrane lipids. Then, the resulting products go to where they need to be for further processing.
For example, one such protein, breaks down lipids that end up in plant seed oil. Plant seed oil is both a basic food component and a precursor for biodiesel production.
Now, Kun (Kenny) Wang, a former Benning lab grad student, reports two more such chloroplast proteins with different purposes. Their lipid breakdown products help plants turn on their defense system against living pests and other herbivores. In turn, the proteins, PLIP2 and PLIP3, are themselves activated by another defense system against non-living threats.
Photo of the author, Kun (Kenny) Wang
By Kenny Wang
Playing the telephone game inside plants
In a nutshell, the plant plays a version of the popular children’s game, Telephone, with itself. In the real game, players form a line. The first person whispers a message into the ear of the next person in the line, and so on, until the last player announces the message to the entire group.
In plants, defense systems and chloroplasts also pass along chemical messages down a line. Breaking it down:
The plant senses non-living threats, like cold or drought, and indicates it through one hormone (ABA)
This alarm triggers the two identified proteins to breakdown lipids from the chloroplast membrane
The lipid products turn into another hormone (JA) which takes part in the insect defense system. Plant growth slows to a crawl. Energy goes to producing defensive chemicals.
“The cross-talk between defense systems has a purpose. For example, there is mounting evidence that plants facing drought are more vulnerable to caterpillar attacks,” Kenny says. “One can imagine plants evolving precautionary strategies for varied conditions. And the cross-talk helps plants form a comprehensive defense strategy.”
Kenny adds, “The chloroplast is amazing. We suspect its membrane lipids spur functions other than defense or oil production. That implies more Telephone games leading to different ends we don’t know yet. We have yet to properly examine that area.”
“Those functions could help us better understand plants and engineer them to be more resistant to complex stresses.”
Moving on to Harvard Medical School
Kenny recently got his PhD from the MSU Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. He has just started a post-doc position in the Farese-Walther lab at Harvard Medical School.
“They look at lipid metabolism in mammals and have started a project connecting it with brain disease in humans,” Kenny says. “There is increasing evidence that problems with lipid metabolism in the brain might lead to dementia, Alzheimer’s, etc.”
“I benefited a lot from my time at MSU. The community is very successful here: the people are nice, and you have support from colleagues and facilities. Although we scientists should sometimes be independent in our work, we also need to interact with our communities. No matter how good you are, there is a limit to your impact as an individual. That is one of the lessons I applied when looking for my post-doc.”
Read the original article here.
interdisciplinary researchplant scienceResearch and Knowledgestress resiliencesustainable agriculture
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gofest.io
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singer-songwriter, acoustic
Eight years ago Philipp Poisel brought his debut Where the sky begins? on the market. Discovered the time of Herbert Grönemeyer himself, he on tour also equal yet supported in the same year in the opening act. Even with the second album Up to Toulouse, which brought out Poisel 2010 he landed in the top ten, three of his singles also made it into the charts to the very top. Six years but had fans waiting for a new album of the Bard, but in 2016 it is: Philipp Poisel released a new album. In his only concert in Germany he now enriches the Lollapalooza with new deep lyrics and feel-good acoustics in the thoughtful variety.
Philipp Poisel — past festivals
Radiohead, Kings of Leon, New Order, Major Lazer, Paul Kalkbrenner, Philipp Poisel
ToS | est. 2016
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Tag: ereader
Global Apple iPad Tablet Market Share Over 80%
A new report by market research firm, IDC, has thrown some interesting numbers with respect to the worldwide tablet and eReader market. According to their latest study, the Apple iPad currently constitutes over 87.4% of all “media tablets” shipped during the third quarter of 2010. That is 4.2 million units sold out of the total 4.8 million tablets sold worldwide during this period.
IDC however points out that it has set some criteria to differentiate tablet computers from eReaders which means Windows tablets and Amazon bestsellers like Kindle were not considered “tablets” and hence were not part of the study. IDC says, only electronic devices that measured between 5-14 inches and were equipped with color displays and lightweight operating systems were included in the study.
Despite this, iPad still owns a major share of the market. IDC notes that putting the tablets and eReaders under one umbrella will still keep the iPad on top at 79.5% market share.
Although 2010 was considered the year of the tablets, it is in 2011 that we will be seeing most of the competition. With devices like Motorola Xoom and Blackberry PlayBook on the pipeline, it will be interesting to see how the iPad market share stands one year down the line.
Author Stephaine LarssonPosted on January 19, 2011 Categories GadgetsTags ereader, ipad, tablet pc
NOOKcolor Is Barnes & Noble Best-Selling Product In Forty Years
Barnes & Noble has announced that it has sold a record number of NOOKcolor eReader devices during the Christmas shopping season that has taken the device to become the hottest selling product on Barnes & Noble in its four decade history. While the media statement did not disclose the exact number of NOOKcolor units sold, it does note that “millions of NOOK eReading devices” have been sold.
Another interesting revelation from the company’s press statement is the fact that digital sales have overtaken sales of physical books on BN.com which is apparently the second largest online bookstore in the world.
Barnes & Noble launched the new NOOKcolor eReader back in November this year. The popularity of the device soon surged following a successful rooting of the device that brought Android market to NOOKcolor. Rooted NOOKcolor devices are now also capable to handling Kindle compatible ebooks which enhances the value of this eReader even further.
Author GoRumorsPosted on December 31, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags barnes noble, ereader, nook color
Hack NOOKcolor To Install Android 2.2 Now
If you own a Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor, it is now time to turn the eReader into a full fledged tablet device. Following the successful rooting of the NOOKcolor eReader late last month, hackers have now been able to successfully port Android 2.2 to the eReader. These developers have released a demo of the hacked NOOKcolor that you can find embedded below.
If you are looking to carry out the trick yourself, we must warn you that this procedure is still pretty raw. What this means is that there is still no one tap installation procedure available as yet. Those who want to install FroYo will have to compile the OS besides carrying out a number of complicated procedures before seeing Android 2.2 installed on your NOOKcolor. It should then go without saying that this is absolutely risky and not worth carrying out unless you are a geek yourself.
Look out for the instructions here and let us know if you hit on a roadblock somewhere during the process.
Author Stephaine LarssonPosted on December 6, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags android 2.2, barnes noble, ereader, froyo, nook color
NOOKcolor App Development – New SDK Released
Barnes & Noble has announced the roll out of the SDK for the recently launched NOOKcolor eReader. The launch will mean developers can now start building applications specifically for the eReader. Interestingly, though the eReader has been built over the Android framework, it will not be possible for Android app developers to directly port their apps over the new platform. Instead, we hear that there will still be a significant amount of work required to make the apps NOOKcolor-compatible.
Nevertheless, with the device being rooted recently, a number of users should now be looking at NOOKcolor as a cheaper alternative for tablet. This increased interest should get more developers doing the extra work to bring applications for the platform.
We look forward to this spurt in activity on the Nook ecosystem. If you are a developer, you can find all the needed SDK tools here.
Author GoRumorsPosted on December 4, 2010 Categories Gadgets, Software and AppsTags android apps, barnes noble, ereader, nook, nook color
Google Editions To Launch This Month In USA
It has been a long time since Google officially broke the news about its browser-based eReader project. Google Editions is regarded to be a disruptive new entrant to the ebook reader segment that is quite heavily dominated by players like Amazon. But unlike the current players who insist on proprietary hardware and software for enabling access to content, Google is planning on offering an open “read from anywhere” tool that can be accessed from any device that can connect to the internet via a web browser.
The project was earlier supposed to launch in the summer of this year, but got delayed due to technial and legal issues. Google has now confirmed that Editions shall be launching by the end of this year in the United States. Other countries are expected to get access to Editions by the first quarter of next year.
It will be interesting to see how Amazon and the rest of the eReader market react to this launch. Will customers be ready to ditch the eReader for the browser? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
Author GoRumorsPosted on December 1, 2010 Categories Google, Software and AppsTags ereader, Google, google editions
Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor Root Hacked Successfully
NOOKColor, the touchscreen eReader from Barnes & Noble that went on sale last month has now been successfully rooted. This is thanks to the good folks at XDA developers who have been able to install the popular Angry Birds game on the eReader as a “proof” of the hack being developed successfully.
According to the hackers who broke into the root of the NOOKcolor software, the rooted device is as “smooth as a Galaxy Tab” and that it has “potential to be an amazing device“.
There are no official guides or step-by-step instructions for the root as yet and we will stay on the lookout for the same to let you know once it is up on the XDA forums. Are you excited about the prospect of rooting your NOOKcolor? Write to us in the comments.
Author Stephaine LarssonPosted on December 1, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags barnes noble, ereader, nook, nook color, root
Buy Barnes & Noble NOOK Color From Store Now
Barnes & Noble had unveiled their new NOOK Color last month. Like we had noted last month, the new color eReader will come with a 7″ touchscreen display built with IPS technology, an 8GB internal storage supplemented by a microSD card that can hold 32GB of data and a number of other features. Now, the popular book publisher has announced that this new eReader is now available for sale and can be purchased at a price of $249.
If you are eager to get hold of one, you can do some from Barnes & Noble, Best Buy, Wal-Mart and Books-a-Million. Online orders are available too and these orders will apparently take close to ten days to be fulfilled. Of course, if you have already pre-ordered a unit, they must be hitting your door soon enough.
Author Stephaine LarssonPosted on November 17, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags barnes noble, ereader, nook, nook color
Barnes & Noble NOOKcolor eReader Officially Announced
So looks like almost everything that we heard about the new eReader from Barnes & Noble was correct. The popular publisher has now officially unveiled the new NOOKcolor – the new eReader with a color touchscreen.
Like what the rumors had suggested, the new NOOKcolor will come with a 7″ screen with a touchscreen display made of In-Plane Switching technology, an 8GB internal storage, a microSD slot that can hold 32GB and features like Wi-Fi, micro USB port and a 3.5mm headphone jack. The eReader will support a number of third party apps like Pandora, Chess and will come with a media player. These things surely make it more than just a ebook reading machine and can also be used to listen to music or watch videos.
As noted yesterday, the device will also include a NOOK kids app that will be targeted at kids. The eReader is noted to be available for $249 – just as it was earlier speculated.
Author GoRumorsPosted on October 27, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags barnes noble, ereader, nook, nook color
Barnes & Noble Nook Color eReader Launch & Price Rumors
Barnes & Noble is rumored to be getting all ready to launch a new variant of their Nook ebook reader – a color version that probably ditch the regular e-ink screen with a display made of either full LCD, Mirasol or possibly even PixelQi. From what we hear, the new eReader will be simply called Nook Color and will come with a 7″ screen and will run on the Android operating system. It is also expected to run the Nook app that is already available for devices with color display.
What might bother you if you are eager to get hold of one of these devices is the price. The price of this new Nook Color eReader is said to be in the range of $250 – that’s pretty expensive considering that there are way cheaper alternatives. Also, tablet computers that can do a lot more than just reading are available at just a $100 more.
Anyway, let us wait for a confirmation from Barnes & Noble about this.
Author GoRumorsPosted on October 22, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags android os, barnes noble, ereader, nook, nook color
Pandigital Novel Personal eReader Price And Features Announced
Pandigital has had a rough few months honing their Novel eReader. You may remember that the company’s initial launch of Pandigital Novel was beset by problems with broken Wi-Fi, slow processors and a poor eReader application. The company had to then recall their stocks to work on flaws so that they do not recur.
Four months on, it looks like Pandigital Novel personal eReader is finally ready to hit the shelves once again. The device comes with a 6″ Sipex/AUO ePaper, integrated Wi-Fi, access to Barnes & Noble ebookstore, accelerometer and a 2GB onboard storage expandable up to 32GB that will all come at a price of $200.
The Pandigital Novel eReader is expected to hit the retail chains in a few days time and the device will hopefully see a major price drop then. At this price point, it does not look really attractive, considering Barnes & Noble’s Nook is available for just $149.
Author Stephaine LarssonPosted on October 18, 2010 Categories GadgetsTags ereader, pandigital, pandigital novel
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AG calls on government leaders to “act now” to halt the trend of worsening audit results
Auditor-General Kimi Makwetu says irregular expenditure in government departments and state-owned enterprises has increased from R51-billion
last year to R62,60 billion this year.
The auditor-general (AG), Kimi Makwetu, today called on government leaders to take urgent action to halt the trend of disappointing audit results, restore accountability and prevent mismanagement of public funds.
Releasing his 2018-19 general report for national and provincial government and their entities, Makwetu says political leaders, accounting officers and authorities, as well as oversight structures “must take immediate action to restore government’s accountability to the people of South Africa. This could be done by acting on the outcomes of the recent audits, dealing effectively with material irregularities (MIs) that have been identified, and implementing preventative controls to turn the tide of undesirable stewardship over public funds”.
His report – themed Act now on accountability – reveals “disappointing” audit results for 2018-19, and “slow progress” over the five previous financial years. Makwetu attributes the stunted growth towards the desired audit outcomes largely to those charged with governance being slow to implement, or totally disregarding, audit recommendations made by his office.
First status update on the implementation of the AG’s enhanced powers
For the first time, Makwetu’s general report gives a status update on the first year of implementing the enhanced powers given to the AG through the amendment of the Public Audit Act (PAA).
The amendments became effective on 1 April 2019 and the Auditor-General of South Africa (AGSA) started implementing these at 16 selected auditees. The audit office will incrementally and systematically implement these amendments at other auditees across the three government tiers in the coming years.
Briefly mapping the lapses in governance and failures in basic internal controls that led to Parliament unanimously voting to amend the PAA, Makwetu paints a picture of administrators and authorities who had largely failed to implement audit counsel and recommendations from his office.
“Our recommendations did not require more than what accounting officers and authorities were legally obligated to do by existing laws such as the Public Finance Management Act. We simply re-emphasised basic accountability measures such as proper planning and budgeting; establishing internal controls; effectively dealing with transgressions; keeping proper records; as well as credibly reporting on finances and performance,” says Makwetu.
He says, executive authorities and oversight structures did not lead by example in setting the correct tone “that would enable accountability, transparency and good governance”.
A. The audit outcomes at a glance
The graphic below shows a picture of audit outcomes across national and provincial government:
Among its key findings, Makwetu’s report reveals the following:
Overall, the audit outcomes regressed since 2014-15 with only 80 auditees improving and 91 regressing. Only 100 (26%) of the auditees managed to produce quality financial statements and performance reports and to comply with key legislation, thereby receiving a clean audit. In 2014-15, 106 auditees had clean audits.
There were serious weaknesses in the financial management of national and provincial government that had not been addressed over the past five years.
The financial health of auditees continued to deteriorate – with departments in particular struggling to balance their finances.
Unauthorised expenditure remained high at R1,365 billion.
There was an emerging risk of increased litigation and claims against departments. Over a third of the departments had claims against them in excess of 10% of their next year’s budget.
A total deficit of R62,06 billion was incurred by the 31% of public entities whose expenditure exceeded their revenue – 90% of the total deficit related to the Road Accident Fund.
Fruitless and wasteful expenditure continued to rise, with 223 auditees losing R849 million in the current year. Over the five-year period, R4,16 billion of government expenditure was fruitless and wasteful.
Irregular expenditure increased to R62,60 billion from the R51 billion reported last year.
B. Reporting on first year of implementing the enhanced AG powers
When accountability mechanisms are failing, as described above, the amended PAA now gives the AG the mandate to report on material irregularities (MIs) detected during audits, and to take further action if accounting officers and authorities do not appropriately deal with such MIs. A material irregularity is defined as any non-compliance with, or contravention of, legislation, fraud, theft or a breach of a fiduciary duty, identified during an audit performed under the Public Audit Act, that resulted in or is likely to result in a material financial loss, the misuse or loss of a material public resource or substantial harm to a public sector institution or the general public.
The AG can now refer the matter to a public body to investigate or include recommendations in the audit report on what should be done to address the matter. The amendments further give the AG the power to take binding remedial action if his recommendations are not implemented; and, in cases where the remedial action is not implemented, the audit office can now issue a certificate of debt so that money lost can be recovered from accounting officers or authorities.
The approach to identify material irregularities in the 2018-19 audits
An MI means any fraud, theft, breach of a fiduciary duty or non-compliance with – or contravention of – the legislation that could result in a material loss, the misuse or loss of a material public resource, or substantial harm to a public sector institution or the general public.
For the 2018-19 audits, 16 national and provincial government auditees were identified for implementation of the MI process. Makwetu says the auditees were selected based on their audit outcomes and their history of having incurred irregular expenditure.
Auditors had completed 12 of these audits by the date of this report. Makwetu gave context to this by explaining that the limited time available from 1 April 2019 – when the PAA amendments came into effect – until the finalisation of the audits, the complexity of some of the matters his office dealt with, and the time they gave accounting officers and authorities to respond to identified MIs, affected their ability to finalise most of the audits by 31 July.
Difference between material irregularity and irregular expenditure
Outline of the difference between an MI and irregular expenditure:
Irregular expenditure
Irregular expenditure is all expenditure where there was non-compliance with legislation in the process leading up to the payment. For example, if the procurement process for the awarding of a construction contract did not comply with legislation on supply chain management, all payments to that contractor will be irregular expenditure. When irregular expenditure is identified, the accounting officer or authority is required to perform an investigation to determine the impact by considering if the noncompliance resulted in a financial loss, whether there was any fraud involved, and if an official should be held accountable. If there was no loss or fraud, the irregular expenditure will be condoned after the necessary disciplinary action had been taken.
Material irregularity
As with irregular expenditure, an MI also stems from noncompliance with legislation, but it has a broader scope and can be applied to fraud, theft and a breach of fiduciary duty (which means that an official did not do what legislation requires and/or did not act in the best interest of the auditee). Another key difference is that for any non-compliance to be considered an MI, there must already be an indication that the non-compliance resulted in, or is likely to have, a material impact, in the form of a material financial loss, the misuse or loss of a material public resource, or substantial harm to a public sector institution or the general public.
Results of the first phase of material irregularity implementation
The AG’s report reveals that a total of 28 MIs was identified at eight of the auditees, which resulted in a financial loss of R2,81 billion. Of this amount, R2,51 billion is known as the accounting officer or authority quantified the loss, and the remainder is an estimate of the loss. Of the known loss, R2,2 billion is the money expected to be lost as a result of the irregularities in the purchase of locomotives by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa. The most MIs (10) were identified at the human settlements department in the Free State, followed by the Passenger Rail Agency of South Africa (9).
Irregular expenditure Material irregularity
The graphs below summarise the phase 1 MI implementation outcomes:
The graph below lists the nature of the MIs identified during this phase:
What happens with the identified material irregularities?
An MI is only fully resolved if:
i. the loss (or further losses) is prevented and/or any losses incurred have been recovered or all possible steps have been taken to recover the losses; and
ii. appropriate steps have been taken against the person or party responsible for the loss.
The MIs and the progress made in resolving them will be reported in the audit report of the auditee and in general reports until they have been fully resolved to enable accountability and oversight.
C. Financial health of auditees
The graph below indicates national and provincial financial status movements:
The financial health of auditees in most provinces either improved or remained unchanged, with the Eastern Cape, Free State and North West showing a regression. There are still a significant number of auditees in the Free State that need urgent attention.
The financial health of departments showed a further slight regression in 2018-19 – continuing on a downward spiral since 2014-15. The departments with a good financial health status represented only 15% of the expenditure budget of departments.
Included in the 57 departments with a good financial health status in the current year, are 26 departments that were able to maintain their good financial health status from the previous year and when compared to 2014-15. These departments are most prevalent in Gauteng (eight), Western Cape (five) and national government (five). Overall, 13 of the 15 departments that we identified as requiring urgent intervention disclosed in their financial statements that they might find it difficult to continue to operate.
D. Irregular expenditure increases
Irregular expenditure increased to R62,60 billion from the R51 billion reported last year. This total includes the irregular expenditure of those auditees where the AGSA had completed the audits after the cut-off date of this report (R19,76 billion).
It is worth noting that the amount could be even higher, as 34% of the auditees were qualified because the amount disclosed was incomplete and/or disclosed that they had incurred irregular expenditure but that the full amount was unknown. In addition, the AG notes, “we could not audit R2,33 billion worth of contracts due to missing or incomplete information”.
E. Unauthorised expenditure decreases
Makwetu said it was encouraging to report that unauthorised expenditure decreased by 23% from the previous year, but said the increase in the number of departments incurring this type of expenditure remains concerning.
Four of the 18 departments that incurred unauthorised expenditure in the current year, also incurred this type of expenditure for the past three years. The two departments in the Free State, namely Education as well as Police, Roads and Transport, have incurred this type of expenditure for the past five years.
The AG said the high unauthorised expenditure “paints a picture of departments unable to operate within their budgets – resulting in deficits and overdrafts”. In total, 108 departments (74%) technically had insufficient funds to settle all liabilities that existed at year-end if the unpaid expenses at year-end were also taken into account. This means that these departments started the 2018-19 financial year with part of their budget effectively pre-spent.
F. Fruitless and wasteful expenditure increases
The number of auditees with fruitless and wasteful expenditure remained the same as in the previous year. A total of 184 auditees incurred fruitless and wasteful expenditure in both the current and the previous year, 158 of which had incurred such expenditure for the past three years.
Makwetu cautioned that “government cannot afford to lose money because of poor decision-making, neglect or inefficiencies; however, we continue to see a rise in fruitless and wasteful expenditure”. This expenditure, which is effectively money lost, increased by 7% from the previous year. The overall increase was mostly as a result of the loss of R110 million by the national Department of Energy and R101 million by the Free State Department of Health. These losses relate to additional storage costs for solar water heater geysers manufactured and stored by suppliers beyond the agreed storage period and remedial work done on infrastructure projects, respectively.
G. State-owned entities require urgent attention
The AG’s report indicates that the results of the audited state-owned entities (SOEs) continued to regress from the previous year. None of the SOEs managed to obtain a clean audit opinion, with the South African Post Office slipping back to a qualified audit opinion and the Development Bank of Southern Africa regressing from a clean audit in 2017-18 to a financially unqualified opinion with findings in the year under review.
A number of the SOE audits had not been completed by the 30 September cut-off date. The AG, however, reports that this “situation has improved slightly when compared to this time last year”. He says the delays were mainly “due to financial statements and audits that were delayed because of SOEs struggling to demonstrate that they were going concerns”.
The financial health of SOEs has “remained under significant pressure”. He reports that there was significant doubt about whether some of the SOEs can continue with their operations in future without financial assistance. There were weaknesses in the performance reporting processes and an increase in non-compliance at the 14 SOEs and their significant subsidiaries audited by the AGSA. These entities also disclosed R1,4 billion in irregular expenditure, although the amount could be even higher as four SOEs – Denel, the South African Broadcasting Corporation, South African Express Airways and the South African Forestry Company – were qualified on the completeness of their irregular expenditure disclosure.
The irregular expenditure of the SOEs the AGSA did not audit amounted to R57 billion, which included R49,9 billion at Transnet and R6,6 billion at Eskom.
The report highlights the fact that the 10 departments responsible for overseeing SOEs did not have consistent oversight practices and the majority did not adequately plan for their oversight function and report on it in their performance reports.
“As the audit office, we recommend that the SOEs be directed by stabilising their leadership tasked to operationalise the action plans designed to improve the strategic direction and internal controls of the SOEs. Those tasked with the oversight of SOEs should set clear responsibilities to periodically evaluate the SOEs’ actual performance against the predetermined performance targets and to implement consequences when such targets are not met,” counsels Makwetu.
H. AG calls for action to improve provincial audit outcomes
The AG has called on the provincial leadership and provincial legislatures to pay attention to improving the audit outcomes in the provinces.
Western Cape continues to produce best results
The Western Cape continued to produce the best results with 79% clean audits and the lowest irregular as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure. At 74%, the province also had the highest number of auditees with a good financial health status and there were no auditees with unauthorised expenditure. Makwetu says over the five years, “there has been a solid and consistent pattern of good audit outcomes” in the province. He says this can be attributed to the provincial leadership and accounting officers and authorities “instilling a culture of accountability and good governance”.
KwaZulu-Natal results remained unchanged
Overall, the outcomes in KwaZulu-Natal remained unchanged with three auditees improving and three regressing – there are now five clean audits as opposed to three in the previous year. The AG noted that there are recurring trends visible in the province, but said “greater effort is required to trigger stronger outcomes”.
At R12,4 billion, the irregular expenditure of the province is the highest of all the provinces and more than that of national government. Its closing balance of R41,9 billion is also the highest of all the provinces – this despite the AGSA’s ongoing recommendations to leadership to take steps to avoid the abuse of supply chain management legislation.
Eastern Cape results progressed; greater effort is required for sustainability
The Eastern Cape’s audit results progressed since 2014-15, but greater effort is required for sustainability. The province’s audit outcomes regressed slightly in 2018-19. The AG says this is due to “the slow pace of addressing the root causes of the findings we raise every year in spite of commitments from accounting officers and authorities”.
He said the culture of non-compliance – especially in the area of supply chain management – continued as a result of leadership’s tolerance for deviations from legislative requirements. “We again raised our concerns about the financial health of the auditees in the province – specially the commitments by and claims against departments – which could potentially have a negative impact on provincial funding.”
Limpopo’s improved outcomes encouraging; more work needed to sustain these
The improvement in the audit outcomes of Limpopo (three auditees improved and one regressed) is an encouraging trend, “but more work needs to be done before we can say that the improvement is sustainable”, says the AG. He says to facilitate sustainable change, the lack of discipline in controls needs to be addressed and a decisive commitment must be made to effect consequences.
The province’s irregular expenditure increased to just over R2 billion as a result of widespread non-compliance with supply chain management legislation, “fed by a blatant disregard for legislation and officials not being held accountable for these transgressions”.
Mpumalanga results regressed
Mpumalanga’s audit outcomes regressed after an improvement in the previous year. The AG’s report reveals that the province’s results have been erratic over the past five years – with auditees not sustaining their outcomes. This is largely due to a failure to institutionalise strong internal controls, which has in turn resulted in unstable internal control environments.
Makwetu says Mpumalanga’s audit outcomes “should be observed closely to see whether the leadership can effectively address the warning signals we reported”.
After years of obtaining 100% unqualified audits, Gauteng results show a concerning trend
Makwetu says his office has noticed a concerning trend emerging from the audit outcomes in Gauteng. After years of obtaining 100% unqualified audit opinions, two of the province’s auditees obtained disclaimed opinions. The clean audits have decreased from 12 to seven. Irregular expenditure increased and his office again reported deficiencies in the management and delivery of key projects in the province.
Accounting officers and authorities did not respond timeously to the findings we raised in prior years, especially on the need to strengthen the supply chain management processes and reporting on performance.”
“We were encouraged by the tone set by the premier upon engagement with the outcomes. Firm steps are already being taken to give attention to the matters raised in the audit.”
Northern Cape audit results regress further
As in the previous year, the Northern Cape made no major strides to improve its audit outcomes. The audit results regressed – registering two regressions and no improvements – as was the case in the previous year.
The province’s leadership remained slow to address the audit office’s continued calls for improved controls and consequences for transgressions and poor performance. The AG says the provincial leadership made numerous commitments in the past but the impact was minimal, as very little was done to implement and monitor these.
Free State results improved overall but accountability is still a concern
While the audit outcomes improved overall in the Free State – five improvements and three regressions – and there was “a notable effort towards reducing disclaimed and adverse opinions, the overall accountability in the Free State is still a concern,” says the AG.
It is the only province with no clean audit and its financial health is in a very bad state with 69% of the auditees requiring urgent intervention. It also has the highest unauthorised as well as fruitless and wasteful expenditure of all the provinces.
“A culture of no consequences prevails, and the political leadership is involved in the decision-making at some auditees. The continued disregard for procurement processes resulted in irregular expenditure at all auditees and created an environment vulnerable to the abuse of state funds. Our audits revealed poor planning, management and monitoring of infrastructure and other projects. The completion of these projects was often delayed, resulting in the quality of work being compromised and project costs being exceeded. This had a negative impact on the delivery of services, as funds were not always used effectively and efficiently to provide sustainable services.”
North West requires greater effort and focus to shift the audit outcomes
The premier has led by example in setting the tone for accountability in the province and this has been embraced by members of the executive council. It resulted in a stagnation of the overall poor audit outcomes for the first time in four years. This is an indication of a turnaround, which requires greater effort and focus from the new political leadership to shift the audit outcomes.
Following the intervention by the inter-ministerial task team to place five departments under administration during July 2018, certain improvements in the control environment of departments were noted, and these should be sustained and replicated in the province. This encouraging trend and effort were not substantive enough to have an impact on the overall audit outcomes of the province.
The irregular expenditure remained high at R3,2 billion and the closing balance was one of the highest of the provinces at R18,8 billion.
“We urge the new political leadership together with the inter-ministerial task team to continue setting the right tone for accountability and consequences, including efforts to fully restore governance in the province.”
I. Preventative measures required to improve governance systems
Preventing poor-quality financial statements and performance reports, non-compliance and MIs is more effective than having to deal with the consequences thereof. A proactive approach aimed at identifying risks and requiring assurance from accounting officers and authorities that these risks are being mitigated through preventative controls will have a positive impact on the control environment of auditees.
Says Makwetu: “My message over the years has been that a strong control environment and processes are key to achieving strategic objectives, addressing risks, ensuring compliance with legislation, and managing public funds to the benefit of citizens. I acknowledge that it takes time to institutionalise good preventative controls, especially in large and complex environments, but the accounting officers and authorities need to build their institutions towards accomplishing this in a deliberate manner.”
The in-year status of records reviews that the AGSA performs and engages on with accounting officers and authorities provide an early warning system whereby accounting officers and authorities are alerted to matters that can potentially lead to undesirable audit outcomes.
AGSA reports and briefings will be a good source of information in this regard, but the AG also strongly encourages engagement with the chair of the audit committee and the head of the internal audit unit on their perspective, as they have a key responsibility to assess risk and control.
He says Parliament and legislatures – through the portfolio committees and standing committees on public accounts – can also play a pivotal role in strengthening preventative controls.
J. Conclusion
Makwetu is encouraged by the enthusiasm displayed by the sixth administration’s leadership towards improving the governance lapses his office has been flagging for years now.
He says after extensively engaging with the new leadership at provincial and national level (both administrative and oversight) “to prepare them for the introduction of the MI process and the urgency for accountability, the opportunities for progressive and sustainable change are evident to us based on the enthusiasm and commitment by this new leadership. If we can turn this into tangible action by acting on accountability, we can go a long way in turning the current state of undesired audit outcomes.”
“Accounting officers and authorities reacted positively to the notifications of the MIs we identified, and most of them are taking appropriate action to address these. They had already started taking action in some cases by the time we formally notified them of the MI. At some, preliminary investigations were done within the 20 working days we gave them to respond to our notification. This demonstrates that they understand what they are required by legislation to do when they become aware of irregularities and that they are willing and able to take on these responsibilities.”
There has been a similar positive response to Makwetu’s emphasis on the value of preventative controls to proactively manage public resources.
“We are also encouraged by the decision taken by the Committee of Chairs in the National Assembly upon presentation of these overall national audit outcomes. They have already decided to review and workshop the parliamentary oversight model to ensure that they deliberately incorporate some of the matters we have elevated. This is to help strengthen the focus of portfolio committees. This interaction is planned for January/February 2020 as part of a comprehensive national response to these audit outcomes.”
Makwetu concludes: “As the audit office we remain committed to working tirelessly within our new mandate to strengthen financial and performance management in national and provincial government, emphasising the need for accountability and doing the basics right. We encourage Parliament and the provincial legislatures as well as the political and administrative leadership to play their part effectively and without fear or favour to ensure accountability for government spending and improvement in the lives of the citizens of this country.”
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Lawrence Wolff
About Lawrence Wolff
Daily Dose of Doozy #16: Epic Slapstick Battles of History: Will Ferrell
Lawrence Wolff replied to Dr. Rich Edwards's topic in OUCH! A Salute to Slapstick
1) Different styles - I would say that Ferrell differs most from Woody Allen. I see bits of influence of the others in this clip. Allen is much more subdued and doesn't have the exaggerated violence that this clip has. Allen's violence is comical without the fake gore. The violence reminded me a bit of Monty Python. 2) What do cameos add - For me, it's the fun of seeing surprise familiar faces, which adds to the comedy. Known comedic quantities add to the fun, rather than unknowns. 3) Who most influenced Ferrell - I would think ZAZ did, due to the outrageous fight scene, the news man on fire (where did that come from? I guess that was the point!) and references to other genres that have nothing to do with this film. Steve Carrell switching sides and the guy on fire gave me the largest smirk, but neither Ferrell or Carrell are my particular cup of tea. They usually don't do much for me, but maybe I'm too old school. Ferrell's comedies usually seem a bit on the nasty side, which is prevalent in much of today's comedy. I have enjoyed this course immensely. Dr. Edwards knowledge and love of film is evident. He has shown me a few things that I was not aware of, and that is always good in life, but especially in comedy. I have also enjoyed reading the many insights provided by my fellow students. While I do not have the talent of putting my thoughts into words as some of you have, I have enjoyed reading all of the comments very much. I'm so sorry I missed the Noir course.
Daily Dose of Doozy #15: Remixing of Classic Genres: ZAZ and Leslie Nielsen
1) Wow! Where to start? They mix TV police drama with James Bond secret weapons. I think ZAZ watched Olsen & Johnson and copies them - anything for a laugh! There is more than a joke a mionute and they keep coming. The understated ones get to me the most - Frank walking around the wall or having a supersized lab assistant that is so tall you can't see his head! (First used, I believe, in a Joe McDoaks short. Watch these for some great & overlooked slapstick!) Naked Gun is a very funny film that doesn't let up in the gags. 2) I think the approach is different. Although both Igor and Frank give us the "camera look" to bring us into the jokes, this film is an out and out parody of detective films. Young Frankenstein is more of a comedy tribute to the originals and is more affectionate to it's treatment of their subject than ZAZ treat their subjects. Both are extremely funny in their own way. 3) Sellers and Neilson both bungle their way through life, but Sellers has the air of a snob as he does so. As funny as Neilson's character is, Sellers' attitude makes me laugh a little more as I like to laugh at the snob as things happen to him to deflate him. With Neilson, the jokes (more often than not) are about the people around him. A common theme with bumbling policeman is that they have trouble with inanimate objects. They make walking through a door or looking through a microscope a production that always goes wrong. The fact that both of these characters keep the straightest of faces makes in all the more funny! Nothing is ever their fault.
Daily Dose of Doozy #13: Conceptual Parody: Woody Allen
1) It operates as parody, but I don't see the slapstick element in this. It is not violent and the exaggeration is downplayed in a quiet, almost serious way. And the food ordered would be from a Jewish delicatessen, not from a restaurant in a South American jungle. Does this make it funny? Yes. Does this make it slapstick? Not in my mind. The deli owner's seriousness in taking the order made me smile and I laughed when the coleslaw is taken out in wheelbarrows. (I thought that joke could have been improved on by the deli owner counting the wheelbarrows as they go by and then, just as he is about to say they are short, have another deli clerk come out with ONE SMALL one serving container of coleslaw to complete the order.) 2) The Great Race is more closely like a Sennett comedy that this film. Allen's "Take the money and Run" and "Sleeper" are, to me, closer to Sennett. The gags are "louder" in those films than in this one. For me, parody alone is not necessarily slapstick. It depends what you do with the situation that you are doing the parody of. Ben Turpin played those situations with broad strokes, where Allen is using dialogue and minimal physical action in this clip, for the comedy. I don't see much of Sennett here at all.
Daily Dose of Doozy #12: Live-Action Cartoon as Slapstick: Blake Edwards
1) For me, it has a "cartoonish" feel due to the bright colors, the camouflage of the arrow launcher moving completely unnoticed on the hill, the gleaming teeth (which Benny Hill borrowed on many occasions. I hope we include him in the discussion at some point), the pure white outfit Curtis wears, the moustache on Lemmon (bad guys ALWAYS have a moustache) and the "topper' - the giant arrow launched at the balloon. A gun would have been more realistic, but the arrow gives it the slapstick/cartoon finish. In a cartoon, the villain might have accidently gotten his foot tangled in the rope that would be attached to the arrow, so the bad cartoon character would have ended up in the falling balloon, with no parachute, of course! That wouldn't have worked in the film. The balloon and basket falling on the bad guys was a less over the top completion to the total scenario. 2) It's a homage due to the obvious rear screen projection, the over played physical reactions by the "bad guys" (right out of silent film - we are only missing Lemmon saying "Curses!") and the women fainting when it is announced that the balloon has a hole in it. But it is so over the top, it stays with the feel of the rest of the film. 3) To show the definitive hero and villain, like a 1930's or 1940's Western programmer (White hat / Black Hat - Ever notice the hats NEVER come off during the fight scenes?), the Good guy wears white and the Bad guys wear black. And, as is often the case in slapstick, the good guy(s) are often outnumbered. I think this helps in rooting for good guy, as he is an underdog.
Daily Dose of Doozy #11: Building a Character as Slapstick: Peter Sellers
1) Favorite gag - shooting with the curved pool cue. What we missed was that he had previously tried shooting with the curve going up, and missed the ball. But now he is smarter and turns the curve downward. Hearing the rip and cutting to George Sanders and then back to Clouseau trying to fix the rip was great! Better to see and imagine what has happened and then seeing the result is wonderful. Working your imagination with the joke makes it funnier. And George Sanders keeping a straight face makes it all the funnier. 2) He maintains his serious composure in the face of all the destruction and mistakes he makes (including knocking over the cue stand and walking into the wall.) This makes the gags even funnier. 3) Never apologizing like other police officers do in films. He is a bit arrogant with others saying that THEY are the problem. I've worked with people like this, but they weren't nearly as funny as Peter Sellers!
Daily Dose of Doozy #10: Slapstick in Technicolor: Lucille Ball & Desi Arnaz
1) Other than seeing Lucy's red hair, the color did not add to the comedy for me. Perhaps it helped making the low lighting by the candles seem more realistic. The mud looked real in color, but it didn't really add to the joke for me. 2) The angles of the props (due to the trailer being stuck in the mud) made the scene more amusing.. And they let you know that some kind of joke due to the angle was going to occur. Lucy trying to get on the bed was the first but then it lead to the big surprise with her flying out the door and into the mud. And Desi adds a line to finish the scene. Well done! 3) Lucy was the rare female to be able to perform physical comedy, but usually on TV. (Joan Davis being the woman in film that could pull off physical comedy.) Being attractive helped her be more likeable as jokes happening to an attractive woman make her look less like a clown, but she's still the subject of the joke. I think Lucy's contribution is in line with that of Laurel and Hardy in that the joke/situation was always POSSIBLE, unlikely to occur, but POSSIBLE. That bit of realism kept her comedy from going over the top and kept her on television for many. many years.
Daily Dose of Doozy #9: Visual Design as Slapstick (Jacques Tati)
Mr. Hulot is quiet, kind, a little stiff in manner, generous and caring. Interesting how he gives the tomatos to the girl and her mother takes them from her saying she is not a child anymore. Mother keeps them. He knows his way around and proceeds in a confident manner, blissfully unaware of the dog about to fight with his fish. I was waiting for the dog to attack the fish, but it fits the character that he doesn't have to fight the dog over the fish. That would destroy the easy feel to the entire scene and Hulot's gentle character. The walk to his apartment works in the long continuous long shot. You anticipate his appearing at the next window or doorway on his way up and smile every time he appears. Quiet and confident in his walk. A photographic joy. Not out and out belly laugh funny, but a funny thinking kind of comedy.
Breakdown of a Gag, Episode 6: The Cameo
Lawrence Wolff replied to CynthiaV's topic in OUCH! A Salute to Slapstick
I t's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World probably sets the record for cameos. When seeing this film for the first time when it was reissued in 1970, I was disappointed in the "The Three Stooges". It was probably the only time in film history when they didn't destroy something! Cameos enhance a film and make it more fun, putting in a quick laugh or smile where a non-descript actor would never have the same effect. The back story on "Mad World" on who DIDN'T make a cameo is almost as interesting as the ones that did appear in the film. For various reasons Stan laurel (wouldn't perform again without Oliver Hardy), Bud Abbott (not sure but he was considered for the film), Bob Hope (unavailable), Groucho Marx and Red Skelton (wanted too much money) would have made the film even greater, if that is possible!
I agree and think that the joke is recognizable by having the same actors playing the same role. It also may be useful in tying films together, if that is a needed plot device.
OUCH! A Salute to Slapstick - The Films of the 1940s
Always Leave Them Laughing did anything but that for me. Berle is arrogant & obnoxious (And those are his good points!) His attempts at drama are phony as are his feelings of regret. He comes off as completely unlikeable in this film, and for me, you have to like the person to laugh at them. He is performing and, as a viewer, you know that he's performing. It is as if he is saying, "Look how funny I'm going to be." From what I have read, Bert Lahr detested Milton Berle, although he tried not to show it in the film. Anyone else feel the same about this one? It's the only film in this course that I don't care for. Berle has his place in other films, but I think that this would have been a better film with a different comedian playing Berle's role.
Daily Dose of Doozy #7: The Clown Tradition: W.C. Fields
I noticed something when watching this film years ago. With Fields throwing around terms like "shifting spanner", did the censors miss another joke that CERTAINLY would not have been condoned in 1940? I believe they did. I won't repeat it here, but notice how they refer to the saloon that Shemp bartends - they consistently leave out the word Cat. It even leaves the word Cat out on the window when stating the name of the place of business. I can't repeat the saloon's name as I don't want to get banned. But go back and take a look or just listen again to Fields. It's a scream! Chase also got away with putting the word "sh*tty" in a description of his golf clubs in one of his shorts. Between Chase and Fields, I think the censors didn't look hard at comedies, as they were "only" comedies. They would usually worry about the screen play and make suggested cuts and revisions from that. I guess they didn't always look at the finished product!
Breakdown of a Gag, Episode 5: Playing Games
I also meant to say the "Who's on First" is the funniest routine of all time. It just happens to be about baseball.
I realize that Always Leave Them Laughing has not yet been screened, but I am familiar with this film. I wanted to like this film. I really did. But it leaves me cold. While Berle does some funny things, he is completely unlikeable. Stealing the jokes makes him cheesy and annoying, at the very least. Bert Lahr's advice to Kip in the film of giving the horse something to eat so that the audience will make him likeable should have been heeded for the entire film. Berle is egotistical and pig headed here. I must like a comedian to laugh at them. Berle's character is trying too hard here and will do anything to get ahead. Also, for me anyway, Berle's attempts at drama also fall flat and seem insincere. I read that Lahr detested Berle in real life and I think that this comes through, even though Lahr tries not to show it. Does anyone else get that impression? There are films where Berle's character works for me, such as "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad ,Mad World". Unfortunately, Always Leave Them Laughing isn't one of them. Does anyone else feel the same way about this film?
Good job with the baseball clips. Everyone can put themselves in Joe E. Brown's place at second base. The situation is spinning out of control around you as you frantically search for the one thing that will save you. Associating with the gag makes it funnier. Lloyd's does not directly involve the game, but is fun just the same. Keaton also did a baseball short for Educational, but it is one of his weaker ones. In the 1930's, many Hollywood stars would participate in a charity baseball, with many slapstick gags taking place during the game, so Hollywood has a history with the National Pastime. I agree with Chris_Coombs' feelings for the Leslie Nielson Police Squad routine. Very fast, confusing and funny. Nielson, in the Naked Gun clip. uses a variation on repetition as the gag continues and evolves in the film. And Abbott and Costello's Baseball Routine (as they called "Who's on First?") is not only baseball's greatest routine, but the funniest and most famous baseball routine of all time. Baseball does appear to be the best game for slapstick.
I also agree. The slow pace of his talking fits his jokes to a "T".
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SixKeys
This week's Community Discussion is about the importance of historical accuracy. Please share your thoughts!
MAKING SURE THE FANS ARE HEARD
As part of a set of new Community Initiatives, we'd like to give opportunities to the community to give more direct feedback, and will now host weekly discussion on specific topics that relate the Assassin's Creed Franchise. These community discussions will take place on the AC subreddit, the Official Ubisoft Forums, and on the Mentors Guild Twitter. These discussions will be open for 1 week. The threads and responses will be shared directly with the Assassin's Creed Community Development team, who will then pass that info on to concerned parties within Ubisoft itself.
While the Mentors get opportunities to speak directly with the creators of Assassin’s Creed and frequently communicate with the Community Development Team, this is not the case for every fan. We want to change that. We want fans to have their voices heard directly, in the same ways the Mentors do. These activities are a step towards meeting this goal. If you want Ubisoft to see what you have to say, this is the place to do it.
Topic: Historical Accuracy
Info: One of Assassin's Creed's most enduring features is so-called "historical tourism": being able to freely explore historically accurate environments, reading database entries to learn more about famous monuments, taking selfies with the Sphinx and blending in with people who dress and speak according to the social conventions of their time. The Animus exists to allow Modern Day protagonists like Desmond Miles or Layla Hassan to hunt down powerful artifacts that could still have relevance in today's world, connecting with their ancestors to learn important lessons, so that past mistakes may be avoided.
Occasionally developers have stretched historical accuracy to, for example, add in monuments that were, in reality, still non-existent or under construction, to give players the chance to parkour around the Sistine Chapel, for example, or meet historical figures who technically should not have crossed paths with the protagonist. Starting with Origins and Odyssey, the games also began adding in more elements from mythology, in a series that traditionally had remained secular.
As always, please feel free to add any thoughts you might have that are not covered by these example questions!
While these discussions are meant to allow for honest and raw feedback directly from the community, the best way to ensure your voice is heard is to be constructive - be critical of the process, not the people. Be specific with your criticisms and suggest tangible solutions and improvements.
We hope to see active participation and that this will be a successful way of getting the fans' voices truly heard.
AnimusLover
Very. I believe certain events should remain as they are while the writers fill in the gaps and try to tie it into the lore. That's what the previous AC games were good at - mixing the Assassin lore with history in a way that was plausible.
The only one that did was renaissance Italy because I had some blind spots there but others like the American Revolution, Victorian London, WW1 London, for instance, I already knew extensively about because it was was drilled into me having attended a British school, although Winston Churchill was totally out of place in Syndicate when he would have been better used for WWII...
It depends to what extent. I don't mind making statues bigger, for instance, for the sake of making parkour more efficient. I don't mind including women and ethnic minority characters in more positive or strong roles but I don't want entire historical events changed. Think of it like this: if Henry VIII executing Anne Boleyn via being burned at the stake is a 50% sync and having her beheaded is 100% sync then not executing her at all is an instant fail/desync.
I would prefer they do both because that's what Ubisoft has always been good at. It was never one or the other for the most part.
No because they're too passive for a video game. The old way of actually climbing a building and then the database pops up to inform you of its context was actually far better in terms of player engagement and also felt like a feature of the animus as opposed to an immersion breaking museum tour. This video basically sums up my thoughts:
And in the case of Egypt I think a lot of us already knew the basics anyway seeing as westerners are so obsessed with it. Also, some of the "facts" in Discovery Mode were questionable...
The latter. Again, like the video says: Discovery Mode feels like something you're assigned to do. The database entries are purely self motivated.
Back in the ACs of old it was always assumed that the final game would take place with Desmond in modern day and... well, that fell flat. Modern day AC is an endgame idea. It's not something you do now as that sort of defeats the USP. I wouldn't mind an Isu era game but would much prefer an actual historical one.
Mushashi7
- How important is historical accuracy in AC to you?
It is extremely important. It annoys me immensely when basic historical facts are misused or twisted. I also think the game series will loose a lot of its integrity if history is altered. I would loose a great deal of my sympathy towards a company who has no respect for facts. Today I would say this even more important as many people strive to find something to believe in. If you no longer can believe in history what's left then?
There might be some thoughts about Ubisoft raping history to earn some money. But I don't think this a simple way to see things. Ubisoft does a real good job integrating history and video games. And perhaps some envy them their success?
- Has AC inspired you to learn more about certain historical events or time periods?
Odyssey called on Greek history books and books about Greek heroes and myths (it's actually placed right here at my PC in this moment). I could probably read about the same things in the Discovery section but I often prefer to have it served in my own language.
But what you can do, is bring more live footage from museums and dig sites perhaps?
Origins was the reason I started playing Assassin's Creed for real - Egypt is a large interest for me.
I am a seller of used and rare books and had the opportunity to achieve a huge collection on the subject (One of my pearls is the original first edition trilogy of "The Tomb of Tut-Ankh-Amen" by Howard Carter from 1932-39 with all the original photographs by Harry Burton).
- In your opinion, does game play trump historical accuracy? E.g. adding in buildings or characters that are technically anachronistic for the sake of enhancing the experience?
A game developer inevitably needs to have a certain freedom. I don't have large concerns. You pick a time period and the stage. But try not to change historical persons, architecture and places too much (like Alkibiades). Rather put another person on the spot instead and create another stage. Regarding legends and myth your hands are a bit more free.
- Would you prefer AC explore time periods from a more historically accurate perspective or veer closer to mythology?
Both actually. And I think you have done a damn good job in Odyssey. Nothing is way out of context. The mythical creatures was well placed and somehow believable. Keep this balance and all will be good I think. I was actually surprised how well you managed the legendary beasts.
But maybe a bit more material from the real world in the Discovery section too?
- Do you enjoy the Discovery Tours? Why or why not?
I sometimes take time to use the discovery mode. Not everything but in order of interest. All depending on time, place and the closer circumstances. Some evenings I can use maybe a half or an entire hour to study certain subject or areas.
- Which do you prefer as a tool for learning about history, Discovery Tours or the database entries in older ACs?
Maybe a mix of both? The discovery mode can be very handy. I'm not afraid to pause the game for a while. But you often forget to read the facts when you're playing a game even though you promised your self to do so later on? Maybe add a feature in the game where you can 'flag' a point of interest and be remembered about this in the main game menu at closing/starting up?
- Would you ever be open to an AC game that takes place outside of history, e.g. completely in Modern Day or during the Isu reign?
Rubbish! Modern day wouldn't be out of history. How will you defend being creative on actual historical events even in modern time?
But the Isu reign would. As for the Isu you can cook whatever you want in my world. No limits for your imagination or mine.
I would very much like to see extensive Isu material. I think Ubisoft has managed to create a solid fantasy based on rumors and legends - which might contain some truth perhaps...? 2001: A Space Odyssey? You never know.
The Isu can be used to develop games beyond our imagination. And if done well also beyond existing video game stories?
Do not hide the Isu. On the contrary. It's an ace in your hand, Ubisoft!
pesto.
Pretty important, it grounds the series in a more complex world than simple fantasy which is a huge boon for the series. It also means you get to interact with characters and events that I already know but would like to experience from other perspectives than just the main path. It instantly elevates the narrative and art.
Yes, I love that it makes me think now and then, and that it provides me with fodder to go and explore and learn about. Both in historical narrative and in artistic details. I wish more of the concept art and research material was included in the game, i.e. next time you guys go on a field trip please bring the cameras! Do the interviews with your artists explaining what they're seeing. Let the historians talk about it to camera. You do know you can make bank on the "making of" right?
Yes gameplay does trump historical accuracy. But narrative doesn't. So if you need to adjust proportions of things slightly to accommodate parkour mechanics, or change the scale of a city so it's more of the highlights and less of the dross then it makes sense (although I would love to see some full scale ancient cities and towns). But it starts to jar in the narrative when characters are brought together who we know never met, or are younger or older than they should be, or are presented as having written their life's seminal work before the work was conceived. The character stuff jars, the set dressing not so much.
Closer to historically accurate for me, though I get why you want mythology. It allows you to bring in big bad bosses with superpowers to rival the players own.
I think Odyssey is as "myth" as I'd want things to get while still being historical AC. But I can see room for AC Mythology and Fantasy series perhaps in a universe where the technology allows Abstergo "authors" to build completely fictional worlds as training grounds or to tease out the thread of authentic reality that a myth or story that a famous author may be based upon in order to find ancient artifacts, a sort of puzzle where the player tries to divine a way out of the halucination of myth.
In that vein I'd love to see AC based in famous books. Pride and Prejudice AC anyone? Even better, Discworld AC, who wouldn't want to play the young patrician after all they have a whole assassins guild... Night Watch practically is an AC story...
Yes and no. I love that they're in there for schools and kids to learn about history, but at the same time I feel they're a slightly awkward mix of passive and active. Like I can sit back and enjoy a good history documentary because it doesn't keep asking me for input, or I can enjoy a game and learn as I play because I'm already in the process of interacting. But the halfway house makes it feel like I can neither relax and enjoy learning nor get in there and ask questions/find out more.
Neither. I prefer when Kassandra starts talking as she enters a place. I wish that in the game there were a lot more dialog for that, each time she (or whomever the protagonist) encountered something to give me her inner thoughts on a place, little tidbits of knowledge, and have more dialog than for just the first time. I'd like to be able to just go up to people in the game and go "Whatcha doin?" and have the tour seamless from that.
I just don't like jumping out of the action that much.
What I loved about God Of War was the boat and learning about the mythology each time I stepped into it. Bring that to AC.
Sure. And like I said complete fiction/fantasy worlds too. However I feel these should be treated as special non-cannon or as a slightly different branch of AC. I feel the brand is strongest with historical drama.
It's critical. The entire plot of AC is based on the twin pillars of historical accuracy and mythological inserts. Without the science fiction intervention into history, there is no real plot to Assassin's Creed. But for that intervention to carry narrative weight, the rest of the game needs to sell the player on the historical accuracy of the world.
I actually did end up spending some time in some wikipedia rabbit holes about Renaissance Italy figures, some of the pirates in AC 4, as well as Egyptian history, because of interest piqued by those AC games. I had pre-existing interests in the other periods covered by AC games, so I can't say AC impacted me with those.
Because building architecture can create unique terrain, gameplay as a justification can work a little better when dealing with buildings. However, I think the best way to do this with buildings is to actually have the modern day characters call attention to it. A "bug" in the animus bleeding in some genetic memories about the location from later or earlier descendants, it can be a passing comment. I actually think an older AC game might have already done that.
Anachronistic characters though is a different matter. Historically inaccurate characters are not really "gameplay" in the way people use the term. That's just plain story rather than gameplay, and I'd say as a rule it undermines the quality of the story in AC when a historical character who was not around in reality is inserted in. However, a rule can have an exception. The exception here would be if the insertion of the character is explained by the Assassin / Templar / Isu mythology (i.e., a character who should have died long before the events of the story, but has been kept alive through Isu technology, like Pythagoras, would fall into the exception).
But outside of that exception, if the writers just REALLY want to insert a historical character who in reality was just outside the scope of the historical events taking place in the game, I'd say it's a temptation they should not give into.
I think the better way to think of it is that AC works best when the history is intertwined and driven by a mythology that's just under the surface. It's fine to have us explore some hidden vault that has some special Isu tech or genetically modified construct of Isu origin - that kind of thing is a neat side journey and honestly only takes up like 5% of the game time (people have overblown how much of AC Odyssey involved these mythological journeys - at least in the main plot, obviously the DLC is all about it). I don't think that's something that should be avoided.
But certainly the primary plot, the historical protagonist's journey, should feel like something deeply embedded within their own time, and in portraying that, the game should try to give a strong feeling of historical accuracy. Ubisoft should want its audience to feel like they are seeing a historical world with a cool sci-fi insertion carefully and skillfully done to fit into history. It doesn't work well if the whole world just feels like the arbitrary whim of someone not being that careful about history.
I thought the Egypt ones were pretty good. In truth though, the reason I thought they were good was just the narration. Not that I'm a lazy reader, but there's something relaxing in hearing little historical tidbits by a good narrator's voice. Other than that, they're really just like a database entry, except with a bit of visual movement represented in the world. That said, I think there's a real downside to the way the Discovery Tour has been done also.
And the downside is this: They've come out very late in the games' lifetimes. The database entries, while less sophisticated, had the benefit of popping up as you played through the main story of earlier games, so that you could pause and read about the historical context of some sight on the screen. The Discovery Tours weren't available when the games released, by the time they come out, a lot of the game's buyers have moved onto new games.
When it comes to stuff like this, you kind of want to strike while the iron is hot. No matter how you want to add context or information snippets to the world, databases, discovery tours, it's best to have that stuff ready to go when the game initially releases.
I think a modern game should be the conclusion of the series as a whole. I had always hoped that was where they were going with Desmond,back when Desmond was around.
I don't think the Isu reign would make a good game. It could work as a small, memory fragment of a game, but not as the main setting. Part of the benefit AC has in storytelling is that by setting things in real world history, they have all the complexity and depth of history to provide the world around their characters. An Isu world would have to be created from scratch and would be less deep. Spending the bulk of your adventure there would probably leave you feeling like Isu tech is mundane and uninteresting.
The elephant in the room with historical accuracy is the effort to insert women into roles and occupations that they historically would have been exceedingly rare or non-existent in (soldiers, mercenaries). Combined with this was that the world reacts the same to you playing Kassandra as they do to Alexios - something that would certainly have not been the case in history, where Kassandra would have been a historical novelty as a female mercenary, but Alexios would not have been. Not only that, but the decision to chuck historical accuracy in favor of anachronistic equal treatment also meant a real missed opportunity in terms of plot: Athens and Sparta had significant differences in how they treated their women. You wouldn't know it from the story of the game.
Ultimately, I think this kind of anachronistic writing just feels like an awkward, hamfisted insert of political correctness. If Ubisoft gets everything else right, the best that can be said was that it doesn't detract much from the story of the game, but it certainly adds nothing of value and often means missed opportunities.
Extremely important because this is the only franchise in the game industry that offers accurate historical tourism. There is nothing else out there that comes close to Assassin's Creed.
Yes. Origins enhanced my curiosity about ancient Egypt for instance.
Well, to some extent yes. I am not a fan of anachronism but I can tolerate some anachronism for the sake of entertainment. Not much though! For example the Acropolis of Athens displays some buildings which did not exist back in 430 BC. They were added by the Romans later on. However, the gain is that we see the complete version of the Acropolis which is even more impressive. This game does not offer a view on ancient Greek history only. Mythology is also presented and there is nothing wrong with that as long as historical settings and mythological beasts are separate.
I prefer the historical part to the mythological because ancient Greek mythology has already been shown in other games like God of War. Also, Gods and Monsters will focus heavily on Greek mythology, next year. Video games have already covered most of Greek mythology so far. It is Greek history that was never shown before in any game and Odyssey did a good job displaying some aspects and characters of the Peloponnesean War. The same applies to other settings like Egypt. Egyptian mythology was shown before in video games. Egyptian history? Not so much. AC should focus on history much more than mythology in my view.
Origins had a fantastic Discovery Tour that I watched on YouTube. I expect Odyssey's Tour to be even better. Yes, I enjoy Discovery Tours because they go beyond playing a game. Discovery Tours are educational tools that can be used by history teachers in their classrooms, in order to make the teaching of history an enjoyable experience. By definition, a game that teaches you something important (AC) is more useful than a game that's pure entertainment only.
Discovery Tours are better than the old database entries. I can only compare Unity's database entries to Origins' Discovery Tour. Unity's system is not interactive, you only read about historical facts without enjoying the learning experience, as much as you do in Origins, for example. I prefer the interactive Discovery Tours.
No. Not at all. Modern Day is not important to me. The ISU reign would be more interesting but again, it would be pure fiction like millions of other video games in the market. Historical tourism is the only thing that sets this franchise apart from the rest of the game industry.
When it comes to history in Assassin's Creed, I think there's a balancing act. You car err on the side of leaning too far into the historical aspects and getting that "Forrest Gump Effect" (like in ACIII), or you can neglect the historical events too much and favor a personal story a bit too heavily (AC Unity).
Personally, I think the sweet spot is Black Flag- lots of history and interacting with historical figures, but a pretty original story about the Templars and Assassins woven into it.
Outside of that, though, these are open games, so the threads of history extend outside of just the story. I think the little stuff like civilian activities really help with creating an immersive and historical world. I expect that the upcoming Discovery Tour will reveal a lot more of these little details in Odyssey.
I figure that no game can be totally accurate, so I definitely don't have a problem with some inaccuracies. I do think Odyssey took quite a bit creative freedom at times in its world, particularly with the enormous statues. In Dungeons and Dragons, there's a phrase called the "Rule of Cool". Basically, it's the idea that the Dungeon Master can bend the rules of what's possible in the game as long in favor of making situations more enjoyable and "cool". I think there's an argument that could be made for that in regards to historical accuracy in AC games, too, though I can see how not everybody would be on the same page with that.
K_ASSassin8
Do you enjoy the Discovery Tours? Why or why not?
i find history to be really interesting so i'm sure AC Odyssey Discovery Tour's going to be cool
OK confession: The pirate version of AC Origins i might have played didn't have for example Discovery Tour.
but the game was so amazing i was compelled to buy AC Odyssey
Has AC inspired you to learn more about certain historical events or time periods?
100% it has inspired me to learn more. AC brings the history books to life.
i find AC to be mindblowing because it is immersive & it gives me some flavour of what it must've been like back then & because the civilizations we see in AC have a connection with London - where i grew up (because Rome founded London) & so AC reveals this amazing tree of civilizations & also: because impermance is so powerful - existential crisis! in a way nothing is real - i will be swept away like Greece & the ancient Egyptians were. Maybe England will be swept away. Maybe, if we don't sort things out, the human race itself will be lost in the sands of time
IMO, Ubisoft has done a fantastic job. It has brought the study of history into the mainstream in a similar way to movies like Gladiator & 300 but it's done it in an even more compelling way.
So now, my plan is when i get enough time, to make thousands of flash cards about Greece & use the brilliant memory boosting software called Supermemo to test myself everyday
The things we learn are nearly always forgotten.
But Supermemo makes it nearly impossible to forget what we've learnt
so e.g. using the loading screen info in AC Origins, i made a flashcard:
Q: [...]shepsut was Egypt's 1st female pharaoh
A: Hatshepsut
So Supermemo will test me on this, today, & also in 2 days time, & then in 6 days time, in 16 days time, in 2 months, in 6 months, next year etc. The reason the time increases is because my brain gets more familiar with the knowledge so the software doesn't need to test me so much
So as part of this plan, I have made a website of all the known historical locations in AC Odyssey:
https://dcgetyhe45bb67.wixsite.com/acohlocations
btw *please* can we buy a map of all the historical locations (like the orichalcum map)
Sadly my website isn't googleable + i don't know how to make it into a superior "leaflet" map like the map in the AC Odyssey story creator
I would like to fix these things
to help the community
but i'm busy (people are hurting me a lot with lawyers & i can't afford a lawyer so i have to study law all the time for like a million years)
This greatly reduces the amount of greek history flashcards i can make
Which do you prefer as a tool for learning about history, Discovery Tours or the database entries in older ACs?
Without making flashcards nearly all the information that i've read using the historical locations in AC Odyssey has/will be forgotten
It's in 1 ear & out the other
This is the big problem with the way that the history information is being presented in AC Odyssey & in AC Black Flag
However, seeing the video for the AC Odyssey Discovery Tour, we see that there is a QUIZ:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uEXwqaON9G0
This is much more superiorer because the learner's mind will be engaged with answering the questions. This assists memorization.
I wish such quizzes became part of the full game allowing us to have the option of earning a game currency as a reward
perhaps by testing our knowledge during the loadings screens
perhaps successfully answering questions could lead to clues which lead us to more historical locations?
There's a criticism u could perhaps aim at professional Fortnite players - they are so skilled & devoted they aren't actually good at anything else & so the game is turning them into losers. Once Fortnite is gone they will have nothing
Games in the future are going to be better & more enjoyable & addictive & so perhaps the criticism that "games turn people into losers" is going to get louder
However, if a game has educational elements e.g. by testing our knowledge at regular intervals then perhaps some of this criticism can be deflected. So e.g. parents may ban Fortnite-type time sinks but allow their kids to play more educational games like AC. So i think this educational route is maybe a way that Ubisoft can outcompete other companies
& perhaps games should e.g. teach us how to do the 1st aid on people
or do car driving?
How important is historical accuracy in AC to you?
It's important.
In your opinion, does gameplay trump historical accuracy? E.g. adding in buildings or characters that are technically anachronistic for the sake of enhancing the experience?
Yes. Enjoyment is the main thing. I didn't study much history before AC so anachronisms just fly over my head like a big, loud metal owl with people inside
Apparently the Spartans didn't have much of a navy. Shrugs
The real distance from Athens to Sparta = 100 km (in the game it is only 20 km). Shrugs
However, animals in those days had genitals.
Please return the genitals
Would you prefer AC explore time periods from a more historically accurate perspective or veer closer to mythology?
I loved the cartoon movie Beowulf (which had Vikings & mythology) but i agree with Torvaldesq:
...AC works best when the history is intertwined and driven by a mythology that's just under the surface. It's fine to have us explore some hidden vault that has some special Isu tech or genetically modified construct of Isu origin - that kind of thing is a neat side journey and honestly only takes up like 5% of the game time....But certainly the primary plot, the historical protagonist's journey, should feel like something deeply embedded within their own time, and in portraying that, the game should try to give a strong feeling of historical accuracy.
I think in the Olympics, Kassandra should've been banned due to not being a man
btw I'm a feminist but women were treated unfairly & maybe it would've been good if she'd had a set of missions where she persuades them to let her compete despite the ban?
Would you ever be open to an AC game that takes place outside of history, e.g. completely in Modern Day or during the Isu reign?
Maybe we are in 1 right now? Maybe when we die we will wake up & see we were plugged into an Animus all along
ninja4hire10
Southern part of North America.
Honestly, so-so. I don't think AC accuracy needs to be strictly on-point because of the sci-fi fantasy narrative of the series. I think AC's at its best when it bends the rules slightly and blurs the line between the fantastical and the actual.
Absolutely. I read up on each time period prior to a release as much as I can. Gets me primed and it's part of the fun. I also cook up a meal or some kind of foodstuff on the eve of release that's related to the upcoming game, i.e. fish n' chips before Syndicate, homemade pizza before Brotherhood, seafood before Black Flag, etc.
As long as it's not too blaring, I have no problem with it as long as the building or what have you is related to the story.
This is where I say stick closer to actual historical time periods. Kinda hard to do "historical tourism" or claim "history is our playground" if the entire setting veers too far into fantasy elements.
I do. I think they're useful and I do learn new facts. No other franchise that does "history" is doing anything remotely like it.
Hmm. That's tough. The database entries could sometimes get overly wordy, but Shaun's snarky commentary was great (and I do miss it.) Maybe if an Animus construct of "Shaun" guided the Discovery Tour and we'd get his snarky voiceovers. That's be fun.
In short, nah. Not in the least. I know there's a very vocal pro-MD camp that's chomping at the bit for a full MD game, but we already have that in other franchises like Watch Dogs or Splinter Cell. I know those games aren't EXACTLY like AC, but the game mechanics would be very similar. Climbing an ancient spire to get a view of some forgotten patch of land is inspiring; climbing a Taco Bell to get a better view of east Des Moines is boring as all get out.
ProdiGurl
Not critically important, but important because AC is a series that's pretty much based on the realism of different era's - reliving past memories of previous Assassins.
It's part of AC's past that sets it apart from most all other games and it should keep its uniqueness.
Yes, Origins / ancient Egypt. When I see documentaries on certain Periods that AC has created a game on, I'll watch the documentary out of interest.
Yes but not so loosely that it ruins all integrity of the history. Gameplay is critically important to me so I'm fine with some fiction/mythology littered through it.
Possibly a disclaimer on the Load screen might be a good idea to announce that some things were altered in the game for purposes of enhanced gameplay - that some of it is fictional?
I love both and tend to veer more towards the mythology. Offering mythology within more of the Options & side stories (not forced through majority of the main story) might be a good way to add the fiction to spare the Historically traditional players.?
I've never done one but people more interested in history seem to love them =)
Not as much as history - if it was Modern Day or ISU, it would really have to be done well to bring us up to speed ...
make it understandable to players like me that don't care as much about following AC Lore or who Origins & Odyssey brought in who won't understand much of it.
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HomeSexual Misconduct Allegations Rattle Prominent All-Girls Yeshiva
Sexual Misconduct Allegations Rattle Prominent All-Girls Yeshiva
Ari FeldmanMay 4, 2018Nikki Casey
Nikki Casey
The principal of an elite ultra-Orthodox girls’ school is defending himself against accusations from a politician and community members that he’s ignored years of complaints about sexual misconduct.
The controversy’s catalyst was the release late last week, through a popular messaging app, of a recording that relates one student’s tale of an unwanted kiss from a kitchen employee at Bais Sura in Boro Park, Brooklyn.
On May 3, the principal, Nuchem Klein, sent a letter to parents stating that the worker has been fired even though a school investigation found that the allegations were “unjustified.”
Yet a local politician, Dov Hikind, said Klein’s response was “pathetic,” and that parents have long complained to Klein about sexual misconduct to no avail. Now the school and its surrounding community are in an uproar over the mounting accusations of sexual misconduct. The controversy is particularly noisy because it involves female purity — a cherished value in the Hasidic world.
“Clearly the administration knew that something was wrong, and they got caught,” said Asher Lovy, the director of community organizing at Za’akah, a group that promotes awareness of sexual abuse in the Hasidic community. “But what’s stopping them from keeping more employees who need to go?”
Bais Sura, also sometimes referred to as Bais Sarah, is a girl’s yeshiva with about 900 students from pre-Kindergarten to 12th grade. It is located in a densely ultra-Orthdox area of south Brooklyn, and serves the Satmar and Belz Hasidic communities — two of the larger and wealthier Hasidic groups in the borough. It is a small landmark within the community, frequently hosting vorts, or engagement parties, for young couples. The school declined to comment.
The scandal started the morning of April 27, a Friday, when a Hasidic woman released a recording on WhatsApp stating that an employee at the school had tried to kiss a friend of her niece. The woman said the school acknowledged the behavior but refused to fire the employee because he “knew too much.”
The recording came to the attention of Hikind, a veteran lawmaker who recently announced his retirement. He used Twitter to ask people with information about it to reach out to his office.
“The fact that this school is considered to be one of the finest, where tznius [modesty] is at the highest standard, is a little laughable as far as I’m concerned,” Hikind told Voz Is Neias, an ultra-Orthodox news outlet.
The woman who made the recording declined to comment to the Forward. It’s not clear how old the recording is or when the alleged incident happened.
Nonetheless, later that day, Hikind tweeted that that the school had fired “the individual.”
“There were many complaints to Rabbi Klein about the inappropriate behavior and he didn’t do anything about it for years, until Friday,” Hikind said. In a Facebook video released Thursday, Hikind said that he had received 15 complaints from parents about separate incidents of sexual misconduct by the employee mentioned in the recording. He told the Forward that the complaints including unwanted touching, kissing and winking.
The NYPD told the Forward that there is no open investigation focused on Bais Sura. However, Hikind said the department’s Special Victims Unit called his official spokesman right before Shabbat started on April 27, the day the recording spread through the community. He said that they have received complaints from parents of Bais Sura students about allegations of sexual misconduct by the employee mentioned in the recording.
“The bottom line is, this stuff happened, there’s no question about it,” Hikind said.
A code of silence
Some have called the allegations a smear campaign against Klein, and are defending his reputation. “How can you look yourself in the mirror knowing that this is not true,” wrote one Twitter user.
Others, citing Hikind’s statements about multiple accusations against the fired employee, smell evidence of a cover-up.
The accusations have also triggered complaints against Klein for his autocratic leadership style. Since the release of the recording some Bais Sura alumna have posted on Facebook about their time at the school, accusing Klein of giving students overly harsh punishments.
Hikind tweeted on April 30 that he had received reports that Klein was enforcing a code of silence among Bais Sura students.
My phone continues to ring w/ reports of intimidation at Bais Sarah. Children told they are forbidden to discuss what occurs at school; mothers inquiring made fearful by intimidation. Rabbi Klein: I urge you to reconsider this approach. Parents/children are entitled to feel safe.— Dov Hikind (@HikindDov) April 30, 2018
In 2008, Hikind came under criticism for refusing to disclose to prosecutors what he said were accounts of “hundreds” of instances of sexual abuse of children in the Hasidic community. He said he had promised the individuals who offered the accounts anonymity. Hikind was eventually subpoenaed to hand the files over to prosecutors.
Za’akah, the advocacy group, is planning to hold a protest on Sunday in front of Bais Sarah. Lovy says that, though the school appears to have acted quickly in firing the worker, the assertion that the school administration initially declined to let him go makes them suspicious.
“It doesn’t make sense why a [Hasidic] school would go to bat for a goy,” he said, invoking the Yiddish word for non-Jew that is commonly used pejoratively. “That’s the question everybody has. What does he know?”
Contact Ari Feldman at feldman@forward.com or on Twitter @aefeldman
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Ari Feldman
Ari Feldman is a staff writer at the Forward. He covers Jewish religious organizations, synagogue life, anti-Semitism and the Orthodox world. If you have any tips, you can email him at feldman@forward.com. Follow him on Twitter @aefeldman.
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Author page: LordFoxington
3DS Feature GameLuster Opinion PC PS4 Vita WiiU Xbox One
Indie Atmospheres
The indie scene, as it is, is becoming more and more popular after the rise of Minecraft and Binding of Isaac, and…
August 29, 2016 LordFoxington
Feature Opinion Review
“Future Cop: LAPD” Retro Review
“Future Cop: LAPD” is a strategical 3/4 down shooter released on PC, Mac and the original Playstation (if you still have one…
Mobile PC PS4 Review Xbox One
“Mushroom Wars 2” Beta Review
Mushroom Wars 2 is a node-style real-time strategy game coming to Steam, Xbox One, PS4 as well as on the Android and Apple…
August 2, 2016 LordFoxington
PC PS4 Review Xbox One
“This is the Police” PC Review
This is the Police is a time management game available on Steam, Xbox One and Playstation 4. I should start off by…
July 28, 2016 LordFoxington
News PC PS4 Xbox One
Overwatch’s “Sombra”
Alternate reality puzzles (or “games,” often abbreviated as “ARGs”) are when a developer drops cryptic hints that have to be meticulously solved, and…
News PC Review
“Muv-Luv” Review
Muv-Luv is a Japanese graphic novel available on Steam, Xbox 360, PS3 and Playstation Vita. Disclaimer: As graphic novel type games live…
Feature Opinion PC PS4 WiiU Xbox One
Retro Crowd Funding
“Crowd funding”, as the name suggests, is a way of funding from a crowd, the crowd in this case being the general…
Free to Play Games and How to do Them Well
The Free to Play model of gaming is becoming increasingly popular, for a few obvious reasons. A free to play game is…
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FIFA 20 Update 1.11 introduces some major changes.
By Dan Cotton January 14, 2020
EA has released a brand new update on PC, with Xbox One and PS4 set to follow suit soon. FIFA 20 Update 1.11, also known as Title Update #10, is now available to download. Here are the official patch notes.
This patch has introduced a slew of changes to the game, ranging from gameplay improvements to bug fixes. The changes typically address problems in FUT as well as Career Mode. There’s no word on how much file space this update takes up, but it shouldn’t be too substantial.
In FIFA Ultimate Team, EA has made some front end visual improvements. In addition to this, they have also fixed an issue where dynamic items would sometimes temporarily disappear. Other fixes address how the transfer list sometimes showed incorrect numbers, manager items having 0% negotiations, and lastly, rare occurrences of the game freezing when attempting to Play A Friend.
READ MORE: FIFA 20 TOTW 18 Predictions – FUT Team of the Week Squad.
In terms of gameplay, Dribbling has been improved, easy shots are now significantly more effective, while Green Timed Shots are now less impacted by error. Alongside this, EA has also reduced how long players can stand at Kick-Off. It was previously 30 seconds but is now 15 seconds. This will be useful as you will no longer have to wait as long when your opponent leaves their game running but doesn’t play.
The gameplay changes also increase the likelihood of scoring against your opponents. EA has confirmed that if you shoot from a very tight angle, it’s now more likely to be on target since the arrival of FIFA 20 Update 1.11. Finally, one of the gameplay edits involves transitioning into a Set Piece, which will put a stop to accidentally triggering certain Set Piece techniques.
The full FUT 20 patch notes for today’s update have been detailed below, courtesy of the official EA forum.
Dan Cotton
Co-Founder and Editor at Gaming INTEL. He has over five years of experience when it comes to writing about video games. In his spare time, he also enjoys to play them, particularly first-person shooters such as Call of Duty or tactical Battle Royale games. Dan provides cutting-edge news on the latest titles to date.
FIFA 20 TOTY Release Date Revealed
New 6v6 Maps Coming to Modern Warfare Soon
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Grand Challenges for Development Apply Grand Challenges for Development filter (41)
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"Coffee Ring Stain" Diagnostics for Malaria
David WrightVanderbilt UniversityNashville, Tennessee, United States
David Wright of Vanderbilt University in the U.S. will develop a new low-cost diagnostic tool in which a droplet of malaria-infected blood deposited on a glass slide will, based on fluid dynamics, leave a ring-like pattern as the blood evaporates. The slide will be prepared with a solution that will interact with a particular protein of the malaria parasite to visualize this "coffee ring stain," allowing for easy interpretation and ready diagnosis.
3-D Human Small Intestinal Organoid for Enteric Infections
Cirle WarrenUniversity of VirginiaCharlottesville, Virginia, United States
Enteric Disease Models
Cirle Warren of the University of Virginia in the U.S. will develop a three dimensional cell culture model (organoid) of the human intestine to study diarrheal diseases. They will build the organoids in a bioreactor using three intestinal cell types, and test different scaffolds to simulate the complex cellular and structural architecture of the human gut. The organoids will then be infected with Cryptosporidium, a common cause of diarrhea in developing countries, and analyzed for altered structural and molecular characteristics to gain insight into the host infection response. This model could also be used to identify new drug targets and evaluate candidate drugs.
99DOTS: Using Mobile Phones to Monitor and Improve Adherence to Tuberculosis Medications
Bill ThiesInnovators in Health (India)Patna, Bihar, India
Grand Challenges India
Tuberculosis Treatment
Bill Thies and the team of 99DOTS aim to achieve 99% TB drug adherence using a combination of basic mobile phones and augmented blister packaging to provide real-time medication monitoring at drastically reduced cost. The approach is to utilize a custom envelope, or blister card, into which each pack of medication is inserted and sealed by the care provider. When the patient dispenses medication from the blister pack, the pills also break through perforated flaps on the blister card. On the back side of each flap is a hidden number. Patients submit these numbers using their mobile phone as evidence that they have dispensed medication. To avoid incurring any mobile charges, the numbers are used to complete a phone number and deliver a "Missed call" (Missed calls are free if they are not pointed to a VoiceMail). Using this system patients also receive a series of daily reminders (via SMS and automated calls). Missed doses trigger SMS notifications to care providers, who follow up with personal, phone-based counseling. Real-time adherence reports are also made available on the web.
A Cell-Based Screen for Discovery of a Macrofilaricide
Kelly JohnstonLiverpool School of Tropical MedicineLiverpool, United Kingdom
Kelly Johnston and others from the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine in the United Kingdom will develop a cell line from a parasitic filarial nematode worm that can proliferate continuously in vitro to enable high-throughput screening of candidate anti-filarial drugs. Current drug screening efforts are limited by the complex life cycle of the worms and the difficulties of obtaining sufficient numbers of worms. They will isolate worm cells from various life cycle stages and use a high-content screening approach to monitor thousands of cells cultured under different conditions to increase the probability of detecting a stably growing cell line. Once one or more stable cell lines have been produced, they will establish optimal culture conditions for drug screening assays.
A Continuous in vitro Culture System for Cryptosporidium
L. David SibleyWashington University in St. LouisSt. Louis, Missouri, United States
Human and Animal Health
L. David Sibley at Washington University in St. Louis in the U.S. is developing a long-term in vitro intestinal epithelial culture system for the intracellular parasite Cryptosporidium, which causes severe diarrheal disease in both humans and animals, and is refractory to many anti-parasitic drugs. Currently, Cryptosporidium can only be grown in infected calves or in short-term in vitro cultures, which cannot be used for the high-throughput chemical screens needed to identify new drugs. In Phase I, they optimized the in vitro culture of isolated intestinal stem cells from human and mouse biopsies, and identified factors to control their differentiation into primary epithelial monolayers, which can better support the growth of intestinal pathogens. This led to around a five-fold increase in the rate of asexual replication of Cryptosporidium, which was enough to successfully test a chemical growth inhibitor. In Phase II, they will further improve culture conditions to support longer-term in vitro growth of Cryptosporidium, which will then be tested for stability and infectivity. They will also develop antibodies against specific developmental stages to help identify culture conditions that enable the parasite to undergo a complete life cycle, which will be valuable for culturing and screening efforts.
A Decoy Artificial Snail Host (DASH) to Control S. mansoni
Edwin RoutledgeBrunel UniversityLondon, United Kingdom
Edwin Routledge of Brunel University in the United Kingdom will work towards developing an artificial snail decoy to attract the parasite Schistosoma mansoni, which causes chronic disease. The parasites first develop inside aquatic snails, which they locate via chemical cues (chemoattractants), before they can infect humans. Routledge will identify the relevant chemoattractants by isolating and fractionating chemicals from the snails, and test the ability of these chemicals to attract the parasites. Effective chemoattractants will be characterized and ultimately incorporated into a biodegradable matrix to generate an artificial snail that is easy to deploy in the field and can trap and destroy the parasites, thereby reducing human transmission.
A Fortified School Meal Product to Deworm School Children
Elijah SongokKenya Medical Research InstituteNairobi, Kenya
Elijah Songok of the Kenya Medical Research Institute in Kenya will design and test a fortified school meal product with deworming properties for treating soil transmitted helminths (parasitic worms) among schoolchildren in developing countries. Schoolchildren are most at risk of infection-associated morbidities such as stunting and chronic dysentery. However, current mass drug administration strategies are associated with the development of drug resistance, and may not be sustainable long term. They will fortify cornflour with seed extracts of the tropical fruit, Carica papaya (pawpaw), which can significantly increase clearance of the parasite, and use it to make porridge, which is cheap and a common school meal snack in developing countries. They will test its efficacy in a randomized pilot study in six elementary schools in rural Kenya.
A Human Powered Precision Seeder
Ricardo Capúcio de ResendeUniversidade Federal de ViçosaViçosa, Minas Gerais, Brazil
Women Farmers
Ricardo Capúcio de Resende of Universidade Federal de Viçosa in Brazil will design and test a new machine to enable women smallholder farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to more efficiently and effectively plant seeds. He has designed a new seeder concept using only two rotating parts, which is light, easy to use and maintain, and can simultaneously plant two crops. He will query local manufacturers and users to further develop the design, and then produce prototypes that will be bench- and field-tested for manufacturability and performance. The results will be used to produce the final seeder design, and this design concept could be applied to other agricultural machines.
A Lexicon of HIV-RNA Interactions
Alice TelesnitskyUniversity of MichiganAnn Arbor, Michigan, United States
Alice Telesnitsky of the University of Michigan in the U.S. seeks to define and characterize HIV interactions with host RNA. The team will attempt to determine whether disrupting or mimicking essential interactions with host RNAs may lead to antiviral strategies to which HIV cannot readily develop resistance.
A Live Recombinant Attenuated Salmonella Anti-Pneumococcal Vaccine for Newborns
Roy CurtissArizona State UniversityTempe, Arizona, United States
Grand Challenges in Global Health
Single-Dose Vaccines
The current vaccine against bacterial pneumonia (pneumococcus) requires a regimen of four injections given at specific intervals. In developing countries, this not only complicates the vaccination process for health workers and children, but it also is a serious obstacle for families who must travel long distances to the nearest health clinic. Dr. Curtiss and his colleagues are working to develop new vaccines against bacterial pneumonia that require only a single dose, can be delivered orally, and are safe for newborns, infants, and people who are malnourished or whose immune systems are compromised.
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Opinions.
Woolworths 0 : 99p Stores 3
Acting on behalf of three different landlords GCW has recently concluded a hat trick of lettings on former Woolworth’s stores to 99p Stores.
The first of these in Muswell Hill, 412 The Broadway where a rental of £125,000 pax was achieved for a ground floor unit of 8,500 sq ft with a similar amount of space at first and second floor. GCW acted jointly with James Andrew International in this instance.
Secondly GCW acting on behalf of George Cross Trust Fund arranged a letting of 128/130 Station Road, Edgware at a rental of £75,000 pax for a new 10 year lease. The premises benefitted from a ground floor sales area of 3,671 sq ft with 3,860 sq ft of first floor storage. GCW acted jointly with Strettons.
Thirdly acting for Habro GCW have let 43-49 Pier Avenue, Clacton at a rental of £200,000 per annum. The premises benefit from a ground floor sales area of 14,200 sq ft with 14,000 sq ft of back up space on basement and three upper floors. GCW acted jointly with GVA Grimley.
In all instances a minimum of 10 year lease terms were secured with rent free periods ranging between 3 and 9 months
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Why Haven't Bald Men Gone Extinct?
Filed to:Science
Lots of men worry about losing their hair. But instead of fretting about their beauty, it might make sense for them to count their blessings—because, by rights, bald men should probably be extinct by now. So why aren't they?
Scientists Have Worked Out How to Stop You Going Bald
Going bald is the one big vanity concern among most men. But relax, it doesn't need to be that way;
New Scientist has taken at look a that particularly interesting question in a wonderful feature, that tries to get to the bottom of why baldness should still be so widespread amongst the males of our species. From the article:
The hair on our heads may protect us from the noonday sun, maintain body heat when it is cold, and even attract a mate. If so, men who lose their hair are at a disadvantage, and you would expect natural and sexual selection to have weeded them out. So why haven't bald men like me, or at least our versions of genes, gone extinct?
One early stab at answering this question rested on the idea that a man's genetic predisposition to baldness is found in genes he inherited from his mother. Since she would not have suffered baldness and its concomitant ill effects, natural selection would have no cause to remove these genetic variants. But think about it carefully and the logic fails - mothers are just as likely to have sons as daughters and every time they do, if these males are less likely to procreate, these variants should become rarer. In any case, science has shown that this mother-based hypothesis is wrong.
Instead, scientists have recently been positing many theories about why baldies aren't dying out—and most revolve around making some attempt to argue that baldness offers some kind of evolutionary advantage. Some researchers suggests, for instance, that it signals dominance and status, while others suggest that it shows people that they offer maturity, wisdom and nurturance.
Or maybe, just maybe, there's a physiological explanation. One recent study rather boldly suggests that baldness allows more sun to penetrate through the skulls of aging men, in turn diminishing the odds of developing prostate cancer. That's interesting, sure, but also completely unproven.
In all honesty, nobody knows for certain why bald men still exist, any more than they can account for your pinky toe hanging around. But I can heartily recommend the New Scientists article as a fascinating—and entertaining—journey through some of the more interesting hypotheses. [New Scientist]
Image by Maxim Kalmykov/Shutterstock
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German ministry wants African migrants intercepted – report
Anthony M. Smith December 14, 2019
The German interior ministry wants to stop migrants ever reaching Europe’s Mediterranean coast by picking them up at sea and returning them to Africa, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on Sunday.
In what would be a huge shift for a country with one of the most generous asylum policies, the ministry says the European Union should adopt an Australian-style system under which migrants intercepted at sea are sent for processing at camps in third countries.
“The elimination of the prospect of reaching the European coast could convince migrants to avoid embarking on the life-threatening and costly journey in the first place,” the paper quoted a ministry spokeswoman as saying.
“The goal must be to remove the basis for people-smuggling organizations and to save migrants from the life-threatening journey.”
The ministry’s proposal calls for migrants picked up in the Mediterranean – most of whom set off from conflict-torn Libya – to be sent to Tunisia, Egypt or other north African states to apply for asylum from there.
Angela Merkel’s refugee policy must succeed – for Europe’s sake
Natalie Nougayrède
Natalie Nougayrède Read more
If their asylum applications are accepted, the migrants could then be transported safely to Europe.
The ministry is headed by Thomas de Maiziere, a member of chancellor Angela Merkel’s conservative Christian Democrats. Merkel has been under fire for her open-door refugee policy, with her party losing votes to the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany (AfD) party in recent regional elections.
The ministry said there were no concrete plans or discussions at EU level about the proposal, but opposition politicians condemned the plan.
Bernd Riexinger, head of the opposition Left party, said it would be “a humanitarian scandal and a further step toward the elimination of the right to asylum”, the paper reported.
He said asylum applications should be filed in Germany to ensure applicants had access to legal help and he called Australia’s treatment of migrants “absolutely unacceptable”.
More than 2,200 migrants were rescued in the Mediterranean in a single day on Saturday and 10 bodies were recovered, Italy’s coast guard said.
The International Organisation for Migration said last week that 159,496 people had reach Italy by the sea in 2016 and 4,220 died trying – a sharp increase from 3,777 in the whole of 2015.
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Great Tips to Choose Best Trolleys for Your Warehouse
World media: Rugby’s goliath has been slain as Ireland beat All Blacks
The New Rule For Buying a Home – Using Owner Financing
Starting an Online Internet Business May Not Be As Expensive As You Thought
Music on the Internet
Internet Marketing and Online Marketing – Do People Really Make Money Doing This?
Learning Internet Marketing 106 – Social Media – (Micro-Blogging With Twitter)
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Certain Foods That Contribute to Inflammation
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Great Lakes Ledger
Tag: Lung Cancer
Google Built An AI That Is Better Than Human Experts At Detecting Lung Cancer
It seems that, at least according to the latest reports, the rise of robots would not be that bad after…
By Rada Mateescu, in Health on May 22, 2019 .
Lung Cancer Symptomatology: Unexpected Signs That Are Not Usually Associated With The Disease
Lung cancer symptoms are usually not that obvious until the later stages of the disease and they can, unfortunately, be…
By Rada Mateescu, in Health on December 3, 2018 .
Risk of Lung Cancer Increases By Common Blood Pressure Medication, Shows Canadian Research
According to a new study conducted by researchers from McGill University in Canada, there is a link between common blood…
By Doris Daniel, in Canada Health News on October 29, 2018 .
Lung Cancer Substantially Reduced Within 5 Years Of Quitting Smoking
A new study carried by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee found that quitting smoking reduces the…
By Doris Daniel, in Health News on May 31, 2018 .
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Gritty Momma
Parenting from the Sand Trap
Why Grit?
Emotional Health Resources
Poetry Workshop
Ancient Latin
We Can All Agree
On February 20, 2018 February 20, 2018 By Gritty MommaIn Mental Health, Social Responsibility
So many opinions and perspectives have been shared over the latest rash of school shootings, particularly the one in Florida. I’ve spent some time over the last few days digging into the corners of all these thoughts, and I’ve come out of it with a handful of observations. Please note that I don’t necessarily agree with all the perspectives in everything I’ve linked; however, each link will lead you to a news source or personal testimony or academic report that I’ve found very helpful, and I’ve made a point of collecting information from a wide range of sources: NY Times, The IndyStar, The Daily Telegraph, Wikipedia, Vanderbilt University, etc. etc. Hopefully, my efforts to sift through the grit will prove useful to more than just me.
I think we can all agree that nobody has to give up gun rights in order for security to tighten up in schools across the country.
It’s horrifying that there would ever be a NEED for security to tighten up, and it’ll take a terrific amount of money to do it right. Those are two reasons why it’s not happening as readily as it could or should: because, day-to-day, parents can’t stand to face the reality when we’ve not been forced to (“What do you mean, we shouldn’t have an all-glass walled, two-open-stories-tall, exposed-on-three-sides-to-the-outside-world art classroom? Shooters? In a suburban small town? But that’s so rare, and we hear enough depressing talk on the news! Why did you have to bring it up?!”)–and because most people think long and HARD before spending money on anything at all (let’s not jump straight to greed; it’s often also crippling indecision over how to be responsible with our resources when so many things NEED MONEY).
Until the majority of us feel viscerally threatened, I doubt efforts in this area will improve. But I think that time is coming, because the kids that grew up with Columbine will have kids of their own in school soon–and these moms and dads have already experienced the terror for themselves. They won’t mess around any longer.
I think we can all agree that we actually need far fewer firearms than we currently have populating America.
The best current estimates tell us that for every 100 American residents, we have about 101 guns in our possession. Note that’s “residents” without qualifiers–so kids under 18 and non-gun-owning families included. If we apply this stat to the average family with 2.4 kids, assuming one parent is a gun owner, that means at least 2 guns per household. But not every household has guns, so if we suppose only half of American households contain guns–a pretty generous estimate, I hope–that means each gun-owning household has four or five guns in it.
4-5+ guns per user really doesn’t seem necessary for either defense or leisure to me. Even if you feed your whole family on what you hunt each year–I know a guy who does just that using a bow. And if you feel the need to have an arsenal in order to form a militia when the corrupted government comes for your rights, that won’t get you more than dead when you face down the U.S. military, as my friend Wesley has astutely pointed out. If it comes to that, we’ve already lost. Final thought: when your home is invaded late at night and you have a legitimate need AND ability to protect yourself, you can still only sensibly wield one firearm at a time.
However, none of that is to say that the difference between one gun in a house and five guns is going to decrease a motivated killer’s opportunity to access a gun at all. If he (or she) wants a gun and can access to it, he will. Doesn’t matter if there are extras lying around. Which leads me to my third point:
I think we can all agree that legislation on who can get firearms will do us no good if we can’t enforce it.
I found this post very ironic: a multi-gun owner advocating for stricter gun laws partly because she witnessed so many illegal sales going down around gun shows. In her words, “People bring guns to sell to dealers at the show and end up selling them to buyers in the parking lot who are willing to pay cash. No background check, no bill of sale, no formal transfer of ownership.” If so many folks blatantly ignore the laws we already have on the books, how is writing more laws going to prevent anything? If we won’t even hold others accountable for the infractions we witness now–*cough*howmanyofthesedidYOUreportScaryMommy?*cough*–all we’re doing in calling for more legislation is looking for extra ways to pass the buck. And if we think, reasonably, that this is the job of law enforcement–they’re not omnipresent, people. They have a limited ability to catch everything they ought, especially without a truly staggering amount of extra funding. If we can’t or won’t put the money into them, we can’t expect additional laws to do us any good.
Relatedly, if we’re not completely effective in practicing gun safety at home by locking them away and keeping them out of the hands of those who would use them against other humans–even when we think we are–then no amount of extra rules on the home front will help us, either. Nikolas Cruz couldn’t use a microwave when he came to live with the Sneads, yet he got his hands on a key to their gun safe. They allowed him to own a gun despite the fact that he had a history of social and emotional problems, violence against animals, and self-harm: clearly they did not understand the serious need to separate the kid from firearms, period. When we cannot or will not enforce common sense gun usage and respect for deadly force in our own private domains, outside of the reach of the law, more legislation will not make a lick of difference. Instead, we ought to develop better emotional intelligence in order to correctly identify at-risk people who shouldn’t have gun access, because–
I think we can all agree that the people who commit mass shootings are psychologically, emotionally, or mentally unstable in some severe regard.
However, rather than looking at this as an opportunity to reach out in compassion AND wisdom to halt a future killer’s trajectory into violence–instead of that, we write troubled people off and shy away. Dang, mental illness, yo–what’d’we do with that?! Either we still don’t believe it’s a real thing we can actually treat, or we do think it’s real–and still have no idea how to interact with it. And psychological/emotional trauma? Psh, that’s just a synonym for sissiness. We don’t really treat that as any more significant than the color of the shirt the shooter wore that day–a part of his life, but totally irrelevant to his actions. After all, we have all kinds of emotional distress, and we never wanted to shoot anyone!
Well, great. Let’s speak for ourselves. If we’ve never experienced emotion that led us to truly want to kill someone, by definition, we don’t know how powerful and effective such an emotion would be, especially if supplied with other compounding factors: access to weaponry, ease of access to a target, and lack of social connection and accountability, just for starters. It’s irrational to suppose such an emotion doesn’t exist because you’ve not experienced it. And, for the record, it’s one I personally have experienced–thankfully, never compounded to the point where I chose to act upon it. But not everyone is so blessed.
Out of fear, ignorance, or disgust, we can neglect or bully those with mental or psychological trouble, giving rise to the stat that people with mental illnesses are far more likely to be victims of violence than perpetrators of it. This same study reveals that “Fewer than 5 percent of the 120,000 gun-related killings in the United States between 2001 and 2010 were perpetrated by people diagnosed with mental illness.” That should dispel a lot of the fear we experience when engaging with the mentally ill and open our eyes to the fact that our own mistreatment of those already suffering may be part of what leads to the bloodbaths now splashed across our newsfeed every week. Nik Cruz, the gunman in the latest school shooting, more than likely suffers from Fetal Alcohol Syndrome and Reactive Attachment Disorder. If “the mentally ill are 60 to 120 percent more likely than the average person to be the victims of violent crime rather than the perpetrators” (ibid), what do you think are the chances that Nik is no stranger to receiving violence himself? If so, he’s in the majority of the mentally ill who are victims of aggression AND in the stark minority of gunman who grapple with mental/psychological trauma of some sort. To pull the Venn diagram together for you: he probably just paid forward the evil he learned from others somewhere along the line.
What does that say about the rest of us?
If the reasoning I’ve presented for you so far is too tenuous for your taste, I’ll also offer you the account of a man who would have opened fire on his peers were it not for an act of God: Daniel Riley almost shot his classmates when he was fourteen years old.
Daniel insists that he suffered from no mental illness, and given no other information, all we can reasonably do is believe him. At the same time, the situation he describes in detail makes it absolutely clear he was suffering from repeated physical violence AND acute emotional trauma–prompting survival instincts and emotional reactions strong enough to lead to murderous intent. We might readily blame Daniel’s parents for keeping guns in the house; but why do we stop there and refuse to think of how they might have taken greater care to provide their son with serious comfort, protection, and nurturing when he very obviously desperately needed it?
Morality doesn’t exist in a vacuum. If you feel you are the only one who has your back, your value for other people–your respect for their opinions, principles, and very existence–drops low indeed. You might start out not caring at all what happens to others–but if enough of them oppose or attack you enough times, resentment and animosity will root down in your gut. And once you feel completely cornered, helpless, and utterly vulnerable, on any access of your existence, it takes almost nothing for desperation to set in–and desperation, as Orson Scott Card illustrated for us so vividly in Ender’s Game, is deadly. Even for a child who can boast a shadow of a secure relationship from early development (his sister Valentine).
I think we can all agree that nobody should have to endure anything that would drive them to such violence–whether it was imposed upon them by others or generated from within.
And, absolutely, nobody else should have to endure the end result of such torment.
But if we truly want to avoid it, we are going to have to make enormous sacrifices in many other areas. We are going to have to face the RAD and FAS and scores of other serious mental/psych health issues head-on–no fear, no disgust, no judgment–and treat these kids and their families with the same zeal for compassion and preservation of humanity-in-ALL-forms that sends hundred thousands to Washington each year. We are going to have to teach our children, by obstinate, awkward, and continuous example, to befriend the outcasts, the abused, and the lost causes–and to do so with equally vast reserves of love and caution, reserves that allow us to get to know the deep-down disturbances these kids suffer and discern where and how to set boundaries for the very good of those we’re trying to help. This is the part of the equation that the Sneads tragically missed. We are going to have to weigh our paranoias and desire for control and sense of power against our disintegrating corporate ability to cope with anyone we don’t like in a non-violent manner–even if you wouldn’t turn a gun on a social adversary, how do you feel about your friends’ and family’s capacity not to? We are going to have to really start investigating the impact of the shrouded emotional stunting we’ve tolerated as completely normal for far too long. We are going to have to put our money where our mouths are and provide our public institutions and servants with heavy-duty protections and resources to reign in violent outbreaks and apprehend those plotting them.
And, dadgum, we’re going to have to give each other a break.
Nobody wanted this. Nobody has all the answers. Nobody will avoid every false lead. My perspective is as good as the next person’s. But we all want something better, and I’m willing to bet most of us are willing to put some effort into seeing it happen. We’re going to burn out. We’re going to get bewildered a quarter of the way through. We’re going to get sidetracked, sabotaged, and stalled. And if we can’t give each other grace through all the stops and starts and steps backward, our chances of making anything better grow much dimmer.
If we need to develop serious compassion and willingness to sacrifice for the people who need it most–both victims and offenders–let’s start with a simpler goal: patience, respect, and support for each other.
fault and responsibilityFlorida shootinggritty truthgun violenceNikolas Cruztoo many answers
It Takes Grit
Poop and Consequences
3 thoughts on “We Can All Agree”
I like the way you angled this. Starting with what we can agree on is far better than immediately jumping to the things we can’t. That’s really the only way we’ll ever find any solutions to this mess.
Thanks for the solidarity! I often despair that I’m the only one who feels like this… grateful to know I’m not!
R.H. (Rusty) Foerger
I agree with Jessica’s statement. And if it’s not violence with guns, then it’s with words; where is there a space to change the narrative about guns? Each November I devote the theme of my articles to “the place of violence in our times.” I offer this one as it relates to what you wrote: https://moreenigma.wordpress.com/2015/11/20/the-addiction-to-violence-and-the-illusion-of-security/. Thanks for your “grit.”
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Knocks at the door
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Gronk Says He Could Play Defense
Rob Gronkowski spent the final play of Sunday’s win over the Texans playing deep safety to protect against a Hail Mary attempt. The Patriots’ tight end admitted on Thursday that he misses playing defense sometimes.
Gronkowski noted to the media that while he was used as a “hybrid safety” on Sunday, he’d be better off moving closer to the football.
“If they put me at D-end ever, you’d see I’m a hybrid D-end,” Gronkowski said. “Maybe one day I’ll switch to it. I’ve thought about that.”
Gronkowski also provided an explanation why playing defense might be favorable
“You just put your head down and you go up the field,” he said. “You don’t got to run 70 yards up the field.”
Gronkowski got his hands on the ball his lone play at safety and was credited with a passed defended. Gronk seemed to love the experience and would welcome taking on the role again.
“Now I can say whenever people ask me that I play both offense and defense,” he said. “I enjoy it and it’s fun going in there.
Written by: Ben Faunce
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Synthetically lethal interactions classify novel genes in postreplication repair in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Barbour-Thesis.pdf (2.004Mb)
Barbour, Leslie
Both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells are equipped with DNA repair mechanisms to protect the integrity of their genome in case of DNA damage. In the eukaryotic organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae, MMS2 encodes a ubiquitin-conjugating enzyme variant protein belonging to the RAD6 repair pathway; MMS2 functions in error-free postreplication repair (PRR), a subpathway parallel to REV3 mutagenesis. A mutation in MMS2 does not result in extreme sensitivity to DNA damaging agents; however, deletion of both subpathways of PRR results in a synergistic phenotype. By taking advantage of the synergism between error-free PRR and mutagenesis pathway mutations, a conditional synthetic lethal screen was used to identify novel genes genetically involved in PRR. A synthetic lethal screen was modified to use extremely low doses of MMS that would not affect the growth of single mutants, but would effectively kill the double mutants. Fifteen potential mutants were characterized, of which twelve were identified as known error-prone PRR genes. Characterization of mutations in strains SLM-9 and SLM-11, that are conditionally synthetically lethal with mms2Ä, revealed functions for both checkpoints and mating-type heterozygosity in regulating PRR. Cell cycle checkpoints monitor the integrity of the genome and ensure that cell cycle progression is deferred until chromosome damage is repaired. The checkpoint genes genetically interact with both the error-free and error-prone branches of PRR, potentially for delaying cell cycle progression to allow time for DNA repair, and for signaling the stage of the cell cycle and thus DNA content. Other potential monitors for DNA content are the a1 and á2 proteins encoded by the mating type genes MATa and MATá, respectively. Diploid cells heterozygous for mating type (a/á) show an increased resistance to UV damage and are more recombination-proficient than haploid cells. Haploid PRR mutants expressing both mating type genes show an increased resistance to DNA-damaging agents. This phenomenon is specific to PRR: it was not seen in excision repair-deficient and recombination-deficient mutants tested. The rescuing effect seen in PRR mutants heterozygous for mating type is likely the result of channeling lesions into a recombination repair pathway and away from the non-operational PRR pathway. Both checkpoint and mating type genes play a role in regulating PRR. Almost certainly these genes are required to monitor the cell cycle stage and DNA content to determine the best mechanism to repair the damaged DNA thus preventing genomic instability.
Xiao, Wei
Rank, Gerald; Klein, Hannah; Howard, S. Peter; Hemmingsen, Sean M.; Harkness, Troy; Deneer, Harry
synthetic lethal
postreplication repair
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Here Are The Best Ways To Spoil Your Valentine In Boston
Haute Cuisine, News
If you are looking for some fun ways to spoil your valentine in Boston this year, we have got you covered. From a helicopter ride to an overnight stay in the city’s most exclusive (and expensive) presidential suite, here’s a look at some of the best ways to overindulge your sweetheart this holiday.
On Valentine’s Day, The Ritz-Carlton, Boston’s Avery Bar is inviting couples to “Name that love song in five courses.” Starting at 7 p.m., you can participate in the five-act interactive champagne, cocktail, oyster shucking, cooking and dessert class. The event, in partnership with Veuve Clicquot, starts off with a blindfolded taste test of canapes paired with Veuve followed by a class on how to make specialty Veuve Clicquot cocktails. From there, you can learn how to shuck local oysters before dining on an 1855 filet mignon and finishing the night off with a red berry flambe.
Photo Credit: Ritz-Carlton
When it comes to a haute dinner, Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse is rolling out the red carpet this year. They are offering three tiers for this extravagant dining option ranging from $350 to $1,000 per couple, which includes a three-course prix fixe menu featuring an amuse-bouche of seared scallops with creamy goat cheese grits, caviar, prosciutto, roasted red pepper and lime-butter sauce, and an optional wine pairing.
Start off with a choice of mushroom bisque with truffle cream and thyme or beet salad with red onion, pistachios, Campari tomato, goat cheese and honey-lime vinaigrette. Move onto an entrée duo of filet mignon plus a choice of North Atlantic lobster tail or colossal shrimp with herb-lemon butter sauce. Finish off the experience with a sampling of white chocolate bread pudding served with dark chocolate and raspberry infused whipped cream topped with warm raspberry champagne sauce. Each dinner will also feature a bottle of champagne (think Moët & Chandon Brut Imperial Champagne or Dom Pérignon Brut) and an exquisite gift from a local jeweler (for him or her). The dinner is available now through February 17.
Photo Credit: Fleming’s Steakhouse
Prefer to charter a yacht for the night or a private aircraft, romantic helicopter ride throughout the city or adventurous hot air balloon ride to show that special someone just how much they mean to you? Leave the planning to someone else. The folks at Tillinger’s know how to get it done. When it comes to planning a memorable night out, they are the go-to experts.
Photo Credit: Tuckamore Aviation
If you want tickets to the best shows in town, just call the folks over at The Best Seats VIP and they can arrange everything for you from a pre-show party to a backstage meet and greet to even on-stage access and a ride in a fancy car. If you want a behind-the-scenes tour of a dressing room, all you have to do is ask. Front row seats? No problem. The folks here can customize any experience so you feel like a true VIP for a day. There isn’t a personal entertainment concierge in Boston quite like them.
Photo Credit: The Best Seats VIP
If you want to book an exclusive stay, the Boston Harbor Hotel’s John Adams Presidential Suite is the ultimate indulgence. For $15,000 a night, you can relax in the 4,800 square foot waterfront suite that has a 1,000 square foot outdoor terrace for one of the best views of Boston Harbor. Inside, the suite has its own media room, enormous living area, separate dining room, modern kitchen and its own private elevator.
Photo Credit: Boston Harbor Hotel
For her, you won’t want to miss one of the latest haute fragrances from Tiziana Terenzi available at Barney’s, including their latest fragrance launches Sirrah and Mirach. The new look features a “spiral construction” designed to open up the notes of the fragrance allowing the notes in the fragrances to continually release over time. Perfect for a long lasting Valentine’s Day.
Photo Credit: The Fragrance Group
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Houston Voices
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Here's what makes a startup stand out, according to University of Houston research
Houston Voices UH
From pitching to value proposition, here's what you should be thinking about to make your company stand out. Miguel Tovar/University of Houston
During your pitch, investors will be looking to see what your startup's value proposition is. What can you offer that your competitors cannot?
Imagine if you will, your startup develops a watch that can detect when you're about to have a heart attack, and automatically sends an alert with your location to 911.
You've perfected the design and engineering intricacies of the device. It's ready to go out and save lives, and make you tons of money in the process.
Now imagine you can't get this product off the ground because your pitches keep falling flat. Investors don't have confidence in you as an entrepreneur, even if your product is amazing. Remember, you can have an awesome product, but you won't reap any rewards if that awesomeness cannot be expressed to financial gatekeepers.
That's where the art of the pitch matters. Pitching to a venture capitalist might be the most vital part of your startup's success. This is where you express how important your product is or how in demand your services are. This is where you convince investors your product (and you) is worth investing in.
Next, you'll have to determine your company's value proposition, which is the heart of your competitive advantage. This tells venture capitalists why they should invest in your company and not others.
Investors are putting their money and reputation on the line for your company. Their leap of faith has to be as educated as possible. If you can educate them very thoroughly why your startup is different, why it stands out from the rest, investors will feel much more comfortable with their decision to reject other bids in favor of yours.
You don't only need to convince them to choose your company, you also need to convince them that rejecting the other companies won't come back to bite them in the rear. Nobody likes to live with regret, least of all people who put themselves in a position to lose millions of their dollars on a bad decision. The best way to reaffirm an investor's faith in your company is to provide a product or service that is fairly new to the market. New products mean less saturation and higher demand, especially if the product solves a problem or provides a unique function.
There are plenty of toasters on the market, but what about wireless toasters? Outdoors-people everywhere would surely line up to buy that. You're providing a product of real value to a certain sect of people. Your competitive advantage is that your toaster is wireless and portable. That would be your company's value proposition to your investor.
This article originally appeared on the University of Houston's The Big Idea.
Rene Cantu is the writer and editor at UH Division of Research.
value proposition pitching houston voices rene cantu uh big idea university of houston
5 most popular innovation stories in Houston this week
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Research roundup
These 3 Houston research projects are aiming to fight or prevent cancer
Natalie Harms
Breakthrough research on metastatic breast cancer, a new way to turn toxic pollutants into valuable chemicals, and an evolved brain tumor chip are three cancer-fighting treatments coming out of Houston. Getty Inages
Cancer remains to be one of the medical research community's huge focuses and challenges, and scientists in Houston are continuing to innovate new treatments and technologies to make an impact on cancer and its ripple effect.
Three research projects coming out of Houston institutions are providing solutions in the fight against cancer — from ways to monitor treatment to eliminating cancer-causing chemicals in the first place.
Baylor College of Medicine's breakthrough in breast cancer
Photo via bcm.edu
Researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Harvard Medical School have unveiled a mechanism explains how "endocrine-resistant breast cancer acquires metastatic behavior," according to a news release from BCM. This research can be game changing for introducing new therapeutic strategies.
The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and shows that hyperactive FOXA1 signaling — previously reported in endocrine-resistant metastatic breast cancer — can trigger genome-wide reprogramming that enhances resistance to treatment.
"Working with breast cancer cell lines in the laboratory, we discovered that FOXA1 reprograms endocrine therapy-resistant breast cancer cells by turning on certain genes that were turned off before and turning off other genes," says Dr. Xiaoyong Fu, assistant professor of molecular and cellular biology and part of the Lester and Sue Smith Breast Center at Baylor, in the release.
"The new gene expression program mimics an early embryonic developmental program that endow cancer cells with new capabilities, such as being able to migrate to other tissues and invade them aggressively, hallmarks of metastatic behavior."
Patients whose cancer is considered metastatic — even ones that initially responded to treatment — tend to relapse and die due to the cancer's resistance to treatment. This research will allow for new conversations around therapeutic treatment that could work to eliminate metastatic cancer.
University of Houston's evolved brain cancer chip
Photo via uh.edu
A biomedical research team at the University of Houston has made improvements on its microfluidic brain cancer chip. The Akay Lab's new chip "allows multiple-simultaneous drug administration, and a massive parallel testing of drug response for patients with glioblastoma," according to a UH news release. GBM is the most common malignant brain tumor and makes up half of all cases. Patients with GBM have a five-year survival rate of only 5.6 percent.
"The new chip generates tumor spheroids, or clusters, and provides large-scale assessments on the response of these GBM tumor cells to various concentrations and combinations of drugs. This platform could optimize the use of rare tumor samples derived from GBM patients to provide valuable insight on the tumor growth and responses to drug therapies," says Metin Akay, John S. Dunn Endowed Chair Professor of Biomedical Engineering and department chair, in the release.
Akay's team published a paper in the inaugural issue of the IEEE Engineering in Medicine & Biology Society's Open Journal of Engineering in Medicine and Biology. The report explains how the technology is able to quickly assess how well a cancer drug is improving its patients' health.
"When we can tell the doctor that the patient needs a combination of drugs and the exact proportion of each, this is precision medicine," Akay explains in the release.
Rice University's pollution transformation technology
Photo via rice.edu
Rice University engineers have developed a way to get rid of cancer-causing pollutants in water and transform them into valuable chemicals. A team lead by Michael Wong and Thomas Senftle has created this new catalyst that turns nitrate into ammonia. The study was published in the journal ACS Catalysis.
"Agricultural fertilizer runoff is contaminating ground and surface water, which causes ecological effects such as algae blooms as well as significant adverse effects for humans, including cancer, hypertension and developmental issues in babies," says Wong, professor and chair of the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering in Rice's Brown School of Engineering, in a news release. "I've been very curious about nitrogen chemistry, especially if I can design materials that clean water of nitrogen compounds like nitrites and nitrates."
The ability to transform these chemicals into ammonia is crucial because ammonia-based fertilizers are used for global food supplies and the traditional method of creating ammonia is energy intensive. Not only does this process eliminate that energy usage, but it's ridding the contaminated water of toxic chemicals.
"I'm excited about removing nitrite, forming ammonia and hydrazine, as well as the chemistry that we figured out about how all this happens," Wong says in the release. "The most important takeaway is that we learned how to clean water in a simpler way and created chemicals that are more valuable than the waste stream."
university of houston rice university baylor college of medicine cancer breast cancer brain cancer pollutants akay lab metin akay xiaoyong fu michael wong thomas senftle research roundup
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Hard Rock Analyst
Free Editorials
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David Coffin
My brother David Coffin died tragically and suddenly in February of 2012. We worked together for most of our adult lives and were as close as two brothers could be. David and I were partners in the endeavor that is Hard Rock Analyst. I have reproduced the Eulogy from David's funeral below. As that eulogy notes, Dave was a generous man in many respects. David's friends and family chose to continue that spirit of generosity in his name. Thanks to many donations from friends and a great fundraising dinner in June of 2012, we have been able to endow a bursary is David's name in the geology department of the University of British Columbia. I chose a bursary rather than a scholarship because Dave understood that the times it makes the most sense to be studying geology are the times it's toughest to make a living at it. Besides, the entry marks needed to get into the program are so high that everyone in it would earn a scholarship just about anywhere else.
The link below goes to the donations page for David's bursary fund at UBC. I'm happy to report the David J. Coffin Memorial Bursary in Geology will award just over $7000 in bursaries in the 2013-2014 academic year. Awards of roughly this level will be awarded in perpetuity in David's name.
David's UBC Bursary Donation Page
David was a big believer in the power of the mining sector to improve the world. Where others just saw unattractive holes in the ground David saw a business that was often the primary employer in depressed regions and the sole provider of needed infrastructure and services. Dave saw most of the world and was acutely aware of the challenges facing many regions. David's friends and family set up a second fundraising effort in his honor that recognized his concerns for some of the areas he visited. Funds raised in David's name have been used by TheWaterProject.org to fund a sand dam project in Kenya. This project will create a year-round source of clean fresh water to a village whose residents had to walk for kilometres every day to get this vital resource. Please visit the project page below to learn more about this project and comments from the people whose lives it's helping to change.
David's Kenyan Sand Dam Project
To read David Coffin's eulogy please click here...
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Coty Aims To Score With Beckham, Adidas Fragrances For Men
Melina A. Vissat m.vissat@elsevier.com
David Beckham Instinct, the first in a planned collection of fragrances and ancillaries under the British soccer star's name, will debut in the U.S. in October, according to Coty. The men's scent was unveiled at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores Marketplace Conference in San Diego, Calif. June 24-27
mary-kateandashley: Coty beauty brand is launching direct-to-consumer e-commerce operation at www.shopmary-kateandashley.com, an online store expected to help broaden brand awareness and improve consumer access to products, according to eFashionSolutions, which is managing the operation. The site, which will feature the brand's fragrances, cosmetics, accessories and apparel, will enable mary-kateandashley to gain more insight into its customers through data intelligence, firm notes. Mary-kateandashley's fragrance portfolio includes the one and two and coast to coast collections; In the spring, coast to coast will expand with London Beat and Tokyo Fusion (1"The Rose Sheet" July 3, 2006, p. 3)...
Avon Steps Up To The Plate; Signs Baseball Star Jeter To Scent Deal
Derek Jeter Driven is the first in a collection of fragrances and grooming products for men launching under a deal between Avon and the famed New York Yankees' shortstop, according to the direct seller
07 Aug 2006 HBW Insight
Coty Amps Up Its Fragrance Portfolio By Signing Multiple Deals
28 Feb 2005 HBW Insight
Subject: Coty Aims To Score With Beckham, Adidas Fragrances For Men
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ShopHome » Products » Seeds » A-D (Botanical Name) » Calea zacatechichi – Dream Herb (seed)
Calea zacatechichi – Dream Herb (seed)
Calea zacatechichi - Dream Herb (seed) quantity
Category: A-D (Botanical Name)
Calea zacatechichi is a perennial Asteraceae shrub native to Central America. It has been reported that the Chontal Indians of Oaxaca make a tea from the dried leaves of this shrub for their effect of producing vivid dreams which are easily recalled upon waking. The Chontal medicine men believe it clarifies the senses and call the plant ‘leaf of god’. Teas of this plant are regarded as being extremely bitter. Alcoholic tinctures appear to be an easier method of consumption.
Care and Cultivation
Calea zacatechichi seeds can be sown just under the surface of a free draining mix in full sun. Seeds should germinate in 1-3 weeks. Keep moist until germination. We find very hot and humid conditions conducive to germination. We will be trialling the Takeaway Tek with this species.
Perennial to 2 metres high and wide with pleasant smelling flowers in spring. Likes a full sun to part shade position with adequate moisture. More tolerant of dry conditions once established. Likes a regular feed. Trim after flowering to keep compact.
75+ seeds per packet
The following information is taken from:
Study on Calea zacatechichi. L. Mayagoitia , Jose-Luis Diaz, & Carlos M. Contreras. Journal of Ethnopharmacology 18 (1986) 229-243. Eleavier Scientific Publishers Ireland Ltd.
Dream reports
Significantly more dreams (P < 001, in comparison to placebo) were reported after the methanol extract. Similarly, the number of dreams reported during naps was significantly higher following the administration of the plant extracts than with diazepam (P < 0.01). It can be appreciated that, although not significant, the number of dreams reported was greater after the ingestion of Calea extracts than placebo. The number of subjects that did not remember dreaming was always greater after placebo and diazepam administration and conversely, the individuals that reported more than one dream per session were always the ones treated with zacatechichi extracts. The dreams reported by subjects ingesting Calea extracts, were of a shorter content (measured by the number of lines written in the report). Spontaneous reports of emotions and nightmares were not different among the four treatments. Nevertheless, with the methanol extract more colors during dreaming were mentioned.
These results show that zacatechichi administration appears to enhance the number and/or recollection of dreams during sleeping periods. The data are in agreement with the oneirogenic reputation of the plant among the Chontal Indians but stand in apparent contradiction to the EEG sleep- study results. It is well known that dreaming activity is correlated to the REM or paradoxical phase of sleep (Aserinsky and Kleitman, 1953) and it could be expected that a compound that increases dream would also increase REM stage frequency or duration, as it has been shown to occur with physostigmine (Sitaram et al., 1978). In contrast, zacatechichi increases the stages of slow wave sleep and apparently decreases REM sleep. This also occurs with low doses 12-10 mg) of diazepam (Harvey, 1982). Despite this similarity in EEG effects, diazepam decreases dreaming reports (Firth, 1974) while zacatechichi extracts enhances them. Such discrepancy may be explained by the fact that dreaming and imagery are not restricted to the REM episodes but also occur during slow wave sleep (SWS I and II) as lively hypnagogic images (Roffwarg et al., 1962). Such images are reported as brief dreams and are known to be enhanced by marihuana (Hollister, 1971). All this suggests that Calea zacatechichi induces episodes of lively hypnagogic imagery during SWS stage I of sleep, a psychophysiological effect that would be the basis of the ethnobotanical use of the plant as an oneirogenic and oneiromantic agent.
2 reviews for Calea zacatechichi – Dream Herb (seed)
ben p – 04/08/2014
Got this Calea zacatechichi seed to germinate very easily inside a small 12watt heated propagator box. Can’t wait until it grows!
Zachary C – 11/12/2014
C. zacatechichi is notorious for being difficult to grow from seed, with most growers choosing to propagate the plant via cuttings. By doing this, they miss out on the exciting genetic variance that comes with growing from seed. Having grown C. zacatechichi from cuttings before, I decided it was time to see what unique attributes mother nature (Darren) could produce, so I bought these seeds.
Out of 15 seeds, 13 germinated. They were sown on the surface of some sifted free draining potting mix in takeaway containers, and thinned out and separated after they were approximately 1.5cm tall. Now I have 11 small bitter grass plants dotted nicely around my garden (2 of the original 13 were sacrificed by the cat) with a further ~60 seeds waiting to be sown.
For $4.40 I’d say it was worth it.
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The Trussell Trust runs the largest network of foodbanks in the UK, giving emergency food and support to people in crisis. Thirteen million people live below the poverty line and in the last year we gave 1,583,668 three-day emergency food supplies to people in crisis.
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Asics 10k Run
The Hillingdon Foodbank is one of the Charity Partners for the 2019 Asics 10k London marathon. The marathon is been organised to raise funds for the Hillingdon Foodbank. Six people have been registered to run on behalf of the Hillingdon Foodbank, 1. Emmanuel Daudu 2. Dawa Balogun 3. Ugo Uwaneri 4. Ayo James 5. Olumide Durodola […]
6 Unexpected Things Foodbanks Need
A visit to the food bank isn’t exactly a traditional Christmas activity, but one UK charity is asking for a little extra help this month, when demand is at its highest and families are choosing between eating and heating.
Why Would a Mum Doing a Business Degree Find Herself Begging on the Streets This Winter?
With Christmas approaching, Michele from Brent Foodbank shares how she’s helping to make the festive season special for those struggling. “For the past few days I haven’t been to the street begging for money to buy food for me and my baby…” This was what a mother at Brent Foodbank told us recently. She was […]
Emergency Budget gets the food poverty test
David McAuley, Chief Executive of The Trussell Trust said: “We have two simple tests for the budget being delivered today. Firstly, what does it do to reduce the number of people in poverty and hunger? Secondly, what does it do to ensure the Government is supporting the work of charities and social enterprise in taking […]
Listening to the lives behind the foodbank statistics
MPs and peers discussed tackling UK poverty. The Trussell Trust, along with dozens of representatives from its UK network of foodbanks, were in parliament yesterday speaking with MPs and Peers about the work they do to combat hunger and poverty. Hosting the event, Chris White MP commended the varied work of the Trussell Trust’s foodbanks, […]
Trussell Trust foodbanks gave out over one million three day emergency food supplies to UK people in crisis in 2014/15.
Benefit delays, low income and benefit changes are the primary reasons why people are currently being referred to foodbanks for emergency food. About Our Statistics The Trussell Trust statistics are a measure of volume – they show the number of people to whom The Trussell Trust foodbanks have given three days’ emergency food. These are […]
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Hillingdon Foodbank
The Hillingdon Foodbank provides short term and emergency food to families in the borough going through difficult times and crises. The Hillingdon Food Bank is built on Compassion, Integrity and commitment to restore dignity and give hope. It was the first Food Bank in London when it was launched in 2009.
Food is collected by volunteers from supermarkets, individuals, churches, schools and other organizations. It is sorted and banked ready for distribution to those in need. The Foodbank works in partnership with voluntary and statutory agencies, which come into contact with people in crisis, through the course of their work.
Office Address ( Admin enquiries only)
4 New Windsor Street
UB8 2TU
Warehouse Address:(For all food collection and donations)
30, Oxford Road Uxbridge New Denham.
UB9 4DQ
Compliments of the season!
e: hillingdonfoodbank@kingsborough.org.uk t: 01895 252224(for all enquiries)
This foodbank is run in partnership with local churches, facilitated by Hillingdon Foodbank. Registered charity number 1148148 | Registered in England and Wales
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“I was always scared of thunder as a child,” she confessed as she interlaced her fingers with his. Another rumbling sound trembled through the room as Eric turned out all the lights.
“Me too,” he admitted when it was fully dark, the room only illuminated by the waning moon. She turned her body to face his with an incredulous look.
“Really?” she questioned and he simply nodded. “Big Bad Vampire Sheriff was scared of thunder?” Sookie asked as a small smile crept into her saddened features.
“You’d be amazed what scares me,” he acknowledged without thinking about it.
“What?” she enquired as the pad of her index finger trailed down his chest.
“The thought of losing you,” he returned as he pulled her palm to his mouth and kissed it softly.
“Why do you care for me so?” she asked nuzzling their interlaced hands, their foreheads now barely held apart.
“That scares me too,” he admitted as she drifted off to sleep.
The storm that had started the night previous was still ensuing as Sookie woke in the early afternoon. Her growling stomach was urging her to eat but the thought of that awful canteen food kept her firmly locked in her vampire embrace. She wondered whether she could have food delivered until she realised her purse was still under the seat of her car in Mississippi.
Her bladder called to attention and she reluctantly removed herself from her warm spot. When she lost all contact with Eric the whirring of many frantic minds assaulted her own all at once.
“Fuck,” Sookie cringed as she latched back onto Eric’s body to delve back into the peaceful void of his mind.
“You ok,” he mumbled in his half sleep.
“Lots of busy minds,” she responded while pressing her forehead to his chest as if it were a cold compress for her suddenly assaulted mind. “Why aren’t you dead to the world?”
“The storm is blocking the sun,” he replied opening his eyes to her. “It makes the day rest haphazard. Come back to lie with me,” he offered a kiss to her palm as an incentive when she threatened to move away again.
“I have human needs to take care of,” she smiled down with a hinted blush of embarrassment. “I’ll be back before you know it.” Sookie slowly let go of his touch while simultaneously bringing up her shields.
While taking care of her business she scanned the perimeters for recognizable minds regretting checking in on her brother. Suddenly she stumbled upon two familiar minds and all but sprinted out of the bedroom suite. Eric called after her in confusion but she hardly heard him as she ran up the stairs in search of Sam and Lafayette and shouted out for them.
“Sookie,” Sam exclaimed as he took in the blonde telepath in her long shirt that barely covered the sight of her underwear. “You’re ok?”
“Yes,” she panted out. “How are things back in Bon Temps?”
“Shit,” Lafayette said with a wince. ”You’re Granmamma’s house is a mess but at least the party moved out of town.”
“What happened?” Sookie asked with worry for the fate of their home town.
“There was some sort of sacrifice on your lawn but Dionysus didn’t show up,” Sam explained. To which Lafayette added a sarcastic, “Surprise, surprise.”
“Like a human sacrifice?” Sookie asked with disbelieving eyes as she picked up the vague mental images from their minds.
“Yes,” Sam supplied with a hint of sadness. “The new waitress Daphne. An assortment of animals were sacrificed when nothing happened. There were some physical injuries and some destruction to property. Nothing that can’t be repaired, cher. The glamour squad Godric sent cleaned it up as well as making the town believe it was a gas leak.”
“I’m so sorry Sam,” Sookie said pulling him into a consoling hug as his mind revealed the grief he felt over the new woman in his life. “How did you two end up here?” she asked as Sam disentangled from their silent embrace.
“Big tall and blonde and little Ricky helped us out so we be here to helps in return,” Lafayette said with a slight nerve to his voice, in preparing what to say next he kindly rested his hand on Sookie’s shoulder. “Tara still seems unwilling to leave that Maryann’s side.”
Sookie gasped, the close contact opened up Lafayette’s mind as the events in her absence raced through her mind. A Tara enthralled, eyes turned dark and unreachable. She was most shocked by the indoctrination of Steve and Sarah Newlin on the young influential minds of the children of Bon Temps.
“Sookie,” a voice bellowed from behind her before a naked body wrapped his body round hers disengaging her from Lafayette’s active mind.
“Eric what the hell,” Sookie snapped as she burned up with embarrassment over his nudity. “Cover yourself.”
“I am,” he smirked while pulling her backside firmly over the offending genitalia.
“You can’t just stand about naked in the hallway,” she admonished before she whisper yelled, “What will my friends think.”
“Nothing they haven’t seen before,” he shrugged before greeting them, “French fry, Shifter why aren’t you in Shreveport?”
“The children are back with their parents now that the maenad has moved on out of town,” Sam explained. “We tried talking sense into Lafayette’s cousin but she was lost in her control. She revealed that Maryann is coming to the new king to pay him a visit. We figured our help was more needed here.”
“Very well. You two are dismissed,” he commanded. The two nodded as they continued on their way to the library after they reluctantly greeted Sookie goodbye.
“I do not like you out of the bed,” Eric growled huskily to the shell of her ear.
“Well get used to it,” she huffed out thoroughly annoyed at his callous dismissal of her friends. She quickly turned around in his tight hold making sure his parts remained firmly covered and stared him down with all the force of her infamous temper. “I need to eat and the food here is inedible.”
“I am sure Godric has provided proper nourishment for the humans,” Eric returned indifferently.
“If you’re a Buddhist monk maybe. It’s like the human equivalent of True Blood,” she whined a little. A tone that was a rare thing to behold for them both. “As much as you like my scent, eating that would cause other smells to come out of me,” Sookie said with an embarrassed face.
“I’m sure they would smell like roses coming from your delectable ass,” he teased caressing the soft globes in demonstration of his testament.
“I sincerely doubt it,” she grumbled shoving off the pawing hands only then realising how exposed her own lower half was. “Do you really want to find out?”
“No,” he answered with an amused grin before yelling down the hallway, “French fry! Get my Sookie something she enjoys to eat. None of that vegan crap!”
Lafayette merely nodded in understanding as Sookie yelled at Eric. “You can’t speak to people like that! His name is Lafayette not French Fry.”
“He owes a great debt for his dealings,” Eric said disdainfully. “Feeding Pam and fetching you food is a drop in the water compared to the punishment he would normally suffer for his crimes.”
She reluctantly agreed, there wasn’t much known about vampire justice but it was common knowledge that a caught drainer never returned alive, only further driving up the prices of the valuable stock they sold. “Can we go back down now?” Sookie asked tentatively. “I’m really not comfortable at everyone staring at your naked ass.”
He smirked at her continued blushing. “Are we feeling possessive over my naked ass?”
“Eric!”
“I’ll only display it to you if that makes you feel better,” he continued to tease. “That does leave the front exposed.”
“Just vamp your ass down,” she spewed out.
“Only if you join me,” he replied as he launched them both at warp speeds back into their subterranean suite with her screams echoing through the barren halls.
“This is Nan Flanagan for The Authority,” the blonde vampiress informed to the blackened computer screen where only a red light indicated that the connection was live.
“Thank you for joining us Ms Flanagan,” came the voice of the anonymous vampire, who she now knew to be the Guardian. “How goes things in Wisconsin?”
“As expected,” she replied curtly. “The new queen has been instated with the backing of the current sheriffs. There will be no more incidents in this god forsaken territory.”
“You seem awfully sure of that,” a female vampire’s voice cackled with the sound of her own voice. Nan refrained from rolling her eyes reflexively in response.
“It’s what you pay me for,” Nan Flanagan replied testily.
“It’s certainly not for your looks,” the unidentifiable female retorted again, inciting the laughs of her colleagues. The sour look on Nan Flanagan’s face only sustained their hilarity further.
“Does the Authority have any pressing matters for the AVL?” she tried in a vain attempt to refocus the members of the Authority to matters at hand. Their isolation tended to breed cabin fever and she was more often than not the brunt of it.
“You pushed for Godric of Gaul to ascend Louisiana’s throne,” another faceless vampire spoke with a hint of a foreign accent that Nan was incapable of placing. “Do you continue to stand behind him?”
“He has vision beyond the mainstreaming agenda, that will benefit both humans and our race,” she replied automatically. The concept of co-existence being one she had been reciting since the days of the Enlightenment. In Godric’s leadership she saw a vision beyond those early beginnings that had taken so long to take hold among their kind. “His incapacitation of the Fellowship of the Sun by working with them has delivered some of the staunchest anti vampire activists in your dungeons.”
“You are informing us of facts already known,” a nasal voice spoke icily. “The Guardian asked if you continue to support his leadership.”
“You approved the union with Mississippi without my counsel,” Nan replied with a poorly veiled sneer. “Why seek it now?”
“I think this is what we pay you for,” came the voice of the Guardian. “What do you make of the scarcely populated states, whose numbers are rapidly depleting since the Gaul’s ascend.”
“We have all reached the age to know that promises of a better tomorrow always lead the flock to a shepherd,” Nan Flanagan replied with a small shrug. “If it keeps the populations in line I see no harm in it.”
“Men are like sheep, of which a flock is more easily driven than a single one,” came the distinctly voice of an elder vampire who in Nan’s memory never voiced much.
“Robert Whately,” the spokeswoman sourced from the depths of her aged mind. The author was a favoured thinker of her own maker which left her incapable not to respond in the way in which she had been taught. “What are your concerns?” she continued with irritation, her attentions wandering to her nightly snack that was prancing around tauntingly in the background. It was bad enough she had to indulge in the vile bottles of synthetic blood at all hours of the night in her public role. Now the authority seemed to take its leisurely time in distracting her from the demands of her parched fangs.
“He is collecting quite the flock,” the Guardian responded. “If he defeats the rumoured maenad as he intends to, his numbers will grow exponentially.”
“He threatens our authority,” another vampire hissed in distaste with the events that had passed.
“The ones who join him are of no threat,” Nan replied. “They are the isolated antisocial kind. They have lived in seclusion of both man and vampire for centuries without cause.”
“Where have all these pissy vampires been hiding all this time?” the tittering voice of a female vampire mused.
“The lone wolves are always more dangerous than the pack,” the accented speech of the elder vampire dispensed sagely.
“There are rumours not all of his subjects are with him by choice,” another vampire spoke out with concern.
“His regime is strict but fair,” Nan acknowledged with admiration for Godric’s reign. “Anyone not associated with the regime was allowed to leave peacefully, in accordance with our law. He offered sanctuary to any of the old regime who wished to join him.”
“You would do well to listen to our concerns Ms Flanagan,” the elder vampire spoke again. “It is not the flock we worry for. It is the one who drives it. Need we remind you of the circumstances of the former King of Mississippi?”
“Of course not,” she replied. “It is how I came to work for you. The Gaul might hear things but he is of sound mind. He is of no threat to our kind or others”
“He gave his child to a human,” another vampire hissed in sheer disgust.
“As I understand it he released him by request of the human,” Nan stated simply. “It is not our place to intercept in the dealings between maker and child.”
“It is when the child does not actively support the regime of his maker,” the Guardian spoke with distaste. “The Northman has refused to reassert his Sherriff’s title and his child was released during the regime change. His former retinue has disbanded into surrounding states. We all know Kings and Queens are interchangeable, it is the Sheriffs that guard our order.”
“Northman has always been stubborn and resistant to change,” Nan countered as a small snort echoed through the chambers of The Authority. “He will serve his maker if he requests it.”
“The maenad is said to move south to New Orleans,” the Guardian informed. “We wish you to be present. If the Gaul is unsuccessful you will make sure the Northman takes the throne.”
“And if he is successful?”
“Then we should all dust off our bibles and attend Sunday mass,” the accented vampire deadpanned to the laughs of his fellow members.
“Frat boys,” Nan Flanagan cursed as the light above the dark screen dissipated again.
Godric was pacing back and forth restlessly in his day chamber. It seemed as if everything and everyone was conspiring against him, including the weather. He didn’t feel it as strongly through his diminished bonds but Godric could clearly hear the sounds and smells of sex and fresh blood wafting into his heightened senses.
All that he had been abstaining from for decades was taunting at his resolves, the rare sight of his own arousal seemingly refusing to die down. No matter what method of meditation he applied every nerve ending stood at attention of the sins surrounding him. The rhythmic gyration over the band of rosary beads seemed the only movement distracting enough of his baser urges encouraging him to partake in it all.
Before the invention of synthetic blood Godric had fed sparingly from blood banks, only ever near starvation. He had used his glamour to retrieve the blood that would be discarded due to disease or expiration. The quality of no importance to him, it sustained him and that was all he cared for.
Now his children were testing his faith in their complete abhorrence of his doctrine. It seemed he had sired children with insatiable appetites. The only pause Eric seemed to allow his object of affection was for her own nourishment. And by the noises she was making for the greasy foods Godric gathered it was hardly a break from Eric’s unrelenting appetite of her. The moans were identical. So was his son’s encouragement of them.
He wondered if it was some innate gift of the Stackhouses as he dully stared at the clock ticking away as he tried to suppress the beast that had been ruling him for centuries. Perhaps it was the unique composition of Fae laced blood, the taste of Cecily at her turning had never left the memory of his palate.
“Hello papà,” Cecily blissfully sighed out as she stretched out across his bed.
“You have satiated your appetite of the boy then?” Godric asked at her sudden appearance.
“Not quite,” she smirked while readjusting her dress to cover herself again. “I am sure we are up for another round after his rest.” Cecily shifted her gaze as she crawled over towards him. “I can ask him if you wish to join us,” she said hungrily rubbing at the bulge in his loose fitting pants.
“No,” he hissed moving out of her grasp instantly. “I no longer partake in those activities.”
“You realise a royal marriage requires certain obligations,” she taunted with a roll of her eyes and a petulant huff that sent her hair billowing into the air.
“I think I liked you better when you were silent,” Godric grumbled.
He remained quiet as he nearly blurted out ‘too long’. His memory not withstanding he could only vaguely guess a minimum of a century.
“Allow me a reminder,” she said huskily as her dress fell to the floor of her rakishly thin body.
“No,” he stated sternly clamping down on his jaws and averting his eyes of her naked body.
“Join me and Jason,” Cecily pleaded as a moan escaped her while running her fingers through her folds. “He is very talented.”
“No,” Godric repeated closing his eyes desperately seeking refuge in meditation while his hands moved at ever increasing speeds over the rosary beads.
“YES!” a scream came across the hall as Sookie chanted on her lover’s attentions.
Godric groaned in pain at the sounds and smells that were haunting him. Again. “NO,” he said more forcibly as Cecily pulled at the drawstring of his pants. She simply pouted sullenly in return as if a favoured toy had been stolen from her grasp.
“Perhaps you prefer to watch instead,” she teased and switched on the security monitors showing a split screen of the two bedrooms that had produced the sounds and smells that were testing him since waking. “Ah look my stud rises, in more ways than one,” she smirked, thoroughly pleased as Godric’s attention flew to the screen. Her ethereal body started to disappear from the room once more, pleased with her momentary triumph.
“Enjoy the show,” was the last Godric heard before he once again succumbed to his personal agony.
“Honey I’m hoooome,” a voice bellowed out.
“Darling I’m a vampire. Must you yell so loud?” Pam replied with amusement as she continued to file away at her nails. “Tell me honey-boo, how was your day?”
“Splendid darling! I brought dinner,” he answered wile dropping the carcass in the middle of the room.
“Good,” she replied not looking up at the sound of the loud thud. “Because I don’t cook.”
“Could have fooled me,” Russell smirked. “You look quite the domestic goddess.”
“Don’t let the pink fool you,” Pam retorted as she scornfully looked at the dead body on the floor. “I may not cook, but I do know we still don’t eat animals. Don’t tell me you’re reading about sparkly vampires too.”
“It’s for the children of course,” Russell scoffed while he whistled for his wolves. At his signal they all attacked the dead dear ripping it to pieces. “Aaah, the sound of flesh ripping in the morning. Tell me poppet is there anything better?”
“Vampire flesh,” she said with reminiscence in her eyes. Pam enjoyed a good battle as much as the next vampire after all.
“The thirst of youth,” he drawled with appreciation. “Enjoy it while you can Pinkie, it gets rather dreary in old age.”
“You’re not old,” she declared with a twinkle in her gaze. “You’re just time challenged.”
“You do take ass kissing to a whole new level Ms Swyndon de Beaufort.”
“What else am I supposed to with a gay man?” she smirked while batting her lashes incessantly. “And have you seen my master’s ass?”
He cackled at Pam’s wit. Russell had been desperately trying to see Eric’s ass in the flesh for centuries but he had always remained aloof to his attentions much to Russell’s dismay. “It’s a very fine one indeed,” he acknowledged in rhetoric defeat.
He put down his newspaper on the end table while he positioned himself towards Pam on the sofa. She just continued to stare at him expectantly with her distinctly frozen features in place. “I have news,” he announced offhandedly while lighting up a cigar. “You’re getting a new meemaw.”
“What?” Pam said spurting out the vile True Blood she was nursing, shooting her legendary stoic façade to bits. Russell gave her a look that suggested she better clean her mess soon. After all he was far more of a domestic goddess than Pam would ever be.
“You realise I have a mailbox for my newspaper,” he stated as if it was the most normal thing in the world for a cave to have such a thing.
“The newspaper is reporting on vampire marriages now?” Pam asked with furrowed eyebrows as she cleaned up her spewed out mess with her preternatural speeds. “I can just imagine the notification already, The couple that loves to drain a bitch together.”
“That sounds more like us doodles,” he replied amused while dropping the intelligence document in her lap. “They would be something much more mundane. Like Together with fangs in their heart.” He finished off his announcement with splayed out fingers crossing the palms of his hands out in semicircles as if it were some big reveal.
Pam scanned the classified file reading through the latest events that were happening in the Mississippi court including the publication of the impending marriage of her grandsire to that vile Compton’s maker.
“So Jazz hands,” she said after speed reading through, “how attached to that retirement are you?”
“What do you think sweet pea?”
“Well you did always look good with a crown,” she quipped.
“You’re lucky we vampires don’t defecate,” Russell returned with a hint of malice. “Your skin would be stained brown with the way you stick your nose up in it.”
Pam pulled a face of distaste in response for his amusement with her fingers firmly clamped down over her nostrils.
“You will do just fine at court,” he cackled approvingly. “I already have my jester.”
Godric switched off the monitors with haste and the person who knocked on his door instantly relieved him of the burden testing the limits of his linen pants.
“Good evening Lorena,” he greeted with some enthusiasm at the dwindling desire that her presence brought.
“Mmmm,” she smiled contentedly sampling the air with fangs itching to descend. “This wing of the building certainly smells delicious. I thought you and your followers abstained from such activities.”
“My child makes his own decisions,” Godric said apologetically. There was little shame in no longer controlling a released child, however, his shame came from the personal failing to convince Eric of the virtues he prescribed too. “He does not share my faith,” he added with regret.
“Such responsibilities,” she noted with a knowing face. “I fear the storm has escalated into an impending hurricane. We will remain here till it has passed with your permission.”
“Of course. There were no warnings.” Godric’s brows furrowed setting his face in deep thought. “The humans are usually so good at predicting these things.”
“Well they were late,” Lorena shrugged unimpressed by the cattle that shaped their world. “The human population has been evacuating since dawn.”
“Excuse me,” Godric apologised. “I must take care my people have adequate protection.”
“By all means,” she purred out moving closely into his personal space. Godric’s arousal may have diminished at her sighting but the scents and sounds of carnal pleasures certainly had given rise to her excitement. Lorena barely managed to contain the persistent pressure of her dainty fangs threatening to shoot out of her gums as if she were a newborn again. “May I join you? If we are to rule together it will be good to observe.”
“Of course,” he responded not in the mood to argue with the manipulative vampire and happy for an excuse to depart the heavily scented quarters. “Allow me to warn my son.”
Lorena and her team of guards followed Godric closely as he softly knocked on the door that seemed the source of the intoxicating perfume. All but Godric’s fangs ran out at scent.
“Fuck off!”
“Eric, Ms Stackhouse,” Godric spoke gently at the door. “It is of importance that I speak to you.”
After overhearing some muffled arguing back and forth the door swung open with an impatient vampire standing erect, in more ways than one as Cecily had noted earlier. Godric tried desperately to avert his own hungry graze over his child’s form. He was somewhat bemused by the comforter tied around his waist. Eric had never possessed an ounce of modesty, let alone when it came to his most enviable feature.
“Yes Godric,” he said impatiently as a hungry graze of his own went sideways to the enticing little telepath in the bed who was desperately trying to cover the apparent sin they were both participating in.
“The storm has progressed into a hurricane,” Godric informed. “You will need to seek shelter above ground. I do not wish Ms Stackhouse or her brother to be inadvertently drowned.”
“We will move,” Eric answered curtly, his tone changing instantly from distracted and annoyed to commanding. He was well aware of the flooding dangers on the property. He had to listen to Sophie Anne’s incessant whining about her ruined chambers and wardrobe the last time a hurricane swept through New Orleans. “Anything else?”
“No,” Godric replied unsure of how to ask for his son’s impeccable organisational skills and aid. “Please make sure our remaining human guests and staff are properly accommodated.”
“Sophie Anne moved her chambers to the attic space after the last hurricane. They were built to resist hurricanes,” Eric offered thoughtfully. “If they are not in use by others I will take them there.”
“They are the only rooms untouched by my followers that night,” Godric sighed with the memory of those night’s events. “They thought I would appreciate them for myself but I preferred the simplicity of the basement.”
Eric nodded in understanding and closed the door on the envious onlookers. Godric overheard Sookie admonish his child for his lack of manners before giggles overtook her and the orchestra of an extremely springy bed continued again.
With an unnecessarily heavy sigh Godric wondered where Eric pulled his continued zest for life from. At his age Godric was already becoming weary in old age. The young telepath had certainly awoken tempered flames but even without her, Eric never succumbed to the same darkened depths that he carried inside.
Godric had turned the Viking at around the age Eric was now after admiring him from afar on the battlefield, which he had followed around with a childish delight. Vampire strengths and battles were impressive to behold but there was such a primal attraction in hand to hand combat at which the Norse men so excelled.
Had he been a lesser vampire at the time he would have bound Eric to him as a pet. He despised the practice but it was the only way to keep a human by your side before the Great Reveal. Instead he chose to do what he had done with so many other humans that fascinated him over the centuries. He observed and documented their life seeking a narrative. He had many journals with the lives of unknown figures shaping the hands of time. Contributions great or small were recorded for eternity, which no historian would think to do for the extraordinarily ordinary man.
Eric had been fatally wounded in battle when his narrative was cut inconveniently short. Godric had only been watching for a few weeks at that time. Not content with the abrupt ending to his story, he offered Eric something he had vowed never to do after the death of Cecily again. He killed the two other souls accompanying him -their narrative had been unimpressive and he had held little regard for most humans at the time- and offered Eric a chance of another life. With a confirmed yes they had become inseparable companions for many centuries till he detected his waning wanderlust no longer matched the voracious appetites of his child.
His son had always managed to surprise him. He didn’t fear the darkness that lay within their existence nor did he get lost in it like Godric himself had. Perhaps that was Eric’s saving grace, he didn’t lose himself in what he became. As a newborn it became evident quickly that Eric responded well to boundaries and order. It was why Eric had never been released, Godric feared for what an existence without control would mean for him. He was more manageable than Cecily ever was, whose impulsive streak had to be all but beaten out of her.
Knowing Cecily now and in the present again Godric realised he never succeeded in breaking her will as his maker had instructed him to do. In the eyes of his cruel maker both his children would be considered utter failures in their rearing by allowing them so much of their self to remain intact.
Godric had never displayed his affection overtly towards his children. It was always wrapped within lessons or in guidance. Regardless, it was always present within him and was just as strong when he had fought for Eric to keep his Sookie by his side. His child’s happiness meant more to him than being stuck with an offensive queen for a century if it came to that. He took comfort in the fact that he would most likely not have to endure it for such a length of time.
He sat down in his throne room that had been shrouded in darkness and started summoning the appropriate contacts to ensure the safety of the city. Lorena had even offered some sound advice here and there before she brought his attention back to their marriage negotiations. Her interruptions had been marginal. Godric prayed that if this was a glimpse of their future working relationship then he could abide with it with little qualm.
“Shit,” Lafayette said as he took in the opulent private quarters of the former queen. “This place gots some bad juju.”
Sookie couldn’t help but agree. Not only were the decorations downright gaudy and ostentatious but the whole space felt creepy in its vaulted abandonment. She hated the former queen for her intended deception by the hands of Bill. Had she simply asked for her aid, like Eric, she would have offered some compliance. However, Sookie was glad to have found Eric in the process of meeting Bill. Though things certainly weren’t easy with all the things happening around them, she was content to be able to lean on someone so strong. More importantly he leant on her with equal need. That meant more to her than she ever would have thought.
They had a strange start and she vowed if anyone ever asked her how they met she’d tweak the story a bit. Not that she felt shame over cheating on Bill in the process. She hadn’t felt it in the moment, when Sam had told her of his fate she had said her final goodbyes. Perhaps it was comfort in that collective loss that she had sought with Eric at the time.
If she was truthful it wasn’t really that. There had been an instant connection between her and Eric. That lived beyond mere attraction. Even Bill had commented on its presence at the time. Kismet, fate, whatever it was, it scared her. Being with Bill felt safe in contrast. He had been a friendly vampire where every single one she had met until entering Fangtasia had been downright frightening. Eric had frightened her too but only now did Sookie realise she wasn’t frightened of him but by him. What he could mean to her. What his rejection of her would be.
It startled her how easy being with him actually was. Maybe it was the stressful circumstances they were under that made everything of importance so much clearer. The smaller details left to rest immediately. They put each other’s safety in front of everything else, having come so close to losing it all. Then again everything was still so new between them. She never imagined a thousand year old vampire could be like a teenage boy with need for her. It was flattering and overwhelming at the same time.
As they were touring the different opulently decorated rooms he seemed to be hungrily eying her again out of the corner of his eyes. She smiled shyly and that only seemed to further entice him. Hovering beside her till there was barely an inch of space between them.
Sookie’s telepathy had been useful in locating all the humans on the premises that day. Many had departed in the early afternoon, which explained why there were so many frantic minds when she had woken. The minds of the Soldiers of the Sun were particularly unpleasant and she had whispered to Eric that under no circumstances should they be allowed anywhere near them.
There were only a handful of humans and weres left after that. Apparently the highly charged atmosphere of the storm made the two natured as restless as on a full moon. They were relegated to an old stable with a sturdy construction that had weathered many storms on the estate.
“I’ll get some salt,” a young woman named Tallulah said. She was the court witch under Sophie Anne’s reign. Like Sookie, she had been procured to attend to the regent except her recruitment had been less deceptive. As a witch there was little she did not know of the supernatural world so Tallulah was simply given the choice to serve the queen or suffer the consequences.
She and Lafayette set to cleanse the rooms by dropping piles of salt in all the corners of the different rooms. After burning some sage she chanted a spell after which the salt piles were collected and deposited out the front door. The winds quickly lifted the salt up into the atmosphere the flecks of white disintegrating into the dark.
No one could quite understand it, but with Tallulah’s intervention, the atmosphere in the rooms had vastly improved. The decoration was still awful but it didn’t feel as sinister as it once did.
Sookie had set to changing all the bed linens while Lafayette started to cook a hearty meal. Eric had made sure to procure some decent foods after Sookie’s complaints about the cafeteria meals. He mostly knew of Sookie’s preferences and mannerisms from observation in their short acquaintance and he was certain that she was not one to complain about something so small unless the situation was really dire. She had been touched by his attentions to something as simple as her meal. Eric fully understood her disgust of the human equivalent of True Blood. He had tried the vile blood once and that was enough to last him an eternity.
Sookie sat contentedly in Eric’s lap eating her dinner at the heavy baroque gilded table while praising Lafayette’s cooking. She had already sent Eric several daggers with her eyes as he made it all too well known to their dinner companions how enticing Sookie was as she moaned throughout her dinner. Only with a threat of finding her own seat had he relented. Lafayette received equally deadly glares when he suggested she and Eric could make a killing filming their exploits.
At the scary looks from the blonde telepath Lafayette informed them of all of what they had discovered about maenads from the numerous volumes on the supernatural instead.
“Do you think she caused this weather?” Sookie mused as she contentedly let out her full tummy and relaxed into Eric’s embrace. “If she incites sudden chaos, this isn’t far off.”
“It’s possible,” Tallulah stated with a deep-seated expertise. She had been the only of the human staff that had dared join their table at Sookie’s continued insistence. “There are witches that can manipulate the weather. I am sure one as powerful as a maenad could do the same.”
“Eric stop it,” Sookie admonished softly as he trailed kisses down her neck.
“You auras are quite beautiful together,” the witch smiled encouragingly to the young couple.
“Really?” Sookie enquired, gushing with the compliment, “What do we look like?”
“Well your aura is very vibrant despite the age to your soul,” Tallulah explained. “Warm colours while he is more calm and cool in colours. His soul was young when he started and that still lingers despite his age.” Sookie laced her fingers through his and smiled happily up at him before he gave her a soft kiss to her lips.
“But together you shine blindingly white,” she expressed admiringly. “I have only ever seen one other burn so brightly.”
“Who?” Sookie asked curiously.
“My own mother,” she said with a wistful smile. “But my mentor speculated it was the love I felt for her that made it appear so, rather than the true shape of her aura. It was in memory after all.”
“That’s nice,” Sookie smiled politely as she shifted slightly uncomfortably, a movement Eric stilled instantly as his arousal seemed unwanted around company. The L-word didn’t sit that well with Sookie at the moment. She and Bill had exchanged those words far too quickly to be true. She was determined not to repeat that same mistake despite the witch’s kind words.
“Can you see it too Lafayette?” Tallulah asked.
“Why would I’s be able to see that?” he returned in confusion.
“You’re a medium,” she stated as if describing the colour of his hair.
“I’m sorry I thought you knew,” the witch shrugged. “You sensed the energy of the space so well.”
“Can you see Cecily,” Jason asked as he took interest in the conversation for the first time that night as he was but momentarily distracted from his second favourite pastime which was eating.
“Who is Cecily?”
“That would be me,” she purred in delight as the apparition glimmered into existence.
“Fuck a bitch!” Lafayette yelled out in wide eyed shock.
“You don’t seem the type,” Eric and Cecily retorted dryly in unison.
Sookie couldn’t help but laugh at their identical reaction. With her solitary amusement unappreciated she offered to channel Cecily’s presence for Eric and Tallulah. “Your power is impressive,” the witch noted. “Are you using Lafayette’s skills to project?”
“No,” Sookie said not even thinking of the possibility. “Do you mind if I try Lafayette.”
“Go aheads beetch,” he said but quickly looked shaken at the growl that erupted from Eric’s throat at the unintended insult.
“Eric, hush,” she admonished and he reluctantly did with a minor dramatized pout. Sookie reached over for Lafayette’s hand, at which Cecily seemed to disappear again to Eric and Tallulah. She refocused and the red haired vampire reappeared to them again. After confirming it worked she tried a second time without having to physically touch Lafayette, employing a mental caress of his mind. With secondary success she was happy to be expanding her skills, most pleased with the diminished amount of energy it required. It was more like maintaining a connection rather than focusing all her might on the projection.
“Too bad she’s not a man,” Lafayette said jokingly after the introductions. “She could have pretended to be Dionysus.”
“How would the shifter like to be Dionysus to my Nyx?” Cecily asked thoughtfully hatching a plan.
“Sam came all the way down to help,” Sookie said proudly of her friend and boss. “I’m sure he’d help. Won’t the maenad recognise you as a ghost?”
“She worships a God that never comes,” Cecily said unimpressed. “She believes what she wants to believe. Besides I’m not a ghost.”
“What are you?” Eric demanded.
“Eric!” Sookie reprimanded, slapping the arm that held firm around her waist. “It’s really rude to ask that.”
“It’s ok dear brother,” Cecily smiled. “It took me very long to figure it out. So I will share.” Eric gave Sookie an ‘I told you so’ look which only made her scowl at him in return. A sneaky peck on her lips made it soon disappear.
“You two are so cute together,” Tallulah said with a smile that quickly dissipated with a glare from Eric. She made a mental note never to put cute and vampire together in a sentence ever again. It only continued the silent back and forth between him and Sookie until Cecily cleared her throat with a severe lack of subtlety.
“I am no ghost,” she explained as an expert in the field of her chosen subject. “Ghosts have unfinished business. The fae in me allows me entry into the Summerlands but the vampire in me bars access. I am a spirit that walks alone on this plane now my humanity lost.”
“I’m so sorry,” Sookie said horrified to hear that Cecily was damned to this eternal half-life.
“Don’t be,” Cecily shrugged. “I quite enjoy my existence. Godric was dreadfully boring for centuries though. I’m glad for your presence.”
“There is life in you,” Tallulah observed as she regarded her aura carefully.
“Jason,” she said with an acknowledging nod of the man’s blood that was altering her physical composition for the first time since her second death.
“Yes baby?” he replied automatically at the mention of his name while pulling her closer into his side.
Cecily giggled a little at his lack of perception. “Nothing.”
A/N: A little announcement:
As you may have noticed there have been some changes to the site. Some users didn’t see the drop down menu under the previous theme which made navigation of the site difficult. I hope you all like the new look (you better I had to fork over some cold hard cash to get it looking the way it does…) and apologies if you have, or had, issues with accessing the site. The only issue I have with the new theme is that the breaklines in the text are difficult to see so I’m still looking into a solution for that. And…
I’ll be off on holiday for the next couple of weeks to a place where Wi-Fi will be shoddy at best. I’ll see what I can do but it may happen that a week passes without an update or that it happens on a different day. It’s Already Gone is the only story that will continue as scheduled seeing that it coincides with the show. For those impatient ones among you I suggest to read/catch up with another one of my stories while I’m gone or make sacrifices to the Wi-Fi gods and pray for good reception. I’ll be back at work September 1st so unless I catch Hep-V regular scheduling will commence from that point onwards.
18 thoughts on “Chapter 10 – Exposure”
Bonfire of the Vanities: Chapter 10 is ready! | Fang meets Fairy and other encounters August 1, 201421:02 Reply
[…] Chapter 10 – Exposure […]
lcrafts August 1, 201422:27 Reply
You are right…lines are practically invisible, but that is not so bad and I am sure you will figure out a workaround. The site looks great…did you draw the trees?Thanks for all the updates before you left. Have a great and renewing time away.
We’ll be waiting when you get back 🙋
hisviks August 1, 201422:45 Reply
Yes it’s not so difficult to place a different break point in but I’m trying to source a solution that doesn’t need me to go through 53 existing pages and replace every single line break… I’ll figure something out eventually but probably post holidays. I didn’t draw the trees, I was planning on doing so but I built the last site in 48 hrs when I realised I actually had a shot at winning Sephrenia’s challenge and I would have no place to house the lovely banner. I’ll be around just not as regularly as usual while I get some much needed rest 🙂
theladykt August 1, 201422:48 Reply
I’m a meat and potatoes girl myself. Tofu, blech.
awww does the whiny authority feel threatened. Wah.
ok Godric is getting creepy. So since he wants to be celebate, starving, etc than everyone else should be? Insaneness. Esp when he is a freaking voyuer.
C’mon Russell. Go kill a skank and knock some sense into Godric already
PS I Have some free wordpress ebooks if you want them. My yahoo email is the same as my avatar name
That’s really sweet if you but I have a giant stack of books that have been sitting on my bedside table looking at me accusingly for weeks now in neglect so I’ll reach out if I actually manage to finish them all 😉
I meant free books on how to do/fix up wordpress. 🙂
See in the morning I reread your comment and it makes perfect sense. Have to stop responding to comments with sleepy eyes… Thanks for the offer but I’ll happily leave delving into CSS coding till after my holidays… ah procrastination how I’ve missed you ;).
mom2goalies August 1, 201422:48 Reply
Ah, vacation…I can’t remember what one of those feels like! Enjoy it and I’ll try to make large sacrifices to the WiFi gods in your name.
I’m a workaholic so *gasp* *horror* I actually am not so fond of vacations but my business closes down for the entire month so I am forced to relax and shipping myself off abroad is the best way to do that. But I do enjoy it once I’m there, promise. I’m also pretty sure my absence will not be so absent… ah we’ll see 😉
Jackie69 August 2, 201404:45 Reply
loved this chapter especially Cecily I’m really loving this new character and the banter between Russell and Pam made my day!! I envy Sookie right now getting all that love from Eric… enjoy girl enjoy…The new site looks terrific and I wish you a wonderful vacation .Take care
Well I’m happy to have made your day, in my opinion Russell and Pam are like two peas in a pod and I don’t know why they’ve never put them together.
Well this Eric and Sookie have no issues pulling them apart, so he’s still a bit of an asshole but a very loving one… it’s nice to write that too considering all my other E/S’ are running circles round each other in denial of their feelings.
I shall try to ‘enjoy’ my vacation, everyone keeps telling me to relax… do I really seem that on edge to you all? It might have something to do with the giant pile of laundry that needs to get done before we leave 😉
New Posts 8/1/14 | Fanfiction Minions August 2, 201406:35 Reply
georgiasuzy August 17, 201406:26 Reply
I really like Cecily and Tallulah. And the repartee between Russell and Pam is great! But I feel sorry for poor lost Godric.
hisviks August 17, 201421:52 Reply
Yes Godric is a lost soul which has him making poor decisions but I’m chapters ahead and he’s still walking and talking and getting to a better place…
love this and i figured you would have banners for the rest of the group, Alcide and Logan(i think that was the other Were’s name who is with Pam) and then Tallueh, Lala and Sam… but i am intrigued where you were going with this and Cecily, i figured was unable to enter the Summerlands and was kind of stuck, glad she has friends now to speak to. maybe we will hear what happened to her…. KY
hisviks October 8, 201422:49 Reply
I’m a bit behind on the banner business and I try to limit them for characters with few lines but Logan still needs one as I do make them for all the OC’s I’ll get on it soonish, emphasis on the -ish…
redjane12 January 15, 201516:17 Reply
I almost feel a bit sorry for Godric whose abstinence vows are so sorely challenged by both his children and their respective Stackhouses…
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How Microwave Cooking Works
by Marshall Brain
Photo courtesy Panasonic and Matsushita Electric Corporation of America
You often hear that microwave ovens cook food "from the inside out." What does that mean? Here's an explanation to help make sense of microwave cooking.
Let's say you want to bake a cake in a conventional oven. Normally you would bake a cake at 350 degrees F (177 degrees C) or so, but this time you accidentally set the oven at 600 degrees F (316 degrees C) instead of 350. What is going to happen? The outside of the cake will burn before the inside even gets warm.
In a conventional oven, the heat has to migrate (by conduction) from the outside of the food toward the middle (see How a Thermos Works for a good explanation of conduction and other heat transfer processes). Hot, dry air on the outside of the food evaporates moisture, so the outside can be crispy and brown (for example, bread forms a crust) while the inside is moist.
In microwave cooking, the radio waves penetrate the food and excite water and fat molecules pretty much evenly throughout the food. No heat has to migrate toward the interior by conduction. There's heat everywhere all at once because the molecules are all excited together. There are limits, of course. Microwaves penetrate unevenly in thick pieces of food (they don't make it all the way to the middle), and there are also "hot spots" caused by wave interference, but you get the idea. The whole heating process is different because you are "exciting atoms" rather than "conducting heat."
In a microwave oven, the air in the oven is at room temperature, so there's no way to form a crust. That is why microwavable pastries sometimes come with a little sleeve made out of foil and cardboard. You put the food in the sleeve and then microwave it. The sleeve reacts to microwave energy by becoming very hot. This exterior heat lets the crust become crispy as it would in a conventional oven.
For more information on microwave cooking and related topics, check out the links below.
How Espresso Machines Work
How Grills Work
How Radio Works
Appliance Quiz
J. Carlton Gallawa: How Does A Microwave Oven Work?
Virginia.edu: Microwave Ovens
Unwise Microwave Oven Experiments
Food Safety, Preparation and Storage Tips: Microwave Cooking
Microwave Engineering Online
10 Meals to Make From Leftovers
How and Why to Snack
How Fats Work
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1. The Tale Of The Lost Land...
2. King Arthur's Court
3. Knights Of The Table Round
4. Sir Dinadan The Humorist
5. An Inspiration
6. The Eclipse
7. Merlin's Tower
8. The Boss
9. The Tournament
10. Beginnings Of Civilization
11. The Yankee In Search Of A...
12. Slow Torture
13. Freemen
14. "Defend Thee, Lord"
15. Sandy's Tale
16. Morgan Le Fay
17. A Royal Banquet
18. In The Queen's Dungeons
19. Knight-Errantry As A Trade
20. The Ogre's Castle
21. The Pilgrims
22. The Holy Fountain
23. Restoration Of The Fountain
24. A Rival Magician
25. A Competitive Examination
26. The First Newspaper
27. The Yankee And The King T...
28. Drilling The King
29. The Smallpox Hut
30. The Tragedy Of The Manor-...
31. Marco
32. Dowley's Humiliation
33. Sixth Century Political E...
34. The Yankee And The King S...
35. A Pitiful Incident
36. An Encounter In The Dark
37. An Awful Predicament
38. Sir Launcelot And Knights...
39. The Yankee's Fight With T...
40. Three Years Later
41. The Interdict
42. War!
43. The Battle Of The Sand Belt
44. A Postscript By Clarence
King Arthur's Court
The moment I got a chance I slipped aside privately and touched an ancient common looking man on the shoulder and said, in an insinuating, confidential way: "Friend, do me a kindness. Do you belong to the asylum, or are you just on a visit or something like that?" He looked me over stupidly, and said: "Marry, fair sir, me seemeth--" "That will do," I said; "I reckon you are a patient." I moved away, cogitating, and at the same time keeping an eye out for any chance passenger in his right mind that might come along and give me some light. I judged I had found one, presently; so I drew him aside and said in his ear: "If I could see the head keeper a minute--only just a minute--" "Prithee do not let me." "Let you what?" "Hinder me, then, if the word please thee better. Then he went on to say he was an undercook and could not stop to gossip, though he would like it another time; for it would comfort his very liver to know where I got my clothes. As he started away he pointed and said yonder was one who was idle enough for my purpose, and was seeking me besides, no doubt. This was an airy slim boy in shrimp-colored tights that made him look like a forked carrot, the rest of his gear was blue silk and dainty laces and ruffles; and he had long yellow curls, and wore a plumed pink satin cap tilted complacently over his ear. By his look, he was good-natured; by his gait, he was satisfied with himself. He was pretty enough to frame. He arrived, looked me over with a smiling and impudent curiosity; said he had come for me, and informed me that he was a page. "Go 'long," I said; "you ain't more than a paragraph." It was pretty severe, but I was nettled. However, it never phazed him; he didn't appear to know he was hurt. He began to talk and laugh, in happy, thoughtless, boyish fashion, as we walked along, and made himself old friends with me at once; asked me all sorts of questions about myself and about my clothes, but never waited for an answer--always chattered straight ahead, as if he didn't know he had asked a question and wasn't expecting any reply, until at last he happened to mention that he was born in the beginning of the year 513. It made the cold chills creep over me! I stopped and said, a little faintly: "Maybe I didn't hear you just right. Say it again--and say it slow. What year was it?" "513." "513! You don't look it! Come, my boy, I am a stranger and friendless; be honest and honorable with me. Are you in your right mind?" He said he was. "Are these other people in their right minds?" He said they were. "And this isn't an asylum? I mean, it isn't a place where they cure crazy people?" He said it wasn't. "Well, then," I said, "either I am a lunatic, or something just as awful has happened. Now tell me, honest and true, where am I?" "IN KING ARTHUR'S COURT." I waited a minute, to let that idea shudder its way home, and then said: "And according to your notions, what year is it now?" "528--nineteenth of June." I felt a mournful sinking at the heart, and muttered: "I shall never see my friends again-- never, never again. They will not be born for more than thirteen hundred years yet." I seemed to believe the boy, I didn't know why. Something in me seemed to believe him-- my consciousness, as you may say; but my reason didn't. My reason straightway began to clamor; that was natural. I didn't know how to go about satisfying it, because I knew that the testimony of men wouldn't serve--my reason would say they were lunatics, and throw out their evidence. But all of a sudden I stumbled on the very thing, just by luck. I knew that the only total eclipse of the sun in the first half of the sixth century occurred on the 21st of June, A.D. 528, O.S., and began at 3 minutes after 12 noon. I also knew that no total eclipse of the sun was due in what to me was the present year--i.e., 1879. So, if I could keep my anxiety and curiosity from eating the heart out of me for forty-eight hours, I should then find out for certain whether this boy was telling me the truth or not. Wherefore, being a practical Connecticut man, I now shoved this whole problem clear out of my mind till its appointed day and hour should come, in order that I might turn all my attention to the circumstances of the present moment, and be alert and ready to make the most out of them that could be made. One thing at a time, is my motto--and just play that thing for all it is worth, even if it's only two pair and a jack. I made up my mind to two things: if it was still the nineteenth century and I was among lunatics and couldn't get away, I would presently boss that asylum or know the reason why; and if, on the other hand, it was really the sixth century, all right, I didn't want any softer thing: I would boss the whole country inside of three months; for I judged I would have the start of the besteducated man in the kingdom by a matter of thirteen hundred years and upward. I'm not a man to waste time after my mind's made up and there's work on hand; so I said to the page: "Now, Clarence, my boy--if that might happen to be your name-- I'll get you to post me up a little if you don't mind. What is the name of that apparition that brought me here?" "My master and thine? That is the good knight and great lord Sir Kay the Seneschal, foster brother to our liege the king." "Very good; go on, tell me everything." He made a long story of it; but the part that had immediate interest for me was this: He said I was Sir Kay's prisoner, and that in the due course of custom I would be flung into a dungeon and left there on scant commons until my friends ransomed me--unless I chanced to rot, first. I saw that the last chance had the best show, but I didn't waste any bother about that; time was too precious. The page said, further, that dinner was about ended in the great hall by this time, and that as soon as the sociability and the heavy drinking should begin, Sir Kay would have me in and exhibit me before King Arthur and his illustrious knights seated at the Table Round, and would brag about his exploit in capturing me, and would probably exaggerate the facts a little, but it wouldn't be good form for me to correct him, and not over safe, either; and when I was done being exhibited, then ho for the dungeon; but he, Clarence, would find a way to come and see me every now and then, and cheer me up, and help me get word to my friends. Get word to my friends! I thanked him; I couldn't do less; and about this time a lackey came to say I was wanted; so Clarence led me in and took me off to one side and sat down by me. Well, it was a curious kind of spectacle, and interesting. It was an immense place, and rather naked--yes, and full of loud contrasts. It was very, very lofty; so lofty that the banners depending from the arched beams and girders away up there floated in a sort of twilight; there was a stone-railed gallery at each end, high up, with musicians in the one, and women, clothed in stunning colors, in the other. The floor was of big stone flags laid in black and white squares, rather battered by age and use, and needing repair. As to ornament, there wasn't any, strictly speaking; though on the walls hung some huge tapestries which were probably taxed as works of art; battle-pieces, they were, with horses shaped like those which children cut out of paper or create in gingerbread; with men on them in scale armor whose scales are represented by round holes--so that the man's coat looks as if it had been done with a biscuit-punch. There was a fireplace big enough to camp in; and its projecting sides and hood, of carved and pillared stonework, had the look of a cathedral door. Along the walls stood men-at-arms, in breastplate and morion, with halberds for their only weapon-- rigid as statues; and that is what they looked like. In the middle of this groined and vaulted public square was an oaken table which they called the Table Round. It was as large as a circus ring; and around it sat a great company of men dressed in such various and splendid colors that it hurt one's eyes to look at them. They wore their plumed hats, right along, except that whenever one addressed himself directly to the king, he lifted his hat a trifle just as he was beginning his remark. Mainly they were drinking--from entire ox horns; but a few were still munching bread or gnawing beef bones. There was about an average of two dogs to one man; and these sat in expectant attitudes till a spent bone was flung to them, and then they went for it by brigades and divisions, with a rush, and there ensued a fight which filled the prospect with a tumultuous chaos of plunging heads and bodies and flashing tails, and the storm of howlings and barkings deafened all speech for the time; but that was no matter, for the dog-fight was always a bigger interest anyway; the men rose, sometimes, to observe it the better and bet on it, and the ladies and the musicians stretched themselves out over their balusters with the same object; and all broke into delighted ejaculations from time to time. In the end, the winning dog stretched himself out comfortably with his bone between his paws, and proceeded to growl over it, and gnaw it, and grease the floor with it, just as fifty others were already doing; and the rest of the court resumed their previous industries and entertainments. As a rule, the speech and behavior of these people were gracious and courtly; and I noticed that they were good and serious listeners when anybody was telling anything--I mean in a dog-fightless interval. And plainly, too, they were a childlike and innocent lot; telling lies of the stateliest pattern with a most gentle and winning naivety, and ready and willing to listen to anybody else's lie, and believe it, too. It was hard to associate them with anything cruel or dreadful; and yet they dealt in tales of blood and suffering with a guileless relish that made me almost forget to shudder. I was not the only prisoner present. There were twenty or more. Poor devils, many of them were maimed, hacked, carved, in a frightful way; and their hair, their faces, their clothing, were caked with black and stiffened drenchings of blood. They were suffering sharp physical pain, of course; and weariness, and hunger and thirst, no doubt; and at least none had given them the comfort of a wash, or even the poor charity of a lotion for their wounds; yet you never heard them utter a moan or a groan, or saw them show any sign of restlessness, or any disposition to complain. The thought was forced upon me: "The rascals--they have served other people so in their day; it being their own turn, now, they were not expecting any better treatment than this; so their philosophical bearing is not an outcome of mental training, intellectual fortitude, reasoning; it is mere animal training; they are white Indians."
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BRONSTEIN SEMENDJAJEW TASCHENBUCH DER MATHEMATIK PDF
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Taschenbuch der Mathematik. Mit CD- ROM. [Ilja N. Bronstein, Konstantin A. Semendjajew, Gerhard Musiol, Heiner Mühling] on *FREE* shipping. : Taschenbuch der Mathematik. () by Ilja N. Bronstein; Konstantin A. Semendjajew; Gerhard Musiol; Heiner Mühlig and a great. : Taschenbuch der Mathematik () by Ilja N Bronstein; Konstantin A Semendjajew and a great selection of similar New, Used and.
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The scope is the concise discussion of all taschsnbuch fields of applied mathematics by definitions, tables and examples with a semendjajeew on practicability and with limited formal rigour. The book is in such high demand that the publisher decided to reprint the 3rd edition published in Taschenbuch der Mathematik [ Pocketbook of mathematics ] in German 1st completely revised ed.
The other line is meanwhile named Users’ Guide to Mathematics to help avoid confusion.
Bronshtein and Semendyayev – Wikipedia
Due to Bronshtein and Semendyayev containing a comprehensive table of analytically solvable integrals, integrals are sometimes referred to as being ” Bronshtein-integrable ” in German universities if they can be looked up in the book in playful analogy to terms like Riemann-integrability and Lebesgue-integrability. A decade later the German ‘ Wende ‘ and the later reunification led to considerable changes in the publishing environment in Germany between and Auflage Moskau zu Grunde.
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The work was first published in in Russia [3] [2] and soon became a “standard” and frequently used guide for scientists, engineers, and technical university students. The expanded German translation Taschenbuch der Mathematik literally: He carried out pioneering work in the area of numerical weather forecasting in Russia. Teubner in Stuttgart and Leipzig In it became apparent that the title needed considerable updates to meet new requirements.
The work also contains a comprehensive list of analytically solvable integralsthat is, those integrals which can be described in closed form with antiderivatives.
Foreword by Swierk, Alfred G. This page was last edited on 13 Novemberat Webarchive template wayback links Interlanguage link template link number CS1 German-language sources de Articles containing French-language text Articles containing German-language text Articles containing Russian-language text.
Legal hurdles following the fall of the Iron Curtain caused the development to split into several independent branches semeendjajew by different publishers and editors to the effect that there are now two considerably different taschenvuch associated with the original title — and both of them are available in several languages.
Over the decades, high popularity and a string of translations, extensions, re-translations and major revisions by various editors led to a complex international publishing history centered around the significantly expanded German version. Archived from the original on With some slight variations, the English version of the book was originally named A Guide-Book to Mathematicsbut changed its name to Handbook of Mathematics.
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According to Christoph Links this work contains a number of factual errors. January [December ].
Bronshtein and Semendyayev often just Bronshtein or Bronstein is the informal name of a comprehensive handbook of fundamental working knowledge of mathematics and table of formulas originally compiled by the Russian mathematician Ilya Nikolaevich Bronshtein and engineer Konstantin Adolfovic Semendyayev.
Mathematical Association of America.
Taschenbuch der Mathematik – Wikipedia
Privatisation and its consequences ] in German 2nd updated ed. Teubner in Stuttgart und Leipzig Licensing issues caused the development to split into two independent branches by the two publishing houses:. Archived PDF from the original on From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. This name is still maintained up to semendjjajew present by one of the branches.
Views Read Edit View history. University of LeipzigMathematisches Institut. Preface of the Reprint of the 3rd edition.
Taschenbuch der Mathematik
German; Translations available in: Retrieved from ” https: The reworked two-volume German edition was well received and again became a “standard” in higher mathematics education in Germany. By using this site, you agree to the Terms tasxhenbuch Use and Privacy Policy. English translation of a East German revision of a Russian handbook.
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The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy & Magic
30 review Add Your Review
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Tom Canty, the urchin, learns how luxury and power can become the death of a man, while his dopplegnger roams his kingdom, learning first hand of the cruelty of the Tudor monarchy. . . . "Twain was . . . enough of a genius to build his morality into his books, with humor and wit and -- in the case of The Prince and the Pauper -- wonderful plotting." -- E.L. Doctorow Tom Canty, the urchin, learns how luxury and power can become the death of a man, while his doppleg�nger roams his kingdom, learning first hand of the cruelty of the Tudor monarchy. . . . "Twain was . . . enough of a genius to build his morality into his books, with humor and wit and -- in the case of The Prince and the Pauper -- wonderful plotting." -- E.L. Doctorow
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30 review for The Prince and the Pauper by Mark Twain, Fiction, Classics, Fantasy & Magic
Henry Avila – Jun 26, 2013
Imagine you're a nine-year-old boy grungy rags for clothes, belly empty a sadistic father beats you if you don't beg for money (and get it) . Afraid of life an endless, joyless struggle to survive. The only relief from the grim reality is sleep, for a few hours on the dirty floor in something not quite a shelter. Maybe dream of a better existence, then a few hours after a fantasy, everything you desire is no problem to obtain. And the child is now the King of England ! That's the plot of Mark Imagine you're a nine-year-old boy grungy rags for clothes, belly empty a sadistic father beats you if you don't beg for money (and get it) . Afraid of life an endless, joyless struggle to survive. The only relief from the grim reality is sleep, for a few hours on the dirty floor in something not quite a shelter. Maybe dream of a better existence, then a few hours after a fantasy, everything you desire is no problem to obtain. And the child is now the King of England ! That's the plot of Mark Twain's interesting novel. Tom Canty the unhappy boy is wandering around London, during the last days of the fierce Henry the Eighth. Tom does not desire to go home, no money to give his father and a sure vicious beating as a consequence. He always wanted to see a royal but could never, in the slums of London wonder why ? Arriving at Westminister Palace after a long walk Tom spots the Prince, playing outside. Trying to get a closer view but a mob surrounds the gates. A guard roughs up the boy when he at last approaches the palace. The kindhearted Edward sees the incident and tells his guards, to let the pauper in. Poor Tom is going to talk to the future king ... The prince is lonely too much study not enough fun, Edward takes him Tom to his room. They exchange clothes, look in the mirror and are stunned. The two could be twins, so close is the resemblance nobody would be able to pick who is the great Prince, and who is the little Pauper . All the unlimited luxuries everywhere in the residence, jewels, fabulous clothes, furniture, delicious food, toys and books ... Yes life can be beautiful for some thinks the visitor. Later the Prince seeks to punish the guard, that had mistreated his new friend. Goes out the gates and ... Big mistake, he still has foul threads on. The palace guards believe he's the poor boy and drive him away, protesting Edward says he's the prince and receives big laughs from the rabble, obviously the kid is mad. The two worlds of the city both real same people, but how different separated by a chasm which can not be traversed by either. But the two children see for the first time in their young lives this. It changes them, they will never be quite the same again. With the help of Miles Hendon the prince's new friend, son of a rich man whose been fighting wars on the continent for ten years, the royal lives. A surprise awaits Miles at home however ... The mad boy survives many brutal adventures on the road staying away from his "father " John. Equally difficult the troubles of the other insane child. The phoney prince Tom , has delusions that he's not the son of the king. And Henry is dying, what a mess ... Still Tom starts to like being King, servants obey, all his wishes come to pass, everyone bows before him, forgetting about his mother and sisters, not caring that the real Edward the Sixth, is lost and in danger. It's good to be King !
Ahmad Sharabiani – Jun 02, 2008
The prince and the pauper, (1881), Mark Twain The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, it tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII. The prince and the pauper, (1881), Mark Twain The Prince and the Pauper is a novel by American author Mark Twain. It was first published in 1881 in Canada, before its 1882 publication in the United States. The novel represents Twain's first attempt at historical fiction. Set in 1547, it tells the story of two young boys who are identical in appearance: Tom Canty, a pauper who lives with his abusive father in Offal Court off Pudding Lane in London, and Prince Edward, son of King Henry VIII. عنوان1-1: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ نشر: تهران، امیرکبیر، کتابهای جیبی، موسسه انتشارات فرانکلین، چاپ اول: 1337، مشخصات ظاهری: 277 ص؛ مصور بخشی رنگی عنوان2-1: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ نشر: تهران، امیرکبیر، کتابهای جیبی، موسسه انتشارات فرانکلین، چاپ سوم: 1341، مشخصات ظاهری: 304ص؛ فروست: امیرکبیر، کتابهای جیبی؛ 32 عنوان3-1: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ نشر: تهران، امیرکبیر، 1362، مشخصات ظاهری: 266 ص؛ شابک: 9789640003930؛ چاپ سیزدهم: 1386، موضوع: داستانهای آمریکایی -- سده 19 م عنوان4-1: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محمد قاضی؛ نشر: تهران، جامی، چاپ چهاردهم: 1388، مشخصات ظاهری: 266ص، مصور، شابک: 9789642575626، فروست: ادبیات جهان؛ 16 عنوان2: «شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: ایاز حدادی، نشر: تهران، آرمان، 1344، در 128 ص، شابک: 9649067353؛ فروست: کتابهای دو زبانی آرمان؛ 2، فارسی- انگلیسی، چاپ دوم: 1364، چاپ سوم: تابستان 1370، چاپ چهارم: 1381، چاپ پنجم: 1382؛ واژه نامه، موضوع: داستانهای آمریکایی -- سده 19 م. يادداشت: این کتاب در سالهای مختلف توسط مترجمان و ناشران متفاوت منتشر شده است عنوان3: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: ولیالله ابراهیمی (سروش)؛ نشر: تهران، سعیدی، 1363، در 208 ص؛ عنوان4: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ تلخیص: مایکل وست؛ مترجم: رشید بهنام، نشر: تهران، توسن، 1368؛ عنوان5: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: مهدی شاکر؛ نشر: تهران، ارغوان، 1371، در 176 ص، شابک: 9646234224؛ چاپ دوم: 1371، چاپ سوم: 1376، چاپ چهارم: 1376؛ عنوان1-6: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: داریوش شاهین، نشر: تهران، مهتاب: عرفان، 1371، در 272 ص؛ عنوان2-6: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: داریوش شاهین، نشر: تهران، مهتاب، 1387، در 318 ص، شابک: شابک 9789647886697؛ عنوان3-6: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: داریوش شاهین، و سوسن اردکانی، نقاشیها: رابرت هاجسن؛ نشر: تهران، نگارستان کتاب، 1386، در 364 ص، مصور، شابک: 9789648155464؛ عنوان7: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ تلخیص: مایکل وست؛ مترجم: محمد جوادیپور؛ نشر: تهران، سپیده، 1373، مشخصات ظاهری: 122 ص، مصور؛ شابک: 9645569745؛ چاپ دوم: 1374؛ فروست: انتشارات سپیده، داستانی از...؛ عنوان1-8: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: شکوفه اخوان، نشر: تهران، نهال نویدان، 1375، در 160 ص، شابک: 9649004645؛ چاپ دوم: 1380؛ عنوان2-8: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: شکوفه اخوان، نشر: تهران، نهال نویدان، چاپ اول: 1391، در 183 ص؛ شابک: 9789645680471؛ چاپ دوم: 1392؛ عنوان9: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: شهلا نقاش؛ نشر: تهران، کوشش، 1376، در 112 ص، شابک: 9646326080؛ عنوان10: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: علی فاطمیان؛ نشر: تهران، سازمان چاپ و انتشارات، نشر چشمانداز، 1377، در 241 ص، مصور، شابک: 9644220766؛ چاپ دوم: 1379؛ عنوان1-11: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محسن سلیمانی؛ نشر: تهران، افق، چاپ دوم: 1377، در 157 ص ص.، شابک: 9646003478؛ فروست: ادبیات کلاسیک برای نوجوانان؛ 7؛ عنوان2-11: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محسن سلیمانی؛ نشر: تهران، افق، چاپ سوم: 1380، در 129 ص، شابک: 9646742645؛ فروست: رمانهای جاویدان جهان؛ 7، چاپ چهارم: 1381، چاپ پنجم: 1383، چاپ ششم: 1385، چاپ هفتم: سال 1386، شابک: 9789646742642؛ چاپ هشتم: 1387، چاپ نهم: 1388 عنوان3-11: شاهزاده و گدا: متن کوتاه شده؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محسن سلیمانی؛ نشر: تهران، افق، 1388، مشخصات ظاهری: 256 ص؛ شابک: 9789643694944؛ فروست: رمانهای جاویدان جهان، چاپ دوم: 1389، چاپ پنجم: 1391؛ عنوان12: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: مهدی علوی، نشر: تهران، دبیر، 1389، در 112 ص، شابک: 9786005955187؛ عنوان13: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: بهناز خارابی، نشر: تهران، زرین، 1390، مشخصات ظاهری: 272 ص؛ شابک: 9789644074103؛ عنوان14: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: کیومرث پارسای؛ نشر: تهران، ناژ، 1390، در 292 ص؛ شابک: 9786009109753؛ عنوان15: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: راضیه السادات فروزان؛ نشر: تهران، اردیبهشت، حباب، 1390، در 392 ص، مصور، شابک: 9789641710448؛ عنوان16: شاهزاده و گدا؛ اثر: مارک تواین؛ مترجم: محمد همتخواه، نشر: تهران، عصر اندیشه، 1391، مشخصات ظاهری: 59 ص، مصور رنگی، شابک: 9786005550139؛ فروست: مجموعه داستانهای مصور شاهزاده و گدا با شانزده ترجمه متفاوت. ا. شربیانی این داستان دربارهٔ پادشاه ششم انگلستان که در ربع دوم سده شانزدهم میلادی میزیست نوشته شده است. در یکی از روزهای پاییزی، در خانواده ای فقیر، پسری به دنیا آمد که خانواده اش نمیخواستند به دنیا بیاید. ولی در همان روز در خانوادهٔ پادشاه انگلستان - هنری هشتم – پسری به دنیا آمد که نه تنها خانواده اش بلکه همهٔ مردم انگلستان منتظر به دنیا آمدنش بودند. آن روز همه دربارهٔ به دنیا آمدن ادوارد تئودور، شاهزادهٔ ویلز حرف میزدند و شاهزاده در پارچه های ابریشم و اطلسی، در خواب ناز بود، اما کسی از به دنیا آمدن کودک دیگر یعنی تام کانتی که لای پارچه های کهنه و پاره پوره خوابیده بود حرف نمیزد. ا. شربیانی
Luís C. – Feb 10, 2019
The prince and the pauper is a lucidly written masterpiece by Mark Twain. Easily comprehensible, the book is a display of sheer genius. All the characters have been thoroughly explained and as you go along you fall in love with most of them especially the prince and the Knight Miles Hendon. The former is a personification of pampered innocence while the latter is an epitome of self-less generosity. The story doesn't take long to shift gears and as soon as the two protagonists shift places (by The prince and the pauper is a lucidly written masterpiece by Mark Twain. Easily comprehensible, the book is a display of sheer genius. All the characters have been thoroughly explained and as you go along you fall in love with most of them especially the prince and the Knight Miles Hendon. The former is a personification of pampered innocence while the latter is an epitome of self-less generosity. The story doesn't take long to shift gears and as soon as the two protagonists shift places (by mistake, of course), things start to get interesting. The author succeeds in raising antipathy towards some characters especially the head of the Canty family (Pauper's family). The characters are so plainly black and white that even children can comprehend the book with minimal effort. The book also tastes success in creating the milieu of the era. The concept of whipping boy is queer yet believable. For trivia, whipping boy is a person in the kingdom who takes the punishment on behalf of the prince if the latter is not doing well in studies. Teachers, afraid of hitting the would-be king, hit the whipping boy and his earnings are commensurate to the whipping he gets. The end again is very happy, despite the death of the King. Despite the trials and tribulations the young prince goes through, one constantly gets the feeling that it is only for the time being and every thing will change for good. This makes it even more loveable. The apprehensions of the pauper in the kingdom have also been captured well. All in all, a good read for those looking for a change from the run-of-the-mill preaching fictions. The story has been plainly stated and it is up to the reader to extract the morals. No explicit attempt has been made to do the same.
David Schaafsma – Sep 02, 2012
I read this several times as a kid, and loved it. Twain humor and class commentary about the hypocrisy of the upper classes. And a fantasy, turned weekly into a Disney movie that sapped all the Twain and satire out of it. Then many many spinoff books and movies. But the idea of a beggar switching places with a prince, that still has a draw in it. The Homes of Celebrity tv shows. The Lives of the Rich and Famous. This isn't Twain's best work, but it is Twain, so is always worth reading.
Piyangie – Nov 10, 2018
The Prince and the Pauper is a good young adult fiction written by Mark Twain. It is also my introduction to him. The story is set up in the time of King Henry VIII reign and this historical setting was what really induced me to read the book. I'm not well versed with British history, but I have read a fair amount of detail of the reign of Henry Tudor. I was therefore a little familiar with the gruesome laws and the unfair persecutions that were carried out in England at that time period. The The Prince and the Pauper is a good young adult fiction written by Mark Twain. It is also my introduction to him. The story is set up in the time of King Henry VIII reign and this historical setting was what really induced me to read the book. I'm not well versed with British history, but I have read a fair amount of detail of the reign of Henry Tudor. I was therefore a little familiar with the gruesome laws and the unfair persecutions that were carried out in England at that time period. The story set against this time focuses on Prince Edward, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VI) and a pauper called Tom Canty, who is look alike of the Prince and the same age. When they accidentally meets, the Prince decides to switch their identities, and the rest of the story proceeds with the adventures each faces in their mistaken identities. Through his adventure, the Prince sees the true picture of the lives of his subjects, and learn about the unjust laws that are in force. Also he comes to learn true loyalty through Miles Hendon, the brave hero who protects the Prince throughout his misfortunes. The story is embellished with true account of incidents that have taken place in England thus exposing a dark and violent regime. It really was hard to read about the cruel and outrageous punishments that were carried out which are highly disproportionate to the offence committed. Moreover it was disturbing to read about the religious persecutions and also the false allegation and monstrous punishment of women of witchcraft. It is appalling when you consider these things happened in fifteen hundreds and how uncivilized the law had been nearly five hundred years ago. I'm a little surprised that Mark Twain chose such an unappealing time period to set a story for young adults. The story is a good one; and the setting it up against a true historical backdrop with true historical characters gave the story a realistic face. However, Mark Twain writing was a bit wordy. This made the read tedious at times. It also disturbed the pace of the story. All this made it quite impossible for me to give my full enthusiastic attention to the book. I did enjoy the read but I wasn't drawn in.
Mεδ Rεδħα – Nov 18, 2018
Edward, Prince of Wales, dreams of sharing the lives of street kids, of escaping the boredom that weighs on him, his monotonous life. He then decides to put on the rags of a street kid, exchanging his role with Tom for a few moments of freedom. Tom will realize his dream too; to become a prince Edward does not know anything about the life of his people. What could be better for a future king than to be immersed in the rough existence of his subjects, vagabonds, thieves and beggars, subject to Edward, Prince of Wales, dreams of sharing the lives of street kids, of escaping the boredom that weighs on him, his monotonous life. He then decides to put on the rags of a street kid, exchanging his role with Tom for a few moments of freedom. Tom will realize his dream too; to become a prince Edward does not know anything about the life of his people. What could be better for a future king than to be immersed in the rough existence of his subjects, vagabonds, thieves and beggars, subject to terrible laws, oppressed and kept in hunger, cold, filth and ignorance. When one becomes a "king of the kingdom of shadows", baptized in turn, by a band of vagabonds, "Fou-Fou 1st", then "king of the fighting cocks", you come down quickly from his pedestal. Only the habit counts in this world, and here it is clothed only rags! Beautiful lesson of life for this young prince just and courageous. On his side Tom learns the life of prince and begins to like his power. He uses it generously towards the poor and the oppressed. He would have all the qualities to make a good king, except that he was not born on the right side. It can only be "Prince for laughter". Each of the two boys learn from this experience. Beautiful adventure, full of twists and turns, which gives us a portrait of England in the 16th century. Sordid Prisons, ruthless courts, supernatural beliefs, abuse of power...And if all the great people of this world had this experience, they would probably also change their way of acting and thinking.
Anne Hawn Smith – Oct 07, 2009
This is one of my favorite books of Mark Twain. Tom Canty is a poor boy in the London slums. His birth only brings more poverty to his already dirt poor family. Edward VI is the long awaited heir to the English throne. They are born on the same day and look so alike they can't believe it. They exchange clothes and Edward VI ends up being thrown out of the palace by guards who think he is the poor boy he looks to be. Both boys have difficulty fitting into the other's lives. Tom comes to like the This is one of my favorite books of Mark Twain. Tom Canty is a poor boy in the London slums. His birth only brings more poverty to his already dirt poor family. Edward VI is the long awaited heir to the English throne. They are born on the same day and look so alike they can't believe it. They exchange clothes and Edward VI ends up being thrown out of the palace by guards who think he is the poor boy he looks to be. Both boys have difficulty fitting into the other's lives. Tom comes to like the life at the palace, but misses his freedom and his mother and sisters. Edward leads a hard life on the road and would have died without the help of a minor nobleman named Miles. The bulk of the books is the mad life of the poor boy during which Edward VI learns how many of his subjects live. He resolves to change things if he can get back to the palace and be restored to his rightful place. The book is full of Twain's wit and biting social commentary. His way with words in outstanding and the Middle English dialect is only distracting at first.
Mikey B. – Jun 07, 2015
What a delightful story this is! It is filled with wit and humor as one would expect from Mark Twain. We follow our two main protagonists in their re-adjustments to their new lifestyles as they inadvertently swap roles. So many interesting themes and nuances are interwoven into the narrative mix – such as be careful what you wish for. Neither character is painted as being immaculate, as their defects manifest themselves as they undertake their new positions. The contrasting lifestyles within the What a delightful story this is! It is filled with wit and humor as one would expect from Mark Twain. We follow our two main protagonists in their re-adjustments to their new lifestyles as they inadvertently swap roles. So many interesting themes and nuances are interwoven into the narrative mix – such as be careful what you wish for. Neither character is painted as being immaculate, as their defects manifest themselves as they undertake their new positions. The contrasting lifestyles within the era are visibly portrayed. The book is described as being for adults and children – but some passages I found to be approaching the horrific;(view spoiler)[ it is absolutely demonic when the “hermit-archangel” is looking down at the sleeping King (now a pauper) while sharpening his knife (hide spoiler)] . So entertaining and exquisitely written with penetrating observations on our two characters and the age they lived in. The scope is that of a Charles Dickens novel.
Darwin8u – Mar 08, 2019
Will review later.
Chris – Jan 05, 2008
Upon moving to Glenview, I had no reliable bookstore I was aware of, save the bigass Barnes & Nobles near the train station by work. Such a shop near my train station isn’t quite helpful, as the maximum I have at such a locale is about 6 minutes, and it’s a 3 minute walk from the station. Upon finding Books-A-Million, I was quite content; in what I believe to be my first visit there, I had a hankering (for some unknown reason) to get a copy of the much-cited Mark Twain classic “The Upon moving to Glenview, I had no reliable bookstore I was aware of, save the bigass Barnes & Nobles near the train station by work. Such a shop near my train station isn’t quite helpful, as the maximum I have at such a locale is about 6 minutes, and it’s a 3 minute walk from the station. Upon finding Books-A-Million, I was quite content; in what I believe to be my first visit there, I had a hankering (for some unknown reason) to get a copy of the much-cited Mark Twain classic “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”. I walked out with a book of his short stories and was duly pleased. It was on one of these trips to that I came across The Prince and The Pauper, and decided I’d give that sh-t a try someday in the remote future. And lo, that time hath come, and sadly, I wasn’t all that thrilled with this work. It’s fairly enjoyable, I’ll give it that, but much like Huck Finn and the usual required reading of Mr. Clemens, this just didn’t quite do it for me; in my estimation, the guy should have stuck to short stories, which are almost universally fricking sweet. This book has its ups and downs; while the saga of the identity crisis between Poor Tom Canty (of Led Zeppelin fame) and the noble Prince Edward is rich with Twain’s humor, the conversational Middle English gets annoying, and unless you love English history or geography (intimately) some of this is convoluted. Also, had this been a shorter book (not that it’s an exceedingly long volume by any means) it probably would have been better, as the adventures might be funny at times, some of the mishaps which take place aren’t up to the caliber of others, resulting in down time, which is usually filled with repetitive contemplations by the minor characters to the maladies which they presume have afflicted Prince or Pauper. The switch of persona between the two characters happens early in the story, by page 14, and the dual cover-ups of this event by both the mind-numbingly foolish royal troupe and the beggardly and bedraggled poor who succumb to their discontent and exist as villainous brutes takes an exceeding amount of time, as both the false Prince Tom Canty and the fallen, unrecognized urchin that is the disgraced Prince Edward are deemed by the medical masterminds of the time as suffering an affliction of the mind resulting in the loss of their socially accepted identities to assume one of the furthest possible aspect in these days of Olde London. The beggar-turned-Prince, who I thought the tale would focus about, and would be a truly spectacular character of moral integrity, actually is outshone by the bravado and unshakable persistence of the downtrodden former heir. At that point the story plods along rather endlessly, and while there certainly are some moments of worthy comedy, a fifty page abridgement could be made. The result of that would be a great novelette worthy of the Twain name, as it stands, I don’t see the need for the repetition of lengthy dialogs in a goofy manner of speech, which on both sides of the tale form the foundation of the rest of the world’s beliefs concerning this unspoken but suspected act of governmental subterfuge. Events great and small are covered on Edward’s path to regain the mighty crown which he has so far been unrighteously and unceremoniously denied since the death of King Henry. At the end of the day you don’t really get what you paid for, as far as the time invested in reading the tale went. I also must admit to a distraction whilst reading this parable, I cold not stop thinking that Twain also has a novel called A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, and kept thinking that this kind of made Twain the first that I am aware of in a respected line of alternate history sensationalists. That kind of freaked me the hell out.
Leo . – Sep 18, 2017
Classic! Classic!🐯👍
BAM The Bibliomaniac – Oct 31, 2017
Catching up with the classics #8 RTC
Pete daPixie – Mar 14, 2012
The first thing to say is I NEVER read historical fiction. NEVER EVER. So that is why I picked up this book by Samuel Clemens. I just love what came off the silver gilded pen of this persona from Missouri. I could easily have gone higher than three stars if Mr Twain had extended this short novel. Short, but sweet with honeyed prose. 'The Prince and the Pauper' may appear in the guise of a feeble children's story. An unlikely tale of rags and riches set in Tudor England. Yet, Mark Clemens, or is The first thing to say is I NEVER read historical fiction. NEVER EVER. So that is why I picked up this book by Samuel Clemens. I just love what came off the silver gilded pen of this persona from Missouri. I could easily have gone higher than three stars if Mr Twain had extended this short novel. Short, but sweet with honeyed prose. 'The Prince and the Pauper' may appear in the guise of a feeble children's story. An unlikely tale of rags and riches set in Tudor England. Yet, Mark Clemens, or is that Samuel Twain, has woven some deep personal and sociological messages for the reader to contemplate. The 'poles apart' worlds of Edward Tudor and Tom Canty transit before our eyes, allowing us to see the other side. Mark Twin appears to be telling us that our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet, we all breath the same air, we all cherish our children's futures and we are all mortal. Now, where have I heard that before? Even the president of the United States sometimes must have to stand naked. Yet, when Edward Tudor and Tom Canty imagine that same condition, the highest and the lowest are the same. Rich or poor, at both ends of the social spectrum, both can be pursued by dreams, doubt, insecurities and injustice.
David Sarkies – Apr 16, 2016
Mark Twain's Trading Places 9 November 2012 I had heard of this book but was never really sure what it was about, however when I read the first few chapters I suddenly realised that I have seen the story before – Trading Places. Okay, there are a few differences, such as the themes, however the plot is pretty much the same. Clements does indicate that this was not his original idea, suggesting that he has heard this story from some other place, though he is unsure as to the truth of it or not. Mark Twain's Trading Places 9 November 2012 I had heard of this book but was never really sure what it was about, however when I read the first few chapters I suddenly realised that I have seen the story before – Trading Places. Okay, there are a few differences, such as the themes, however the plot is pretty much the same. Clements does indicate that this was not his original idea, suggesting that he has heard this story from some other place, though he is unsure as to the truth of it or not. The end notes do suggest that Clements had done any research, but whether it is true or not it is still quite an enjoyable adventure. The story is about two boys, a poor boy named Tom Cantry and Prince Edward, the crown prince of England. Both boys were born at the same time on the same day and have a remarkable similarity. However, if it was not for a twist of fate they would never have met and this strange adventure would never have happened. As it turns out, Tom, despite his poverty, did have a little education due to the actions of a kindly priest, and Edward happened to have been allowed to go to the gates of the palace one day and rescued Tom from the hands of the guard. The thing about Tom was that he had a dream of meeting a prince, however it ended up that he got a lot more than he ever expected. While wandering around Westminster Tom stumbles upon the crown prince and is invited into the castle. While talking in the princes' room, they exchange clothes, and the prince then goes outside, is mistaken for Tom, and thrown out of the castle. Tom, on the other hand, is mistaken for the prince, and despite his protestations to the contrary, is suddenly kept inside the palace with no way out. Both boys are diagnosed with madness and end up becoming prisoners of their class. Tom knows his heritage but is unable to escape the palace, and the prince, in his beggarly rags, cannot convince anybody of his royal heritage, particularly since everybody thinks the prince is in the palace, and the palace is keeping tight lipped about the princes' madness. Many people these days talk about income inequality, however the distinction is nowhere near as evident as it is in this book. In this period, during the reign of Henry VIII, there was no middle class, only the nobility and the commoners, and neither of them would mix. The commoners would look up at the nobility in awe and the nobility would look down on the commoners in scorn. There was pretty much no way, but by the grace of God and the King, that anybody could move between the two classes. These days at least we have a semblance of wealth, and can live quite comfortable and easy lives without having millions of dollars in the bank. It is interesting to see how wealth and status do not necessarily bring freedom. Tom lives in the palace and has everything provided for him, however he is not free to go where he wants or to do what he wants. In fact everything, including the clothes that he wears, is dictated to him. Further, he is also a prisoner in the sense that nobody is allowed to touch him or to mistreat him. He has his own whipping boy, a boy that takes the punishment that is doled out to the prince if he does wrong. Edward is also a prisoner, and this is more than just the fact that he is thrown into the arms of poverty. He is unable to escape Tom's father, who seems to always lurk around every corner. As he travels through the dark and dirty laneways of London and Southern England, he must face many trials and tribulations, one of them being the fact that Tom's father is a brute, and pretty much uses him for his own wicked purposes. He even attempts to set him up for a crime whose punishment is death. However, despite that he still has some awe of respectability about him that draws some people to him. I suspect there is also some comment on the nature of crime and punishment. The reason that I suggest that is because he makes comments about the laws of Connecticut and the laws of Olde England. In particular he focuses on the death penalty, but more so the form of death that the penalty imposes. It is not so much that a person must die for their crime, but the crime also dictates the method of death. No doubt the worse the crime then the more painful the death. However this is not so because some minor crimes seem to attract the death of being submerged in boiling oil, and murder simply seems to result in swinging from a rope. These days there seems to be a desire to make the death penalty as painless as possible, however some question whether that is possible. Personally, I am pretty much opposed to the death penalty. As I have said and will write, it is better for a guilty man to go free than for an innocent man to be executed. If an innocent man is executed, that is it, there is no going back. Mind you, locking up an innocent man for years on end is still likely to cause irreparable damage, particularly since there is no compensation for the innocent man. An innocent man (or I should say person) who is locked up at the age of 25 and exonerated at the age of 35, has still lost 10 years of his life. Those ten years are not going to come back. Then there is the idea that the punishment is determined by one's status in society. The wealthier you are the more likely that you will get a lesser sentence, simply because you can afford the best lawyers. However, sometimes you can simply be punished by being associated with the wrong people. I remember one case where a man was associating with another group, and two of them had rented a shed for working on cars. One of the men, with his friends, went and stole a bunch of cars, and the only thing the other guy had done was hear about it. As it happened, the guy that had heard about it ended up being the only person who had not had the charges dropped, and his lawyer simply made a bargain with the prosecution because somebody had to be convicted of the offence. This is simply not the way a legal system should work. However, consider what Clemens says at the end of the book, how he points out that the number of crimes attracting the death penalty in Connecticut is around 25 while the number in England 100 years earlier was something like 225. In the same way we can compare our system with that of another country, such as Saudi Arabia. In that country there is a crime of forsaking your religion, which is punishable by death. There are other countries where you do not get a right or reply and are guilty until proven innocent. Mind you, that can be the same here, especially when the media has already convicted you long before the trial even begins. Though while we may point at another country and say 'at least we are not as bad as them' that does not mean that we should turn a blind eye to the flaws in our system. Personally, in a system where criminals are locked away in privately run institutions, which are considered to be the university of the underworld, we need to look for ways of reforming and helping people live in society, instead of locking them up and throwing away the key. Particularly since 90% of all prisoners are in prison due to drug related crimes, we must wake up an realise that there actually is a problem.
david – Sep 06, 2019
First and foremost, I would like to thank our friend Luis C. for recommending this fine book to me. On my own, I had forgotten how much I enjoy Mark Twain. And I did not even know that he was the dude that penned this story. Do you remember Patty Duke? The television series about two teenage girls, identical twins (cousins?) and the antics they got themselves into? Well, this was nothing like that. So why did I just toss in that show in this review? Don’t know. Anyway, we all know the skeleton of First and foremost, I would like to thank our friend Luis C. for recommending this fine book to me. On my own, I had forgotten how much I enjoy Mark Twain. And I did not even know that he was the dude that penned this story. Do you remember Patty Duke? The television series about two teenage girls, identical twins (cousins?) and the antics they got themselves into? Well, this was nothing like that. So why did I just toss in that show in this review? Don’t know. Anyway, we all know the skeleton of this tale. A poor boy and King Henry V son are conveniently interchanged and are found in the other’s shoes. They each must endure a lifestyle antithetical to what they have learned in their short life. Simple, yes. But a delight, nonetheless. And when a bonafide author writes it, it becomes an enjoyable experience. I read most of it yesterday while a hurricane and a tornado roared outside my window and electricity was nowhere to be found. We could all learn something about each other even if lives are drastically different. Peradventure (his word), there are many lessons to be learned here. Or, at least, adults occasionally need a refresher course in tolerance of our fellow man/woman. Thank you, Luis C. I will try to read all your books recommended, if time and eyesight allows it. It’s good to be a king. And it is also good not to be one.
Ramon Remires – Feb 18, 2019
I thought I was enlightened and knew everything. I thought I had read every masterpiece ever written, and then Luís C. came and recommended this book to me and I went back to my actual size and confessed with shame that I had never read Mark Twain's writing. So I quickly went to Google and checked who was the writer and then I read this book. Immediately I was fascinated - less than the story itself and more than the writing and the great ideas behind it considering the date of writing itself. I thought I was enlightened and knew everything. I thought I had read every masterpiece ever written, and then Luís C. came and recommended this book to me and I went back to my actual size and confessed with shame that I had never read Mark Twain's writing. So I quickly went to Google and checked who was the writer and then I read this book. Immediately I was fascinated - less than the story itself and more than the writing and the great ideas behind it considering the date of writing itself. Thank you Luís C. for the introduction with Twain's book.
Tarissa – May 28, 2015
The Prince and the Pauper is a children's classic written by American author, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). This is a fun bit of literature to read. Children will especially enjoy the story since it centers upon two boys as they share the adventure of a lifetime. Tom Canty, a poor boy with an abusive father and only crumbs to eat for supper; Prince Edward, monarch of the Tudor dynasty and heir to King Henry VIII. What circumstances could possibly lead these two to even meet, with completely The Prince and the Pauper is a children's classic written by American author, Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens). This is a fun bit of literature to read. Children will especially enjoy the story since it centers upon two boys as they share the adventure of a lifetime. Tom Canty, a poor boy with an abusive father and only crumbs to eat for supper; Prince Edward, monarch of the Tudor dynasty and heir to King Henry VIII. What circumstances could possibly lead these two to even meet, with completely opposite lives and social ranks creating a broad distance between them? Furthermore, that a prince and a pauper would then engage in conversation, or make the (almost!) fatal decision of switching lives? This is historical fiction at its finest. Clemens took on a "what if?" plot to try his hand at alternative history. Let us ask ourselves... "What could have happened in 1547, if Prince Edward left the throne empty for a look-alike peasant boy to rule his kingdom? Nothing could go horribly wrong. Right?" I found Clemens to be quite witty in his writing style. He makes many uses of alliteration and similes, so that the story becomes whimsical in its telling, sometimes poetic-sounding -- and just about always a bit comical. For some readers (especially younger readers), the wording may be hard to easily read in "Ye Olde English". Many sentences are similar to: "Ah, be merciful, thou! In sooth I am no lord, but only poor Tom Canty of Offal Court in the city. Prithee let me see the prince, and he will of his grace restore to me my rags, and let me hence unhurt." NOTE to the discerning reader & parents: There are a few references to drunkenness (as in the case of Tom Canty's father being prone to drink and beating his son). I really liked reading The Prince and the Pauper -- this being the first of Clemens' works that I've read. I now look forward to reading more from this famed author.
Rizal – Aug 20, 2015
I can't express my feeling enough on how much I really love this! andddddd straight up to my favourite pile! And Miles Hendon! Oh my... how I love his character.
Ben Babcock – Aug 21, 2011
This is not my first time to the Mark Twain rodeo, but it has been a long time since I last visited. Twain is not high on my list of priorities, sorry to say. However, this lovely edition of The Prince and the Pauper found its way into my possession, so I decided to challenge those priorities. While I don’t think I will be rushing to devour the rest of Twain’s oeuvre just yet, this book has certainly given me a more mature appreciation of Twain as a writer. After all, the last time I encountered This is not my first time to the Mark Twain rodeo, but it has been a long time since I last visited. Twain is not high on my list of priorities, sorry to say. However, this lovely edition of The Prince and the Pauper found its way into my possession, so I decided to challenge those priorities. While I don’t think I will be rushing to devour the rest of Twain’s oeuvre just yet, this book has certainly given me a more mature appreciation of Twain as a writer. After all, the last time I encountered Twain, I was a child or adolescent, with corresponding tastes. (No, I don’t know why I used a cowboy metaphor with a New England author. I’m wild and unpredictable!) Whenever I think of Mark Twain, particularly of Tom Sawyer or The Prince and the Pauper, I think of the 1990s PBS series Wishbone. I grew up with Wishbone, and it was right up there with Bill Nye the Science Guy and The Magic School Bus as a formative television show that I loved beyond all reason. I mean, it’s about a talking dog that re-enacts great works of literature in a way young people can understand and enjoy. How amazingly awesome is that? Consequently, my first—and usually most memorable—exposure to many classics came as a Wishbone adventure. When I think of The Hound of the Baskervilles, I don’t picture any of the innumerable human Sherlock Holmes actors; I see Wishbone dressed in a deerstalker. So everything I remembered about The Prince and the Pauper came from dim recollections of its Wishbone episode (“The Prince and the Pooch”). This disposed me favourably the book in general, but it also left me quite surprised. I did not expect a book like this to have endnotes or to be so meticulous in its research. Twain is cites works of English history and law by people like Hume and Dr. J. Hammond Trumbull! It is much more like a work of historical fiction I would expect to see today, complete with author’s note and caveats about the liberties the author has taken. Billed by Twain as “A Tale for Young People of All Ages”, this book has plenty of historical details for an adult reader as well. The story itself, in terms of structure and conflict, is simple, but the world Twain creates is rich and complex. Aside from the milieu, the best part of this book is clearly the two titular characters, Tom Canty the pauper and Prince Edward (later King Edward VI). We sympathize with both of these boys when they are thrust out of their element by Edward’s rash decision to exchange clothing with Tom. We are supposed to, and I did, find it hilarious that Tom, after a hard life in Offal Court with an abusive father and grandmother, finds court life dull and vexing. Similarly, Edward is a good lad, but initially he suspects that Tom planned to impersonate him on purpose, and he spends a good deal of the first part of the book railing against his usurper. In general, Edward’s insistence upon his true identity is a source of endless amusement to the people around him. Meanwhile, Tom has no choice but to accept his identity as a slightly-addled Edward and cope as best he can until the true Edward turns up again. We all dream of being princes and astronauts and dragon-slayers when we are kids, but Twain adds a dose of reality to Tom’s sudden fortune. Being a prince is hard work! And as someone accustomed to the freedom of one’s own agency, the obligations of royalty—both in terms of how he must act and how he must let others act for him—weigh heavily on Tom. We like the idea of having servants and sumptuous clothing and administering justice, but we also tend to like feeding ourselves, scratching our own noses, and not having a nosy Lord Protector trying to run the country for us. Conversely, Edward is quite used to being assisted—he is a capable and intelligent child in his own right, but he is not quite the independent person that Tom was on his way to becoming. Indeed, notice how the narrator follows Tom’s perspective very closely during his chapters, only occasionally delving into the thoughts of Lord Somerset or others. In contrast, most of Edward’s experiences come to us via Miles Hendon, once he and Edward meet and, later, when they reunite. Hendon gives us that perspective of Edward as a troubled, mentally ill child, whom he is nevertheless going to shepherd because, hey, he’s a nice guy. I also get a very Shakespearean vibe from The Prince and the Pauper. We have mistaken identities, a displaced king/pretender to the throne, reversals of fortunes, etc. Twain employs his own take on colloquial Early Modern English that you will find either endearing or distracting (or perhaps both) depending on your tolerance for such accented dialogue. The language in general, both of the characters and of the narrator, has that dramatic, Shakespearean flair. A random example: “Whithersoever Tom turned his happy young face, the people recognized the exactness of his effigy’s likeness to himself, the flesh and blood counterpart, and new whirlwinds of applause burst forth.” Notice how much action there is in this sentence and how violent it is: people aren’t just clapping; there are whirlwinds of their applause, and it bursts onto the scene. I imagine that some of the vocabulary, not to mention the archaic style of the dialogue, might be daunting for a younger reader, but Twain's style in general lends itself well to avoiding boredom. I think this is one of those books that would make great bedtime reading between a parent and a child, because the parent can explain or decipher the parts that are difficult for a child to follow. I suppose writing historical fiction for a younger audience must be quite difficult. (My recent experience with The Stolen One corroborates this.) There is a tension between striving for the accuracy that makes one’s fiction “historical” rather than merely fantastical or speculative and striving to retain the reader’s comprehension. I love fiction set in Tudor England, but I also know quite a bit about how Tudor England differs from the present day, so I am very used to reading stories set in Tudor England. For a young reader, new to this period, I imagine this can be difficult. The Mark Twain rodeo offers a very nice compromise between accuracy and comprehensibility, one that both adults and children can enjoy.
Kris – Feb 16, 2019
Twain's humor always has an absurdist element to it, and this is particularly strong here. Therefore I'm not a big fan of this one, much preferring The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which I think is Twain's best. I hadn't before thought about the link between this one and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which I have fond memories of from childhood (and I also plan to reread, to see if it holds up). For some reason this late 19th century American author from rural Missouri seemed a Twain's humor always has an absurdist element to it, and this is particularly strong here. Therefore I'm not a big fan of this one, much preferring The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn which I think is Twain's best. I hadn't before thought about the link between this one and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court, which I have fond memories of from childhood (and I also plan to reread, to see if it holds up). For some reason this late 19th century American author from rural Missouri seemed a bit obsessed with 16th century royal English customs. One thought: why do the boys decide to tell everyone who they really are? The premise is spoiled by the fact they don’t pretend to be each other for a little while first. Read first in high school. Audiobook reread in Feb 2019.
Jeff – Jan 27, 2009
Everything by Mark Twain is good. I only knew this from a kids' (or maybe Disney) version. The most amusing thing was Twain's Shakespearian flourishes. Check out this little bit of "dialogue" from the dying king: "He is mad; but he is my son, and England's heir; and, mad or sane, still shall he reign! And hear ye further, and proclaim it: whoso speaketh of this his distemper worketh against the peace and order of these realms, and shall to the gallows! . . . Give me to drink -- I burn: this Everything by Mark Twain is good. I only knew this from a kids' (or maybe Disney) version. The most amusing thing was Twain's Shakespearian flourishes. Check out this little bit of "dialogue" from the dying king: "He is mad; but he is my son, and England's heir; and, mad or sane, still shall he reign! And hear ye further, and proclaim it: whoso speaketh of this his distemper worketh against the peace and order of these realms, and shall to the gallows! . . . Give me to drink -- I burn: this sorrow sappeth my strength. . . . There, take away the cup. . . . Support me. There, that is well." I am a big fan of stage directions implied by the dialogue. I also found this poignant, when the poor young King Edward is lost in the forest: "Occasionally he caught the twinkle of a light -- always far away, apparently -- almost in another world; if he heard the tinkle of a sheep's bell, it was vague, distant, indistinct; the muffled lowing of the herds floated to him on the night wind in vanishing cadences, a mournful sound; now and then came the complaining howl of a dog over viewless expanses of field and forest; all sounds were remote; they made the little King feel that all life and activity were far removed from him, and that he stood solitary, companionless, in the centre of a measureless solitude." Anyhow this was no Huckleberry Finn, but it is an interesting predecessor to Connecticut Yankee and fun to read.
Steph – May 22, 2013
This book was excellent. It was hard to get into at first because I brought it to read in school, and because some of the diction is quite wordy and eloquent, it was hard to read with background noise. However, this is to be expected of any classic, so I didn't give up, I just read it at home instead where it was quieter and there were less distractions. In the beginning, I set myself to read 25 pages a day and I did, no more and no less, but eventually (about halfway through the novel) I This book was excellent. It was hard to get into at first because I brought it to read in school, and because some of the diction is quite wordy and eloquent, it was hard to read with background noise. However, this is to be expected of any classic, so I didn't give up, I just read it at home instead where it was quieter and there were less distractions. In the beginning, I set myself to read 25 pages a day and I did, no more and no less, but eventually (about halfway through the novel) I started to grow more of an appreciation and interest for the story. The characters and their stories grew on me, and within every 25-page chunk that I read, there was some new interesting and unique event that occurred, so by today and yesterday, I was reading for pure pleasure, not to fulfill a quota. That is what I'm looking for in a story, and I liked the book as much as I had thought I would. The ending - a happy ending - made me feel good and although the story was fantastical and unrealistic, who cares? It's fiction!
Renée Paule – Apr 29, 2018
A fascinating tale with a tremendous amount to teach everyone who cares to reflect on it.
Sarah Grace Grzy – May 21, 2017
DNF. Maybe I'll finish it someday. :)
M.M. Strawberry Library & Reviews – May 18, 2019
This is a nice classic piece of historical fiction by one of the USA's most beloved authors, Mark Twain. The story sounds light at first, but it's a real eye-opener for Prince Edward as he takes on the life of a poor person and sees how many of his subjects live and suffer.
Book Concierge – Jan 01, 2017
Book on CD narrated by Steve West. Two boys born on the same day in very different circumstances meet and discover they each envy the other’s experiences. But only when they exchange clothes do they realize how identical they are in looks. So much so that Edward, Prince of Wales, is ejected from the palace as a beggar, while the pauper Tom Canty is accepted as the prince, despite their protests to the contrary. This is a wonderful classic that explores the difference in class in 16th century Book on CD narrated by Steve West. Two boys born on the same day in very different circumstances meet and discover they each envy the other’s experiences. But only when they exchange clothes do they realize how identical they are in looks. So much so that Edward, Prince of Wales, is ejected from the palace as a beggar, while the pauper Tom Canty is accepted as the prince, despite their protests to the contrary. This is a wonderful classic that explores the difference in class in 16th century England, and the ways that appearance effects how one is treated. Both boys learn much from their experience as “the other.” Tom learns that a life of luxury is not all it’s cracked up to be; he chafes against the restrictions on his movements, the requirements for certain study, the constant presence of servants and guardians. Edward learns first-hand of the harsh life of his poorest subjects: their reliance on begging, the unfairness of the legal system, the lack of opportunities to improve their lot. Tom uses his new-found position to change some of the laws of the land. Edward learns the value of compassion and kindness. It’s a wonderful lesson in “walking in the other person’s shoes.” One thing that was a little difficult, though was Twain’s use of 16th-century English: “Dost not know thy father, child?” is one fairly easy example, but much of the dialect used makes it that much more difficult for a reader to appreciate the story. Still, it’s worth the effort to persevere. And I would recommend listening to the audio. There are many editions of this classic available. The hardcover text edition I used to supplement my listening was the Oxford Mark Twain with an introduction by Judith Martin and an afterword by Everett Emerson. It includes nearly 200 illustrations by Beverly R David and Ray Sapirstein. It’s really a physically beautiful book. The audio edition I listened to was narrated by Steve West. He did a fine job. He has good pacing, and enough skill as a voice artist to differentiate the various characters.
Lemar – Aug 10, 2011
Reread, really worth while. King Donald, I mean Edward, is thrust into finding out how the other 99% live. It’s an eye opener. Once again Twain expertly exposes institutional unfairness, using his front porch aw shucks storyteller style that has you chuckling along then suddenly wide eyed in shock. 1550’s England was a time when more than 100 offenses warranted the death penalty. People then, as now, were quick to point the finger at poor and convict poor people while the wealthy were basically Reread, really worth while. King Donald, I mean Edward, is thrust into finding out how the other 99% live. It’s an eye opener. Once again Twain expertly exposes institutional unfairness, using his front porch aw shucks storyteller style that has you chuckling along then suddenly wide eyed in shock. 1550’s England was a time when more than 100 offenses warranted the death penalty. People then, as now, were quick to point the finger at poor and convict poor people while the wealthy were basically above the law. Part of what makes Mark Twain a genius is that his characters can’t help but be real people, with heroism and foibles interwoven. It’s just the proportions that tip the scales. In one classic Twain scene the king, in ragged clothes, is given breakfast by a poor farmer: “It does us all good to unbend sometimes. This good woman was made happy all the day long by the applauses which she got out of herself for her magnanimous condescension to a tramp; and the king was just as self-complacent over his gracious humility toward a humble peasant woman.”
Alexandra Swann – Feb 13, 2014
It's hard not to enjoy this fun story by Mark Twain that has been copied countless times. /This is the oft-retold story of a poor boy who trades place with an identical-looking pampered prince. The lessons learned by both boys through trading lives are timeless. I read this one in school and I did not appreciate Twain's writing style as much then as I do now. Because of the setting of this book, Twain uses a little more formal style in this book than he does in many of his others, but it is still It's hard not to enjoy this fun story by Mark Twain that has been copied countless times. /This is the oft-retold story of a poor boy who trades place with an identical-looking pampered prince. The lessons learned by both boys through trading lives are timeless. I read this one in school and I did not appreciate Twain's writing style as much then as I do now. Because of the setting of this book, Twain uses a little more formal style in this book than he does in many of his others, but it is still thoroughly entertaining. As an adult I have come to appreciate Mark Twain as one of the great writers of American literature. His work deserves its place in our classic literature.
Donna – Dec 13, 2016
I liked this book. As a child, I had this book in a bookcase located right outside my bedroom door, but I never read it. I never know what to expect with old classics. Sometimes I can see why it is beloved, and sometimes I can't. With this one I could see why. It was a little slow in the middle, but I enjoyed story overall. I'm surprised I haven't read more by this author. I need to see what my library has.
Rasik Tirodkar – Jun 09, 2018
A true children's classic is one that is also enjoyed by adults and this book certainly fits that definition. Rather I am not sure if I would have enjoyed this delightful novel as a child as much as I did now as the biting satire would have been lost on me. It's truly marvellous how Mark Twain while keeping the social commentary sharp as ever, never let's the humour die down. A bonafide classic!
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MIT engineers just unveiled living, glowing plants
under MIT, Nature / Environment, News, Science
Glowing plants might sound like the stuff of science fiction – but a team of MIT researchers just grew a crop of watercress that emits emit dim light for almost four hours. Postdoctoral researcher Seon-Yeong Kwak led a team of engineers and scientists to instill the plants with the same enzyme that makes fireflies sparkle. MIT chemical engineering professor Michael Strano said, “The vision is to make a plant that will function as a desk lamp – a lamp that you don’t have to plug in. The light is ultimately powered by the energy metabolism of the plant itself.”
Plant lamps or even tree street lights could brighten our world in the future thanks to recent research on glowing plants. The plants are illuminated by luciferase – the same enzyme that helps fireflies shine.
Luciferase acts on the molecule luciferin to give off light. The team put these three components into nanoparticle carriers to get them to the correct part of a plant. The scientists showed they can also turn off the light by adding nanoparticles with a luciferase inhibitor, so they think they could eventually create plants that stop emitting light in response to conditions like sunlight.
Related: 5 Bioluminescent Species that Light Up the World
Past experiments to create light-emitting plants attempted to genetically engineer plants to express the gene for luciferase, according to MIT. But it’s a process that takes a lot of work for very dim light – and it’s often limited to just one plant type.
The new MIT process can work on any kind of plant; so far the scientists have demonstrated it with watercress, kale, arugula, and spinach. They hope to be able to spray or paint the nanoparticles on leaves with future iterations, so trees or large plants could serve as light sources.
The journal Nano Letters published the research online in November. Scientists from the University of California, Riverside and the University of California, Berkeley contributed to the work.
+ Nano Letters
+ MIT News
Images via Seon-Yeong Kwak
Glowing Plants MIT
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) engineers created glowing plants.
Glowing Plants Nanoparticles
They embedded nanoparticles in plant leaves.
Glowing Plants MIT Full Width Tall
Watercress plants with the nanoparticles emitted dim light for almost four hours.
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The whole platinum mining industry in South Africa started when platinum was discovered in the Bushveld Igneous Complex (BIC) in 1924 by Hans Merensky, a South African geologist, prospector, scientist, conservationist and philanthropist. The first mine blast was undertaken north of Rustenburg on June 3, 1967, resulting in an initial annual capacity of 100,000 ounces of platinum. On the following year, a 27,000 acre lease, which predominantly owned by the Bafokeng Tribe (now the Royal Bafokeng Nation), was granted. Production began in July 1968 and, for the ensuing 12 years, only the Merensky Reef was mined. A significant platinum jewellery market also began developing during the late 1960s.
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During the 1970s, vehicle emission standards were introduced and pursued by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with global legislator soon joining the movement – vastly enlarging the market for platinum. During this decade, Impala negotiated long-term supply contracts with major US motor manufactures, General Motors and Chrysler. On January 26, 1973, when it was listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE), Impala Platinum Ltd. was a wholly owned subsidiary of Bishopsgate Platinum Limited. Five years from then, Bishopsgate changed its name into Impala Platinum Holdings Limited (Implats) and the company began mining on the Upper Group 2 Reef (UG2).
By the early 1990s, Implats had become the second largest platinum producer worldwide. The company acquired an effective interest in Western Platinum and Eastern Platinum (collectively Lonplats). Implats grew throughout the following years – gaining mineral rights to establish Marula Platinum; acquiring strategic stakes in Zimbabwean operations, Zimplats and Mimosa; entered a joint venture with Avmin to develop the Two Rivers Platinum project; sold its stakes in Barplats and Lonplats; getting unbundled as the parent company, Gencor, amalgamated with Gold Fields; and produced 1.7Moz of platinum (approximately 25% of global supply) and 3.4Moz of PGMs by 2009.
Implats remained to flourish throughout the following years, and up to this day, it has approximately 53,000 employees, including contractors, working across its operations and is one of the most efficient and lowest cost primary platinum producers in the world. The company is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE) and the London Stock Exchange (LSE).
Other opportunity: Rand Water Bursaries
As one of the successful, leading companies in the world, Implats commit to attract, develop and retain a diverse workforce that reflects the nature of its worldwide business. In return for the skills, capabilities and experience the employees bring to the business, Implats offers a unique employee value proposition and a great place to work. The benefits and opportunities of working at Implats include employee housing, skills development, health and financial reward. The company also offers bursaries to help young people with their studies and skills development. The bursaries are offered in various fields which include the following.
Engineering: mining, metallurgy, chemical, mechanical. and electrical (heavy current)
Chemistry to honours level
Geology to honours level
Accounting to honours level
Human Resources B.Com to honours level
The Implats Bursaries cover not only the registration and tuition fees for the duration of the course, but also residence fees, cash allowance, and personal computer allowance from the second year of study. Awardees will be required to work for the company for the full period of the bursary and to undertake vacation work at the company at the end of each year.
Implats bursaries are open to anyone that meets the minimum criteria of a university exemption pass and a minimum C symbol (Rating Code 5 or 60%) in Mathematics, Science and English. It is necessary that the candidates have the following competences to be eligible to receive such award.
Able to work under pressure
Have leadership potential, combined with the ability to work in a team
Have good problem-solving abilities
Tenacious, self-motivated and have common sense
Able to make decisions and to think logically
Other opportunity: Murray & Roberts Bursaries Application
When applying for the Implats bursaries, candidates must submit the application form along with the listed documents below, otherwise candidates must give good reasons why they can’t.
Certified copy of valid personal identity document (ID)
Certified proof of results
Detailed Curriculum Vitae (CV) / resume
Full details of academic transcripts
Certificate of conduct from university (if currently studying)
Individuals with disabilities are welcome to apply. However, selection will be subjected to the physical demands of an occupation related to a degree.
Those who would like to apply for a bursary offered by Implats and have been considered to meet the mentioned minimum criteria may start their applications by downloading and filling in the application form provided on the Implats’ official website www.implats.co.za/careers.php. Further details on career paths at Implats are also provided on the mentioned website.
The application form must be completed thoroughly using black ink and in block letters. Incomplete application forms will not be accepted. Any changes of address or contact details must be forwarded in writing. The application form along with its supporting documents should be sent to:
Impala Platinum, Bursary Development, PO Box 5683, Rustenburg, 0300
The annual application closing date is on March 31. Candidates must consider their applications as unsuccessful if they do not receive any response from Implats within 30 days after the application closing date. Correspondence will be limited to shortlisted applicants only. Those who qualify will be invited for a preliminary interview at the company’s Rustenburg operations situated in the North West Province.
For more information about the Implats Bursaries, contact the Bursary Department on +27 14 569 0088 or send an e-mail to bursaries@implats.co.za.
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hi my name is michael please help me with more info about busaries.
Zonke
Can i have more detail to be sent to my email address at zonkemsane42@gmail.com
Ntombizonke Msane
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Ale Sauds The Yazeed of the Present Era , & their Unholy UnIslamic Acts , Background , and Zionist Connections Revealed
Posted on August 22, 2012 by Jafria News
JNN 22 Aug 2012 Riyadh : This is article based on indepth research on the Ale Saud the Rulers of Saudi Arabia , who are famous for their UnIslamic acts and trying to mislead the whole of the Islamic World by Deceiving , them and Being Called the Custodian of the Most Holy Land of Islam , and the Mecca and Medina .
It is Obligatory for us to show the Innocent People of the World the real face of the Ale Saud and their Unholy acts , with which they want to Malign Islam, and the Deceive the Whole of the Muslim World.
Recently we had a chat with a person who insisted that, as a rule, whatever is taught in the grand mosques of Makka and Madina by Saudi Arabian Government is Islam.
We tried to explain him, citing Islamic history and how these sacred places were occupied by Najdi feudal Lords Sauds on the back of a Salafi frenzy created by Abd al-Wahhab and British Government’s military support who conspired with Sauds to destroy Islamic Khilafah.
During the conversation we realized that it is important to write an Article about moral and financial corruption and un-Islamic deeds of Saudi Princes and their Government so that people realize thatSalafism is not Islam, rather it is a political ideology to keep the power and wealth in the hands of Saudi Royal family.
Some people may argue that now-a-days almost all countries in the world are facing unchecked corruption by the ruling politicians. Saudis are not the first one who started this trend.
Their argument is valid. We do agree with this line of thinking.Corrupt politicians, Kings or dictators impose on people, their self concocted theories and try to relate it to religion to usurp power, plunder wealth, create a fear psycho among people and take advantage of people’s vulnerabilities.
Some people say that Mutawwas (Saudi Religious Police) are nothing but Government paid informers, well connected with General Intelligence Directorate (Saudi Secret Service), assigned to keep an eye on individual members of public and help Saudi Royals to remain in power. They are trained to keep an eagle’s eye on public activities and close their eyes completely from the members of Royal family.Mutawwas work under the network of Government run Salafi Dawa Centers whose responsibility is to baptize people into Salafism, a political doctrine imposed on people in the name of Islam.
Some people say that Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی) has chosen Saudi Royal family to take care of the two Grand Mosques in Makka and Madina, therefore Salafism should not be treated as a political doctrine away from Islam.
Those who talk like this are unaware of the history of Islam. At the time of Advent of Prophet Mohammad ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) Ka’ba was under the occupation of Pagan Idol worshipers. As a matter of fact 360 Idols were kept around it which were worshiped by them. Similar is the situation now.
We all know, Salafis are Sky Idol God worshipers. They worship a Sky Idol who has eyes, face, hands and a huge human like physical body and who is sitting on the skies. To legitimize their Idol worship, they misinterpret Quranic verses and Ahadith. They have occupied Islamic heartland and the grand mosques of Makka and Madina in 1925 and are propagating their Salafi /Wahhabi theories in the world as Islamic teachings
Therefore, occupation of grand mosques in Makka and Madina is not a testimony that the occupiers follow Islam.
Also, read this Article, you will be aghast to see the black deeds of Saudi Royal family. They are involved in all kinds of vices anyone could think of under the sun. Looking at them, how can one believe that they are the chosen ones to serve the grand mosques and Islam.
In any case, we would like to reiterate that we are not against any Government or any ruling individual in the world, including Saudi Royal family. Similarly, we are not against any Scholar, as a person, (Ahle Sunnah, Salafi or Shia) in the world. We wish and pray for every individual good in both the lives.
However, we identify the shortcomings of people in order that they realize it and work for their improvement for the good of their people and their salvation in this world and in Hereafter. If they agree, it is fine, and if they do not agree, it is also fine. Our job is to counsel with good intention and pray for their good.
Also, it is important to note that progressive societies take criticism positively as it helps them to correct their shortcomings and serve people better.
The Article has been divided into 4 parts: (1) Introduction, (2) Saudi Royal’s Prostitution Rings, (3) Saudi Royal’s Child Sex Slave Trade, and (4) Brief historical background of Saudi Royal family. The allegations are substantiated by published data which establishes the pattern of abuse using documented occurrence where the princes and their associates have been caught.
The Article is completely based on published information available in public domain on Internet and print media. We have described what is already known to billions of people around the Globe. We have provided the sources of information throughout the Article.
We regret for some terms used in the Article. We had to keep them, unwillingly though, as it is reported in Newspapers, Magazines and Internet. The problem is, when we quote a source, we need to keep the information and its wording as it is.
As usual, the Article is completely unbiased and we have refrained from giving our opinions throughout the Article.
SAUDI ROYALS’ PROSTITUTION RINGS
It is an open secret in Washington that the State Department is extremely sensitive to criticism of its actions regarding Saudi Arabia and its Princes. It is alleged that there are issues related to Saudi Royals which are so embarrassing to Washington that these must be kept secret from public domain.
The sensitivities of the US State Department are confirmed by the following BBC obituary on the death of King Fahd of Saudi Arabia.
BBC OBITUARY – KING FAHD – “Monday, August 1, 2005 – King Fahd (1921-2005) ascended to Saudi Throne in 1982. He had a reputation as a playboy in his youth, with allegations of excessive womanizing, drinking and gambling.
Indeed, it is claimed that he once lost more than $6m in one night at the Monte Carlo casino. There was a joke that new Cadillac made-to-order cars were dumped as soon as their ashtrays were full. King Fahd himself amassed a personal fortune estimated at $18bn”.
He was known for his extravagant vacations in Spain’s Costa del Sol. The posh resort town of Marbella is where he built his magnificent palace named “Mar Mar”, and each year for a month or more he would stay there. Luxury villas and hundreds of rooms in five-star hotels would be reserved for his entourage, and hundreds of millions dollars would be spent by the King and his Royals
Earlier, King Saud bin Abdul Aziz (1902-1969) who ruled Saudi Arabia between 1953-64 was deposed and lived in exile in Europe for plundering oil wealth, womanizing, gambling and other vices. It is reported that he fathered a total of 109 children, 53 princes and 56 princesses from hundreds of beautiful young women.
King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz (born 1923) sipping wine with George Bush.
Watch this video where King Abdullah is reportedly Dancing with teenage girls and boys. The video shows King Abdullah or may be a high ranking Saudi Royal (we are not sure) dancing on the street with young teenage girls who are wearing Jeans and T-Shirts; some of them are in Abaya with open hairs, faces and hands. Many boys are also dancing along with these girls.
The most disturbing thing in the video is that the girls in western outfits are using Kalima Tayyiba in their dance and putting it on their backs, which is touching and covering their bums and legs while they are dancing along with boys. The Kalima Tayyiba has Allah’s (سبحانہ و تعا لی) and Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) names. This is open and blatant disrespect of Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی), Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) and Islam in the hands of Salafis.
Also, look at the dancing steps and his spinning head of the Saudi Royal in the video. Is he under alcohol influence? May be or may be not. However, one thing looks certain that King Abdullah drinks wine, because he is shown toasting wine glass with George Bush in the following Video.
King Abdullah sipping Wine with George Bush
A US national wrote on December 9, 2010 – QUOTE – “I worked in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, for four years. Once, when I was driving a Saudi colleague to the airport, I watched this line of trucks parked at a Royal 737 on the tarmac and unloading boxes and boxes of stuff. I was told by the fella I was with (a Saudi army Captain) that it was the King and his clan replenishing the booze and fancy food stocks that were running low – the plane had flown to the UK empty just to pick up the stocks for the Royal turd and his Princes. LOL. What hypocrites!” UNQUOTE –
Readers may be aware that Saudi Kings are officially addressed as ‘Khadim-ul-Haramain wash Sharifain’ (the Custodians of two holy mosques in Makka and Madina).
It is not just the Kings, the Saudi Royal family as a whole is famous for their lavish spending, womanizing, drinking, gambling and other vices.
In 1982, a Miami judge issued a warrant to search Prince Turki’s 24th-floor penthouse to determine if he was holding an Egyptian woman, Nadia Lutefi Mustafa, as sex slave, against her will.
Prince Turki and his French bodyguards prevented a search from taking place, then won retroactive diplomatic immunity to forestall any legal unpleasantness.
In March 2005, a wife of Prince Mohamed Bin Turki al-Saud, Hana Al Jader, 39, was arrested at her home near Boston on charges of forced labor, domestic servitude, falsifying records, visa fraud, and harboring aliens. Powerful Saudi royals can be seen living it up on the French Riviera. They fly on private jets, buy the finest jewels and dine at exclusive restaurants.
Prince Walid bin Talal has summered in Cannes for the past 3 decades, and owns a 281 foot yacht called “the Kingdom” that he bought from Donald Trump. The yacht comes complete with a disco studio and helicopter
The New York Times reported on September 13, 2011 that the Spanish Judge has reopened a sexual assault case against Prince Al-Waleed bin Talal, reviving accusations that he raped a 20-year-old model on a luxury yacht in the Spanish Mediterranean in August 2008.
The rape victim did not go public, and the original complaint appears to have remained largely unknown. The case was quietly closed in July 2010 for what a judge on the Mediterranean resort Island of Ibiza called a lack of evidence.
But on appeal, a Spanish provincial court for the Balearic Islands, which has jurisdiction over Ibiza, ordered the judge to resume investigating and to summon the prince to appear.
According to Provincial Court’s Order to reopen the case, medical tests conducted by Departments of Spain’s National Institute of Toxicology and Forensic Science turned up traces of Nordazepam (Sleep-inducing chemical), and Semen in the victim’s urine.
The victim’s lawyer, Javier Beloqui, said the tests supported her claim that her drink had been spiked and that she was sexually assaulted. He called on Prince Al-waleed to provide at least a DNA test in order to compare it with the traces of semen found.
Her Highnesses, the Saudi Princesses are not far behind with their male counterparts.
The Telegraph reported on July 7, 2012 that Saudi Princess Sara bint Talal bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, the granddaughter of King Abdulaziz al-Saud, has sought asylum in Britain, for self and her four daughters, over fears she could be persecuted by members of her family at home in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
She tells Hugh Miles and Robert Mendick why she does not want to return. “My branch of the family was always different from the rest of Al Saud – open, controversial and diverse. We celebrate Christmas.”
Wearing a V-neck sweater, leggings and running shoes,Princess Sara dresses like any Westerner and refuses to wear a veil. Her nails are bright red.
The divorced princess currently lives in London after moving to Britain in 2007. She studied at the King Saud University in Riyadh, and married a royal cousin while still young. She was divorced in her twenties.
She claims that she was assaulted outside the Saudi embassy by an official who tried to grab her arm. The police were not called because the princess was trying to avoid a scandal. Sara, 38, believes senior Saudi officials plotted to have her kidnapped and brought back to Riyadh and claims they subjected her to a “well orchestrated and malicious campaign of persecution”. A Saudi embassy diplomat confirmed the embassy had been involved in visa negotiations.
BBC News : Monday, July 20, 2009 reported that Saudi Princess who fell pregnant with a British man has been granted asylum in UK. She was married to a Saudi Prince.
Saudi Princess Sara Al-Amoudi’s lover Patrick Ribbsaeter charged with knife attack
Saudi Princes Sara Al-Amoudi & lover Patrick Ribbsaeter
Monday, 29 August, 2011 – The Telegraph reported Patrick Ribbsaeter, 30, repeatedly stabbed driver Sarkis Tokatlian – who is known as Steve – in the face with a broken glass after Princess Sara Al-Amoudi caught him with two other women in her central London flat.
Southwark Crown Court heard that Ribbsaeter, who was described as vain and egocentric, became angry when he saw his chances of future prosperity disappear. Things turned sour in September last year when Princess Sara returned to her central London flat to find her boyfriend with two other women.
The court heard, despite being upset she had agreed to have an evening out with Ribbsaeter, and they were driven to various London nightspots in her Rolls Royce by her driver Mr. Tokatlian. When they returned home she informed him their relationship was over but when she fell asleep Ribbsaeter allegedly lunged at her.
Saudi Princess abuses UK Bodyguard
A Saudi Princess will go on trial in Britain for sexually harassing her male British Bodyguard. The Princess’s lawyers have successfully persuaded a Court that her identity remain a secret, Daily Mail (Sunday, March 6, 2011) reported. The 40 year old bodyguard said that the Princess was engaged in drinking, illegal drug-taking and ‘sexually promiscuous’ behavior.
Saudi newspaper Ash-Sharq on February 03, 2011, devoted its main page to launch a scathing and virulent attack on Saudis who travel abroad and indulge in obscene (sex) parties, night clubs and prowl in sex tourism countries around the Globe.
Saudi Rich and Royals throwing currency notes on pub singers in Syria. Saudi newspaper Ash-Sharqreported on February 03, 2011.
The paper published several pictures, videos and films showing Saudi girls dancing with boys and other local men in obscene parties.
The paper wrote “many Saudi female students abroad have been seen mixing with local men openly. Many Saudi women have been spotted with a lot of make up prowling on the streets of Cairo, Malaysia and other places often dancing in public places. Many Saudi families have been seen at night clubs all over the world”.
An American diplomatic document reveals a secret party of a Saudi Prince with alcohol, drugs, sex and prostitutes. In yet another flurry of secret documents of U.S. diplomacy, the site WikiLeaks showed, in great detail, a Halloween party organized by a wealthy Saudi prince in Jeddah with the highest quality drink, drugs and sex with prostitutes.
One of the secret documents, dated 18/11/2009, reported: “Behind the facade of Wahhabi conservatism on the streets, the nightlife for the young elite of Jeddah is thriving and throbbing. The full range of worldly temptations and vices are available – alcohol, drugs, sex – but strictly behind closed doors.”
Local American consulate officials were invited to the Halloween party, an all-American date, at the mansion of a young Saudi prince in Jeddah. The prince’s name was omitted from the document, as the diplomats themselves acknowledge that their names should be withheld. The only clue is that this Prince belongs to the Al Thunayan huge family.
According to Sunday Times, UK, Glamorous hostesses were allegedly paid tens of thousands of pounds from a BAE Systems slush fund to attend lavish parties where a Saudi prince and his entourage were guests of honor. The money was paid to Anouska Bolton Lee and Karajan Mallinder to meet mortgage, rent, credit card and council tax bills. The two women went to parties in a penthouse suite at the Carlton Tower hotel in Knightsbridge attended by Prince Turki bin Nasser and other senior Saudis involved in the £40 billion al-Yamamah arms deal.
According to Dailymail – Petrina Montrose who is now 37 and lives in Essex, UK, claimed she was one of three women hired to take part in an orgy with a tall and greasy Saudi Prince. Miss Montrose said she and other two women had been told to go to the five-star Dorchester hotel, in Central London.
Another woman, Denise Hewitt claimed that she and another famous lady had an orgy with her regular client, a Saudi Prince.
The Duchess of York’s biographer, Alan Starkie, reported she declined a $ 3 million offer from a Saudi Prince she called “Rubber Lips” who wanted to bed her.
May 30, 2010 : Starkie reported that “Sarah had no real source of income,” When her debts approached 3 million pounds, “I introduced her to a member of the Saudi royal family who was willing to pay it off completely,” Starkie said. “I arranged for Sarah to visit him . . he met her alone, clad in flowing robes and a lascivious grin . “When he tried to kiss her, she fled home and quickly called me, referring to the fellow dismissively as ‘Rubber Lips,’ indicating that when those lips sprung forward and plastered themselves upon her mouth, ‘it felt like extricating oneself from a suction cup’ as she pulled free”.
Prince Nayef bin Fawwaz Al Shalaan moved two tons of cocaine from Colombia to an airport outside Paris, using his diplomatic status and a royal family 727 jet, U.S. and French law enforcement authorities told ABC News. He is under indictment by U.S. and French authorities, but living outside the reach of American law in Saudi Arabia, according to Raffanello. The United States and Saudi Arabia have no extradition treaty. A trial for the prince’s alleged co-conspirators is scheduled to begin in a federal court in Miami. Prince Al-Shalaan also has an earlier drug charge — he was indicted in Mississippi on narcotics charges in 1984, and remains a fugitive in that case as well, according to the DEA.
Fabrice Monti, a former French police investigator, said the powerful Saudi Interior Minister, Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz, actually threatened to cancel certain business deals with the French government if the narcotics investigation of a fellow prince continued. “The Saudi government acts as one to set up a protective barrier between the Prince and French justice and threatened to not sign a very important and lucrative contract in the works for a very long time,” said Fabrice Monti, who has written a book on the subject.
The Guardian reported – November 16, 2007 – “It is a remarkable shopping list by any standards. And it has landed the Saudi ambassador to Britain, Prince Mohammed bin Nawwaf bin Abdul Aziz, the nephew of King Abdullah, with a possible £3m debt, and the embarrassment of having allegations about the ostentatious spending habits of the royal family laid bare. Bills he is claimed to have run up on an array of luxury amusements include, a selection of handguns and a trip to a hotel in Casablanca that reads : Girls : party night 5”.
The Scotsman reported (25 April, 2003) that two British men had been arrested in Paris on suspicion of running a multi-million-dollar call girl ring that allegedly supplied prostitutes to Princes, film stars and captains of industry. According to the Scotsman, the two men are also being investigated over allegations of supplying prostitutes to a member of the Saudi Royal family who allegedly paid nearly 2 million for three months of loyal service.
Moroccan newspaper, Al-Alam, revealed how women are being sent to Saudi Arabia under the cover of Umra visa. Once the women arrive in Saudi Arabia, they find that they are in the control of a prostitution ring.
Al-Quds, an Arabic newspaper reported that the Saudi Human Rights Centre in Jeddah was the source of the story about the prostitution ring operating under the cover of the Umra pilgrimage.
A Moroccan woman told Al-Quds that women were held in a brothel in Jeddah after they were granted a one-month visa to enter Saudi Arabia for the duration of the Umra.
Al-Quds also reported that a Moroccan journalist infiltrated a villa in Rabat, Morocco and was able to get closer to “the world of the Saudis”. In May 2002, she reported revealing the abuse that some Moroccan teenagers underwent at the hands of sex traders in Saudi Arabia.
The following report appeared in ‘ The London Times’. “Models, Sex and the Saudi Royal Family Princelings”
May 17, 2006 – The world’s largest modeling agency has launched an investigation into allegations that senior staff pressured girls as young as 13 into sex and drugs. Several senior executives at Elite Model Management, which represents the super models Naomi Campbell and Cindy Crawford, have been suspended following the allegations, filmed by an undercover BBC crew. The Mac Intyre Undercover program on BBC1 on Tuesday night showed Gerald Marie, the European president of Elite, saying that he was planning to have sex with girls in a modeling competition final. The average age of the girls was 15.
Mr. Marie, the ex-husband of Linda Evangelista, was filmed propositioning Lisa Brinkworth, an investigative reporter, when she was posing as a model. “I give you one million lire (£300) if you sleep with me,” he is said to have told her. The documentary claimed that two employees had been suspended after boasting about their sexual exploits with younger models. John Casablancas, the chairman of Elite, issued an “unreserved apology for the behavior of his staff captured in the documentary, saying that it showed “some of the darkest aspects of the modeling industry. Marilyn Models, a French agency, had attempted to prevent the documentary from being screened, but a court rejected the agency’s argument that it breached privacy laws. Casablancas does not mention the selling of models to Saudi princes as the darkest aspects of his business. John Casablancas was accused by Ilene Ford from Ford Modeling Agency of introducing young models to Saudi Princes.
Prince Faisal’s alleged Sex Rings
Prince Faisal built a marble palace on Kirby in the posh River Oaks section of Houston, United States.
He had procurers go to various areas where young people congregated and bring them back to his palace. The Prince had a continual party fueled by a stream procured teenagers both male and female. It was relatively easy for the procurers as the word got out about the sumptuous surroundings of the Prince. The prince had the best of foods, drink and drugs available every day for his continual party. It is reported that there was a hushed scandal, where after the prince left abruptly apparently never to return.
Mohammed Al Fassi, brother-in-law of Prince Turki of Saudi Arabia became so infamous with his perpetual party at his palace in Beverly Hills that he was chased out of the town by his neighbors after an infamous scandal.
SAUDI ROYALS’ CHILD SEX SLAVE TRADE
Human slavery, in various formats, is widespread in Saudi society even today. Saudi Arabia was among the last nations who, under pressure from United Nations, outlawed slavery in 1962. However, only 10,000 slaves were freed in 1962 and remaining large number was kept captive. In 1965 the Saudis were reported to have kept hundreds of slaves for each member of the Royal family.
With respect to human trafficking, Saudi Arabia was designated, together with Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and some other countries as a Tier 3 country by the US State Department in its 2005 ‘Trafficking in Persons Report’ required by the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000. Tier 3 countries are “countries whose governments do not fully comply with the maximum standards and are not making significant efforts to do so.” In 2006, 2007 and 2008 Reports, the US State Department continues to designate Saudi Arabia as a Tier 3 country.
“In actuality, young women from Third World countries are purchased to serve in aristocratic households throughout the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. They come from the Sudan, Thailand, Ethiopia, India, Philippines, and many other countries and are frequently bought and sold in the Kingdom”. Wrote Mary Doreen,who worked as registered Nurse at King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center, in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In her book, “Surreal in Saudi”, available at amazon.com, Mary Doreen documents how Shaikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, a famous and revered religious authority in Saudi Arabia, professes: “Slavery is part of jihad, and Jihad will remain as long as there is Islam.” (World Net Daily, 2003).
Arab News, Saudi Arabian English daily reported on Friday, September 1, 2006 — “Homaidan Al-Turki, a 37-year-old Saudi was convicted in Colorado, US for sexually assaulting his Indonesian housekeeper and keeping her as a sex slave and was sentenced to 27 years to life in prison.
Homaidan Al-Turki is not an isolated case. It is reported that thousands of young women are lured to Saudi Arabia every year from all parts of the world for better life, but they end up as sex slaves.
Many in Saudi Arabia, including their religious Wahhabi clerics advocate human slavery. Shaikh Saleh Al-Fawzan, currently member of the Permanent Committee for Islamic Research and Fatawa, Saudi Arabia’s highest religious establishment, is reported to have advocated for human slavery by saying “Slavery is a part of Islam”, and that those Muslims who oppose slavery “are ignorant, not scholars”.
Saudi Royals are famous for clandestine purchasing of large number of Child Sex Slaves in the world. Earlier, these slaves were procured from Africa and poor Asian countries. However, with the current inflow of oil wealth, Saudi Princes have extended their slave purchases all over the world. Oil wealth has enabled them to become more selective and specialized in Child Sex Slave purchases in the high end European and North American market.
The Middle East Times reported that “Saudi Princes dehumanize child sex slaves obtained through their sex rings by demeaning them and calling them whores so as not to come into conflict with Saudi religious tenets”.
Saudi Government claims their country is free from Slavery but are hesitant to allow international scrutiny of their claim. They continue to refuse to sign United Nations treaties on slavery and human rights abuses, probably because they do not want to be covered under these obligations. They have not signed any extradition treaty even with United States to protect members of Royal family being extradited out of Saudi Arabia for their alleged sex crimes.
The US State Department in their human rights report have justified Saud family’s (child sex) abuse and slavery by saying:
“It is part of the Saud family culture deeply embedded within the mores and filches of the society”.
Look at the strange lustful behavior of these Saudis. They seem to be worshiping Lingerie Mannequins at the Shopping Mall
The Middle East Times reported: “There’s no capability for reform, no strong character to stop the Princes from corruption. They are so used to spending huge amounts of money. You couldn’t tell them — you don’t need 20 whores for the night, just one or two. Or you’ve got 20 whores in the palace, do you need to get two or three whores for every one? Someone like Prince Bishai Bin Abdulaziz; try to stop him and he’ll come and kill you. The Saudi princes dehumanize child sex slaves obtained through their sex rings by demeaning them and calling them whores so as not to come into conflict with Saudi religious tenets”.
The Committee for the Defense of Legitimate Rights in Saudi Arabia based in London through their Saudi dissident leader Mr Masari said: One Regional Governor, whom he accused of tolerating drug users and child sex rings, Prince Mohammed bin Fahd, Governor of the Eastern Province has been accused by the Al Saud newsletter of condoning sex slavery within his administered area. It is reported that Governor Prince Mohammed is an active participant in the child sex rings of the Eastern Province. He has parties for his friends with child sex as the main entertainment. Governor Prince Mohammed likes Hollywood where there are many boys and girls from which to entice into becoming sex slaves in Saudi Arabia under the ruse of film and modeling contracts. These sex slaves are allegedly sold and resold until they are used up whereupon they are helicoptered over Rubal Khali and dumped.
Saudi Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al-Saud killed his male black Sex Slave in Landmark Hotel, London.
The killer Prince (in the picture) tried in vain to hide his homosexuality from the British Court and had been filmed on a closed-circuit camera, mercilessly beating his Sex Slave Bandar Abdulaziz in a London Hotel elevator.
The Sex Slave had so many internal injuries, including bleeding on the brain and a fractured larynx, that pathologists could not pinpoint the precise cause of death after his body was found in the posh Landmark Hotel.
Prince Saud Abdulaziz bin Nasser Al-Saud is not an stray case of Saudi Royals’ homosexuality. It is reported that there is a huge majority of Princes who opt for young boys.
It is not just the Royals or the rich, vibrant communities of men who enjoy sex with other men can be found in cosmopolitan cities like Jeddah and Riyadh. They meet in schools, in cafés, in the streets, and on the Internet. Watch typical gay parties in Saudi Arabia in the following Video clips.
“You can be cruised anywhere in Saudi Arabia, any time of the day,”said Radwan, a 42-year-old gay Saudi American who grew up in various Western cities and now lives in Jeddah.
“They’re quite shameless about it (homosexuality and Bisexuality).” Talal, a Syrian who moved to Riyadh in 2000, calls the Saudi capital a ” Gay Heaven.”
“In Dubai, everyone is Bisexual”, a 22-year-old Columbia University Accounting student said at the party – Reported The New York times on January 13, 2011. Bisexuality is sexual behavior and orientation involving physical and romantic attraction to both males and females.
On 26th August, 2005, an American national wrote his own true story on a Website Forum about Child Sex Trade in Saudi Arabia, as follows:
QUOTE – And boys, lots of boys… I know this is fact cuz in my late teens I work for a Saudi who owned a large construction business and other ventures, basically he was loaded… He took a liking to me and on a few occasions I would go to his house to do some minor repairs…The man, I kid you not, had solid gold chandeliers, Persian rugs worth more $ than any of us would make here in 5 yrs, had every luxury you could think of….
He also had a ivory box filled with hash and huka pipes etc . One day he came out right and asked me if I would like to go live in Arabia and that he knows Princes there that would give me a life I could only dream of. I said bullshit so he actually called up a man and said here ask him yourself. I say hello and I ask the guy are you a real prince? He has this laugh and say´s in pretty good English “yes I am a prince” and then I hear him say something to people in the back ground and there´s laughing.
Anyways I ask him if he lived in a palace? he laughs again and say´s he lives an a palace as big as ten palaces! Anyways I said I´ll think about it, in reality there was no way I was going.. The guy´s place I was at showed me pictures of who I spoke to and sure enough the man looked like a Saudi Prince. I found out from Fred that Saudi has Thousands of princes, they have so much money they don’t know what to do with it. The palaces I saw in the pictures of his friends made American rich peoples homes look like shack´s. Amazing shit!
Anyways I said ‘nah’ on going, he asked me a few more times after that and kept reiterating about a life I could only dream of etc. If I was a little homo may be I would have gone, but I’m not gay and I probably end up tortured and dead. UNQUOTE
An American girl reported in a TV show that she was sold to a Saudi Princess who buys girls from United States as sex slaves
Sex Slaves from Philippines for Saudi Royals – Kanlungan Center Foundation, Inc. and the ‘Coalition Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific’ (CATW-AP) reported that a large number of Philippine girls are trafficked to Saudi Arabia as Royal family’s Sex Slaves.
The London Times reported: “The Philippines Government, responding to dozens of tragic cases of maltreatment, has warned young women going to work as maids in Saudi Arabia that they will be sexually harassed by Saudi men and slapped and tortured by their Saudi mistresses… “You have to ward off advances by your master, his brother, son and other male members of the household…” “The Philippines labor ministry has also told young male workers heading to Saudi Arabia that they must expect to be at risk of rape.”
There is a thriving industry of international child sex slavery within the United States and it has gone unabated for decades covered up by the assertiveness of Washington lobbyists representing the perpetrating countries, particularly Saudi Arabia. Saudi princes are the high end buyers in the US child sex slave market and demand the best product.
Time and again, the US media reports scandals when slaves of Saudi princes and their procurers brought into the United States, try to escape.
People in US initially came to know of non-parental child abductions when a US citizen enslaved and tortured by late King Fahd’s nephews was told by a guard in their palace prison the last person to inhabit his cell was a “US girl child whore slave”.
Soon, the extensive nature of abductions of US children living with their parents, for the purpose of sale to Saudi Princes, came to light in US media.
How does the US Sex Slave Trade operate?
The National Center for Missing & Exploited children reports: “Child pornographers (and pimps), like other sex offenders, look for victims in places where youth gather: shopping malls, fast food establishments, non-alcoholic clubs, video game arcades, bus stations and through unethical ‘modeling’ agencies. The fact that juveniles are being recruited from the community both for pornography and prostitution is most disturbing … runaways were spotted by pimps loitering in bus stations who approached the teenagers almost as they exited the buses… A primary method of procuring a juvenile for prostitution is through the use of feigned friendship and love. … They (procurers) evaluate what the young woman needed, created the dependency, and then took advantage of that dependency…. if a teenager was a runaway the pimp would find shelter for her… Through practice, many child molesters have developed a real knack for spotting vulnerable victims.”
The above is a favored recruitment method commonly used by procurers to obtain children of both sexes for sale. As the most prominent high end purchasers within the international child sex industry are Saudi princes, their demands are met in many ways.
Saudi princes are also reported to place “special order for children” through a picture of the child in a media or give a description of a desired child. In these cases the child is “snatched” from their parents or escorts in front of their houses; coming from school or at a store. It is believed that the child reaches Saudi Arabia before the local police develops a search procedure.
Saudi special orders for Child Slaves are placed in various cities with their local procurers from the barrios of Brazil, London’s Leicester Square, Paris’s Place de Pompidou and many such posh areas in the world. Due to the recent lax border regulations in Scandinavia, the Princes now get their fair haired child sex slaves from immigrant procurers. In the United States shopping malls, amusement parks and video parlors are prowled by procurers. The Princes not only do not like dealing with regular elements of the international child sex industry such as the street procurers but see the danger of the media picking their activities up, hence they started their own modeling agencies. The Saudi modeling ring recruit male and female models for some shoot in a distant land never to be heard of again.
The Pedophile Princes
Many of the Saudi Princes would definitely be considered pedophiles and child molesters if subject to the laws of the United States. Within their own country they would probably not be prosecuted as pedophiles. When a Saudi Prince abducts a child from the US, once in Saudi Arabia the child is considered his total responsibility to do with what he may.
The National Center for Missing & Exploited Children further reports;”Pimps placed legitimate advertisements in newspapers and interviewed women for secretarial positions. They told female applicants that no job was available or that it had already been filled. They, then attempted to date the applicants. With continued contact the pimp worked on the woman’s weaknesses and tried to find out if she needed large sums of money.
The pimps also placed advertisements for dancers, models or escort services. Showcasing was another technique in which applicants performed acts that were videotaped. While videotaping, the pimps try to discover if the young women were interested in making large sums of money. They (procurers) wanted to be identified as mind controllers, experts in understanding the vulnerabilities and dependencies of women and men”.
With quality product in hand, procurers will then send videos to Saudi Princes to meet their purchase orders. Once the Saudi Prince approves the child, he may ask that delivery be made near his plane in order to make a swift exit to Saudi Arabia.
It is alleged that late King Fahd’s sons’ control their child sex ring from their Beverly Hills palaces.
However, they learned from Al-Fassi palace sex scandals in Beverly Hills during the 1980’s and now rent motels away from their palaces to conduct orgies with children procured for them.
Around these motels they have a cordon of US security guards. An inner cordon is made up of the princes’ body guards, usually foreign.The younger the child the more desirable. These children are brought up through the sex ring channel to the point of purchase under the modeling or acting ruses of going to a shoot or set in Saudi Arabia. Upon purchase, children are then taken by limousine directly to the Saudi prince’s plane at Los Angeles airport. Using their diplomatic immunity, they manage to circumvent customs and immigration which allows them to ship their child sex slaves out of the US without the need of the customary passport. The children are then escorted directly onto the Saudi prince’s plane and flown to Saudi Arabianever to be seen again.
What happens to these large number of Child Sex Slaves in Saudi Arabia? Once they are used up and their short shelf life is over, they are disposed off mysteriously. Some people say they are helicoptered and dumped in desolate places in Rubal Khali Desert.
Life Magazine reports; “former Miss USA Shannon Marketic, in a recent lawsuit, claims she was imprisoned. She had gone there for what she believed was legitimate modeling work paying $3,000 per day … she tried to leave and was forbidden.”
In Miss USA’s law suite, she said, upon arriving, she was given a physical exam by a doctor ostensibly for country health regulations. Soon after, she was given clothes to wear for the evening. She said she was escorted to a room where she, all of a sudden felt drowsy and fell asleep. She awoke to find her clothes rearranged upon her body, like somebody had removed them and then redressed her.
We know from the Center for Missing and Abused Children that pedophiles keep photo/video libraries of their victims. It is reasonable to believe there are naked pictures/videos of Miss USA taken without her knowledge while unconscious. Even so, she was one of the lucky girls being high profile and whose parents knew of her whereabouts.
Washington still denies the international child sex rings prey upon US children. US based child abduction organizations funded by Washington will not admit on record to the international child sex rings preying upon US children for fear of loosing their funding. An old Washington maxim is: “He who controls the investigation wins.” Miss USA lost her law suit because the State Department granted Immunity.
The abducted children and their parents always lose out to foreign policy considerations of the politicians and their lobbyist associates who represent countries like Saudi Arabia. When members of an international sex ring are caught, Washington allows them freedom from criminal and civil actions by either giving them diplomatic immunity, retroactive diplomatic immunity or other State Department protection under the Foreign Sovereign Immunity Act.
US Models disappear one after the other
A new model comments: “At first I shared an apartment with two other models, one … I forget what her name was, who was there for three weeks and then she was gone. Disappeared … I know what I was getting myself into. I wasn’t like the naive girl from Podunk that came in and got drugged at a party and sold to the Arabs!
“Another international model disappeared on a (film) shoot with a nonexistent Saudi Arabian magazine, ending up who knows where? Middle East businessmen, and others get into the relatively small-time modeling game where most of the abuse occurs.”
A runway agent at the New York international modeling agency Wilhelmina reports: “A lot of Arabs were storming Europe looking for beautiful young girls”.
THE ORIGIN AND
HISTORICAL BACKGROUND OF
SAUDI ROYAL FAMILY
Historians have traced that the Sauds belonged to Anza tribe who were settled in Najd around 1450 AD. It is said that Sauds were originally Jews and shrewd Feudal Lords.
King Faisal (1906-1975), who ruled the Kingdom between 1964-75, confirmed Jewish ancestry of Saudi Royals. In an interview to Washington post on September 17, 1969, King Faisal is reported to have said “We, the Saudi family are cousins of the Jews.
We entirely disagree with any Arab or Muslim Authority which shows any antagonism to the Jews; but we must live together with them in peace. Our country (Arabia) is the Fountain head from where the first Jew sprang, and his descendants spread out all over the world.”
At a wider scale, the above statement can also be interpreted that since Jews are the descendants of Prophet Isaac ( علیھ السلا م ) and Arabs are the descendants of Prophet Ismail ( علیھ السلا م ), this way they are cousins.
It is reported that Saudi Royal family trusts Israeli and US mercenaries as their personal body Guards : US and Israeli mercenary security personnel working for private contractors are allegedly used by Saudi Royal family to guard Saud family Princelings. This Praetorian Guards use balaclava (face cover) and other disguises during security operations which allows for anonymity.
Saudi Royal’s Jewish ancestry is also confirmed from the fact that they have destroyed and eliminated the entire Islamic Heritage and established Salafism, a new religion in Arabian Peninsula.
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab
Ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1799), born in Uyayna in Najd, belonged to Banu Tamim Tribe. He studied in his childhood from his father. Later, he spent some time in Basra, Southern Iraq from where he traveled to Makka and Madina. All historians agree that his new thinking of rebellion against Islam was developed when he was in Basra. By the time he returned to his native town Uyayna in 1740 he had completely transformed into a rebel against Islam. He started propagating his new ideology claiming that the entire population of Muslims of Arabian Peninsula and that of the world was Mushrikeen and that what he was preaching was real Islam.
It is reported that initially Abd al-Wahhab managed to convert Uyayna’s Town In-charge Uthman Ibn Mu’ammar into his new religion and with his support started implementing his new ideology in the town by force. The first evil act committed by Ibn Abd al-Wahhab was, by conspiring with Ibn Mu’ammar, one night, he destroyed the Dome and pious grave of Hadhrat Zayd Ibn al-Khattab(رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) who was Sahabi of Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) and brother of Hadhrat Umer Ibn al-Khattab (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ), the second Caliph of Islam. Destruction of the Dome and his anti-Islam activities in collusion with local Town In-Charge drew the attention of Sulaiman Ibn Mhammad of Bani Khalid, the Tribal Chief of Al-Hasa who was a good Muslim. He ordered the arrest of Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. The news reached Ibn Abd al-Wahhab in time and he fled from Uyayna.
Brief History of Sauds
Mohammad Ibn Saud was a shrewed tribal Lord of neighboring Diriyya, Najd who cared more about power, money and women, as had been the case with most of the feudal lords in medieval times. He gave protection to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and quickly envisioned the possibility of forming a State in Arabian Peninsula based on Wahhabism, the new religious theory preached Ibn Abd al-Wahhab.
Thus, the first Saudi State came into being in the year 1744 AD (1157 AH) when Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and Mohammad Ibn Saud formed an alliance and hatched a political conspiracy to establish a State based on Wahhabism, away from Islam. To cement the alliance further Ibn Saud’s sister was married to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. As per the terms of alliance, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab became de facto Minister for Religious Affairs whose job was to convert people into the new religion and create religious fanaticism in masses. The plan was to use newly converted religious fanatics to expand Sauds’ territory and eventually form a large Saudi State in Arabian Peninsula.
The following 190 years, between 1744-1932, Sauds fought wars with all Muslim rulers of Arabian Peninsula and were finally successful in wiping out Islam and Muslims from Arabian Peninsula in 1932 when Abdul Aziz declared himself as King of the newly formed state of ‘Saudi Arabia’.
Currently Sauds are planning to expand their territory into major part of the Globe using religious fanaticism of their scholars, particularly Dr. Zakir Naik.
It is in Hadith – ‘A person with eyes protruding, with a long beard and head clean-shaven (named Zul-Khawaisara who was from the tribe of Banu Tamim) came to the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم)and declared: ‘O Muhammad! (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) fear Allah(سبحانہ و تعا لی). ‘ The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) replied: ‘If I disobey Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی) then who else will obey Him? I am obedient to Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی) at all times and never disobedient. Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی) has sent me as Amin (Honest for the entire world, but you don’t accept me as an honest man? A Sahabi (Hadhrat Umer – رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ ) became infuriated and sought permission to remove him from the presence of the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم). The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) prevented him from doing so. After the person had left, the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) said: ‘From his progeny (descendants) will rise a Group who will recite the Holy Quran but it will not go below their throats. They will leave the Deen (Islam) just as an arrow leaves the bowstring. They will kill Muslims but spare the idolaters. If I ever confronted these people I would slaughter them just as the people of Aad had been destroyed’. (Mishkat, pp – 535).
Since Ibn Abd al-Wahhab also belonged to Banu Tamim, therefore, as per the above Hadith, he is indeed from the direct descendants of Zul Khawaisara. There cannot be two opinions in this context.
Imam Bukhari has quoted this Hadith from Abdullah Ibn Umar (رضئ اللہ تعالی عنہ) that Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) once prayed for Syria and Yemen. It is narrated that there were some people of Najd also present in the gathering and they requested the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) to make supplication (du’a) for Najd also. Prophet(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) continued saying: ‘O! Allah, Shower Blessings on Syria and Yemen’. The people of Najd again requested the Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) to offer prayers for Najd. The Prophet (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) said: ‘It is a place of tremor and mischief (Fitna) and the Horn of Shaitaan will rise from there.’(Bukhari, Vol – ii, P – 1050).
The above Hadith clearly specifies following conclusive points.
It is abundantly clear that the place called Najd is not blessedfrom Islamic point of view as Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) called it a place of Fitna and Evil.
When we look at the geographical position of Najd, it lies to the East of Madina. In other Ahadith, it is mentioned that Prophet Mohammad (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) pointed his hand towards the East and said, ‘there, that is the direction from where Fitna will emerge.
This place is deprived of the prayers of Prophet Mohammad(صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) .
Hoping of any Islamic good coming out of this place is against the Will of Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی).
In these circumstances, the Wahhabism or Salafism coming out of this place cannot be good or virtuous. As per Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) prophecy this religion is tribulation and fitna in Islam. We pray Allah (سبحانہ و تعا لی) to safeguard us from this Fitna.
The Arabic word used in the above Hadith is ‘Qarnush Shaitaan’, (horn of Shaitaan) which indeed refers to Ibn Abd al-Wahhab. However, in Misbahul Lughaat (page 663) (the dictionary used by Salafis/Deobandis, etc.) the meaning of this word is written as ‘One who follows the advice of Satan’. Therefore, as per the Hadith, Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and his devotees (Salafis) are the followers of Satan.
For the past 100 years, this tribulation (Fitna) has gradually swept the entire world. Millions of innocent Muslims have become victims of this movement. Wahhabis /Salafis and their like minded groups have mislead millions of innocent Muslims with the slogans of Shirk, Kufr, Biddah, etc.
The first Saudi State lasted between 1744 -1818 when their last ruler Abdullah bin Saud was executed by Ottomans ( دَوْلَتِ عَلِيّهٔ عُثمَانِیّه).
The second Saudi state was established in 1824 and lasted till 1890 in central Arabia; when its last ruler Abdur Rahman Ibn Faisal Ibn Turki was defeated by Al-Rashids.
Abdul Aziz bin Abdur Rahman Al-Saud (1876-1953) was the founding ruler of third Saudi Statein Najd. He had fled and took refuge in Kuwait in 1890 along with his father Abdur Rahman and entire family when Second Saudi State was defeated by Al-Rashids.
In 1901, Abdul Aziz returned to Najd and with the help of Kuwaitis, recaptured Riyadh from Al-Rashids.
Later on, with the help of British Government, he established his hold on entire Arabian Peninsula over a period of 30 years. In 1932 he formally declared himself King.
These 30 years saw several hundred thousands Muslims killed, all traces of traditional Islam erased and over 60,000 sacred graves of Sahabah, members of Prophet’s (صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) family destroyed and their pious bodies disposed off mysteriously by Abdul Aziz forces. In a nutshell, Islam was completely wiped out, Muslims totally vanished and Islamic Arabia was renamed as “Kingdom Saudi Arabia ( المملكة العربية السعودية)”.
Saudis did not stop at that. They gradually changed Ahadith books, misinterpreted Quranic verses and started massive Salafi Da’wa campaign in the world to legitimize their rule in the Arabian Peninsula. People say that the current plight of Muslims and their innumerable divisions in the world is mainly because of Salafi Da’wa carried out by the Kingdom spending billions of Petro-dollars wealth.
The actual number of Princes and Princesses King Abdulaziz fathered are not known. Some historians say he fathered 37 or 40 princes and around equal number of princesses while some others say he fathered more than one hundred children. Among the women who gave birth to his children, 22 have been identified by historians who say that the number could be much higher than that.
Historians have also mentioned that the personal life of the King was full of vice, with women, wine and wealth. He had unknown number of beautiful young women in his Harem and a large nursery of Princes and Princesses born to these women.
Be it King or pauper, Islam allows only 4 wives, that too on certain conditions. The children born to women used by the King for sex are known, in Islamic Law, as illegitimate forbidden children. There is harsh punishment for fornication in Islam. We all know, everyone has to pay for his evil deeds. There is no escape in Hereafter.
The King consolidated his authority ruthlessly, killing every Muslim who did not convert to Salafism and destroying the entire Islamic heritage kept intact for 1300 years by successive Muslim Governments. His forces wiped out the entire geography of Seeratun Nabi ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم).
As an alternative to Islamic heritage, the National Museum at Riyadh built an elaborate pre-Islamic “art rock” helicoptered from Najd sands. In addition, many plush museum complexes such as Dar al-Malik Abdul Aziz, dedicated to the founding fathers of Saudi Kingdom, have now risen everywhere in the Kingdom. The Sauds’ goal is to erect gleaming, high-tech relics commemorating King Abdul Aziz and the ancestors of Saudi Royal family.
The other important goal of the Saud family is to eliminate the last remaining trace of Islam from Arabia, ie., the Green Dome of Prophet Mohammad ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) along with his pious grave.
It is reported that, during the last expansion of Prophet’s ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) mosque in late 1980s, Saudis have structurally partitioned the Green Dome from the rest of the Mosque in preparation for razing it into rubble by a powerful dynamite.
A pamphlet published in 2007 by the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and endorsed by their Grand Mufti reads: “The green dome shall be demolished and the three graves flattened in the Prophet’s ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) Mosque.” The demolition of the Green Dome has already been checked off “to-do list”. Even the pious body of Prophet Mohammad ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم), who is ‘Rahmtul lil Aalameen for the worlds, along with the pious bodies of his two prominent companions is now slated to disappear under the rubble and dust. Allahu Akbar, Allahu Akbar.
We pray for Allah’s (سبحانہ و تعا لی) help to stop Saudis from eliminating Islam and humiliating Prophet Mohammad ( صلى الله عليه و آله وسلم) in this manner.
We hope followers of Salafism in the world will think about these undeniable facts and come back to the straight path of Islam for their own good in this life and in Hereafter.
Income and Privileges of Saudi Princes
In late 1960s King Faisal issued a decree that every inch of the country that was not officially registered to a private individual belonged to the Saudi royal family. Thus the entire country is treated as private property of the Royal family.
The King distributed much of the land to royal family members. Princes sold some of the land back to the state and some to the public, but most they kept for themselves. Inside major cities or out in the remote desert, the country’s vast landmass remains private property of the Princes now numbering over 5000. They also treat entire Saudi oil revenues as their private wealth.
Every Prince is entitled to a monthly salary starting the date of his birth. The closer the relation to Late King Abdul Aziz, the higher is the salary. Like, immediate descendants of late King Abdul Aziz receive a 7 digit (millions) salary each month. The Princes are paid separate Salary for each of their official position. Like Prince Sultan bin Abdul Aziz, reportedly holds over 60 separate positions in addition to chairing dozens committees, entitling him to separate salary for every position. Governors are entitled to a special additional payment of SR 1 billion annually to be used at their discretion. In addition, every Prince is entitled to a Luxurious Private Palace or money to build the Palace of his choice, as well as cash from birth to buy expensive cars and other luxuries. Literally every thing is supplied to the Prince free from the State, like electricity, water, medical, security, education, etc. All State developmental contracts are essentially awarded to the companies owned by the Princes. Similarly, their business establishments and other incomes are free from State control and taxes. Anything coming into Saudi Arabia under the name of a Prince via Air or Sea is not checked by any Government Agency.
Daily Reckoning reports: “Not many people know that over 90% of Saudi oil comes from six oilfields discovered before 1970’s. Experts argue that these oilfields are now well past their prime. Ghawar oil field is the super giant and has provided 55-60% of Saudi oil over the past five decades! According to experts like Matthew Simmons, Ghawar is past its peak already and likely to enter into a major decline.” Rude Awakening comments: “Even the world’s largest oil producer may be running low on cheap oil”. Matthew Simmons, Chairman of Simmons and Company International, an investment bank specializing in oil industry says that “Saudi fields are aging much faster”. According to Simmons, “the Saudis need to strip water out of nearly every well and this is a sign that Saudi fields are aging much faster than the industry has planned for”.
Once Saudi oil reserves get more noticeably depleted the Saudi Royal family members have their pre-arranged asylum in the United States.
Bickering Saudi Monarchy’s Runaway Princess Sarah seeks asylum in Britain (jafrianews.com)
This entry was posted in AFRICA, Articles, Middle East and tagged abd al wahhab, Ale Saud, Allah, corrupt politicians, financial corruption, House of Saud, KING FAHD, Mecca, Muslim World, plunder wealth, Salafi, Saudi Arabia, saudi arabian government, saudi monarchy, Saudi Royal, saudi royal family. Bookmark the permalink.
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3 thoughts on “Ale Sauds The Yazeed of the Present Era , & their Unholy UnIslamic Acts , Background , and Zionist Connections Revealed”
balquis124 says:
Reblogged this on <a href.
Fahim Ur Rehman says:
I agree with almost everything in this article but I don’t see any videos that are referenced. And on what basis you have alleged Dr. Zakir Naik with the Sauds and their propaganda? At least I haven’t ever heard him saying any such thing that supports any of their actions. If you have some proof present it.
I agree with almost everything in this article but where are the videos you have referred to? And on what basis you have alleged Dr. Zakir Naik? If you have proof present it.
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Lady Gaga Unveils Panda Alter Ego On Japanese TV
'Gagapanda' jokes she's 'been eating a lot of bamboo this week' before revealing plans for 2012 tour, having babies and more.
By Jocelyn Vena
Lady Gaga appears on the Japanese talk show "Sukkiri"
Photo: Sukkiri
Lady Gaga is currently in the planning stages for her next tour. After wrapping up her epic Monster Ball run earlier this year, Gaga teased her plans on a Japanese talk show on Tuesday (June 28).
"All over the world and I'm already planning," she said of the trek, which she expects to kick off at the top of 2012. "I'm so excited I can't even go to sleep at night."
Gaga appeared wearing a black-and-white dress, with her hair done up in two buns and her eye makeup painted in two panda-like circles. "I really like pandas," she told the hosts of her look, adding, "pandas have paws, and I always tell my fans to put their paws up. I've been eating a lot of bamboo this week," she joked. (Shortly after the appearance, the singer even began referring to herself as Gagapanda on Twitter.)
She then played a little game called "Yes or No," where she was asked questions about her popularity on Twitter, her love of cooking, her clothes and more. She later elaborated on some of the topics. "My dream is to continue to make music and tour and do as much as I can to give as much back to my fans," she said. "Personal dreams? I suppose one day I'll have panda babies."
Gaga owned up to having one major fear, however. "The only thing I really get scared of is missing out on moments with my family 'cause I travel so much, so I call my mom and dad every day," she said. Asked whether she was scared of ghosts, Gaga said, "No, we can be friends." She went on to add, "I love Japanese monster movies. I actually believe in ancestors. I have a lot of family in my past like my Aunt Joann and my grandfather that have passed on and I talk to them."
What do you think of Gaga's panda-inspired look? Tell us in the comments!
Lady Gaga: Inside The Outside
Source: http://www.mtv.com/news/articles/1666533/lady-gaga-panda-japanese-talk-show-sukkiri.jhtml
Sarah Silverman Sarah Wynter Scarlett Chorvat Scarlett Johansson Selita Ebanks Shakara Ledard
Jun 30, 2011 6:01:17 AM
Photos | Michael Jackson's 'Michael' Cover Decoded Michael Jackson's 'Michael' Cover Decoded Related Artists Michael Jackson Source: http://www.mtv.com/photos/?fid=1651606 Sanaa Lathan Sara Foster Sara Spraker Sarah Gellman Sarah Michelle Gellar Sarah Mutch
Chuckie Will Debut Michael Jackson Remix In Miami Official 'Hollywood Tonight' remix coming to Miami Music Week. By Akshay Bhansali Chuckie Photo: Jason Ano/ One and Only Productions Leaving the South by Southwest festival, Lavo New York and Las Vegas' Marquee in his wake, house DJ Chuckie has his sights set on the week ahead. With Miami Music...
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Experiences of Coding an Open Source Winston Transport
Lately I've had the time to think about logging in microservices. There seem to be a lot of options, but after looking at them I felt that the open source community around SRE isn't as mature as I thought it would be. What I mean by this is that the most common options seem to require a lot of configuration and require at least some sort of deep dive into the documentation just to get a simple central point for microservice logs.
Since I already used Winston in my work, it seemed like the best option in terms of ROI for the job, which was gathering logs from around 5 to 10 Node.js Docker containers, and alerting based on that data. (For this, it's good to have some metrics as well.) At first I looked into winston-elasticsearch, since Elasticsearch had a lot of freedom in terms of data analysis, and it seemed like a no-brainer since it came up on every related search.
After trying it for a while it really started to feel a bit too resource-intensive for the job at hand. That's when I remembered bumping into Grafana's Loki on Github, and reading a blog post about its no frills approach to logging, which I really liked. Being a Grafana product, the integration with Grafana should be a breeze. Since time wasn't an issue, I decided dipping my toes in making a custom transport for Winston for Loki.
Starting the project I didn't realize how alpha software Loki really was; at the time of my first release, Loki couldn't handle duplicate timestamps. That thing really can be a bummer if you're not putting out timestamps with millisecond precision, and even then, you would be almost guaranteed to run into issues if you had more than one service spewing out logs. I first circumvented the issue in the transport layer itself, but soon realized it was not going to help enough due to what I just mentioned.
Loki is written in Go, so naturally the API is defined in Protobuf, but there's also an option of ingesting JSON. At first I focused on making a simple JSON transport, but after making that work I focused my efforts on making a working Protobuf transport in Node.js and kind of fell in love with it. I tested two options of libraries to working with Protobuf in Node.js, grpc and protobufjs. I ended up using protobufjs since it had a possibility to generate static code based on a protobuf file, so I could use less dependencies in the resulting npm package. Protobuf really felt that it worked better, and I got less errors testing with it than the JSON transport, but I'm still not quite sure if that's down to my or Loki's implementation. It's too bad the Loki API needs the Protobuf messages to be compressed with snappy, because that meant that you needed to install the snappy binaries on the machine (or container) you would be running winston-loki on.
This is the part where the power of open source software shone through. Shoutout to https://github.com/avaly, who pointed out the first issues in the project, with one being the snappy binaries being required for the package to work, even when not using the Protobuf transport. At the time of writing, it is possible to use only the JSON transport and snappy is an optional dependency. Another issue was the transport's batcher not sending remaining logs on process exit.
Perfecting the transport I really started playing with automated tests. Covering lines in coverage reports is a fun game, and pushing towards 100% test coverage you really learn all kinds of tricks with mocking all sorts of stuff from data to functions. Might not be for everyone, but I would recommend it to everyone, because you get an awesome sense of pride that you can show that every line in the code is well thought out and tested.
All in all it has been a great experience in making open source software, which really makes you think about testing, clean code and configurability in a different way.
By the way, I still ended up using the EFK stack. (Elasticsearch, Fluentd, Kibana) At this time, Grafana still doesn't support alerting based on Loki data, so you are forced to only exploring it in Grafana at this time. Fluentd was just too great to pass if you're using Docker and microservices written in languages other than Node.js. You can get everything in each container's stdout to Elasticsearch, and can even forward logs between fluentd nodes. It really is great, although a bit frightening at first. I'll keep developing winston-loki, and will keep an eye on Grafana Loki's development. Might even use it in some smaller projects.
Thanks to everyone who has used the npm package and given support on Github, really appreciate it!
Repository for the code can be found here: https://github.com/JaniAnttonen/winston-loki
NPM package can be found here: https://www.npmjs.com/package/winston-loki
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Musicians against apartheid at the Proms
The Proms is an annual musical event at the Royal Albert Hall in London. I didn't know but apparently it is organised by the BBC but now I do know I am not surprised that this year they have invited the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to perform. Here's a letter in yesterday's Independent protesting at the BBC siding with the racist war criminals of the State of Israel yet again:
Proms exploited for arts propaganda campaign
As musicians we are dismayed that the BBC has invited the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra to play at the Proms on 1 September. The IPO has a deep involvement with the Israeli state – not least its self-proclaimed "partnership" with the Israeli Defence Forces. This is the same state and army that impedes in every way it can the development of Palestinian culture, including the prevention of Palestinian musicians from travelling abroad to perform.
Our main concern is that Israel deliberately uses the arts as propaganda to promote a misleading image of Israel. Through this campaign, officially called "Brand Israel", denials of human rights and violations of international law are hidden behind a cultural smokescreen. The IPO is perhaps Israel 's prime asset in this campaign.
The Director of the Proms, Roger Wright, was asked to cancel the concert in accordance with the call from the Palestinian Campaign for the Academic and Cultural Boycott (PACBI). He rejected this call, saying that the invitation is "purely musical".
Israel's policy towards the Palestinians fits the UN definition of apartheid. We call on the BBC to cancel this concert.
Derek Ball (composer)
Frances Bernstein (community choir leader)
Steve Bingham (violinist)
John Claydon (saxophonist)
Malcolm Crowthers (music photographer)
Raymond Deane (composer)
Tom Eisner (violinist LPO)
Nancy Elan (violinist LPO)
Deborah Fink (soprano)
Catherine Ford (violinist, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment)
Reem Kelani (Palestinian singer, musician and broadcaster)
Les Levidow (violinist)
Susie Meszaros (violinist, Chilingirian Quartet)
Roy Mowatt (violinist, Orchestra of the Age of Enlightenment)
Ian Pace (pianist)
Leon Rosselson (singer-songwriter)
Dominic Saunders (pianist)
Chris Somes-Charlton (artist manager)
Leni Solinger (violinist)
Sarah Streatfeild (violinist LPO)
Sue Sutherley (cellist, LPO)
Tom Suarez (violinist, New York)
Kareem Taylor (Oud Player/Guitarist and Composer)
Miriam Walton (pianist, organist and French horn player)
I actually got this from the Israel advocacy site, Engage, where the first comment questions the musical credentials of the signatories though not the contention that Israel is an apartheid state as per the UN definition. That's left to the last comment by someone who appears not to know how the UN defines the crime of apartheid.
Labels: apartheid, boycott Israel, brand Israel, Engage, Independent, Israel Philharmonic Orchestra
Dana and Blumenthal do Tel Aviv
Joseph Dana and Max Blumenthal published their promised article on the J14 protest movement, and it is disappointing. The only part of Israel they see is the Ashkenazi middle class of Tel Aviv. That, the protest of that sector, which started the #J14 events, they dismiss as nothing more than an attempt to return to the Zionism of the “good old days.” Fair enough. Everything they say about the limitations of the protest movement, I agree. Although their attempt to offer a pop psychology of the “radical Israeli left” (two people, to be precise) should have been beneath them.
Then there is the bad part. Look at whom they interview, there is a media professional, a mainstream journalist, a young labor apparatchik, a think tank fellow. That is Israeli society? Tent protests happened all the way from Sderot to Kyriat Shmone, places as far in social outlook from Rothschild Blvd as Gary Indiana is from East Village. Even in Tel Aviv they were multiple protests, of very different social make up. Dana and Blumenthal note how the Rothschild encampment chose its location to resonate with the Zionist narrative. Yet veteran Mizrahi activists set up an alternative camp near the “New” central station, amidst piss poor residents, emaciated sex workers, Sudanese refugees and foreign laborers, picking a pre 1948 Arab-Jewish neighborhood destroyed by Zionist “development” as a counter-historical symbol of the crushing brutality and racism of Zionism in Tel Aviv itself. The authors apparently were in Tel Aviv, so why not interview activists who specifically decided against joining the Rothschild camp? Dana is Israeli and Blumenthal is American. Why is it that the only Israel they notice, the only people they care to ask for their opinion, even if only to dismiss them, are the Ashkenazi middle class of Tel Aviv? Is it because these are the people in Israel who are most like themselves?
Then there is the question of expectations. They challenge the idea that this protest movement could "initiate a process that will eventually lead to the unraveling of the occupation and discrimination against Palestinians." There are no doubt those in Israel, as well as in the world, who want to see Israelis leading the movement for Palestinian liberation. It is therefore essential to repeat a thousand times. Only a Palestinian led movement can liberate Palestinians. Besides, Palestinians have already initiated that process. So there is nothing for #J14 to initiate. But unless the Palestinian strategy involves new weapons coming out of science fiction movies, changing Israeli consciousness is going to be part of the struggle and part of the victory. That cannot happen overnight. It will be a process. Nor can it happen of itself. Activists are going to be an essential ingredient, and they will have to have strategies of engaging with that process that is going to be messy and often unpleasant. Israelis cannot see the occupation. That some of them might be able to see the state’s war against the Bedouins, perhaps for the first time, matters. That’s what a process means. This by no means implies that the process has a predetermined direction. On the contrary, the odds are bad, all the exits are in the wrong direction, and it would take both labor and luck to steer it anywhere better. Radical left activists in Israel only stand a chance of succeeding to turn their society around if BDS succeeds in the West and if the Arab revolutions really fulfill their promises, which is far from guaranteed. These different tracks impact each other even if they are not communicating with each other. This is what the petulant keyboard brigadiers like Yossi Gurvits, who whine about lacking “solidarity,” don’t understand, that what the left in Israel (the real left) needs most, is not a pat on the back, but our success in all the struggles that relate to Israel. On the other hand, it could probably do without being criticized for not staying home and watching TV.
Posted by Gabriel @ 2:59 am No comments:
Labels: activism, BDS, israel, israel tent protests, Israeli left, J14
People and justice in a racist state
I just got this from Independent Jewish Voices.
“The People Want Social Justice” was the main slogan of the masses. But who are the people and what is the justice called for?
The Hebrew word for People (“‘Am“) is usually associated with another word – Israel. “‘Am Yisrael” is the people of Israel, a religious and national term that relates to the Jewish people who live in biblical Eretz Yisrael or in modern Israel. Citizens of the state who are not Jewish, for example more than one million Arab-Palestinians, never consider themselves as part of the Israeli people (ha-’Am ha-Yisraeli) or of the people of Israel (‘Am Yisrael), as they are not part of the Jewish collective. This works also vice versa. When an Israeli-Jewish person says “we are all one people” it is obvious that the “we” includes Israeli-Jewish society only.
The “justice” desired by the vast majority of the demonstrators is also far from being inclusive. It is a good term, very catchy, and many in Israel want to be associated with the struggle to achieve it. But the fact that the protests began in 2011 – in a period of increasing privatisation in Israel and relative economic prosperity – proves again that the justice is actually “Jewish justice”, or at least a desire to stop processes of economic injustice alone. It is, however, by no means a genuine call for justice. If that was the case then the demonstrators would have been more willing to speak about the most obvious Israeli injustices, which began as soon as the state was established: the discrimination against its Arab-Palestinian citizens. Even with regards to the issue of building and accommodation alone, one can realise how severe is the situation: the lack of Master Plans for Arab villages in Israel, discrimination against the Palestinian citizens of Israel with regards to infrastructures, the letter signed by 50 state rabbis calling for Jewish citizens ”not to rent apartments to Arabs”, continuous house demolitions in Arab villages and cities in Israel, the refusal to grant building licenses to Israeli-Arab citizens, state-projects whose declared goal is to offend the Arab population in Israel (such as the project of “Judaising the Galilee”) and many more.
All these issues remain unheard in the current protest, and even the activity of one courageous tent (titled “Tent-1948″ or the “Arab-Jewish tent”) that tries to speak about these matters, seems like a drop in the ocean of the Israeli-Jewish protest. Instead, the leaders of the demonstration, so we heard, want the protests to remain a-political. In other words, please do not mention the Palestinian citizens of the state, and also not the 44 years of occupation, and not the money poured into Israeli military establishment and industry. Try to protest only about the common denominator of Israeli-Jewish-Zionist discourse. And if possible, also call it “justice”.
The article is by a Yoni. Whoever they are they certainly burst the bubble of the Israel advocates who are quite proud of the protests because they make Israel look kind of normal.
Ami Kaufman formerly of Ha'aretz complained on 972.mag that the protests in Israel weren't being covered by the mainstream media like for example violence between Israel and its natives and neighbours might be covered. As it happens the protests had been covered in the LA Times, the New York Times and the Guardian days before Kaufman's article but perhaps he would have liked an article like Yoni's to set out how a protest over housing can play in the racist political culture of the State of Israel.
Labels: Ami Kaufman, hasbara, Independent Jewish Voices, israel tent protests, Zionism
Brand Israel can't turn a liability into an asset
Here's an article in the Forward about how Israel's sexy branding campaign doesn't quite cover for the repugnant nature of the state and its policies. See how the writer, Gary Wexler, focuses on the problem of marketing Israeli products even in America:
I pulled out my smart phone and did a quick Google search. I found that Sabra Foods is owned by Pepsico Corporation. But as I searched further, buried under other information, I read that Sabra is a joint partnership between Pepsico and Strauss Foods. The next Google search brought up Strauss Foods of Israel.
Why is the national identity of Sabra Hummus not clearly stated right on its label, like the pride with which spicy red tomato sauces are called Mexican Salsa? Or tomato sauces with garlic and oregano are called Italian Tomato Sauce? Or Indian Curry? Or Greek Olives? Or Turkish Delight? Certainly not because other Middle-Eastern nations can also claim hummmus as their own cuisine. The Turks and Greeks claim everything each other cooks. The same with the Indians and Pakistanis, as well as Mexicans and all their Central American neighbors.
Is the Israeli-ness of the hummus hidden because of boycott fears, legitimately fueled by the smashing of Israeli wines in Europe and Canada? Perhaps. But isn’t America supposed to be the last bastion in the world of big Israel supporters?
I don’t blame Strauss Foods for positioning these product lines in America as “Mediterranean.” They’re in the business of selling food, not selling Zionism. The unfortunate truth, though, is that “Israel,” associated with anything except hi-tech and security products, is proving to be an increasing liability, especially when it is identified with mass consumer goods. Even with all the efforts of Camera, the Israel Project, the Jewish Federations and all the other organizations that blast my email inbox daily with defensive statements, Israel is increasingly emerging as the world’s pariah nation.............
It has become clear that the world doesn’t care about Israel’s wines, its Bauhaus architecture, its fashion, its alluring women, its sexy gay men, its beaches, its ballet or its hummus. The world, its media and its university campuses are riveted upon Israel’s relationship with the Palestinians as well as the state of its democracy.
No, the answer to Israel’s image problems does not depend upon the marketing. It depends first upon the policies.
Actually it might be the state itself that is hard to sell.
Labels: BDS, boycott, brand Israel, hasbara
The lobby in the UK
There are two curious pieces in Friday's Jewish Chronicle. The first describes how
The [UK] government has been forced into an embarrassing climbdown after a minister described Israel's security barrier as a "land grab" and said that Israel deliberately took water away from the Palestinians.
The minister's remarks were in a video. Here's more detail:
In the video Mr Duncan declared: "The wall is a land grab. It hasn't just gone along the lines of the proper Israel boundary. It's taken in open land which actually belongs to Palestine". He added: "Israeli settlers can build what they want and then immediately get the infrastructure so that takes the water deliberately away from Palestinians here."
The UK has previously told Israel that it believes the security barrier encroaches on Palestinian territory and the government has a consistent policy of opposition to settlement building.
The Board of Deputies wrote to Mr Duncan on Monday to demand the withdrawal of the video, copying in his boss, Development Secretary Andrew Mitchell, and Foreign Secretary William Hague.
The video was taken down shortly afterwards.
So the Board of Deputies can effectively order the removal of a video from a UK government website but it gets worse. In a front page comment, Martin Bright, the JC's political editor wrote the following, under the headline, It was a Palestinian narrative:
Ministers are in a very difficult position on this matter because Mr Duncan was, strictly speaking, doing no more than expressing official UK government policy. It does believe that Israel has failed to keep to its borders in constructing the security wall, and it is opposed to settlement building and the implications for natural resources such construction brings with it.
So a UK minister has used a video on a government website to express government policy on Palestine and the Board of Deputies of British Jews has told him not to do that. And he has dutifully removed the video from the site.
We now have two front page articles in the most recent edition of the Jewish Chronicle boasting of a Jewish lobby group's ability to affect government behaviour and policy. Next week perhaps there will be a couple of front pages telling us that it is antisemitic to speak of a Jewish lobby.
In fairness to Jews like me, it should be called the zionist lobby and the Board of Deputies should make it clear it only represents a zionist perspective. But of course honesty has never been the best policy for zionists and honesty is certainly not going to be the policy of either the Board of Deputies or the Jewish Chronicle any time soon.
Labels: Board of Deputies, Israel lobby, Jewish Chronicle, Jewish lobby, Martin Bright
Israel murder campaign against Gaza continues
Notice how at the end the Al-Jazeera correspondent presents the standard false equivalence between Israel and Gaza. Mubarak fell and now aljazeera English replaced him.
The mighty Zionist struggle against racism
The relation between Zionism and racism never ceases to amaze. On the one hand, Israel's willing apologists can't see 90% of the racism in Israel. Some can't see 110%. On the other hand, they have an ear with absolute pitch and subliminal sensitivity, that identifies not just racist notes, but even forth and fifth harmonics of racism, no matter how inaudible even to expert musicologists. But they hear those exquisitely difficult to hear tones on two conditions only: 1. The victim of racism is not an Arab. 2. The "perpetrator" of racism has criticized Israel. If those two conditions are not met, you can treat these "anti-racist" lions to the crudest racist diatribes and be certain they will never ever roar. Such ears, carefully attuned to hear only what's important to the hunt and discard everything else, are an evolutionary marvel fit for a David Attenborough TV special. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect the Volcani Center found a way to genetically engineer that old Zionist dream, a "new man."
The latest example is Adam Holland's assault on Silverstein's "racism." Now, if you want to know who Adam Holland is, it would be enough to note that he lists among his recommended links, MEMRI, a US government funded, Israeli security apparatus initiated, pro Saudi antisemitism, but otherwise Islamophobic, (mis)translation and disinformation service. You can go through his blog, but I saw nothing there to cast doubt on the idea that Adam Holland major concern is defending Israeli apartheid.
Holland is unhappy that Richard Silverstein dared criticize a Black politician for taking AIPAC's blood stained money and for writing (was it a quid pro quo, or just the appearance thereof?) a nauseating op-ed in Der Jerusalem Stürmer. I must thank Silverstein for reading through that filth, as I would otherwise not know of it. In that op-ed, Jesse Jackson "advises" Palestinians (like a Mafioso, without even saying it) not to seek UN recognition, and worse, not to engage is massive civil, non-violent protest, because of the negative effect that this will have on the US. To add to the injury, he used Martin Luther King as his inspiration for that advice! In the same breath, Jackson also criticized Palestinians for NOT having a non-violent resistance (which is a lie) AND attacked (in a racist, ad hominem way) Marwan Barghouti for calling for non-violent resistance, AND advocated himself that Palestinians should be "pursuing a path of nonviolent active resistance." In this mishmash of lies and nonsense, he also approvingly cited Israel's top fascist Avigdor Lieberman, commended Netanyahu for his willingness to meaningless "talk," and, in a telling reflection of this knave's genuflection before US and Israeli militarism, referred to his own visit in Israel as "boots on the ground."
To be clear, other than the fact that Jackson used MLK to justify surrender to racism, there was nothing about Jackson's performance to which the fact that he is African-American makes any difference. It was the kind of weaseled, uninformed, stupid, anti-people, militaristic, genuflecting and obsequious to power performance that one expects from anyone feeding at the trough of US gunboat capital. That is also a point on which I will disagree with Silverstein, since his focus on the Black Caucus's relation with AIPAC did not include any substantial argument related to their role as representatives of African American interests, there was no reason to criticize Black representatives separately from white representatives on matters where there is really no difference between the two.
What is Holland's smokin' gun? Silverstein spelled words without the final 'g', "whorin' and schnorrin'". That, according to Holland's exquisitely tuned ear, is supposed to be a parody of African American linguistic practices. puleeeeze! Is that it! Dropin' that f**in' g' is racist? As Silverstein points out, the phrase was applied to Congress, not to Jackson, and the usage is all American, just listen to George Bush speakin'. It could have been a racist overtone if Silverstein had used the form specifically to parody Jackson, which he didn't. But here's a deal, dear Adam, if you support the Palestinian Right of Return, I will support legislation that forbids Jewish Israelis from using expressions such as "dir balak" as well as mangling "yl'an dinak." Together we can score two against racism!
Then Holland got exercised by Silverstein's reply, titled "The Negro's greatest friend," a title which Holland found offensive. I assume it was supposed to be offensive, because it was clearly meant to offend Holland by painting him as a kind of benevolent white guy who supported slavery but got really offended when slave owners didn't use Mr. and Mrs. when talking to their slaves. If that was Silverstein's intention, bully! Although the pose Holland is striking is worse. Holland is using false accusations of racism against one group of people, African Americans, in order to defend racism against another group of people.
Far from us however to discourage Holland from his new commitment to fighting racism. We certainly need more people. Here are some interesting topics that, given his present activities, suggest Holland might be uniquely qualified to tackle: the use of white racist imagery and arguments in the US political discourse in support of Israel mass murdering of Palestinians, for example, by Rabbi Hier. The use of the false accusation of antisemitism in order to derail African-American attempt to win reparations. The role of Zionist donations in undermining political representation for poor and oppressed African American communities. The historical ties between Black liberation movements and Palestine. The link between Black struggle and BDS. One can go on. Lots of work for you, Adam! We'll keep an eye on your progress.
Afterthought:
Mondoweiss, as usual, was first on the story, and as often, got high on its hobby horse and missed the point. Although it is surprising he didn't, Holland did not define the phrase "pro-Israel rich Jews" as racially offensive, although he clearly didn't like it. His attack on Silverstein was, for a change, not riding on antisemitism, but on racism against Blacks. That is also common Zionist practice, and something worth criticizing in its own sake, not only in solidarity with Palestinians, which Weiss gets, but also in support of the millions of African Americans who continue to be victims, as jail inmates and their families, as poor people, as evictees, as unemployed, of US imperialism, militarism, racism and capitalism. That latter point, I am afraid, is still one with which Weiss has quite a lot of difficulty.
UPDATE: Another thought
The reason J Street attacked Silverstein has nothing to do with ideas. J Street is building power in Washington, and they need powerful friends. Jackson is the kind of Democratic weasel who is closer to J-Street ideologically. J-Street, by presenting itself as more "balanced," can help Jackson reconcile his African American voters with apartheid in a way AIPAC cannot. If J-Street cannot win Jackson, it has no hope of ever getting anyway near power. That is why it is defended Jackson.
Labels: J-Street, Jackson, racism, US Congress
No Israeli dates for Ramadan
Another "This is how it's done" video from London. This time of a successful action that got a store to pull out its Israeli dates and promise not to stock Israeli products in the future. compliments also for the store owners for quickly admitting their mistake.
Gideon Levy attacks Israel's self-appointed protest princess (from the left!)
Gideon Levy at his best, performing a public service with a full blooded attack, (from the left, for God sake!), on the phony, opportunistic, "social-democratic," (actually national-socialist) Shelly Yachimovich, who thinks the tent protest is her ticket to the PM office.
The fake left came out of the closet once again this week, and this time it's called Shelly Yachimovich. In an interview with Gidi Weitz in Haaretz magazine, the candidate for the leadership of Labor revealed her worldview: social democracy without ethics, chauvinism just like that of the right - a distorted, disguised and laundered left.
Bad old Labor has come in from the cold: social justice for Israelis only. There is no such thing, except in a country where ostensible social democrats established the disinheritance enterprise. And now an ostensible social democrat is their successor.
Drink the olive oil produced in the settlement of Har Bracha (Mount of Blessing ), Shelly, whose curse you don't even begin to understand. You will find it tasty. But olive oil that is produced from stolen trees on exploited land cannot touch the lips of a person of conscience. You say that you are against boycotts? Any moral person will have to boycott you from now on. Anyone but Yachimovich in the primaries.
We already thought we had been weaned from that, that Labor had expressed remorse for the settlements, for which it bears more responsibility than any other party; Labor is their founding father. But even in the summer of 2011, Yachimovich sees no sin in them. The land was stolen, its owners are oppressed, their nation is battered, living under a tyrannical regime - one reason being the existence of the settlements. And the pretender to the throne of the left sees nothing wrong in that. She has a particularly original explanation. They were in the consensus. From now on, be aware: All the injustices and crimes of history will be justified after the fact, if they were in the consensus.
Nor does the princess of Israeli social democracy see any ethical problem in the disgraceful exploitation of Palestinian workers. She has never taken an interest in their tribulations, their checkpoints, their inhuman daily routine, nor in the tens of thousands of unemployed produced by the occupation, who are denied work because of their national affiliation.
She hasn't heard about the regime of separation in the territories, she is concerned only about the Jewish poor. But every night, half an hour's drive from her home, thousands of workers crowd at the checkpoints like domestic animals. Thousands of others sleep and are hunted like wild animals. That doesn't interest the priestess of social justice. Just as there is no social democrat in the world who isn't concerned about the rights of the immigrants in his country, there is no genuine Israeli leftist who won't fight against this injustice.
Nor does Yachimovich see any connection between the huge sums that stream into the settlements on the one hand, and social hardship on the other. The philosopher of the left says "that is unrelated to the situation." Why? Because a school that is built in the settlements would have been built in Israel. For her too, money is everything, as it is for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and businessman Nochi Dankner. But even if we set aside the huge expenditures allocated for protecting the students of this school and the inflated budgets of the settlers' networks, what about the immorality of building it, for heaven's sake? It doesn't interest her.
With a left like that we no longer need a right. Just when an impressive social protest has awakened here, one of its spiritual leaders is taking us back to Labor's dark days, when with one hand it presumed to take care of the workers and with the other it was involved in disinheritance. Just when it seemed that Israelis were beginning to ask the right questions, this idea came and hit us between the eyes. Yachimovich's justice remains chauvinist justice.
The interview with her is important: it exposed a truth. About 10 months ago, I published an article about her in this newspaper, entitled: "Sweden's welfare minister." I thought at the time she was suited to be a Scandinavian welfare minister, but (still ) not an Israeli leader. At the end I wrote - excuse me for the lack of modesty - "Run, Shelly, run, but finally get up your courage and wave all the flags."
I naively believed at the time that Yachimovich's problem stemmed from opportunism and a lack of courage to risk getting burned, and that was why popular struggles - such as those against the tycoons and in favor of the workers - sufficed for her. I thought that deep in her heart she understood that social justice does not go hand in hand with occupation, and that only fear was silencing her. I was wrong.
It was neither opportunism nor cowardice, but something far worse. A provincial and benighted worldview, with a double standard, which maintains that social justice stops at the Green Line. Now all those who favor social justice must rid themselves of this enemy of justice. A star was born in Labor, and she is the star of the chauvinists and the settlers. (Haaretz, 21 August 2011 )
There is a simple principle that can save everyone a lot of unnecessary question marks. Nothing good ever comes of Israel's labor party. (btw, Levy is too generous. Yachimovich is both benighted and opportunistic. She endorses racism because she is a racist, and because in Israel racism opens doors and qualifies for the high office she craves. )
Smash something!
With all the moral panic about riots that is washing over the UK, the sadistic response of the state, the tsk-tsk-ing of the professional intellectuals, and even the attempts of revolutionaries to correct the mistakes of the masses, such as the failure of the hoi polloi to attack the right targets, missing is an actual apology for rioting (the word 'apology' is used in here in the classical sense, not an expression of regret, but a defense in the court of letters, an archaism which is appropriate because riots have been with us at least since a beret wearing animal wrote a note on Eve's facebook wall, inciting her to help herself to someone else's private property, God forbid!
Good historians (or as they are known affectionately in the nuttier parts of the spectrum, "cultural Marxists") have long noted that riots are guided by theories about right and wrong, and in particular, theories about what the economy should look like. E.P. Thompson cleared the way in his groundbreaking article about the 18th century English food riots, "The moral economy of the English crowd in the 18th century." As happens to all good ideas, it spawned an industry of "riot studies," ranging from the awful to the brilliant. Among the latter, a special word of recommendation is requisite for Le Roy Ladurie's Carnival in Romans, as well as for EP Thompson's own "Whigs and hunters: the origin of the Black Act," in which Thompson examines the social origins of another sadistic response of the British state to rioters. Who says the English don't value tradition?
The following is not a "riot study," and will therefore stay clear from any half-baked sociological observation, but a defense, on the level of principle, of riots in general, not of this particular riot with its particular grievances and trajectories. This is not to say that riots are good strategy, or that this riots was good strategy, or that I disagree with all the critique of the riot offered by people who do know better (a category excluding everyone in the mainstream press or political establishment). But a fair balance sheet has two columns. This is strictly about the less mentionable one, the positive.
Riots redistribute
In the wake of recent weeks in London, the Gini Coefficient of the UK inched down 0.00002 (a wild guestimate). Surely, burning cars is not the most efficient way of lowering the Gini. But nobody else is doing even that much.
Riots are Keynesian
During the Great Depression, Andrew Melon recommended roughly the same policies that are enacted now by governments today under the name of "austerity": "liquidate labor, liquidate stocks, liquidate farmers..." In contrast, Keynes suggested that the government should hire people to dig useless holes and then fill them in order to boost the economy. While the UK government is on the side of Melon, the rioters are objectively on the side of Keynes. Every smashed window has to be mended. Someone will have to be paid to do it (maybe even the brother-in-law of the person who smashed it). As a model of economic growth, smashing London is not as painless as Keynes imagined the New Deal should be, and yet it is a lot less painful than what the current UK government has in mind. It is also somewhat less immoral than the military Keynesianism of Bush and Blair, which consisted in hiring the people who might otherwise riot and sending them to smash Baghdad and Kandahar.
Riots are an expression of our collective super-ego
If one brings up Freud at all, most people (including Freud) think riots are an expression of our id. They are wrong.
Remember Hamlet?
What a piece of work is a man! How noble in
Reason! how infinite in faculties! in form and moving
how express and admirable! In action how like an Angel!
in apprehension how like a god! the beauty of the
world! the paragon of animals! and yet to me, what is
this quintessence of dust?
400 years later, have we improved on Hamelt's gap between the actions of angels and the quintessence of dust? Look at the world we've made. Slavery, genocides, billions of people degraded, not enough caviar in Harod's to feed millions about to die of hunger in Somalia. Is this the image of a creature "noble in reason," "infinite in faculties," "in action like an Angel"? And as we grow in power, as technology multiplies our capacity to act exponentially, as science and modern communication increases our apprehension exponentially, how much more crushing the magnitude of the gap between what is and what can be should be for us than it was for Hamlet's generation? Don't you feel like driving a sword through a curtain, or at least smashing something, just for thinking about it? You should. I mean, you should smash something.
Riots are participatory
You can't elect people to riot for you. That alone makes rioting infinitely better than democracy as a way of making collective decisions. True, it is not really a mechanism for decisions. Yet. But it prefigures, "as through a glass darkly," the potential of popular power. To be fair, this is quite ambiguous. It is a service to the ruling class that popular power should be prefigured only through such violent and destructive forms that would scare most people away from ever wanting to participate. We have nothing today remotely like the factory committees that sprung up in Allende's Chile for example. That is why it is so important to keep in mind the overwhelming presence of the dark glass, which is our current economic and political system, and to imagine, as difficult as it is, what it would be like to see popular power one day without it, "face to face."
Riots separate the women from the girls
I saw on one of the videos from the riots that made the rounds, a women walking calmly through the rioters, like an apparition, getting to a motorcycle, setting it ablaze, than walking calmly away. That was sub-zero cool. If you know a teenager looking for a role model, send him or her this video. It beats Christina Aguilera 20 to 1.
Riots reconstitute culture
George Bataille observed that the essence of human culture is waste, represented in all religions through the centrality of the sacrifice. Closed circuit efficiency and mindless accumulation, which are the central values of our economic system, are the opposites of human culture. There are not just wrong values. They are anti-values. Riots enact, (again, "through a glass darkly,") the potluck, a moment of shared, sacrificial, collective destruction that affirm humanity as surplus value, as that which remain after we satisfy our needs, as waste, as value that serves no purpose except for being consumed and destroyed, rather than accumulated. Think of Marx's metaphor of capital as vampiric, undead labor. Undead labor is labor that is prevented from dying. The riot is the ceremony of driving a stake through the heart of undead labor, in order to release the surplus value that was appropriated in it, and return it to its living, that is, to its dying, form, which, through sacrifice and "inefficient," but socially shared, waste, is the form of culture itself. A burning motorcycle is an offering.
Riots can be, paraphrasing Herman Melville, "my Harvard and my Yale"
When the cost of university skyrockets, the number of people who can afford to study the history of the Paris Commune within hushed libraries diminishes. Riots offer a democratic alternative, with low entrance fees and no artificial exams, for learning "political science", namely, what is the power of the state and what is the power of the people, how are each manifested and exercised, how the latter can overcome the former, and also, crucially, what doesn't work.
Riots exercise the cardiovascular system
This one goes without saying. Participating in riots also causes the brain to release endorphins, which feels good.
Artists against Israel's attack on Jenin theatre
This isn't news now but I only just received the following press release from "Friends of Jenin Freedom Theatre:
HUNDREDS OF THEATER ARTISTS AND SUPPORTERS PROTEST ISRAELI MILITARY ATTACKS ON THE JENIN FREEDOM THEATRE
New York, N.Y., August 17, 2011—More than 260 artists and supporters of the arts—including dozens of prominent playwrights, actors, directors, filmmakers, producers and theater professors from the U.S., New Zealand, Israel, England and other countries—have signed a public letter to Israeli authorities decrying the Israeli military’s attacks on The Freedom Theatre in Jenin, a northern city in the West Bank, Palestine.
The statement was hand-delivered today to the Israeli Mission in New York and the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C. The U.S. artists include Edward Albee and Tony Kushner, Pulitzer prize-winning playwrights; actors Susan Sarandon, Olympia Dukakis, Alec Baldwin, Mandy Patinkin, Kathleen Chalfant and Mercedes Ruehl; prominent theater educators such as James Bundy of the Yale Drama School and Catherine Coray and Mark Wing-Davey of the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University.
A total of 267 artists and supporters of the arts community signed the protest, which called the Theatre “a beacon for artistic expression, offering youth in Jenin a safe space in which to express themselves, and to explore their creativity and emotions.”
The statement urged the Israeli military authorities to release those arrested or make their charges public and to pay compensation for the buildings that were damaged.
(A full statement and a list of all the signers can be found at the end of this release.)
The open letter follows an Israeli army attack on the Jenin-based theater that occurred on July 27 at 3:30 a.m. during which soldiers hurled rocks at the building, knocking out many of the windows. The theater’s facilities manager was arrested, along with the president of the theater’s Jenin Board, whose home was also damaged.
On August 5, Israeli forces blindfolded and arrested a 20-year old acting student, part of The Freedom Theatre’s young acting troupe, at a checkpoint near Jenin.
“We have been very concerned about the health and safety of our colleagues since their arrests,” said Constancia Dinky Romilly, President of the NY-based support group, Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre.
“Our supporters,” Romilly continued, “have been calling the authorities in Jenin and in Washington but no one has given us any information about their condition or the charges facing them, if there are any. This is a truly shocking attack on a cultural institution in Palestine and one more horrific example of what goes on in a country under occupation.
For further information, call Jen Marlowe at 202-375-3492.
A full statement and list of signatories follows.
We the undersigned, members and supporters of the arts community, deplore the recent attacks in Jenin on The Freedom Theatre, its people and property. The Freedom Theatre is a beacon for artistic expression, offering youth in Jenin a safe space in which to express themselves, and to explore their creativity and emotions. The Theatre has the following admirable goals:
-To raise the quality of performing arts and cinema in the area.
-To offer a space in which children and youth can act, create and express themselves freely, imagining new realities and challenging existing political, social and cultural barriers.
-To empower the young generation to use the arts to promote positive change in their community.
-To break the cultural isolation that separates Jenin from the wider Palestinian and global communities.
To our dismay, the Israeli military attacked The Freedom Theatre in the Jenin Refugee Camp at 3:30 a.m. on July 27, 2011, hurling rocks at its building and damaging windows. During this raid, they arrested Adnan Naghnaghiye, the Theatre's facilities manager, and then went to the home of Bilal Saadi, the President of the Theatre's Board in Jenin, and arrested him after damaging his home. Charges against them have not been made public.
On August 6, 2011, while at a checkpoint crossing with members of the Theatre's acting troupe, soldiers of the Israeli military arrested, handcuffed and blindfolded Rami Awni Hwayel, a 20-year old third-year acting student.
Calls to the military authorities to get information about all three have yielded no information.
We call on the Israeli government either to make public any charges against the three Freedom Theatre personnel or release them immediately. In addition, we insist that the Israeli military pay damages for the destruction to the Theatre and to Mr. Saadi's home.
We call on all supporters of the arts everywhere, including our fellow artists and supporters of the arts in Israel, to support The Freedom Theatre as an inspiring source of cultural understanding and artistic hope and to demand that attacks against it cease.
Friends of the Jenin Freedom Theatre
friends@thefreedomtheatre.org
917- 991 -5653
Affliliations for Identification Only
Kathleen Chalfant, actor, New York
Henry Chalfant, filmmaker/photographer, New York
James Bundy, Dean/Artistic Director,Yale School of Drama/Yale Repertory Theatre, Connecticut
Miriam Margolyes, actor, London, UK
Lucy Sexton, Producer, New York
John Tydeman, O.B.E., Drama Director, Former Head BBC Radio, UK
Clare Coss, Playwright, New York
Karen Malpede, playwright/director, New York
George Bartenieff, actor/producer/director, New York
Joanne Beretta, singer, New York
Austin Pendleton, actor,director, playwright, teacher of acting, New York
Michael Cumpsty, actor/teacher, New York
Michele Zackheim, writer, New York
Ben Rivers, psychotherapist, applied theater specialist, California
Andrew Courtney, citizen, artist, photographer, New York
Ben Aylsworth, senior producer CBC TV, Ontario, Canada
Richard Congress, author, music producer, adjunct professor, New York
Adam Z. Grumbach, teacher, arts supporter, New York
Corey Johnson, actor, student, California
Lisa Fender, TV producer, CBC, Toronto, Canada
Carol Horwitz, arts supporter, New York
Haifa Staiti, arts supporter, Vancouver, Canada
Heidi Rosbe, amateur film maker, One Brave Thing, New York
Catherine Coray, arts professor, NYU TSOA Dept of Drama, director & curator, New York
Heather Davis, student, art writer, Montreal, Canada
Ann Cook, arts supporter, New York
Jenny Heinz, arts supporter, psychotherapist, New York
Jeremy Lawrence, actor, playwright, New York
Betty Shamieh, writer, New York
Bettina Aptheker, writer, professor, New York
Barbara Harvey, lawyer, arts supporter, Michigan
Detroit Chapter, Jewish Voice for Peace, Michigan
Barbara Howard, New York Theatre Workshop, arts supporter, New York
Vic Ulmer, educator, California
Barby Ulmer, educator, California
Waris Hussein, film,TV, theatre director
Grace Said, arts supporter, Maryland
Ahmad Shirazi, filmmaker, film appraiser, New York
Ann Shirazi, freelance illustrator, film appraiser, New York
John Erickson, arts supporter, Northern California Friends of Sabeel, California
Barbara Erickson, arts supporter, Northern California Friends of Sabeel, California
Jeff Jones, arts supporter, New York
Jane Stillwater, writer, actor, California
Helen Engelhardt, independent audio documentary producer, poet, writer, storyteller, New York
Kathleen Russo, producer, New York
Joan Countryman, arts supporter, Rhode Island
Christine Jones, artistic director Theatre for One, New York
Jeanie Shaterian, arts supporter, California
Joan Vieira, teacher, Texas
Brad Chamberlain, arts supporter, Washington
Nora Lapin, arts supporter, New York
Nitin Sawhney, Ph.D., assistant professor media studies, New School for Public Engagement, NY
Tony Litwinko, writer, editor, friend of the arts, California
Salam Al-Rawi, arts supporter, New York
Kelly L. Grotke, PhD, academic & friend of the arts, University of Helsinki, Faculty of Law, Finland
Catherine Hanna, director, teaching artist -theater arts specialist, New York
Bruce Robbins, arts supporter, professor, Columbia University, New York
Mohammad Sabaaneh, cartoonist, Palestine
Graham MacPhee, PhD, academic, arts supporter, Pennsylvania
Annick Le Floc’hmoan, arts supporter, France
Sunaina Maira, professor, writer, arts supporter, California
Ruth Tracy, arts supporter, Ohio
Allen Bergson, arts supporter, New York
Deirdre Bergson, arts supporter, writer, New York
Elly Bulkin, arts supporter, New Jersey
Kathy Engel, poet, teacher, activist, New York
Sybille Pearson, playwright, teacher, New York
William Ota, retired high school math teacher, arts supporter, California
Katherine Wilson, Middle East Studies Organization, Graduate Center/City University of New York
Vivian Zelaya, arts supporter, California
Mercedes Ruehl, actor, New York
Patricia Ann Abraham, arts supporter, South Carolina
Marjorie Wright, filmmaker, producer, New York
Mark Russell, director of the under the radar festival, The Public Theater, New York
Nejwa Ali, arts supporter, New York
Hazel Kahan, artist, writer, radio host, New York
Robert Bethem, arts supporter, California
Sloan Shelton, arts supporter,
Zamir Havkin, arts supporter, Israel
WESPAC, New York
Oskar Eustice, Artistic Director, the Public Theater, New York
Tony Kushner, playwright, New York
David Henry Hwang, playwright, New York
Mandy Patinkin, actor, singer, New York
Maria Goyanes, Associate Producer the Public Theater, New York
Richard Sentner, Jr., arts supporter, Massachusetts
Simone Zelitch, novelist, Pennsylvania
Suzanne Gardinier, writer, New York
Shaina Low, arts supporter, New York
Silvia Tennenbaum, writer,
Evelyn Crawford, arts supporter, Georgia
Sheila Slater, arts supporter, New York
Scott Kennedy, arts supporter, California
Terri Ginsberg, Ph.D., college professor - cinema studies Board member, International Council for Middle East Studies, New York
Maria Tucci, actor, New York
Naila Alatrash, theatre director, actress, Syria
Jane Adas, retired professor of music, New Jersey
Jennifer Little, actor, director, educator, New Jersey
Jonathan House, MD, arts supporter, New York
Michael Ratner, attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights, New York
Terry Weber, teacher, arts supporter, New York
Matthew Lombard, attorney, California
Jan Bauman, retired photographer and arts supporter, California
Leopold Lambert, architect, writer, New York
Clemency Burton-Hill, actor, writer, broadcaster, New York/UK
Sarah Schulman, playwright, New York
Orel Protopopescu, author, poet, New York
Mark Wing-Davey, Chair, Graduate Acting, Tisch School of the Arts, New York University
Martha Mangan, arts supporter, New York
Mangalika de Silva, arts supporter, New York
Michael Levin, musician, Illinois
Anne Bogart, Artistic Director SITI Company, Professor Columbia University, New York
Janet M. Fishman, actress, playwright, professor University of the Arts, Pennsylvania
Lisa Schlesinger, playwright, Illinois & Iowa
Caitlin Stilin-Rooney, arts supporter, Pennsylvania
Bob Zellner, writer, New York
N.M.B. Piette, arts supporter, The Netherlands
Khalid Franklin, arts supporter, New York
Willemijn Lamp, cultural entrepreneur, journalist, The Netherlands
Karin Pally, arts supporter, California
Pamela Cullerton, arts supporter, Illinois
Steven Fake, background/extra worker in film industry, arts supporter, Louisiana
Caridad Svitch, playwright, New York
Nikhil Aziz, Executive Director, Grassroots International, Massachusetts
Diane Lefer, author, playwright, California
Karen Platt, arts supporter, California
Chiori Miyagawa, playwright, educator, Bard College, New York
Judy Richardson, documentary filmmaker, Massachusetts
Jason Grote, playwight & television writer, New York
Elizabeth Hess, performer, playwright, professor, New York
Jane Hirschmann, arts supporter, New York
Richard Levy, artist, civil rights lawyer, New York
Margaret R. Zellner, Ph.D., L.P., psychoanalyst, behavioral neuroscientist, arts supporter, NY
Brian Pickett, theatre teacher, New York
William Tracy, editor, Washington
Shane Ann Younts, voice and speech teacher, NYU, dialect coach Broadway, New York
Iman Aoun, artistic director, Ashtar Theatre, Palestine
Cornelia McGiver, arts supporter, New York
Nhu Miller, arts supporter, California
Tom Miller, arts supporter, California
Roberto Gutiérrez Varea, theater director, Associate Professor, Performing Arts and Social Justice, University of San Francisco, California
Stephanie Gilman, educator, New York
Brenda Wehle, actor, New York
Edith Cacciatore, arts supporter,
Stephan Wolf-Schönburg, actor, acting teacher at The Freedom Theatre, Germany
J. Ed Araiza, actor, director, playwright, New York
Diana Wilson, musician/arts supporter/peaceseeker, California
David McReynolds, arts supporter, New York
Noelle Ghoussaini, playwright, director, arts educator, New York
Joyce Kozloff, artist, New York
Kathy Roberts, arts supporter, Massachusetts
Elspeth Murray, Company Manager, Puppet State Theatre Company, Scotland
Doris Soroko, writer, New York
Eldad Benary, sound engineer, supporter of the arts and of human rights, New York
Rich Siegel, musician/songwriter, RS Musical Services, New Jersey
Josh Perlstein, actor, director, university professor, Massachusetts
Esti Marpet, arts supporter, New York
Tom Freudenheim, arts supporter, New York
Louis Williams, arts supporter, Israel
Sarah Patterson, arts supporter, New York
Donald Patterson, arts supporter, New York
Susan Lourenco, arts supporter, Israel
Dyala Husseini, arts supporter,
Monica Raymond, writer, Massachusetts
Mary Dwan, painter, poet and clinical psychologist, British Virgin Islands
Theodora Skipitares, theater director, New York
Nancy Fleischer, arts supporter, California
Jeremy Kamps, writer, educator, New York
Gideon Spiro, journalist, peace and human rights activist, Israel
Rafael Magnes, photographer, New York
Ify Nwokoye, yoga teacher, Connecticut
Miriam Adams, Retired science/reference librarian/ researcher/Painter /cello player /arts supporter, New Mexico
Frank A. Walter, arts supporter
Sharon Mazer, Associate Professor, Head, Theatre & Film Studies, University of Canterbury, New Zealand
Camila Perez Bustillo, Lead Attorney, International Tribunal of Conscience, Pueblos en Movimiento, Mexico
Dorinda Moreno, poet, performer, U.S. Liaison and Rep, FuerzaMundial, TICPM, and Hitec Aztec Communications, California
Jose Galvan Galvan, director, actor, Mexico
Ron Jenkins, professor of theater, Wesleyan University, Connecticut
Betty G. Robinson, arts supporter, Maryland
Carolyn Harris, arts supporter, California
Gordon Fellman, professor of sociology, Brandeis University, Massachusetts
Thomas Haley, photo-journalist, Sipa Press, France
Meredith Whitford, writer, arts supporter, Australia
Carol F. Yost, writer, visual artist, student of acting and other arts, New York
Staughton Lynd, historian, lawyer, Ohio
Elizabeth Baker, art educator, Maryland
Roni Ben Efrat, writer, teacher, editor, Israel
Naomi Wallace, playwright, Kentucky
Kate Taverna, filmmaker, New York
Aline Alterman, librarian, philosopher, poet, France
Jackie Miller, theatre artist, New York
Libbie Frank, arts supporter and activist, Pennsylvania
Dorothy Burlage, PhD, child psychologist, Massachusetts
Susan Miller, arts supporter, Israeli citizen, Pennsylvania
Hanna Braun, arts supporter, UK
Karen Leonard, arts supporter, California
Ray Wofsy, arts supporter, New York
Rob Orchard, Performing Arts Department, Emerson College, Massachusetts
Susan Richards, artist, Pennsylvania
Judith Ackerman, actress, teacher, New York
Lillian Rosengarten, poet, writer, teacher, psychoanalyst, New York
Pam Benvenue, arts supporter, Georgia
Judith B. Solomon, ceramist, New York
Phyllis Bloom, arts supporter, New York
Sturgis Warner, theatre director, New York
Sherry Alpern, arts supporter, New York
Joel Simpson, photographer, New Jersey
Gloria Montero, novelist, playwright, Spain
David Fulton, arts supporter, Spain
John Roger Hammond, arts supporter,
Susan Sarandon, actor, New York
Andrew N. Rubin, professor, Georgetown University, Washington, D.C.
Alec Baldwin, actor, New York
Douglas Humble, residency manager, arts supporter, Texas
Jennifer Natalya Fink, writer, professor, Georgetown University, Washington DC
Sut Jhally , Executive Director, Media Education Foundation, Professor of Communication, UMASS-Amherst, Massachusetts
Kendra Hodgson, Media Education Foundation, Massachusetts
Susan Windle, poet, Pennsylvania
Dr. Wendy Galson, filmmaker and school psychologist, Pennsylvania
Leila Buck, actress, writer, teaching artist, New York
Joyce Ravitz, retired educator, arts supporter, New York
Robert Croonquist, arts supporter, New York
Fritzie Brown, Executive Director, CEC ArtsLink, New York
Hector Leonardi, artist, New York
Daniel McCarey, arts supporter, Massachusetts
The Theater of the Oppressed Laboratory (TOPLAB), New York
Kathryn Levy, poet, arts educator, New York
Charlie Cooper, arts supporter, Maryland
Joan Cooper, arts supporter, Maryland
Adam Mathias Bittlingmayer, software engineer, arts supporter, California
Sarah Dillner, Executive Assistant, Schooner Capital, Massachusetts
Vin Ryan, Chairman, Schooner Capital, Massachusetts
Jean Stein, arts supporter, New York
Edward Albee, playwright, New York
Etienne Balibar, Emeritus Professor of Philosophy, Université Paris-Nanterre
Distinguished Professor of Humanities, University of California, Irvine, France
George Beres, arts supporter, writer, Oregon
John McGillion, arts supporter,
Colleen Fitzpatrick, arts supporter, California
Hania Toubasi, arts supporter,
Amal Eqeiq, arts supporter, Washington
Skip Schiel, photographer, writer, and filmmaker, Massachusetts
James E. Vann, architect, arts supporter, California
Mahmood Karimi-Hakak, theatre director, Professor of Theatre and Film, Siena College, New York
Anne Remley, writer and arts supporter,
J Christine Yau, marketing, arts supporter, California
Leslie Angeline, arts supporter, California
Sacramento Regional Coalition for Palestinian Rights
Carol Ann Clouston, Prof. of Voice & Speech, American University in Cairo, Egypt
Stathis Gourgouris, Director of Institute for Comparative Literature and Society, Columbia University, New York
Nancy Farrell, teacher, arts supporter, Washington
Katie Robbins, National Organizer, Healthcare-NOW!, arts supporter, Pennsylvania
Anita Rapone, arts supporter,
Carole Monferdini, arts supporter, New York
Malkah B. Feldman, Grassroots International, arts supporter, Massachusetts
Victoria Mills, documentary director, New York
Sarika Arya, Yale University Fellow/ Director/ Arts Supporter, New York, UK
Jen Marlowe, filmmaker, playwright, author, Washington
Olympia Dukakis, actor, Jewish Voice for Peace, California
Elizabeth Cross, actor, arts supporter, Florida
Mariam C. Said, editor, arts supporter, New York
Erin B. Mee, Assistant Professor, New York University
Linda S. Chapman, Assistant Artistic Director, New York Theatre Workshop, New York
Kathleen Cleaver, law professor, writer, Georgia
Rebecca Vilkomerson, Executive Director, Jewish Voice for Peace, New York
Labels: art, Freedom for Palestine, Freedom Theater, Freedom Theatre, Jenin, occupation, West Bank
4 years prison for facebook postings
The establishment has gone bonkers. The government is announcing a new policy to deal with "disorder" every day, magistrates are being advised to ignore the usual sentencing rules when dealing with riot related defendants and now a judge has put two young guys away for four years each over stuff they put on facebook, inviting rather than inciting people to riot. Nobody turned up for the riot but the guys still got four years.
I told a criminal barrister last night what I thought I had heard on the radio and she was sure I had misheard. She actually convinced me for a while that I must have misheard.
Looking at most of today's front pages would also lead people to suspect that the belief that a 20 year old and a 22 year old had both been sentenced to 4 years in prison for what they posted on facebook was erroneous. Only two papers had the story on their front pages and they were The Times and the little i. I find that more shocking than the sentences themselves.
This Ian Bone chap puts it all much better than me. And on the riots more generally and the establishment responses to them, Mike Marqusee has a very useful article on his own site.
Labels: Jordan Blackshaw, law, Perry Sutcliffe-Keenan, UK riots
Fighting for equality in Israel's J14 movement
From theRealNews.com:
Labels: J14, racism, Zionism
Benny and the burqas?
Benny Morris gave a talk at the London School of Economics back in June this year. Because of his overt support for genocide in both Palestine and the US there were protests against his presence. Here is how he described an encounter with protesters against him near to the venue of the talk. Here's how Benny Morris described the encounter:
As I walked down Kingsway, a major London thoroughfare, a small mob—I don't think any other word is appropriate—of some dozen Muslims, Arabs and their supporters, both men and women, surrounded me and, walking alongside me for several hundred yards as I advanced towards the building where the lecture was to take place, raucously harangued and bated me with cries of "fascist," "racist," "England should never have allowed you in," "you shouldn't be allowed to speak." Several spoke in broken, obviously newly acquired, English. Violence was thick in the air though none was actually used. Passersby looked on in astonishment, and perhaps shame, but it seemed the sight of angry bearded, caftaned Muslims was sufficient to deter any intervention. To me, it felt like Brownshirts in a street scene in 1920s Berlin—though on Kingsway no one, to the best of my recall, screamed the word "Jew."
Further on in the article Morris uses the encounter to draw a wider lesson about Muslims and the west:
Another disconcerting element in what went on in the lecture hall was the hosting LSE professor's brief introductory remarks, which failed completely to note the harrassment and intimidation (of which he had been made fully aware) of the lecturer on Kingsway, or to criticize them in any way. My assumption was that some were LSE students.
There was a sense that the chairman was deliberately displaying caution in view of the world in which he lives. Which brings me back to what happened on Kingsway.
Uncurbed, Muslim intimidation in the public domain of people they see as disagreeing with them is palpable and palpably affecting the British Christian majority among whom they live, indeed, cowing them into silence.
Well I can't be bothered to watch the video of the lecture but it turns out that Morris was lying about the encounter on Kingsway.
If you skip to about 30 minutes into the clip you will see that there was nothing about the protesters to make anyone assume that they were Muslims or Arabs. It's not just distant history that Morris rewrites these days.
The Innovative Minds website has an article to accompany the video clip.
Labels: Benny Morris, hasbara, LSE, Zionism
On Hizbullah on Assad
Far be it from me to criticise heroic resistance to the State of Israel, after all I am all Hizbullah, but this Qunfuz blog has a very detailed critical piece on where Hizbullah stands on the repression now taking place in Syria:
One of my favourite chants from the Syrian uprising is the powerful and cleanly apparent illi yuqtil sha‘abu kha’in, or ‘he who kills his people is a traitor.’ It’s cleanly apparent to me at least – but not to everybody. Some kneejerk ‘leftists’ (a rapidly diminishing number) still hold that the Syrian regime is a nationalist, resistance regime, a necessary bulwark against Zionism, and that therefore it must be protected from its unruly subjects; that in fact it’s the unruly subjects, rather than those who murder them, who are the traitors.
Very sadly, Shia Islamists – Lebanon’s Hizbullah, the sectarian parties in power in Baghdad, and Iran – have repeated the same argument, not because they believe it but for tedious clannish reasons. Syrians aren’t very surprised by the Iraqi or Iranian positions; it’s Hizbullah’s betrayal which sticks in the craw. After all, until Hassan Nasrallah began propagandising on behalf of the regime’s repression, Syrians of all sects supported and admired Hizbullah. During Israel’s 2006 assault they welcomed southern Lebanese refugees into their homes. Indeed, the regime’s alliance with Hizbullah can in large part be credited to the Syrian people; the alliance was one of the regime’s only real sources of popularity. The Asad clique needed Hizbullah’s resistance flag to cover its own nationalist nakedness.
Sectarianism is the old curse of the mashreq, exacerbated in modern times by Sykes-Picot, minority dictatorships, Zionist meddling, and the invasion of Iraq....
Despite my disappointment with Hizbullah’s leadership, I still of course respect and admire their victories against Zionism. Look at this organisation, the first Arab organisation to confront and defeat the occupier: it succeeds because it is of its people, it fights for justice for its people, it arms its people. None of these things can be said for the Syrian regime, which arms against the people, and fears the people – which is why the Syrian regime will never confront and defeat the occupier.
It is entirely true that in a period of violent transition, with numerous internal and external actors plotting, nobody can know what kind of regime may rise after the Asads. One thing is certain, however: if the next system is to any extent democratic or representative, it will oppose Zionism, demand the return of the occupied Golan Heights, and struggle for the rights of the Palestinian people. The history of Syria (in struggle with Zionism since before the modern states of Syria or Israel were established) and the sentiments of 23 million Syrians attest to that.
I missed a big enough chunk from the middle to make the site well worth a visit and I wish he'd name some names of those he describes as "kneejerk "leftists"". But if you visit, check out the about page.
Labels: Arab spring, hizbullah, Qunfuz, Syria
This time we went too far
Who went too far? The Jerusalem Post. that's who. I reported on their disgusting editorial effectively blaming multiculturalism for the Norway killings and how a postscript to the piece tried to disclaim what the editorial was actually saying. Well apparently the disclaimer wasn't enough and now the Jerusalem Post has an editorial entirely devoted to apologising for the earlier editorial together with a couple of opinion pieces by two of their dodgy journos:
We hope that the Norwegian government and people will accept the 'Post’s apology and forgive us for any offense or hurt caused at this sensitive time.
Of course they only meant to offend foreigners living in Norway, not Norway's liberal establishment.
Labels: Anders Behring Breivik, Jerusalem Post, media, Norway, Oslo
The end of zionism?
This David Hearst article appeared in the main section of The Guardian yesterday. In it he explores the possibility of a one state solution for Palestine:
If Israel ends its occupation of the West Bank, and allows it to join with Gaza, the result could be two states – a Palestinian one alongside an Israeli one. But if you accompany that with a civil rights movement inside Israel, the goal could be very different – a secular, democratic state "for all its citizens", where Jew, Christian and Muslim are equal. A one-state solution in which Jewish citizens lose an inbuilt majority. The end of Zionism, no less.
It's a fairly innocuous article but it seems to have caused some panic at Harry's Place.
UPDATE: From Wodge in the comments: The panic seems to have spread with Norman Geras reporting the article under the headline, To hell with the Jews, no less. In his panic he went and let on as to why Jews are not a suitable case for self-determination which he takes to mean granting people of a given ethnicity a power of veto as to whether compatriots can come, remain or return to their homeland. A quick surf around other usual suspects suggests that it must be August and some dodgy academics are on holiday.
Labels: David Hearst, guardian, Harry's Place, palestine, Zionism
What do Breivik, CounterPunch, David Duke, Stormfront and the Jerusalem Post have in common?
Damn, no Atzmon on the list. I saw Duke and read Atzmon. Silly me or am I? It seems like only yesterday that neo-nazi David Duke was distributing his Letter to the Courageous Former Israeli Gilad Atzmon.
I ought to say that it is seriously not nice to try to make political capital over the slaughter that took place in Norway just recently though if there are political lessons to be learned then they should be and there are many outpourings on the web and in the mainstream media that are trying to glean lessons from the Norway killings that go beyond mere security issues. There are also anecdotes arising out of the commentary and I suppose this post just draws on and adds to those.
So, I got the title for this post from a comment under the Louis Proyect blog, The Unrepentant Marxist post headed, "What do Alexander Cockburn and the Norwegian mass murderer have in common?" For openers:
The short answer to that is an affinity for the writings of paleoconservative William S. Lind. If you do a search on “by William S. Lind” on the Counterpunch website, you will come up with 16,500 hits. It should be understood that many of these hits refer to the same article, but clearly we are dealing with someone who was at one point as much of a presence there as fellow paleoconservative Counterpuncher Paul Craig Roberts is today.
Last October Alexander Cockburn defended this orientation to the right in an article that referred to me as an “old Trotskyist lag” in light of my unaccountable inability to appreciate the Tea Party:
Contrary to a thousand contemptuous diatribes by the left, the Tea Party is a genuine political movement, channeling the fury and frustration of a huge slab of white Americans running small businesses – what used to be called the petit-bourgeoisie…
It could be Hilary Clinton campaigning against Obama.
As the thread develops through Cockburn's (and therefore Counterpunch's) flirtations and affairs, the Jerusalem Post's availing of the opportunity provided by the Norway killings to denounce multiculturalism to David Duke's similarities with the Jerusalem Post, a commentator put the following point:
So, it’s kinda boiling down to “what do Breivik, CounterPunch, David Duke, Stormfront and the Jerusalem Post have in common?”
So what's all that got to do with Atzmon. Well nothing really but very few have put a marker down on David Duke's letter to the courageous chap and I thought somebody ought to. Atzmon on line does a curious mix of bragging, hoaxing, sock-puppetry and smears and, of course, he is always welcome at Counterpunch. And now, Duke isn't just running articles by Atzmon, he is heaping praise on the man whilst setting out a racist position that he fears Atzmon may not have fully considered. Now given that Atzmon loves a bit of praise, I am surprised that he hasn't mentioned or responded to Duke's letter, not publicly anyway.
PS: Actually I think this shoah.org site is an Atzmon effort and it is happy to run Duke's letter so I'm guessing the great man is at least fairly pleased with it though even he has enough decency to be embarrassed by it. He shouldn't be embarrassed of course. He has no responsibility for who supports him and the shoah site links to Jews sans frontieres! Naturally I wish it wouldn't do that but it's not my responsibility. It might be my responsibility if I shared a worldview with the site owner or administrator but I don't.
Labels: Anders Behring Breivik, Atzmon, David Duke, Jerusalem Post, Louis Proyect
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Future Hero
Future Hero / source
Future Hero by Loveless Movie
A comedy about a father and son who work out their issues while battling a time-traveling killer android.
Written & Directed by Ramin Serry
Starring: Ryan Woodle, Lucas Kavner & Kathy Searle
Originally featured on Stan Lee's World of Heroes!: https://www.youtube.com/user/worldofheroes
Winner: 1st Place - Comedy, 2014 Rhode Island Int'l FF
Official Selection: Aspen Shortsfest, Austin FF, Mill Valley FF, Nantucket FF, LA Comedy Shorts, Hollyshorts
Watch Ramin Serry's Vimeo Staff Pick, "Don't Call It A Comeback": https://vimeo.com/78374565
Watch trailer for Ramin Serry's feature film, LOVELESS: https://vimeo.com/79118486
Watch LOVELESS on iTunes: itunes.apple.com/us/movie/loveless/id479213166
Watch Ramin Serry's MARYAM ("Two Thumbs Up" -Ebert & Roeper) on Amazon!: amzn.to/1p9crVk
MARYAM trailer: youtube.com/watch?v=2_6bn1pFzKk
Watch ROGER EBERT interview Ramin Serry & Shauna Lyon: vimeo.com/117453662
Website: http://www.streetlightfilms.com
Twitter: https://twitter.com/raminserry
Future Hero FB page: https://www.facebook.com/future.hero.film
Ramin Serry has written and directed two critically-acclaimed feature films, Maryam (�Powerful, important and very moving.� - Roger Ebert) and Loveless (�Watch for Serry; he is a genuine talent.� - Michael Phillips, The Chicago Tribune.) Serry currently teaches screenwriting in the MFA film program at Columbia University�s School of the Arts.
Ryan Woodle: http://ryanwoodle.com
Lucas Kavner:
http://lucaskavner.com
https://twitter.com/LucasKavner
Kathy Searle:
http://www.kathysearle.com/home.html
https://twitter.com/SearleKathy
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« Scott Shane Does Some Homework | Main | Setting Limits »
Levels Of Enhancement
Ali Soufan, an FBI interrogator of Abu Zubaydah, joins the torture debate on the NY Times op-ed page and explains that the Bush era enhanced interrogation techniques were unnecessary and ineffective. Torture doesn't work, and Mr. Soufan is today's darling of the reality-based community. However, based on earlier Times reporting and the DoJ Inspector General report Mr. Soufan is, well, misleading us.
So, the Times has run an op-ed that dovetails with their current agenda but is contradicted by other strong evidence and their own reporting - does anyone think we will see a clarification or follow-up? Neither do I.
Eventually patient readers will also find my rebuttal to Marcy Wheeler and Andrew Sullivan, who claim that these latest revelations bring down the whole legal structure crafted by the OLC memos. Not to jump ahead, but since the Soufan story is bogus, conclusions based on that story are also shaky. It's castles on sand and another day in reality-world.
Let's start with Mr. Soufan:
One of the most striking parts of the memos is the false premises on which they are based. The first, dated August 2002, grants authorization to use harsh interrogation techniques on a high-ranking terrorist, Abu Zubaydah, on the grounds that previous methods hadn’t been working. The next three memos cite the successes of those methods as a justification for their continued use.
It is inaccurate, however, to say that Abu Zubaydah had been uncooperative. Along with another F.B.I. agent, and with several C.I.A. officers present, I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August. Under traditional interrogation methods, he provided us with important actionable intelligence.
I guess there are different levels of "traditional" techniques - the DoJ IG report (p. 111 of 438) makes it clear that the FBI had concerns about the CIA-led approach from the outset, with one of the agents describing it as "borderline torture".
What "borderline torture" techniques are we talking about? The DoJ IG report has redactions, but this is from David Johnston, writing in the Sept 10 2006 Times:
WASHINGTON, Sept. 9 — Abu Zubaydah, the first Osama bin Laden henchman captured by the United States after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was bloodied and feverish when a C.I.A. security team delivered him to a secret safe house in Thailand for interrogation in the early spring of 2002. Bullet fragments had ripped through his abdomen and groin during a firefight in Pakistan several days earlier when he had been captured.
The events that unfolded at the safe house over the next few weeks proved to be fateful for the Bush administration. Within days, Mr. Zubaydah was being subjected to coercive interrogation techniques — he was stripped, held in an icy room and jarred by earsplittingly loud music — the genesis of practices later adopted by some within the military, and widely used by the Central Intelligence Agency in handling prominent terrorism suspects at secret overseas prisons.
The Times returned to Zubaydah last week and apparently believed that the unenhanced enhanced techniques were controversial:
His interrogation, according to multiple accounts, began in Pakistan and continued at the secret C.I.A. site in Thailand, with a traditional, rapport-building approach led by two F.B.I. agents, who even helped care for him as his gunshot wounds healed.
Abu Zubaydah gave up perhaps his single most valuable piece of information early, naming Khalid Shaikh Mohammed, whom he knew as Mukhtar, as the main organizer of the 9/11 plot.
A C.I.A. interrogation team that arrived a week or two later, which included former military psychologists, did not change the approach to questioning, but began to keep him awake night and day with blasting rock music, have his clothes removed and keep his cell cold.
The legal basis for this treatment is uncertain, but lawyers at C.I.A. headquarters were in constant touch with interrogators, as well as with Mr. Bybee’s subordinate in the Office of Legal Counsel, John C. Yoo, who was drafting memos on the legal limits of interrogation.
Well. One hopes the actual interrogations were done in compliance with FBI guidelines, even if the treatment of the prisoner was "enhanced" a bit on an extra-curricular basis outside of the interrogation room. From the May 30 2005 memo (p. 94 of 124) I infer that the proponents of enhanced techniques scored this as a win for their techniques. And since per the DoJ IG report the FBI withdrew its agents in May and June because of the harsh CIA techniques, we are left wondering just what sort of "traditional" FBI interrogation Mr. Soufan normally conducts.
Switching gears, let me summarize the argument offered by Ms. Wheeler and enthusiastically endorsed by Andrew Sullivan. The OLC legal opinion offered by Bybee included the caveat that "The interrogation team is certain that he has additional information that he refuses to divulge" and warns that
We also understand that you do not have any facts in your possession contrary to the facts outlined here, and this opinion is limited to these facts. If these facts were to change, this advice would not necessarily apply.
To continue the argument, the interrogations were taking place with both FBI and CIA agents present; therefore, the CIA had to know, as Mr. Soufan did, that the prisoner was cooperating; therefore, the legal opinion is based on a false premise and collapses. Or so says Ms. Wheeler, with a strong second from Sully.
To which I say, well, maybe, if the Inspector General and the Times reporting is all wrong. The Johnston 2006 story included this:
After Mr. Zubaydah’s capture, a C.I.A. interrogation team was dispatched from the agency’s counterterrorism center to take the lead in his questioning, former law enforcement and intelligence officials said, and F.B.I. agents were withdrawn. The group included an agency consultant schooled in the harsher interrogation procedures to which American special forces are subjected in their training. Three former intelligence officials said the techniques had been drawn up on the basis of legal guidance from the Justice Department, but were not yet supported by a formal legal opinion.
In Thailand, the new C.I.A. team concluded that under standard questioning Mr. Zubaydah was revealing only a small fraction of what he knew, and decided that more aggressive techniques were warranted.
At times, Mr. Zubaydah, still weak from his wounds, was stripped and placed in a cell without a bunk or blankets. He stood or lay on the bare floor, sometimes with air-conditioning adjusted so that, one official said, Mr. Zubaydah seemed to turn blue. At other times, the interrogators piped in deafening blasts of music by groups like the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Sometimes, the interrogator would use simpler techniques, entering his cell to ask him to confess.
“You know what I want,” the interrogator would say to him, according to one official’s account, departing leaving Mr. Zubaydah to brood over his answer.
F.B.I. agents on the scene angrily protested the more aggressive approach, arguing that persuasion rather than coercion had succeeded. But leaders of the C.I.A. interrogation team were convinced that tougher tactics were warranted and said that the methods had been authorized by senior lawyers at the White House.
Mr. Soufan says that "I questioned him from March to June 2002, before the harsh techniques were introduced later in August." As we have seen, something like harsh techniques were already in place. But what happened in July? This high value target of so much attention was left to rock out to the Red Hot Chili Peppers while shivering in his underwear? Probably not. Based on the DoJ IG report the Times story is roughly accurate.
If Mr. Soufan is credible at all then there were divisions within the original CIA team, some members were convinced a tougher approach was warranted, and Bybee was working with them. Or perhaps after the fact some CIA officials involved in the interrogation decided that someone else must have been responsible. CYA at the CIA. Go figure.
And do note that ater the fact the FBI team may have been absolutely correct in their assessment of Zubaydah's compliance but that does not mean that the CIA people requested the legal guidance in bad faith.
MORE ON THE INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT:
Mr. Soufan makes an interesting claim in his op-ed:
Fortunately for me, after I objected to the enhanced techniques, the message came through from Pat D’Amuro, an F.B.I. assistant director, that “we don’t do that,” and I was pulled out of the interrogations by the F.B.I. director, Robert Mueller (this was documented in the report released last year by the Justice Department’s inspector general).
Well, if the DoJ Inspector General's report is reliable, the Soufan story is full of holes. Starting at p. 110 of 438, we see that two FBI agents, Gibson and Thomas (pseudonyms) were involved in the Zubaydah interrogation.
The CIA showed up and took over quickly. Thomas had objections to their techniques, which he described as "borderline torture", and left somewhat thereafter. Gibson was authorized (or instructed) to leave but hung around until early June, several weeks after Thomas left. So let's tentatively infer from that that "Gibson" is Mr. Soufan (the story hardly changes if "Thomas" is Soufan.)
The first and most important point is that the FBI was troubled by the CIA techniques from the outset, not only after August 1. The current op-ed imagines that there was a long period of "traditional" interrogation, but that is contradicted by the IG report.
Secondly, per page 111, "Gibson", (probably Mr. Soufan), told the CIA was told by the CIA upon their arrival that Zubaydah was only providing "throwaway" information and that they "needed to diminish his capacity to resist". Thomas expressed concern about the CIA techniques, calling them "border-line torture"; "Gibson" "did not express as much concern" as Thomas. From which we conclude that somebody from the FBI CIA side thought that more could be gleaned from Zubaydah.
When "Gibson" got home he told FBI Counter terrorism AD D'Amuro that he had no moral qualms about the CIA approach, that they were behaving professionally, and that he had endured similar treatment in SERE school.
Well. If Mr. Soufan is Thomas, then there were obvious divisions even within the FBI; if he is Gibson, there are apparent divisions within himself.
Eventually, after a series of meetings in Washington, the FBI learned about the OLC opinion and decided to withdraw from the enhanced interrogation process.
OOPS: When I summarized the IG report above I had the CIA calling for tougher treatment (as did the Johnston story), but in the version directly above I had "Gibson" of the FBI making that suggestion, which is both wrong and irrelevant.
Posted by Tom Maguire on April 23, 2009 | Permalink
At this point I don't think any of these "I knew about it and I was against it" stories can be trusted.
Posted by: Charlie (Colorado) | April 23, 2009 at 02:27 PM
We need to develop an enhanced interrogation method that is much more effective than waterboarding. If KSM really met with water 138 times (which I don't believe), then it clearly was not severe enough.
Posted by: PaulL | April 23, 2009 at 02:29 PM
Per Andrew Sullivan: "Maguire isn't a smart and brilliant legal mind like my ex, Glen Greenwald, and doesn't kmnow what he's writing about on this subject."
There....take that Mr. Maguire.
Posted by: Joshua | April 23, 2009 at 02:33 PM
"There....take that Mr. Maguire."
TM,
Let us know if being struck with a limp noodle constitutes torture - IYO.
Posted by: Rick Ballard | April 23, 2009 at 02:37 PM
That's the thanks you get for giving so much attention to Sullivan.
Let's leave his noodle out of this!
Posted by: sbw | April 23, 2009 at 03:02 PM
One question. Which Soros financed think tank is Ali Soufan working for?
As for Greenwald, I though he only dated Brazilian Cabana boys.
Just caught the clip of Pelosi's big lie on FOX. hahaha
Posted by: verner | April 23, 2009 at 03:02 PM
maguire:
per page 111, "Gibson", (probably Mr. Soufan), told the CIA upon their arrival that Zubaydah was only providing "throwaway" information and that they "needed to diminish his capacity to resist".
Tom, you're blatantly misrepresenting what the OIG report said. Here's the text from the report:
Within a few days, CIA personnel assumed control over the interviews, although they asked Gibson and Thomas to observe and resist. Gibson told the OIG that the CIA interrogators said Zubaydah was only providing "throw-away information" and that they needed to diminish his capacity to resist.
(Emphasis added.) Is the problem with your integrity, or with your reading comprehension?
Posted by: jukeboxgrad | April 23, 2009 at 03:10 PM
sick puppy
Posted by: lala | April 23, 2009 at 03:13 PM
This sounds like a cat fight between FBI and CIA.
Gosh, being rejected by Andrew, the Excitable One, in favor of one of his "exes," should really put TM in his place.
Mt. Olympus, compared to those two dudes guarding the River Styx.
Posted by: daveinboca | April 23, 2009 at 03:14 PM
Bali Bombing October 12, 2002.
Well, I bet those 400 people who died in Bali would say that whoever was questioning Abu Zubaydah, it was neither tough enough NOR fast enough.
It would be a really small noodle, wouldn't it?
Posted by: bad | April 23, 2009 at 03:20 PM
JBG! Woohoo!
Posted by: lurking | April 23, 2009 at 03:25 PM
"Gibson told the OIG that the CIA interrogators said" that MaryJane told Susie that Billy liked Kelly more than Sammys said he did.
Are you the same jukeboxgrad who was dishonestly spreading the "Reagan started extraordinary rendition" propaganda over at VC?
Posted by: Phosphor | April 23, 2009 at 03:28 PM
Is the problem with your integrity, or with your reading comprehension?
My reading comprehension - yikes.
Fortunately, that has no impact on my main point, which is that despite the current claims of solidarity from Soufan, somebody wanted to up the pressure on this guy.
Posted by: TM | April 23, 2009 at 03:28 PM
The more I see of the DHS, the FBI and the CIA, the more I respect the decision of Americans to stock up on guns and ammo. We are clearly on our own in this fight.
Posted by: clarice | April 23, 2009 at 03:30 PM
Bad,
You be the judge.
"Gibson told the OIG that the CIA interrogators said"
Goodness, I hope that this wasn't brought to our attention by one of those folks who thought that CIA agents were holier that Jesus Mary and Joseph combined during "L'Affaire Plame"
I guess that the intended implication is that the CIA interrogators were LIARS.
But explain this. Why were only 3 of the A-Q terrorists subjected to WBding, and only a relatively small percentage subjected to any enhanced interrogation at all? If they were just routinely doing this to all of them, just to see what they would come up with, maybe "Gibson" would have a slightly more believable case.
But that's not what happened.
I would say, that all things considered, the CIA Interrogators were correct in their assumptions. Especially since KSM was not captured til March 1 2003.
And your attempt to tar TM with a cherry-picking charge is pretty lame.
I think that Jukeboxgrad is just a Glen Greenwald sock puppet.
The narrative that Soufan is trying to argue was that everything was fine till the CIA got involved, But I don't see that, Cloonan, in particular, holds out the exampe of Jamal Al Fadl, yet he wasn't a hardcore operative. The Justice Department
interviewed Ali Mohammed in 1993, this was
one of those Fitz specials, and they let him go, so he could scout out the Embassies
for the bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. and when he was detained, he didn't give up the planning behind 9/11; some say the tips included in the December '98 and Aug. 01
PDBs were important, but one could equally
say they were off point, leaving out the direct use of planes as weapons, instead of the more innocuous trade for hostages. The one plot that was disrupted was that follow up plot against NY City, in '93, but that
didn't involve any new operatives. The August PDB has about the same validity of the DHS memo, which didn't name groups, persons, rank of memberships of said
veterans, but just ideological affiliations
On another front, it seems that the Valerie Plame affair has officially moved to fiction, unlike the unofficial story that we already knew was fiction. Whitley Strieber, crazy "Aliens are Coming" and one of the first progenitors of global warming
hysteria in "Nature Day" has a very harrowing take on Islamic nuclear terrorism,
"Critical Mass" that is ultimately flawed by confused plotting and ideological incoherence (I give it a thumbs up) but he harps on Brester Jennings, and the Plame affair, suggesting this vile crime, would lead to this disaster
Posted by: narciso | April 23, 2009 at 03:43 PM
Rick, that was so small I couldn't see it.
Speaking of interrogation, Jeff Stein adds some more details to his Jane Harman story, although it's mostly bureaucratic infighting type stuff: House Intelligence Chairman Orders Staff to Investigate Harman Wiretaps. And David Corn pounces on details of the Robert Siegel's competent Jane Harman NPR interview Is Jane Harman Telling the Truth? And Why It's Important To Know. As I suggested yesterday, Siegel may have caught Harman in mid-thought regarding several conversations, quite possibly with different interlocutors.
Posted by: anduril | April 23, 2009 at 03:47 PM
Can you see what a zoo Congressional hearings would be now? HEH--Why they'd even drive pics of Michelle tending garden and the pooch off the front pp as liars contradict eachother and half wit journos work hard at "making a difference."
Well, I am rather surprised, quite frankly. I can only assume someone is mightily P.O.ed at Harman about something. And I don't think it's a GOPer.
LOL...We are in http://www.gettyimages.com/detail/86184129/Getty-Images-News?axd=DetailPaging.Generic|1&axs=0|86184129%2c86184127%2c86184112%2c86184107%2c86184033%2c86184001%2c86183983%2c86183980%2c86183976%2c86183882%2c86183874%2c86183809%2c86183806%2c86183804%2c86183775%2c86183771%2c86183712|0 ">Good Hands Clarice.
Posted by: Ann | April 23, 2009 at 03:53 PM
Is anyone keeping track of the barometric pressure at JOM over time?
There are periods when a warm front must pass through because the hot air becomes oppressive.
I think that, over time, tracking would indicate how thick the Axelgrease is being spread and, accordingly, how painful O's migraine might be at the moment.
I think IP address maps would be interesting.
Heh. I know the feeling Larry. 'course, Larry can do that at the drop of a hat.
Anyway, I'm officially open to conspiracy theories at this point. And the prospect of internecine warfare among Dems definitely appeals to me.
"F.B.I. agents on the scene angrily protested the more aggressive approach, arguing that persuasion rather than coercion had succeeded."
Persuade them to do what exactly?
FBI to terrorist: "If you tell us the truth about the stage two plot, or any future plot germinating in that empty cavity between your eyes we promise you'll be treated just like a US citizen and not a scumbag murdering POS? Can we persuade you to tell all? What can we do to persuade you to tell us everything you know? If we don't waterboard you will you bend over for us? We can try and torture you but we'd rather persuade you to just tattle on your terrorist brothers?
That's going to produce better results than forcing them to suck down some water, albeit they end up liking it enough to tough it out 183 times?
AUFKM?
Posted by: Enlightened | April 23, 2009 at 03:58 PM
based upon the pettiness of so many of the points made by some of the critics so far, I am deeply concerned that the clownocracy is going to try and usurp power based upon innuendo, half truths, and bogus statistics.
When a cross section of the intelligence community speaks out, the president had better listen. Otherwise, we will be seeing mass resignations in the intelligence community as under Carter.We have Leahy, Pelosi, Axelrod, Emmanuel et al positioning this as a criminal conspiracy when clearly it falls under policy differences. 3 subjects the extensive discussions and decision making process that went into their interrogations, does not a policy make. These were extraordinary decisions demanded by extraordinary events.
Posted by: matt | April 23, 2009 at 03:59 PM
who signed off on the NSA wiretaps, why, and when? cui bono?
matt, that's not really the question. The overhears were already in place and Harman blundered into the middle of the investigation.
I am simply not going to interest myself in the sad plight of Jane Harman.
She was OK for a democrat I guess, but what did she expect from the party of snakes and vipers?
My only hope is that she will back atcha to Nancy, and tell the world what it already knows--Mme Botox is lying through her teeth over "water boarding."
Seriously - we have wussy-ass weenies in the FBI wanting to soothe and wetnurse murdering scum, and persuade them to be ratfinks.
I'm ever so glad Bambi's new national security procedures are persuading more terrorists to be nice.
It's just as plain as day. They know the evidence goes against them, so they are trying to distract with little insignificant sideline points.
And I still want to know who is currently employing Arab-American ex-FBI agent Ali Soufan.Very little on the net, which makes my spidy senses tingle. I'm not pointing fingers (yet) but there is a certain stench about all this.
We already have the absolute confirmation of Dennis Blair, Obama's NSA chief, remember.
Someone at the NAtion wrote a piece agreeing with my view--the story was being leaked by those who want to keep the AIPAC case going and wanted to find a way to pressure Holder into doing so. There must be come CIPer types still in the bowels. Just sayin..
Okay, I don't have enough time to develop it into a full theory (writing for $$$ again) but here's the thought that has occurred to me: Harman is the one person on the intelligence Committee who is said to have actually objected to some of the surveillance and interrogation techniques in writing.
My theory is that this is pre-emptively trying to reduce her credibility before she tells the world that Pelosi, Hoyer, and (please God) Lehey knew and approved in 2002.
am deeply concerned that the clownocracy is going to try and usurp power based upon innuendo, half truths, and bogus statistics.
Golly, that train done left the station.
I'm assuming that the Nation was applauding Clarice.
Brother. I think I'm at my limit on this subject. I'm just not enough of a civilized elite or deep thinker. For me it's just not an issue. Do whatever it takes to jack these guys up - regardless if it works. Otherwise be prepared for the consequences.
The CYA going on by both sides is depressing. I wanted to believe the people in those jobs would, at times, have to do the necessary to get the job done and protect us. Instead they are turning out to be a bunch of whiney crybabies. And the ones that got the job done, or even tried are being vilified by even bigger weenies such as Gleen and Sully. Sickening.
I like that theory, Chaco. But the story does go back a long way. Good Luck!!
If a reporter with real credentials should read this, and he/she is someone who is actually reporting and not just "making a difference'(running with Dem talking points),I suggest he contact these former agents to see what they say when asked if they weren't in fact the source of the Harman leaks:
Pat Lang (ex DIA); Scheuer (ex CIA and author of Anonymous),David Szady (ex FBI and now martial arts promoter).
Sure, verner..heh
WAW. Hmmmm.
Bill O'Reilly on Glen Beck says GE, parent company of NBC, the Obama network, has set up a division to profit from Cap-and-Trade.
How cozy is that?
the multinationals are just gaming the system as they always do, bad. Give them an opportunity, and some MBA will figure out how to bend the rules and make a profit, even if it means leaving someone else to hold the bag years later. I'm sure GE also made billions off the housing/mortgage crisis as well.
I can only assume someone is mightily P.O.ed at Harman about something. And I don't think it's a GOPer. That would be the fabulous Nancy P. of the double-digit IQ, who was Minority Ranking on the Intell Cte. that signed the 9/11 Comm. Report. She got Reyes, another dimwit like herself, as Cte. Chief after the Dems won in '06, though Harman had seniority & the brains to run it well.
Jane just went to the gala inauguration of a new Think Tank with Robert Kagan, the scourge of flakey libs, as the Senior Member. Maybe that helped stoke the nefarious plotting to "get" Jane once & for all. A Pelosi mole on the CQ? Could it be?
-- Bill O'Reilly on Glen Beck says GE, parent company of NBC, the Obama network, has set up a division to profit from Cap-and-Trade. --
All substantial corporations invest in influencing the government. If/when they get big enough (e.g., Federal Reserve), they effectively LEAD the government. And even if they think they're leading the government, but they aren't, they take stock of the political/war winds and position to profit from the unfolding of history.
What's sobering is to realize that patriotism is "for the little guy."
Posted by: cboldt | April 23, 2009 at 08:48 PM
-- I think that Jukeboxgrad is just a Glen Greenwald sock puppet. --
Heheh.
Hi, cboldt.
Hai clarice!
I'm a chronic but occasional lurker here. Tom is a gifted observer and writer.
Nice ta see ya, cboldt.
That he is, cboldt, but we try not to let him know that.
GE's Immelt is a butt boy for Obama. He's hoping that some of the 2trillion dollars from the Obama budget will come to GE in the form of purchase orders for wind turbines.
http://moneyrunner.blogspot.com/2009/04/we-can-buy-your-level-of-incompetence.html
In the meantime he's shilling for Obama at Notre Dame.
http://moneyrunner.blogspot.com/2009/04/ges-immelt-faith-morality-and-academic.html
Posted by: Moneyrunner | April 23, 2009 at 10:21 PM
Immelt is on Obama's economic advisory board, isn't he?
Posted by: MayBee | April 23, 2009 at 10:26 PM
Paul Volcker will serve as Chairman and Austan Goolsbee as Staff Director and Chief Economist.
Members of the Board include:
William H. Donaldson, Chairman, SEC (2003-2005)
Roger W. Ferguson, Jr., President & CEO, TIAA-CREF
Robert Wolf, Chairman & CEO, UBS Group Americas
David F. Swensen, CIO, Yale University
Mark T. Gallogly, Founder & Managing Partner, Centerbridge Partners L.P.
Penny Pritzker, Chairman & Founder, Pritzker Realty Group
Jeffrey R. Immelt, CEO, GE
John Doerr, Partner, Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers
Jim Owens, Chairman and CEO, Caterpillar Inc.
Monica C. Lozano, Publisher & Chief Executive Officer, La Opinion
Charles E. Phillips, Jr., President, Oracle Corporation
Anna Burger, Chair, Change to Win
Richard L. Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer, AFL-CIO
Laura D'Andrea Tyson, Dean, Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley
Martin Feldstein, George F. Baker Professor of Economics, Harvard University
He is, Maybee
This is like 'opera buffe' the Washington post is hiring Ezra Klein, what Ted Rall wasn't available, he's free from the UP gig.
narciso:
I'm no Klein fan, but it could be worse. They could have signed up intellectual featherweight Matt Ygelsias.
Posted by: JM Hanes | April 23, 2009 at 10:45 PM
"Okay, I don't have enough time to develop it into a full theory (writing for $$$ again)....."
Maybe I can lend a hand, because I was thinking the same thing in the Harman thread here and in a second comment here.
Hi daveinboca! You don't need to bother with the links above, 'cause you heard it first over at Don Surber's place. :-)
Again, I invite your attention to the work of ex DIA official Pat Lang, anti-Semite and conspiracist extraordinaire who I think with Michael Scheuer and fruitcake deluxe ex FBI CI head David Szady are the three former o"intel officials" leaking this stuff to keep Holder from dumping the case.
http://turcopolier.typepad.com/sic_semper_tyrannis/2009/04/harper-on-the-harmanaipac-affair.html
It's the VIPs all over again--only the names have been changed..Same song..nutsy former intel guys making political trouble.
It's a tough call, specially having tried to have a civil argument with Yglesias, and ending up in the argument clinic. He's seriously entertained the idea, that WW 2 wasn't all that necessary. But Klein is so wrong on everything consistently, thanks to all the items TM reads so we don't have to; they're all journolisters and don't have an original thought in their body (Joe Klein, Noam Schreiber, Greg Sargent, et al)
Killer as usual Tom...
Posted by: Paul | April 24, 2009 at 09:49 PM
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The Aeronauts (PG)
Date/Time: Thursday 14 Nov 2019, 20:20 - ends at 22:06
Anne Frank: Parallel Stories
Berliner Philharmoniker Live: Season Finale
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/PAGLIACCI (ROH Live)
Easter in Art
ELEKTRA (ROH Live)
Fidelio (ROH Live)
In Search of Haydn
In Search of Mozart
Jumanji: The Next Level Parent & Baby Show
LA BOHEME (Live)
NTLive: CYRANO DE BERGERAC
NTLive: THE WELKIN
SWAN LAKE (2020)
THE CELLIST/DANCES AT A GATHERING (ROH Live)
THE DANTE PROJECT
The Personal History of David Copperfield Parent & Baby Show
Midway @ 11:00 (All Seats £4 with free coffee) Jumanji: The Next Level Parent & Baby Show @ 11:30 1917 @ 14:00 1917 @ 17:00 1917 @ 20:00 Little Women @ 14:15 Little Women @ 17:15 The Gentlemen @ 20:20
The Peanut Butter Falcon @ 11:00 (All Seats £4 with free coffee) Jumanji: The Next Level @ 11:30 1917 @ 14:00 1917 @ 17:00 1917 @ 20:00 Little Women @ 14:15 Little Women @ 17:15 The Gentlemen @ 20:20
1917 @ 14:00 1917 @ 17:00 1917 @ 20:00 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 14:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 17:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 20:10
1917 @ 14:00 1917 @ 14:15 1917 @ 17:00 1917 @ 20:00 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 17:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 20:10
In Search of Mozart @ 11:00 1917 @ 14:00 1917 @ 17:00 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 14:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 17:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 20:10 Anne Frank: Parallel Stories @ 20:20
After the Wedding @ 11:00 (All Seats £4 with free coffee) The Personal History of David Copperfield Parent & Baby Show @ 11:10 1917 @ 13:45 1917 @ 17:00 1917 @ 20:00 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 14:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 16:45 LA BOHEME (Live) @ 19:45
After the Wedding @ 11:00 (All Seats £4 with free coffee) The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 11:30 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 14:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 14:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 17:15 The Personal History of David Copperfield @ 20:10 1917 @ 17:00 1917 @ 20:00
Kinky Boots The Musical @ 14:00 Kinky Boots The Musical @ 17:00 Kinky Boots The Musical @ 20:00
Shows for Wed 5 Feb
The Good Liar @ 11:00 (All Seats £4 with free coffee)
Shows for Thu 6 Feb
NTLive: CYRANO DE BERGERAC @ 19:00 (LIVE)
THE CELLIST/DANCES AT A GATHERING (ROH Live) @ 19:15
Shows for Tue 3 Mar
RIVERDANCE 25TH ANNIVERSARY SHOW @ 20:00
Shows for Sun 8 Mar
Fidelio (ROH Live) @ 19:15
In Search of Haydn @ 11:00
Shows for Wed 1 Apr
SWAN LAKE (2020) @ 19:15
Shows for Thu 9 Apr
Easter in Art @ 11:00 (free coffee prior to film)
Shows for Tue 21 Apr
CAVALLERIA RUSTICANA/PAGLIACCI (ROH Live) @ 19:00
NTLive: THE WELKIN @ 19:00 (LIVE)
THE DANTE PROJECT @ 19:15
Shows for Fri 12 Jun
Berliner Philharmoniker Live: Season Finale @ 18:30 (Live Concert)
ELEKTRA (ROH Live) @ 19:45
Shows for Thu 9 Jul
Frida Kahlo @ 11:00 (free coffee prior to the film)
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Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java
Hisao Baba, Fachroel Aziz, Yousuke Kaifu, Gen Suwa, Reiko Kono, Teuku Jacobs
A Homo erectus calvarium [Sambungmacan 4 (Sm 4)] was recovered from Pleistocene sediments at Sambungmacan in central Java. Micro-computed tomography analysis shows a modern human-like cranial base flexion associated with a low platycephalic vault, implying that the evolution of human cranial gobularity was independent of cranial base flexion. The overall morphology of Sm 4 is intermediate between that of earlier and later Javanese Homo erectus; apparent morphological specializations are more strongly expressed in the latter. This supports the hypothesis that later Pleistocene Javanese populations were substantially isolated and made minimal contributions to the ancestry of modern humans.
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081676
Published - 2003 Feb 28
Hominidae
Skull Base
Baba, H., Aziz, F., Kaifu, Y., Suwa, G., Kono, R., & Jacobs, T. (2003). Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java. Science, 299(5611), 1384-1388. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081676
Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java. / Baba, Hisao; Aziz, Fachroel; Kaifu, Yousuke; Suwa, Gen; Kono, Reiko; Jacobs, Teuku.
In: Science, Vol. 299, No. 5611, 28.02.2003, p. 1384-1388.
Baba, H, Aziz, F, Kaifu, Y, Suwa, G, Kono, R & Jacobs, T 2003, 'Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java', Science, vol. 299, no. 5611, pp. 1384-1388. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081676
Baba H, Aziz F, Kaifu Y, Suwa G, Kono R, Jacobs T. Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java. Science. 2003 Feb 28;299(5611):1384-1388. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.1081676
Baba, Hisao ; Aziz, Fachroel ; Kaifu, Yousuke ; Suwa, Gen ; Kono, Reiko ; Jacobs, Teuku. / Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java. In: Science. 2003 ; Vol. 299, No. 5611. pp. 1384-1388.
@article{2e3a917036b94f7b8329a110d315d11f,
title = "Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java",
abstract = "A Homo erectus calvarium [Sambungmacan 4 (Sm 4)] was recovered from Pleistocene sediments at Sambungmacan in central Java. Micro-computed tomography analysis shows a modern human-like cranial base flexion associated with a low platycephalic vault, implying that the evolution of human cranial gobularity was independent of cranial base flexion. The overall morphology of Sm 4 is intermediate between that of earlier and later Javanese Homo erectus; apparent morphological specializations are more strongly expressed in the latter. This supports the hypothesis that later Pleistocene Javanese populations were substantially isolated and made minimal contributions to the ancestry of modern humans.",
author = "Hisao Baba and Fachroel Aziz and Yousuke Kaifu and Gen Suwa and Reiko Kono and Teuku Jacobs",
doi = "10.1126/science.1081676",
journal = "Science",
T1 - Homo erectus calvarium from the Pleistocene of Java
AU - Baba, Hisao
AU - Aziz, Fachroel
AU - Kaifu, Yousuke
AU - Suwa, Gen
AU - Kono, Reiko
AU - Jacobs, Teuku
N2 - A Homo erectus calvarium [Sambungmacan 4 (Sm 4)] was recovered from Pleistocene sediments at Sambungmacan in central Java. Micro-computed tomography analysis shows a modern human-like cranial base flexion associated with a low platycephalic vault, implying that the evolution of human cranial gobularity was independent of cranial base flexion. The overall morphology of Sm 4 is intermediate between that of earlier and later Javanese Homo erectus; apparent morphological specializations are more strongly expressed in the latter. This supports the hypothesis that later Pleistocene Javanese populations were substantially isolated and made minimal contributions to the ancestry of modern humans.
AB - A Homo erectus calvarium [Sambungmacan 4 (Sm 4)] was recovered from Pleistocene sediments at Sambungmacan in central Java. Micro-computed tomography analysis shows a modern human-like cranial base flexion associated with a low platycephalic vault, implying that the evolution of human cranial gobularity was independent of cranial base flexion. The overall morphology of Sm 4 is intermediate between that of earlier and later Javanese Homo erectus; apparent morphological specializations are more strongly expressed in the latter. This supports the hypothesis that later Pleistocene Javanese populations were substantially isolated and made minimal contributions to the ancestry of modern humans.
U2 - 10.1126/science.1081676
DO - 10.1126/science.1081676
JO - Science
JF - Science
10.1126/science.1081676
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El Paso’s Aaron Jones’ Response to Fine for Taunting Cowboys Player was Classic
Remember the career game El Paso's Aaron Jones had against my beloved Dallas Cowboys? You know, the one in which he scored 4 touchdowns and riddled the Dallas defense for 182 total yards.
One of those TD runs cost him $10,527.
That's how much the NFL fined him for waving bye-bye as he scooted past a Dallas Cowboys defender on his way to touchdown number 3 during their Oct. 6 match-up. Whether you thought it was a super-fun burn or a d**k move, the National Football League considered it taunting and fined him for it.
As much as it p***ed me off when I saw it happen in real time, I have to admit he had a hilarious response when recently asked by reporters if the gesture was worth the hit on his pocketbook.
Here's what the former UTEP Miner and Burges High Mustang said:
I can't say it was worth it, but the picture is a dope picture. I'm going to have that blown up one day in my house.
According to an ESPN report, Jones said he didn't plan on doing it; he was "just in the zone." He added that he plans to appeal and try to at least get the amount reduced. "I definitely got a nice picture out of it," said Jones. "But it hurts my pocket a little bit. I want that money."
Well, yeah. Good weed ain't cheap.
Signs you’re a True-Blue Dallas Cowboys Fan
• You’ve learned to live with the ridiculous nicknames people have for them. But, really guys enough with the Cowgirls, Clownboys, and Cowgueys jokes. Get some new material.
• The Eagles, Giants and Redskins are not to be spoken about in your presence. And none of that "Fly, Eagles, Fly" bulls**t, either.
• You spend more time hating on the Cowboys than you do supporting your own team. You, my friend, are a Dallas Cowboys fan.
Filed Under: aaron jones, dallas cowboys
Categories: Local / El Paso, Mike and Tricia Mornings
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Guilds <Banished>
Raid Calendar
Top Ranking Members
Boss Rank
Rank Type
1 23 HPS Lightentor Kurinnaxx 01/10/19 21:06:31
1 182 DPS Kantate Wushoolay 17/01/20 20:52:02
2 6 HPS Neshto High Priestess Arlokk 20/01/20 20:09:04
2 38 HPS Kantate Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
2 147 DPS Iherbs Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
3 8 DPS Metalcrusher Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
3 8 HPS Nishra Moam 14/01/20 22:46:37
3 34 HPS Kantate Wushoolay 17/01/20 20:52:02
3 46 HPS Iherbs Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
3 246 DPS Ressora Kurinnaxx 17/12/19 22:06:30
3 280 DPS Shockweaver Buru the Gorger 17/10/19 20:59:54
4 9 HPS Neshto High Priest Venoxis 08/01/20 21:53:37
4 11 HPS Neshto Nefarian 14/01/20 20:45:08
4 12 HPS Asphy Golemagg the Incinerator 18/12/19 21:47:28
4 24 HPS Bovitae Golemagg the Incinerator 09/01/20 21:23:41
4 34 HPS Jayrock General Rajaxx 08/01/20 20:47:17
4 63 HPS Zvirak Kurinnaxx 29/11/19 22:28:07
4 279 DPS Shockweaver Golemagg the Incinerator 13/10/19 22:11:11
4 289 DPS Highchain High Priestess Jeklik 03/01/20 00:37:19
5 8 HPS Neshto Magmadar 21/01/20 20:29:21
5 9 HPS Asphy High Priestess Mar'li 21/11/19 20:05:00
5 15 HPS Neshto Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
5 33 HPS Nishra Ayamiss the Hunter 14/11/19 21:14:20
5 46 DPS Kardyss Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
5 53 HPS Feeram Wushoolay 17/01/20 20:52:02
5 68 DPS Incapacitor Wushoolay 17/01/20 20:52:02
5 253 DPS Shockweaver Moam 17/10/19 21:14:01
5 315 DPS Ressora Moam 13/12/19 20:31:43
6 7 HPS Neshto Kurinnaxx 18/01/20 20:33:15
6 9 HPS Asphy Hakkar 21/11/19 20:57:57
6 12 HPS Neshto Gehennas 21/01/20 20:40:09
6 21 HPS Hardstyle Lucifron 13/11/19 20:49:12
6 27 HPS Jayrock Ragnaros 27/10/19 23:42:47
6 48 HPS Hardstyle Jin'do the Hexxer 02/10/19 20:50:17
6 92 DPS Helustu Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
6 127 DPS Incapacitor Majordomo Executus 18/12/19 22:09:43
6 296 DPS Slammywammy High Priest Thekal 12/11/19 20:32:51
6 319 DPS Shockweaver Kurinnaxx 17/10/19 20:25:58
7 13 HPS Asphy Shazzrah 18/12/19 21:21:08
7 17 HPS Neshto Golemagg the Incinerator 09/01/20 21:23:41
7 20 HPS Asphy Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
7 32 DPS Frostkeeper Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
7 38 HPS Lightentor Ragnaros 27/10/19 23:42:47
7 39 DPS Arong Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
7 42 DPS Danzingo Renataki 10/01/20 21:03:08
7 47 HPS Jayrock Ossirian the Unscarred 06/12/19 20:55:47
7 56 HPS Lightentor Hakkar 26/10/19 21:24:21
7 104 HPS Hardstyle High Priestess Mar'li 02/10/19 21:50:40
7 305 DPS Gutsymcglory Lucifron 04/12/19 20:21:42
7 308 DPS Shockweaver High Priest Thekal 29/09/19 19:12:50
Realm Rankings
Tier 2.5
Kill Date
11 Nefarian 14/01/20 20:45:08
11 Chromaggus 12/01/20 23:35:51
12 Flamegor 07/01/20 23:57:07
12 Ebonroc 07/01/20 23:48:49
13 Firemaw 07/01/20 22:12:46
12 Broodlord Lashlayer 15/12/19 22:39:44
12 Vaelastrasz the Corrupt 01/12/19 20:30:09
11 Razorgore the Untamed 17/11/19 21:23:31
14 Onyxia 10/11/19 22:42:17
11 Ragnaros 27/10/19 23:42:47
11 Majordomo Executus 27/10/19 23:13:04
11 Golemagg the Incinerator 13/10/19 22:11:11
11 Sulfuron Harbinger 13/10/19 22:03:50
11 Shazzrah 13/10/19 21:42:48
12 Baron Geddon 13/10/19 21:28:55
12 Garr 06/10/19 22:31:54
12 Gehennas 06/10/19 21:59:26
12 Magmadar 06/10/19 21:32:57
11 Lucifron 06/10/19 20:59:20
Gehennas 21/01/20 20:40:09
Magmadar 21/01/20 20:29:21
Lucifron 21/01/20 20:24:00
Overlord Wyrmthalak 21/01/20 00:53:59
Shadow Hunter Vosh'gajin 20/01/20 23:39:47
Hakkar 20/01/20 21:23:03
High Priestess Jeklik 20/01/20 21:10:16
High Priest Venoxis 20/01/20 20:54:20
High Priestess Mar'li 20/01/20 20:45:46
Bloodlord Mandokir 20/01/20 20:37:29
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| 0.505831
| 0.494169
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Tag Archives: QB
Ravens looking to BBQ in Kansas City [Baltimore/Kansas City Preview]
Don’t underestimate the Kansas City Chiefs.
To all the fellow Ravens fans out there reading this post, PLEASE, PLEASE do not underestimate the Chiefs. Here are the facts. Yes the Baltimore offense is 2nd in the league, 4 weeks into the season. Yes the Baltimore defense looks solid on paper, still led by LB Ray Lewis and S Ed Reed. Yes QB Joe Flacco‘s arm is helping us win games so far this year, providing aerial support for the running game. Yes if everything goes as planned, the better football team, I mean Baltimore, will come away with a win in Arrowhead Stadium this Sunday afternoon.
With that being said, anything can happen on any given Sunday in the National Football League.
The Baltimore Ravens have a very hard time staying focused, often failing to play to their full potential against opponents they consider freebies, teams with a bad regular season record or starting a rookie QB for example. Last season this team won 100%, 8 out f 8 games, against teams with a winning record as of the match-up. The 4 games we lost were against the Seattle Seahawks (7-9), the Jacksonville Jaguars (5-11), the Tennessee Titans (9-7) and the San Diego Chargers (8-8). It doesn’t look that bad if you look at their combined win-loss record now but I promise, nobody in a 50-mile radius of the Inner Harbor thought these teams had a fighting chance before the losses actually happened. What makes it even worse is that directly before each loss, the Ravens had just won against a superior team.
This brings us back the Baltimore/Kansas City game coming up on Sunday.
Let’s make this abundantly clear, the Chiefs should NOT win in week 5. Chiefs starting QB Matt Cassel does not strike fear into the hearts of defenders; He lacks both decisiveness and the big, accurate arm to stretch NFL defenses down the field. Even though it’s not a necessity to have a huge arm to win in the NFL, his accuracy on short and intermediate throws isn’t good enough to make up for his obvious deficiencies. Personally speaking, I never thought Cassel was the answer in Kansas City. He wasn’t the answer when he played in New England and he’s proven over the years that he isn’t going to play like Tom Brady just because he backed him up for a season or two. At least that’s what I think. I could be potentially biased however, I am after all a high priest in the Church of Baltimore.
So what skilled players do play for the Chiefs?
Well first there’s RB Jamaal Charles. After missing most of last season, Charles is showing flashes of his former talent; he ran for 1467 yards and had 8 total touchdowns in 2010. Even though he’s not huge, Charles has repeatedly shown he can play in the NFL. He has above average speed & quickness, is a decent receiving option, and good elusiveness in the open-field. He is a danger to go the distance of every play, as he did against the Saints earlier this season. If for some reason Baltimore’s defensive-line forgets to set the edge, take good angles or take the screen-play into account against him, he will make them pay for it dearly.
WR Dwayne Bowe is a very good receiver. He’s big, fast, strong(6-2, 220), and accounts for a large portion of his team’s total yardage each year. Over the past 5 seasons he’s averaged nearly 1000 yards and 7+ touchdowns a year, meaning he will definitely be a part of Baltimore’s defensive game-plan. Above all else he’s a Pro Bowl-caliber receiver, regardless of whether Matt Cassel is the one throwing him the ball. Baltimore’s secondary has definitely had trouble stopping talented receivers all season, CB’s Jimmy Smith and Cary Williams will need help covering him. Actually let’s not talk about Cary Williams since he has trouble covering anyone.
On the defensive side of the ball, S Eric Berry is probably one of the best defensive backs in the league, at least when healthy.I remember watching him play for the Tennessee Volunteers a few years ago, and thinking to myself that he looked a lot like a younger version of Ed Reed. There was a lot of hype during the draft, reasonable considering how much Kansas City improved during his rookie year. That’s the main problem however, he’s only played one full season in the NFL. He blew out his ACL last September, and it’s difficult to tell how players coming off major knee surgery will do the first year back. Look at RBs Frank Gore or Willis McGahee.
The other problem is that Berry’s not getting a lot of help, either from the defensive line or in the secondary. DE Glenn Dorsey, LB Tamba Hali and LB Derrick Johnson have talented, they just aren’t playing stopping anyone for some reason. CB Brandon Flowers has had trouble staying on the field due to injury; without him, the rest of the Chiefs secondary just isn’t getting the job done. Through 4 games, the Kansas City defense has given up 136 points, an average of 34 points per game. They couldn’t stop a senior citizen from getting into the end zone, let alone a professional football player. If they can’t figure out a way to stop offenses and soon, they aren’t going to win 5 games this season.
Other than these players, there aren’t a lot of recognizable names(for me) in Kansas City, with the exception of T Branden Albert, TE Kevin Boss, Back-up QB Brady Quinn, WR/QB Dexter McCluster, and WR Steve Breaston. Some I have heard of or have seen on other teams in the past, Boss with the Giants, Quinn with the Browns, and Breaston in Arizona. The others, McCluster at Ole Miss, Quinn at Notre Dame, Albert at Virginia, I watched play college football. I’m sure there are other reasonably talented players on the roster, they just haven’t done anything big in the past that warranted national recognition. Most people outside of Kansas probably haven’t heard of them either. Breaston is a solid 3rd receiver, Albert is a Pro Bowl-caliber offensive tackle while McCluster has shown flashes of potential as a kick returner and slot receiver. The problem is there just isn’t enough talent across the board. Someone on this team is going to have to step up and make some plays for the Chiefs to end up 8-8.
Now let’s look at Baltimore and the new look, no-huddle offense.
RB: Ray Rice is playing great football at the moment. He looks fresh thanks to Flacco’s passing game, and to a lesser extent newly minted rookie Bernard Pierce. Both running-backs have different running styles; Ray Rice is quick, hard to bring down or even see behind bulldozing FB Vonta Leach, and arguably the best receiving running-back in the league. Bernard Pierce is also hard to bring down, with a north-south running style that has him smashing between the tackles, consistently falling forward for an extra yard or two. Both RBs are extremely fast, with Rice running a 4.42 and Pierce a 4.49 40-yard dash at the NFL Scouting Combine. They should have little trouble against the Kansas City defense.
WR/TE: For the first time in the Ravens history, there is enough options for the offense to carry the defense into the postseason. Torrey Smith is now considered one of the premier receivers in the game, a constant threat to go deep while continuing to improve his short and medium routes. Anquan Boldin is as good as advertised; He continues as Baltimore’s best possession receiver and is rarely brought down without gaining a few extra yards. Dennis Pitta and Ed Dickson are better than average options at TE, while newcomer Jacoby Jones has been a solid free-agent addition as a slot receiver. As stated earlier, Rice has some of the best hands in the business, providing a safety-valve in the backfield, flat, and short-middle area. For once, I can actually rely on, and be proud of, Baltimore’s passing game as an asset on the field.
O-Line: If there is a weakness on this side of the ball, it definitely has something to do with the offensive line. C Matt Birk is often a detriment during pass-blocking, and doesn’t get a push consistently during run-blocking. Considering he’s the oldest player on the line, I expected this while hoping for more. At least he plays smart, doesn’t mess up calls very often, and rarely fumbles the snap. I’ve never been the biggest fan of T Michael Oher… you’d think having a movie called The Blind Side would mean you played well on the blind side. G Kelechi Osemele and G Gino Grawkowski are both talented but green, they will get better with time. Marshal Yanda is our only surviving Pro Bowler on the O-line. Baltimore fans are hoping and praying everyone else, including Bobbie Williams and Bryant McKinney, will hold up against premier pass-rushing defenses such as the Giants and Texans.
As for the defense, the linebackers and defensive backs are still led by All-Pro LB Ray Lewis and All-Pro S Ed Reed respectively. All-Pro DT Haloti Ngata still runs the defensive line while Pro-Bowl CB Lardarius Webb continues to improve on a weekly basis. Reigning defensive player of the year LB Terrell Suggs continues to rehab his ACL in preparation for hopefully a return in November. LB Sergio Kindle, LB Paul Kruger and DE Pernell Mcphee need to get better at pass-rushing in a hurry. Kruger’s personal foul gave Browns another chance to win, while their inability to consistently get pressure on opposing QBs has led to a steep drop in the defensive rankings. One of these games, our offense is going to struggle; Flacco & Co. won’t put up 35 points every single weekend. 2nd-year CB Jimmy Smith and Slot CB Cary Williams need to play more instinctively whether that means watching more game tape or not over-thinking plays.
At least Cary Williams had that pick-six last week against the Browns.
The special teams play has been as good as I’ve ever seen since Matt Stover retired a couple of years ago. Justin Tucker is an upgrade from Billy Cundiff; I’m greatly relieved he’s kicking field goals for the Redskins this year instead. Especially after last week, when Cundiff missed 3 against the Buccaneers and almost cost them the game. Sam Koch is having a career year at punter, averaging nearly 50 yards per punt. Our coverage team has been good, not great, having given up a few long returns but no touchdowns as of yet(cross your fingers!!). All of our kick returners have good hands(Webb, Jones, Williams, etc) but are no Devin Hester. No one is though, so I’m not particularly worried about that.
In summary, things look good for the Baltimore Ravens, at least on paper. If everyone plays the way they’re supposed to that is. If the Ravens can keep the turnovers to a minimum and don’t give the Chiefs any easy points, they will have to play from behind, something that doesn’t bode well for any offense led by Matt Cassel. This will not be a 50 point blowout by the Ravens but nor will it be a last second nail-biter with a chance for the Chiefs to win.
I predict John Harbaugh’s Ravens to continue their winning ways, dropping a quarter and a dime on Romeo Crennel and the Kansas City’s defense.
Baltimore over Kansas City: 31-17
Posted in Baltimore Ravens, Football Related Blog
Tagged All-Pro, Anquan Boldin, Baltimore, Baltimore Ravens, BBQ, Bernard Pierce, Brady Quinn, CB, Chiefs, Church of Baltimore, cornerbacks, corners, DE, Defense, defensive backs, defensive line, Dexter McCluster, DT, Dwayne Bowe, Ed Reed, Eric Berry, FG, Haloti Ngata, Jacoby Jones, Jamaal Charles, Joe Flacco, John Harbaugh, justin tucker, Kansas City Chiefs, LB, league, linebackers, LT, Marshal Yanda, Matt Cassel, National Football League, NFL, NFL preview, NFL Scouting Combine, Offense, OG, OT, PK, Pro-bowl, QB, quarterback, Raven's faithful, Ray Lewis, Ray Rice, RB, receivers, receiving, regular season, Romeo Crennel, running-backs, S, safeties, sam koch, Sunday, TE, terrell suggs, tight-ends, Torrey Smith, WR
Some of my All-Time Best NFL players…
Potential players that most certainly should make the ALL-CENTURY List… I would suggest the following:
1. Lynn Swann WR, Steelers
2. Terry Bradshaw QB, Steelers
3. Ray Lewis LB, Ravens
4. Orlando Pace OL, inventor of the “pancake-block,” Rams
5. Lawrence Taylor(!) DE, Giants
6. Deion Sanders CB, 49ers+Cowboys+Falcons+Ravens
7. Randy Moss WR, Vikings+Patriots
8. Darrell Green CB, Redskins
9. Gale Sayers RB, Bears
10. Barry Sanders RB, Lions
11. Reggie White DE, Eagles+Packers
12. Peyton Manning QB, Colts
There are numerous other people that probably could or should have been listed who I have either forgotten or just didn’t have the time or space to put on this list. The people that HAVE been listed so far are, for the most part, NFL players who have changed the game of football at their position by being so infinitely superior to their comrades of the day that the rules had to be changed to make the game fair once more.
Swann makes the list for changing being a receiver into an art form.. Bradshaw for calling his own plays and creating his own audibles in an era when the head coach or offensive coordinator called the plays. Ray Lewis is in for being underestimated from the very beginning of his career and becoming an annual fixture on the All-Pro and Pro-Bowl lists.. as well as destroying and tackling anyone who opposed him. Orlando Pace makes this one for leaving college early, not for the money or the prestige but for pure competitive spirit.. he had noone left to compete with at the collegiate level, even leaving Florida State-star Simeon Rice in the dust.
Lawrence Taylor will always be on my list of all time greats for this simple truth: He single-handedly jumped the price-tag of defensive ends and therefore left tackles tenfold. It doesn’t hurt that he will forever be known as the monster who destroyed Hall of Fame QB Joe Theismann’s career. Deion Sanders was known on and off the field for his larger then life antics, highlights and mouth. He talked a good game but also played one as well, and was one of the first complete shut-down corners who was versatile enough to even contribute in the passing and special teams game.
Randy Moss makes this list for being not only an incredibly tall receiver who can jump as well, but also for routinely beating double and even triple-teams. Any team that has him on the field, regardless of the QB, is instantly better offensively. He also has some of the softest hands in NFL history. Darrell Green is very similar to Deion Sanders in that he was also a shut-down corner.. only Darrell is even faster and played in an era where defensive backs like him did not exist. He was SO good that teams often would blank out the side of the field that he was on, telling their team not to pass even in the general direction of wherever Green was.
This comment is running a little long so I’ll keep the rest of it short and sweet, with no disrespect intended to the following players.
Gale Sayers, if not for a few career-changing injuries, was among the fastest and shiftiest RBs to ever live. The fact that he’s in the Hall of Fame and only played 4 years speaks volumes about his game-changing ability. Barry Sanders was such an incredible RB that he helped the Lions get to the playoffs and made the Hall of Fame despite playing on some of the most awful teams in NFL history. His ability to turn a 3-yard loss into a 30-yard game was without equal. The Rev, Reggie White dominated QBs and struck fear in offensive coordinator’s minds and game plans by sacking and tackling people for a loss with impunity. He WAS the Packer defense.
Finally, a player who is still currently playing and is about to play in his second Super Bowl in 4 years.. Peyton Manning of the Indianapolis Colts deserves a stake in the All-Time Greatest Players for being a complete QB. When I say that, I mean that he is every head coaches wet dream/fantasy; He does everything he’s supposed too and more, he says only the most appropriate things to the press and on TV, his idea of a night out is watching game film into the wee hours of the night. Oh, by the way, this is in addition to him having the height and the physical attributes of the prototypical QB.. a specimen with perfect mechanics and the intelligence to call his own plays/audibles, kind of like Terry Bradshaw a generation ago. For all these reasons, my hatred for the Colts withstanding, Peyton will in my opinion go down in NFL history as one of the best QBs of all time.
-Michael, Wong_83@hotmail.com (Sorry I rambled so long… I just get really passionate about some of these players who are sometimes snubbed by other fans, analysts and media insiders.)
Posted in Football Related Blog, General BlahBlah, need to get off my chest.
Tagged 49ers, All-Pro, Barry Sanders, Bears, CB, Colts, Cowboys, Darrell Green, DE, Deion Sanders, Eagles, Falcons, Football, Gale Sayers, Giants, Lawrence Taylor, LB, Lions, Lynn Swann, NFL, OL, Orlando Pace, Packers, Patriots, Peyton Manning, Pro-bowl, QB, Rams, Randy Moss, Ravens, Ray Lewis, RB, Redskins, Reggie White, Steelers, Super Bowl, Terry Bradshaw, Vikings, WR
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Morons with Drones.........
Thread starter lasersbee
lasersbee
Just saw this, this morning.
What a cluelees A$$hat endangering lives
and putting another nail in the coffin for
our RC hobby.
https://www.facebook.com/anthonyyoutubevlog/videos/2270055023223165/
Reactions: BowtieGuy, Alaskan and GSS
That’s totally safety issue, I saw a video of drone crashing into plane’s winglet. They should really think what they are doing and what are the risks of such behavior.
Reactions: lasersbee, GSS and Alaskan
This was taken in some country outside of what is considered the west. It was stupid and dangerous and people travelling abroad should be aware that such things happen. If it had happened here, that drone would have been confiscated and its operator arrested.
Benm
Is this actual drone footage, or just filmed from a high vantage point on land?
If it is a drone this is complete madness, it could have easily struck the aircraft or simply be sucked in by one of the engine resulting in who knows what damage.
I'm inclined to think that this video was not filmed with a drone though: although i cannot see the zoom level, it looks like it's getting -very- close to that A380, but remains very stable in position. I would expect it to be at least shaking and moving to retain it's position in the blastwave after the airplane flew past.
Reactions: Alaskan
I tend to think it was a drone as the altitude changes in the video. I was watching for that as it looked stationary to me at first too. But, it looks like an expensive larger drone to me by the altitude changes.
RB astro
lasersbee said:
Yeah Jerry, I saw it come up on one of my feeds yesterday too and couldn't believe the stupidity.
Not only is it dangerous act, endangering hundreds of lives but it also puts the hobby of drones into a worse public perception than it already is (and I don't blame the public actually).
This is idiotic.
Why are all the hobbies we like, getting harder to enjoy, arghhh ????
paul1598419 said:
Benm said:
Yes, this was taken with a drone and it was on the island of Mauritius.
The drone is not a DJI drone, it's a newly released drone from Parrot called The Anafi.
Unlike DJI drones, the Parrot Anafi does not come equipped with Geofencing capabilities.
This is one of the safety feature of the DJI drones where it is programmed into the drone's firmware/software and app, not to be able to take off within a certain distance from all major airports around the world.
Also includes all other sensitive and classified areas globally.
For instance, DJI does not allow takeoffs in the Washington D.C. area at all.
Unfortunately, other companies don't implement such measures.
Another reason DJI is at the cutting edge of their game.
IMO the DJI drones are unsurpassed for quality and safety.
Of course, idiots will be idiots, as we all know, just look at our laser hobby.
Reactions: RedCowboy, paul1598419 and lasersbee
^^^^ Like He said ^^^^^
It is actual Drone footage from a Parrot Anafi
Reactions: GSS and paul1598419
Darn, that's actually not a small drone either, 320 grams it says.
Big jet engines are designed to deal with ingesting birds of that weight and a fair bit larger, but i imagine there are some materials in a drone that are a lot harder than chicken.
If it got ingested into an engine the (financial) damage would be huge in case of an A380. With a twin engine jet it could even pose a serious safety risk - they fly okay on one engine, but having one fail whilst just taking off is pretty bad.
And they seem to get pretty close to that airplane too - so even a collision would be possible. If the engines don't ingest it, it could easily strike a important control surface like the rudder or vertical stabilizer.
It's hard to tell the exact distance, but it certainly seems close enough to be classified as a 'near miss' from an aviation perspective. I hope they find and prosecute the person responsible for doing this. I certainly would not be comfortable on that plane knowing it'll fly that close to a drone on takeoff.
Reactions: RedCowboy
That's only a little over 11 ounces. I thought it would have been more massive.
The Motors are made of metal.
I wouldn't want to be hit by one or 4
of them going the speed of a plane.
That's true, but the aircraft is not at cruising speed just after take off. It would be much worse at 500 miles/hour. I'm guessing at the cruising speed, so if it is off, please don't jump down my throat.
please don't jump down my throat.
That's what the engines of the plane said too.
:crackup:
Well no, if there are no noise restrictions the engines of an aircraft actually spin at full power on takeoff. Since the air is fairly thick at sea level this does not mean maximum rpm's at all, but the problem is the speed of the -blades- when an engine ingests something.
It could be sitting at the start of the runway with zero ground speed when they ram the throttle up to almost full power when the drone is ingested. Safety wise this would not be that bad since the pilot would abort the takeoff, but the engine would sustain a lot of damage.
The point this drone comes closest to the aircraft is about the worst possible one really, it's just after takeoff, so certainly no chance of aborting takeoff any longer, but only very low altitude too so there are very little options when an engine fails.
This is a 4 engine jet that'll be okay running on 3, but on a twin engine get this would be very dangerous as they'd have half the thrust, and not nearly enough altitude to make a controlled flight back to the origin.
On a twin engine jet there are two places where an engine failure has the best chances of ending in a safe landing: still on the ground before V1, and as high in the sky as possible - the latter allowing maximum distance to limp back down to a nearby airfield. Depending on load flying with a single engine is a bit between powered flight and gliding: you definitely have more range than just gliding, but when heavy have cannot really gain or maintain altitude for long.
Reactions: RB astro
I suppose it depends on what the engine can sustain in terms of damage if the drone managed to get in front of it and got pulled in. Jet engines have sustained damage from geese flying into their path, so an 11+ ounce drone would likely also. Of course I understand the turbine spins and pulls air into it. I wasn't saying under these circumstances that the engine would be better off. But at cruising speed the drone also has significant momentum into the turbine and this could very well cause more damage to it than at a lower speed.
I suspect that depends on what it actually hits. I most likely think it would just be sucked in and then be mangled either through the main engine or "just" the bypass blades (it can damage those but not get into the combustion chamber).
Of course it could also do something like ram into the cowling, dislodge part of that, and all that getting pulled though the engine possible resulted in even an uncontained malfunction, posing grave danger to other parts of the aircraft.
Also there is a lot more of data how engines fare after (even multiple) bird strikes - the results vary but complete failure isn't even that usual if its just one goose going through.
Drones are made from different stuff though: If i blendered a cooked chicken (with all bones in it) to a fine paste you could probable safely eat that. Blend-tec'ing a drone would probably result in something less digestible, also from a mechanical point of view.
Keep in mind we are talking about 11+ ounces of mostly plastic at take off speeds, so dislodging a huge piece of the cowling seems unlikely. As far as being digestible, if it is ground up small enough and doesn't react with alimentary juices, it all just passes on through. Not a good metaphor. It would likely cause more damage to the cowling at cruising speeds I would think. It is all speculation what a strike at the engine would do. It may not have any effect at all, IDK.
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Writer for hire
The geek blog | www.itsastampede.com
Thoughts on Terminator: Dark Fate
By Alex Wiggan
Image: ©Paramount Pictures
Twenty-eight years after it opened in cinemas worldwide, Terminator 2: Judgement Day (1991) has finally been given a sequel. To be fair, the film has had a number of sequels – as well as a spin-off television show – but for most people, this week’s new release, Terminator: Dark Fate is the true follow-up to T2.
The film brings Linda Hamilton back to the franchise, to join the series’ most enduring star, Arnold Schwarzenegger in an action-packed fight for the future. Things explode, the timeline is influx, and the immortal phrase “I’ll be back” is uttered at least once.
But is Terminator: Dark Fate something wondrous, which can breathe new life into the Terminator movie series? Or are audiences destined to remain in a time loop, re-watching endless rehashes of what has come before?
Er… it’s a bit of both really.
The good news is that Terminator: Dark Fate is a decent movie, with some really great moments. It is also far superior to Terminator: Salvation (2009) and Terminator: Genisys (2015) – far, far superior.
The bad news is that Terminator: Dark Fate does not push the envelope enough and as a result, it is… well… just another Terminator movie. Aside from a few moments here and there, it is exactly what you expect it to be and there is a sense that old ground is being covered.
For those who didn’t click on the trailer above, or who have no real idea what Terminator: Dark Fate is all about, the film sees a terminator travel from the future to wipe out someone from the past (our present). This terminator – a Rev-9 model – has a target in mind – and for once it has nothing to do with Sarah Connor.
However, Connor finds herself involved with this latest fight for survival, along with a T-800 – a new (or should that be old) 101 model that has been kicking around the planet for 20 years. Working together Connor, the T-800 (which calls itself ‘Carl’) and an ‘enhanced’ human called Grace, team up to protect the new saviour of mankind, while the Rev-9 slices its way through everything in its path.
And if you’re wondering how this gels with all of the previous Terminator sequels, all you need to know is that Dark Fate disregards movies 3 through 5. Those films take place in an alternate timeline, so all you need to worry about is T1 & T2.
OK, so now we are up to speed, let’s talk about what works and what doesn’t – while trying to tread very carefully so not to drop any major spoilers.
First and foremost, convincing Linda Hamilton to return to the role of Sarah Connor is one of the film’s strongest assets. When Hamilton is on screen the movie is elevated and the bonus here is that she is a huge part of this picture.
Going into this movie I feared that Hamilton would crop up in nothing more than a glorified cameo, but that’s simply not the case. The actress appears more or less all the way throughout the film and it is great to pick up with her after all these years.
Hamilton’s return also allows for a very nostalgic moment at the beginning of the movie. I won’t say what happens, but the opening is guaranteed to give long-time fans a huge buzz – especially those who grew up watching T2.
But it isn’t just Hamilton that brings this picture to life, so does Arnie. It pretty much goes without saying, but at this point in the series’ run Schwarzenegger really is the glue that holds these films together.
Seeing him alongside Hamilton makes this film much more of an event than the previous sequels – it is just a shame that it has taken this long for it to happen. However, the gap between T2 and Dark Fate is addressed and Arnie’s terminator is given an appropriate backstory to allow for the time difference.
In fact, I really like what is presented here to explain Arnie’s new terminator. This is a different terminator to what we have seen before and it is interesting to see new facets to this well-worn character.
Big thumbs up!
Outside of Hamilton and Schwarzenegger, Gabriel Luna proves to be a strong bad guy in the shape of the Rev-9, while Mackenzie Davis is fine as a time-displaced soldier with enhanced abilities. There is also a nice new wrinkle to humanity’s never-ending war with machines, which explores the idea that the future is forever in a bad place.
All of these components are what makes this film work as well as it does. It is just a shame that it stumbles in places and this exposes the problems.
For me, the movie’s biggest faux pas is that it simply doesn’t have enough interesting material to keep the story ticking along. There is a basic structure (i.e a standard Terminator template) which gets characters from A to B to C, but there isn’t enough meat on the bone.
It almost feels as though the film knows it needs to introduce Hamilton, the new terminator, and Arnie, but beyond that it doesn’t know what else to do. As a result, there are a whole bunch of scenes which feel pointless, with set pieces thrown in for good measure.
During one sequence, the central characters have to cross the Mexican border, leading to a drawn out section of the movie as we watch the situation unfold. This scene could have easily been removed, or condensed down without the need to introduce new characters.
The same could be said for a scene in which an ‘important device’ is introduced into the movie, only for it to not be that important after all. I get that scenes like this are designed to inject tension, but all they really do is slow down the film instead of getting to the inevitable showdown.
So pacing issues are a problem, but they aren’t my biggest gripe. The main offender here is the lack of screen time given to Arnie – he’s not in the movie enough.
I know that it can be argued that in the original Terminator he barely had any lines and his screen time was less than Hamilton’s, but he has been with this series so long I expected more. Don’t get me wrong – he is in a decent chunk of this film – but it takes far to long to introduce him.
When he is on screen, the picture sings. When he is not, it is clear that this franchise needs him.
That is worrying for the future of this series, as Dark Fate does appear to be taking steps towards the inevitable Arnie-less sequels. Oh, the series may not jettison Arnie for a while yet, but one day it will happen and I’m really not sure this franchise can exist without him.
But let me dial things back… because I do feel like I’m being a little too negative about this movie. After all, I did enjoy it and it offers up a lot of entertainment for fans – old and new.
Do I think it is a worthy sequel to T1 or T2? Well, I think it is a good sequel, but it doesn’t sit on the same level as those films and after all of these years, and with all the nostalgia attached to those pictures, I’m not sure any film can.
Is it the best ‘third’ Terminator film? Personally I like Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines (2003), so for me it’s a no, but for those who dislike T3, then it is a yes.
Ultimately what is presented is a good sequel that will win some new fans and certainly won’t alienate those who have invested years into this series. Hamilton and Schwarzenegger are worth the ticket price alone and this movie is certainly a step in the right direction.
What is the best order to watch The Terminator movies?
Arnold Schwarzenegger movies – In order and ranked
Thoughts on the Scorsese-Coppola-Marvel situation
Tags: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Films, Linda Hamilton, Movies, Terminator, Terminator 2, Terminator 3, Terminator Dark Fate, Terminator Dark Fate review, Terminator Genisys, Terminator Salvation, The Terminator, The Terminator films
Categories: '80s, '90s, Films, Nostalgia
One Response to Thoughts on Terminator: Dark Fate
Julie October 29, 2019
It looks good.
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The First Mistake
By Sandie Jones
Narrated by Nathalie Buscombe / 9 hours 52 minutes
Bookseller Recommendation
“The First Mistake serves many twists and turns throughout the pages until the bitter end. Thanks to this book, I cleaned to closets because I couldn't shut off the audiobook. Meet Alice. She was a young widow and single mother when she met and married Nathan. Alice and her late husband, Tom, founded a successful design business. Nathan eventually joins the company as Alice's partner. Alice's best friend, Beth is her sounding board. Nathan starts behaving strangely and Alice vents to Beth. Then, by chance, Alice discovers that Beth was having an affair with her first husband, Tom. Just when Alice thinks that her life couldn't get any worse, the other shoe is dropped. This book is narrated by a woman with a crisp, delightful, British accent. If you enjoy an intriguing psychological thriller, this one is for you.”
Melinda, Buttonwood Books and Toys
From Sandie Jones, author of the Reese Witherspoon x Hello Sunshine Book Club Pick and USA Today Bestseller, The Other Woman, comes an addictive new domestic suspense audiobook about a wife, her husband, and the woman who is supposedly her best friend.
THE WIFE: For Alice, life has never been better. With her second husband, she has a successful business, two children, and a beautiful house.
HER HUSBAND: Alice knows that life could have been different if her first husband had lived, but Nathan’s arrival into her life gave her back the happiness she craved.
HER BEST FRIEND: When Alice met Beth, her best friend, it was the icing on the cake. A friend without judgement, to celebrate with, commiserate with, Beth is the most trustworthy and loyal person that Alice knows. So when Nathan starts disappearing for stretches of time, Alice turns to Beth. But soon, she begins to wonder whether her trust has been misplaced…
The first mistake could be her last.
Praise for The Other Woman:
"One of the most twisted and entertaining plots."—Reese Witherspoon
"A perfect beach read."—Kristin Hannah, #1 New York Times bestselling author
"Whiplash-inducing."—New York Times Book Review
"Such fun you'll cheer [Emily's] chutzpah."—PEOPLE
"This thriller will hit close to home."—Refinery29
Author Sandie Jones
Narrator Nathalie Buscombe
Publisher Macmillan Audio
Publication Date June 11, 2019
Libro.fm Rank #2,765 Overall
Genre Rank #356 in Mystery & Thriller
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[ More Bing Crosby lyrics ]
Artist/Band: Bing Crosby
Lyrics for Song: My Little Buckaroo
Lyrics for Album: Other Songs - Bing Crosby
Close your sleepy eyes,
My little Buckaroo.
While the light of the western skies,
Is shinin' down on you.
Don't you know it's time for bed,
Another day is through.
So go to sleep,
Don't you realize,
My little Buckaroo,
That it was from a little acorn,
That the Oak tree grew?
And remember that your dad,
Was once a kid like you.
Soon you're gonna ride the range,
Like grown up cowboys do.
Now it's time that you were roundin' up,
A dream or two.
Album Lyrics: Other Songs - Bing Crosby
"Other Songs - Bing Crosby"
1. Baby It's Cold Outside
2. Dinah (Bing Crosby)
3. Happy Holidays
4. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas
5. Last Night On The Back Porch
6. Snow (From White Christmas)
7. Where The Blue Of The Night Meets The Gold Of The
8. Would You Like To Swing On A Star
9. Aloha Oe
10. Amor
11. Aren't You Glad You're You
12. Back To Donegal
13. Be Careful Its My Heart
14. Count Your Blessings (Instead Of Sheep)
15. Do You Hear What I Hear
16. Empty Saddles
17. Feudin And Fightin
18. Get You Kicks On Route 66
19. Go Fly A Kite
20. Hen Irish Eyes Are Smiling
21. I Got Plenty O' Nuthin'
22. I Sing Noel
23. It's The Natural Thing To Do
24. Let's All Meet At My House
25. Let's Start The New Year Right
26. Little Jack Frost, Get Lost
27. Moon Was Yellow
28. Moonburn - With Joe Sullivan/bobby Sherwood
29. My Baby Said Yes (Yip Yip De Hootie)
30. Oh Come All Ye Faithful (Adeste Fideles)
31. On The Atchison, Topeka And The Santa Fe
32. Personality
33. Pistol Packin Mama
34. Poinciana
35. Rudolph The Red Nosed Reindeer
36. Shadow Waltz
37. Sleigh Ride In July
39. Teamwork
40. Thats For Me
41. The Whistler's Mother-In-Law
42. Til Reveille
43. Till We Meet Again - With Patti Page
44. What A Friend We Have In Jesus
45. What Child Is This?
46. What Child Is This
47. (there'll Be A) Hot Time In The Town Of Berlin (When The Yanks Go ...)
48. A Blues Serenade
49. A Friend Of Yours
50. A Gal In Calico
51. A Marshmallow World
52. Ah! Sweet Mystery Of Life
53. All Of My Life
54. All The Things You Are
55. April In Portugal
56. Back In Your Own Backyard
57. Between The Devil And The Deep Blue Sea
58. Blueberry Hill [First Version]
59. Bonne Nuit
60. Brahms Lullaby
61. Breezin' Along With The Breeze
62. Caroling, Caroling
63. Chicago
64. Chinatown, My Chinatown
65. Ciao, Ciao, Bambina
66. Dearly Beloved
67. Deck The Halls
68. Domino
69. Don't Let That Moon Get Away
70. Enjoy Yourself
71. Four Walls
72. Georgia On My Mind
73. Going Hollywood
74. Goodnight, Sweetheart
75. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/it Came Upon A Midnight Clear
77. Have You Met Miss Jones
78. Heartaches By The Number
79. Hello Hello
81. Honeysuckle Rose
82. I Ain't Got Nobody
83. I Didn't Slip, I Wasn't Pushed, I Fell
84. I Need You Now
85. I Wonder What's Become Of Sally
86. I'm Beginning To See The Light
87. I'm Thru With Love
88. It Could Happen To You
89. June Is Bustin' Out All Over
90. Just An Echo In The Valley
91. Let's Call The Whole Thing Off
92. Let's Take A Walk Around The Block
93. Lilli Marlene
94. Little Lady Make Believe
95. Livin' In The Sunlight, Lovin' In The Moonlight
96. Love And Marriage
97. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing
98. Love Is Blue
99. Love Is The Sweetest Thing
100. Love Somebody
101. Mary Lou
102. Misty
103. Moonlight On A White Picket Fence
104. Mr. Gallagher And Mr. Shean
105. Muskrat Ramble
106. My Blue Heaven
107. My Funny Valentine
108. My Isle Of Golden Dreams
109. Never On Sunday
110. Nevertheless
111. New Sun In The Sky
112. Nice Work If You Can Get It
113. Oh, You Crazy Moon
114. On The Beach At Waikiki
115. On The Sunny Side Of The Street
116. On Treasure Island
117. Papa Loves Mambo
118. Rock-A-Bye Your Baby With A Dixie Melody
119. Rockin' Chair
120. Sail Along, Silv'ry Moon
121. Shadows Of Love
122. She's Funny That Way
123. Side By Side
124. Sleepy Time Gal
125. So Rare
126. Someone Stole Gabriel's Horn
127. Stay On The Right Side Of The Road
127. Street Of Dreams
127. Strike Up The Band
127. Swanee
127. Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
127. That Lucky Old Sun
127. The Anniversary Waltz
127. The Eagle And Me
127. The Isle Of Innifree
127. The One I Love (Belongs To Somebody Else)
127. The Things We Did Last Summer
127. The Very Thought Of You
127. There's A Cabin In The Pines
127. This Heart Of Mine
127. Thou Swell
127. Three Little Words
127. Two-Shillelagh O'sullivan
127. Vaya Con Dios (May God Be With You)
127. When I Take My Sugar To Tea [From Dream House]
127. Whispering Hope
127. Who Paid The Rent For Mrs. Rip Van Winkle
127. Wild Flower
127. You Took Advantage Of Me
127. You'll Never Know
127. You've Got A Friend
127. Your Socks Don't Match
127. Zing A Little Zong
127. Dardanella
127. (take Me Back To My) Boots And Saddle
127. Exactly Like You
127. Oh, But I Do (The Time, The Place And The Girl)
127. You Lucky People, You
127. A Kiss To Build A Dream On
127. A Pretty Girl Is Like A Melody
127. A Rainy Night In Rio
127. Accidents Will Happen (W76123-A)
127. All Through The Day
127. Apalachicola Fla
127. April Played The Fiddle
127. As Long As I Live
127. Ask Me No Questions (And Tell Me No Lies)
127. At Sundown
127. Baby Face
127. Begin The Beguine
127. Blue (And Broken-Hearted)
127. Blues My Naughty Sweetie Gave To Me
127. Bye Bye Blues
127. Camptown Races
127. Careless Hands
127. Ciribiribin
127. Devil May Care
127. Diane
127. Ding-Dong! The Witch Is Dead
127. East Side Of Heaven
127. Feet Up
127. Fine And Dandy
127. For You [From Billboard Girl]
127. Friendly Star
127. Go West Young Man
127. Granada
127. Heat Wave
127. Here's To My Lady
127. How Are Things In Glocca Morra
127. How Important Can It Be
127. I Can Dream, Can't I
127. I Don't Want To Walk Without You
127. I Get Ideas
127. I Guess I'll Have To Change My Plan
127. I Haven't Time To Be A Millionaire
127. I'll Walk Alone
127. I've Grown Accustomed To Her Face
127. If I Had My Way
127. If This Isn't Love
127. If Wishes Were Kisses
127. In My Merry Oldsmobile
127. Indian Summer
127. Istanbul
127. It Must Be True
127. It's All Right With Me
127. It's The Same Old Shillelagh
127. Jamboree Jones
127. Knees Up, Mother Brown
127. La Vie En Rose
127. Let's Call A Heart A Heart
127. Let's Do It (Let's Fall In Love)
127. Look To Your Heart
127. Louise
127. Mandy
127. Margie
127. Meet The Sun Half Way
127. Milkman, Keep Those Bottles Quiet
127. Mimi
127. Mistletoe And Holly
127. Mona Lisa
127. My Heart Is Taking Lessons
127. My Little Buckaroo
127. My Melancholy Baby
127. Naturally
127. Never In A Million Years
127. No, Not Much
127. Painting The Clouds With Sunshine
127. Pretty Baby
127. Puff (The Magic Dragon)
127. Quicksilver
127. Ride, Tenderfoot, Ride
127. Row, Row, Row
127. Runnin' Wild
127. She's Tall, She's Tan, She's Terrific
127. Shoo Shoo Baby
127. Sing Me A Song Of The Islands
127. Some Enchanted Evening
127. Songs Gotta Come From The Heart
127. Step To The Rear
127. Stompin' At The Savoy
127. Sunflower
127. Swing Mr Charlie
127. Takes Two To Make A Bargain
127. That's How Much I Love You
127. The Day After Forever
127. The First Noel
127. The Teddy Bears' Picnic
127. The Wang Wang Blues
127. Then You've Never Been Blue
127. They All Laughed
127. Valencia
127. Wait 'til The Sun Shines, Nellie
127. We're In The Money (The Golddiggers' Song)
127. When The Red, Red Robin Comes Bob, Bob, Bobbin' Along
127. Who Threw The Overalls In Mrs. Murphy's Chowder
127. Yaaka Hula Hickey Dula
127. You Do Something To Me
127. You Go To My Head
127. You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To
127. (i've Got Spurs That) Jingle, Jangle, Jingle
127. April Showers [Medley With Al Jolson]
127. Blue Shadows On The Trail
127. Dearie
127. I Almost Lost My Mind
127. I Only Have Eyes For You
127. I Whistle A Happy Tune
127. I'll Take You Home Again Kathleen
127. It's Only A Paper Moon
127. My Ideal
127. Over The Rainbow
127. Sweet Potato Piper
127. Sympathy
127. These Foolish Things
127. When You Wore A Tulip
127. 's Wonderful
127. A Cockeyed Optimist
127. Away In A Manger
127. Big Noise From Winnetka
127. Bob White (Whatcha Gonna Swing Tonight)
127. Busy Doing Nothing
127. Confess
127. Don't Get Around Much Anymore
127. Five Minutes More
127. Great Day
127. I Hear Music
127. I Kiss Your Hand, Madame
127. I'll Never Say never Again Again
127. If You Should Ever Need Me (You'll Always Find Me Here)
127. Just One Of Those Things
127. Lawd, You Made The Night Too Long
127. Looking At You
127. Lover Man (Oh Where Can You Be)
127. Maybe
127. My Girl's An Irish Girl
127. Nobody's Darlin' But Mine
127. O God, Our Help In Ages Past
127. Oh, Susannah
127. One, Two, Button Your Shoe
127. Patricia
127. Small Fry
127. St. Louis Blues
127. Still
127. Suddenly There's A Valley
127. Sugar (That Sugar Baby O' Mine)
127. Summertime
127. Talk To The Animals
127. The Lady Is A Tramp
127. The Night Has A Thousand Eyes
127. The Object Of My Affection
127. The Tender Trap
127. There's A Small Hotel
127. Thoroughly Modern Millie
127. Toot, Toot, Tootsie, Goodbye
127. Tzena, Tzena, Tzena
127. Waiting For The Robert E. Lee
127. Watermelon Weather
127. When Day Is Done
127. When You And I Were Young, Maggie Blues
127. Why Can't You Behave
127. Wolverton Mountain
127. You Turned The Tables On Me
127. You're Driving Me Crazy
127. Danger! Heartbreak Ahead
127. Get Out And Get Under The Moon
127. I'll Never Stop Loving You
127. Little Drummer Boy
127. My Happiness
127. Once Upon A Time
127. Rosalie
127. Sailor Beware
127. That's The Way Love Goes
127. 'deed I Do
127. A Faded Summer Love
127. After You've Gone
127. Alabamy Bound
127. Avalon
127. Beyond The Reef
127. Crazy Arms
127. Don't Take Your Love From Me
127. Get Me To The Church On Time
127. Here Comes Santa Claus (Right Down Santa Claus Lane)
127. Hey, Look Me Over!
127. I Love Paris
127. I Wonder Who's Kissing Her Now
127. Ida, Sweet As Apple Cider
127. Marcheta
127. My Reverie
127. O Little Town Of Bethlehem
127. Razzle Dazzle
127. That's Entertainment (The Band Wagon)
127. Yes Sir! That's My Baby
127. Yodelin' Jive
127. Abraham
127. Ain't Misbehavin'
127. As Time Goes By
127. Ave Maria
127. Back In The Old Routine
127. Between A Kiss And A Sigh
127. Bouquet Of Roses
127. Cabaret
127. Call Me Up Some Rainy Afternoon
127. Darling, Je Vous Aime Beaucoup
127. Harbor Lights
127. Home Cookin'
127. I Apologize
127. I Couldn't Sleep A Wink Last Night
127. Just You, Just Me
127. Love's Old Sweet Song
127. Ma Blushin' Rosie
127. Mary's A Grand Old Name
127. Mighty Lak' A Rose (W73212-A)
127. One Sweet Letter From You
127. Red Sails In The Sunset
127. Sentimental And Melancholy
127. Serenade In The Night
127. Skylark
127. Something's Gotta Give
127. That's A-Plenty
127. The Star-Spangled Banner
127. The Surrey With The Fringe On Top
127. The Touch Of Your Lips
127. Undecided
127. When You Dream About Hawaii
127. Wish You Were Here
127. And So To Bed
127. Anyone Can Fall In Love
127. At Last! At Last!
127. Autumn Leaves
127. Be My Life's Companion
127. Children
127. Hawaiian Wedding Song
127. High Hopes
127. I See Your Face Before Me
127. I've Told Every Little Star
127. Keep It Gay
127. Little Dutch Mill
127. No Time At All
127. Oh, Lonesome Me
127. Say It Isn't So
127. Tea For Two
127. That Tumbledown Shack In Athlone
127. They Can't Take That Away From Me
127. Two Sleepy People
127. Whistle While You Work
127. Yours Sincerely
127. Blue Star (The Medic Theme)
127. Dear Old Girl
127. Deep Purple
127. Gigi
127. Huggin' And Chalkin'
127. Hut-Sut Song
127. I Got Rhythm
127. Is It True What They Say About Dixie
127. It's Always You
127. It's Love, Love, Love
127. Ma (He's Making Eyes At Me)
127. My Cup Runneth Over
127. Royal Garden Blues
127. The Song From Moulin Rouge (Where Is Your Heart)
127. Way Down Yonder In New Orleans
127. When My Dreamboat Comes Home
127. When The White Azaleas Start Blooming
127. Whither Thou Goest
127. Y'all Come
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Conference Betting Odds + Free Bet
Date: 2nd September 2011 at 8:27am
Written by: Site Staff
The latest odds for the Conference. Odds by bwin
Get a free £25 bet… >>Click Here<<
The majority of Conference sides have now played six games in the 2011/12 season. Well-fancied teams such as Luton Town and Fleetwood are currently in mid-table while the likes of Wrexham and Gateshead are setting the pace at the top. Nevertheless, Luton are favourites to finish first at 11/4 as they are still expected to enjoy a strong campaign under the guidance of the promising young manager Gary Brabin.
There was also great deal of support for Fleetwood over the summer months. However, the Trawlermen are currently 11th in the table having won two, drawn two and lost two so far this term. Last campaign’s champions Crawley had a similarly slow start to the season so Fleetwood will no doubt be hoping that they can improve as the Red Devils did last time round. If Fleetwood can put their bad start to the season behind them the 5/1 available on Micky Mellon’s side could be a great price come the business end of the season.
Wrexham are currently top of the Conference and the Welsh side are now 5/1 joint-second favourites with Fleetwood. Dean Saunders’ side have a wealth of experience in their ranks in the likes of Andy Morrell, Dean Keates and Gareth Taylor. The Red Dragons are still unbeaten and given that they have won all three games on their travels they appear to be a much improved side this time round after a disappointing 2010/11 campaign.
Gateshead are currently level with Wrexham on points which is a great achievement for the Tynesiders as Ian Bogie’s side operate on one of the smallest budgets in the entire division. The Heed`s star striker Jon Shaw has already bagged seven goals this term which has led to interest from Luton Town. However, Shaw has stated that he is happy to remain at the International Stadium. Gateshead tasted some success in the FA Trophy last season, progressing to the semi-finals before elimination. It would appear that Bogie’s side are now even stronger after some smart close season captures and the 22/1 available on them topping the Conference looks a very attractive price at this moment in time.
Darlington are currently fourth in the Conference and are 9/1 to lift the title next May. The Quakers have assembled a strong squad over the summer although a number of the club’s established players such as Liam Hatch and Marc Bridge-Wilkinson have been dropped from the first eleven after starting the season slowly. Darlo have given youngsters such as Ryan Bowman and John Campbell opportunities up front and both of the forwards are currently in great form. Quakers fans will be hoping their team can achieve at least a play-off place given the roster of players Mark Cooper currently has at his disposal.
Chris Mackenzie
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Mourners arrive for Rodney King service at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills
With the parking lot to the Hall of Liberty slowly filling, mourners arrived Saturday afternoon at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills to pay respects to Rodney King.
According to a Forest Lawn service director, a private memorial has been scheduled for family and close friends and invited guests before the 2 p.m. funeral service.
Walking through the foyer, guests passed a large photograph of a smiling King, set on an easel before a painting depicting the writing of the Declaration of Independence entitled “The Day of Decision.” They signed a guest book, paused before a scrapbook with clippings from those fateful days in 1991 and 1992, and stepped into a 1,200-seat auditorium.
Inside, a slide-show depicted scenes from King’s life, playing above the open casket. The words "Can We All Just Get Along" were embroidered on the open lid.
PHOTOS: Rodney King | 1965- 2012
Forest Lawn workers directed dozens of mourners into the auditorium, gathering them in small groups in the absence of a formal guest list.
King, who became a symbol in the civil rights struggle after being brutally beaten by Los Angeles police two decades ago, was found dead June 17 at his Rialto home.
Kali Bowyer, a publicist for the family, said the service would be open to the public but seating was limited. She said the family has “the majority” of funeral costs covered but still seeks donations to help cover flowers, programs and other costs.
Kings’ three daughters have established the Rodney Glen King Memorial Fund through Bank of America in Los Angeles County, and Bowyer said interested donors may contribute by calling or stopping at a BofA branch. She said the daughters were still searching for King’s life insurance policy and were undecided on what to do with his house.
“What they want to do is just be able to put their father to rest and have some closure,” Bowyer said.
King was awarded a $3.8-million settlement following the police beating and the ensuing riots that swept Los Angeles, but the money and fame brought him little solace. He had repeated run-ins with the law and as of April he said he was broke.
VIDEOS: Rodney King
PHOTOS: Notable deaths of 2012
FULL COVERAGE: L.A. riots, 20 years later
-- Thomas Curwen and Sandy Banks at Forest Lawn-Hollywood Hills
Photo: Rodney King in 1992. Credit: Robert Sullivan / AFP/GettyImages
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Life isn’t Always a Fairy Tale
By Jennie Hansen · May 16, 2012
During all the long years my daughter waited to adopt a child, I grew frustrated with LDS novels that dealt with adoption. The stories were always told from the adoptive parents’ perspective, or the biological mother was difficult to like or sympathize with. Some were annoyingly over-simplified. Finally a writer, Julie Wright, has written one I like a lot. My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life neither glamorizes nor sugar-coats the facts around an unplanned, out-of-wedlock pregnancy, but neither does it villainize or put down the young woman who finds herself in the difficult position of making choices concerning the future of the child she carries. In fact, I like Julie Wright’s Suzanna Quincy.
Two children grow up in a home where the mother physically and emotionally abuses and neglects them. Their father is a spineless character who cares about them, but is more concerned with maintaining his relationship with his wife than with protecting them. The son rebels against his upbringing by rejecting everything about the way he was raised, becomes a Mormon, and moves west. The daughter lives up to her mother’s negative expectations. She drinks, uses drugs, dresses outrageously, and is promiscuous. The daughter, Suzanna, has a smart mouth and has learned to cope with her mother by putting on an act of being just as rotten as her mother.
Unlike her mother, Suzanna doesn’t turn her hurt and disappointment toward her child when she learns she is pregnant. Neither does she choose to marry someone she cares nothing about. At first, she considers abortion the easiest solution to the unplanned pregnancy, but discovers she can’t go through with it. Because she doesn’t have the abortion, her mother throws her out. Soon without a car, a job, or a place to live, she purchases a bus ticket and heads west to find her brother. On the way, she meets an unusual young man who isn’t put off by her behavior, appearance, or wisecracks.
Suzanna isn’t the kind of girl Rion always expected to some day fall in love with, but he can’t help being drawn to her. He’s convinced he just wants to be her friend and help her with the problems she faces. He’s not about to settle for anything less than a temple marriage and Suzanna definitely isn’t temple-ready. Friendship is all Suzanna wants as well. She has no intention of becoming a Mormon like Rion and her brother Sam-Halo. All that goody-good stuff isn’t for her. Funny how life doesn’t work out the way one plans.
Julie Wright has written the best book I’ve read yet about a young woman who must make agonizing decisions concerning the fate of her unplanned and unborn child. Suzanna Quincy is a character that in less skilled hands would be hard to like, but Wright manages to walk that thin line that separates the sin from the sinner, leaving the reader feeling sympathetic toward Suzanna while abhorring the people and choices that place her in a position where she must make irrevocable decisions. My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life is an excellent book for teenagers and their parents both to read.
The plot is well-developed, the characters are fleshed out well and are believable, and the information and details concerning abortion, single parenting, and the LDS Social Services placement program are well-researched. Wright successfully switches her characters’ focus from what they think they want to what is best for the baby.
Suzanna’s background is a little extreme and not really typical of the young women who turn to LDS Social Services for help, but she is believable and she shares many traits with real women who find themselves in a position similar to hers. The title and the dandelions on the cover are a little misleading, suggesting something light and casual. Though Wright’s style is modern and suggestive of Chic Lit, this story isn’t treated casually, nor is it the light-hearted feminist fun of that genre. It isn’t heavy or preachy either. It is an absorbing, thought-provoking story, filled with sound information.
Definitely two thumbs up for My Not-So-Fairy-Tale Life.
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All Lawyers
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Landlord & Tenant Lawyer
Brooke Ellen Sanchez
Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law
Call Website
North Conception Street 263
Mobile 36603 AL US
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Brooke Ellen Sanchez is a lawyer in Mobile, Alabama focusing her practice on Bankruptcy and debt, Landlord or tenant. She is an attorney at the law firm, Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law. She obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Communications from the University of South Alabama in 2002. She went on to join the Samford University in Birmingham, Alabama to study law. She successfully earned her Juris Doctorate in the year 2005.
While studying in the law school, she served as an officer in Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity, and also in the Hispanic Student Association. She acquired admission to practice law in the State of Florida in the year 2006.
She also has the permission to practice at the Alabama Bar, the District Court for the Middle District of Alabama, District Court for the Southern District of Alabama, NACBA, the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association, and the District Court for the Northern District of Florida.
Brooke Sanchez started her career by working for the Department of Health in the State of Florida. She worked in the Prosecution Services Unit and prosecuted health care professionals not meeting the standard of care set out by Florida Law.
She joined the Law Firm of Lewis & Jurnovoy, P.A., in 2008 as an associate attorney. She focused her practice on consumer rights law, including Chapter 7 and Chapter 13 Bankruptcy. She also pursued violations of State and Federal consumer protection laws.
She went on to join the Law Firm of Stephen L. Klimjack, LLC, in 2014. She continued her focus on consumer rights law while working there. She also focused on Consumer Bankruptcy.
The Law firm of Lee & Sanchez was formed in 2015. She continued to practice consumer law and also expanding her practice area to include landlord/tenant law. She offers ideal representation and service to clients.
Attorney Sanchez serves as an Instructor at the Credit Abuse Resistance Education since 2010. She is a member of the Escambia/Santa Rosa County Bar Association. She has served as a Director of the Northern District of Florida Bankruptcy Bar Association. and Co-Chairperson of the C.A.R.E. program.
Rate : $$$$
What types of cases Attorney Brooke Ellen Sanchez & Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law can handle?
Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law can handle cases related to laws concerning Landlord & Tenant, Bankruptcy. We manually verify each attorney’s practice areas before approving their profiles and reviews on our website.
Where is Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law located?
Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law is located at 263 N Conception St, Mobile, AL 36603, USA. You can reach out to Lee & Sanchez, Attorneys at Law using their phone line (251) 432-3111. You can also check their website www.johnvleelaw.com.
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French Urban Space: From City of Lights to the Banlieue
Module code: FR2046
The city of Paris has long been known as the ‘City of Lights’ because of the key role it has played in bringing together artists, writers and great thinkers. For a long time, Paris was seen as the worldwide pinnacle of ‘development’, a place of high culture and enlightenment that artists, writers and film-makers flocked to for inspiration. How can we reconcile this with aspects of Paris’ character today? Since the riots of the banlieue in 2005, Paris today is a site of struggle for inclusion and exclusion, a place in which many different people try to find a voice in which to express themselves. This module will help you understand the shifting layers of meaning and multiple identities of Paris via the study of film, art and literature.
Urban modernisation
The Banlieue
French Urban Policy
Revolt, protest and strikes
10 hours of lectures
10 hours of seminars
130 hours of guided independent study
Essay, 2,000 words (70%)
Group presentation (30%)
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Show Related Q&As Sports Management Graduate Degree Programs in Florida Sports Management Graduate Degree Programs in New York Graduate Certificate in Sports Management Online Sports Management Degree and Training Programs
Health and Fitness Education
Sports management encompasses all of the business operations behind running a professional sports franchise such as a football team. Your sports management career could include marketing, management or finance responsibilities. Read on to determine if a career in sports management is right for you.
Is Sports Management for Me?
If you're an avid sports fan with a head for business, then you might want to consider a career in sports management, which deals with the administration and marketing sides of the sports industry.
Many sports management professionals apply business techniques and strategies to the operation of sports franchises, such as football, baseball and basketball teams. In this position, you analyze the issues affecting the profitability and revenue of a franchise in the multimillion-dollar professional sports industry, looking for ways to improve them.
Other careers in sports management might include overseeing the operations of a sports facility or arena or working as a sports agent. You could also specialize in areas such as marketing, merchandising, administration and finance, just like in any other business.
While the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) doesn't publish information pertaining specifically to sports managers, it does have data for managers of entertainers and athletes. The BLS notes that the average salary among these professionals as of 2013 was $96,410. Sports management, however, is a very competitive field due to the limited number of sports franchises available, despite the multimillion-dollar worth of the sports industry.
How Can I Work in Sports Management?
Some degree programs, such as an associate's in sports management, and a master's in sports management, are devoted to providing you with the knowledge and skills required by the sports industry. They often allow you to gain hands-on experience by facilitating internships with sports franchises and related organizations in order to jumpstart your career in sports management.
Alternatively, you could study a degree program according to your specific area of interest. For instance, a degree program in business administration could prepare you for a managerial position within a sports franchise, while earning a degree in marketing may prepare you to join the merchandising task force of a sports team.
Related Articles for Sports Management
What Are the Top Sports Management Schools?
See what kinds of programs and resources top sports management schools offer. Read on to learn more about three good schools, what makes them distinctive, degree programs offered and hands-on learning opportunities.
Sports Management Careers
Find out about the types of jobs you could pursue in sports management. Read on to learn more about career options along with education requirements, job outlook, and salary information.
What Will I Learn as a Sports Management Major?
Do you like the idea of working in the sports industry, but not necessarily playing sports? Obtaining a Bachelor of Science degree in sports management can open up a wide range of career options in the sporting industry. Keep reading to find out...
Sports and Fitness Management Jobs: Career Options
Sports and fitness management is a growing field that includes professions such as wellness coaching, fitness program direction and team management. Because of the accelerated concern for health and fitness, health club memberships and athletic...
Top Sports Management Graduate Schools
Review some important considerations for choosing a school with a strong graduate program in sports management. Read about three well-ranked schools with programs in this field, and find out what sports management graduate degrees each school offers.
Bachelor's Degree in Sports Management
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Graduate Certificate in Sports Management Online
Sports Management Degree and Training Programs
Online Sports Management Degree Programs
Sports Management Degrees - Video
A Sports Management degree program prepares students to work in the growing and diverse field of sports management. Students who earn this degree can work as sports agents, managers, directors, administrators and coaches.
Sports Administration Degrees - Video
Earning a Sports Administration degree, or Sports Management Degree as it is sometimes called, can lead to a wide range of jobs in the athletic field.
Popular Schools
Southern New Hampshire University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
Popular programs at Southern New Hampshire University:
Masters - Sport Management
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Online Programs Available
Ashford University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
Popular programs at Ashford University:
Bachelor - Sports & Recreation Management
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Full Sail University
Full Sail University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
Popular programs at Full Sail University:
BS - Sports Marketing and Media (Campus)
Bachelor in Sportscasting (Campus)
Bachelor's Degree - Sportscasting
Bachelor in Sports Marketing and Media
Northcentral University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
Popular programs at Northcentral University:
Doctor - Education: Sports Management
PhD - Education: Sports Management
Master - Education: Athletic Coaching
Master - Education: Sport & Athletic Management
The George Washington University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
Popular programs at The George Washington University:
MSHS Medical Laboratory Sciences
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Popular programs at Purdue University Global:
Bachelor of Science in Nutrition Science
Grand Canyon University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
Popular programs at Grand Canyon University:
BS in Sports Management
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Associate Programs
Herzing University
Herzing University responds quickly to information requests through this website.
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Penn Foster High School
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LEDA empowers a community of exceptional young leaders from under-resourced backgrounds by supporting their higher education and professional success in order to create a more inclusive and equitable country.
Exceptional students from low-income backgrounds have unequal access to the top-tier colleges that cultivate most of our country’s leaders.
LEDA runs the LEDA Scholars Program, the LEDA Career Network, and the LEDA Policy Project.
LEDA Scholars Program
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A look at LEDA Scholars since our inception in 2003.
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Press Release: LEDA Policy Project 2019
LEDA Receives $433,300 Grant from Lumina Foundation for the LEDA Policy Project
New York, NY (October 28, 2019) – Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) has received a $433,300 grant from Lumina Foundation in recognition of LEDA’s innovative approach to positioning young leaders from under-resourced backgrounds to lend their voices to federal postsecondary policy discussions. Lumina Foundation, a seed investor of the LEDA Policy Project, has been an ardent supporter of this initiative that provides students with a platform to share their expertise and address equity gaps in higher education.
“Today’s students have never been more crucial to the federal policy conversation,” said Jesse O’Connell, strategy director at Lumina Foundation. “The willingness and ability of these talented LEDA Scholars to share their lived experiences about higher education quality, equity, and affordability brings these issues to life. We’re gratified to continue to support these efforts.”
Central to the LEDA Policy Project is the LEDA Policy Corps, a group of LEDA Scholars selected to represent LEDA at various events where education policy conversations occur. In its inaugural year, members of the Policy Corps participated in 13 prestigious national conferences, including SXSW EDU 2019. In 2019 and 2020, LEDA will continue to elevate students’ voices as it launches its second and third cohort of the LEDA Policy Corps.
“Thanks to the flagship investment from Lumina Foundation, young leaders are changing the conversations that impact the future of federal education policy,” said Beth Breger executive director of LEDA. “LEDA is thrilled to continue this tremendous partnership with Lumina Foundation to ensure that young leaders voices continue to be elevated at tables where policy decisions are made, and that critical stakeholders and policymakers benefit from the perspectives of students from under-resourced backgrounds.”
LEDA Scholars’ voices are critical to the formulation of effective federal education policies. The LEDA Policy Project advances both LEDA’s mission and its strategic priorities to prepare the next generation of diverse leaders.
About LEDA
Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America (LEDA) empowers a community of exceptional young leaders from under-resourced backgrounds by supporting their higher education and professional success in order to create a more inclusive and equitable country, to build an inclusive and equitable America where leadership reflects, celebrates, and supports diverse perspectives. For media inquiries, please contact Cristina Morais at cristinamorais@ledascholars.org or (646) 787-0624. Please visit our website www.ledascholars.org or follow LEDA on social media: LEDAScholarsProgram on Facebook and @leda_scholars on Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat.
About Lumina Foundation
Lumina Foundation is an independent, private foundation in Indianapolis that is committed to making opportunities for learning beyond high school available to all. We envision a system that is easy to navigate, delivers fair results, and meets the nation’s need for talent through a broad range of credentials. Our goal is to prepare people for informed citizenship and for success in a global economy.
Become a LEDA Scholar
Find out about the selection criteria and how to apply.
Your contribution will help diversify leadership in America.
Keep up with LEDA News
Our e-newsletter about LEDA Scholars goes out twice a year.
315 West 39th Street, Suite 607,
leda@ledascholars.org
Meet Our Scholars
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LGBTQ Reads
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Tag Archives: Keena Roberts
New Releases: November 2019
November 5, 2019 Dahlia Adler 1 Comment
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What Burns by Dale Peck (5th)
Written over the course of twenty-five years, the stories in What Burns examine the extremes of desire against a backdrop of family, class, and mortality.
In “Bliss,” a young man befriends the convicted felon who murdered his mother when he was only a child. In “Not Even Camping Is Like Camping Anymore,” a teenaged boy fends off the advances of a five-year-old his mother babysits. And in “Dues,” a man discovers that everything he owns is borrowed from someone else—including his time on earth.
Walking the tightrope between tenderness and violence that has defined Peck’s work since the publication of his first novel, Martin and John, through his most recent, Night Soil, What Burns reveals Peck’s mastery of the short form as well as the novel.
Buy it: B&N | Amazon | IndieBound
Girls of Storm and Shadow by Natasha Ngan (5th)
This is the sequel to Girls of Paper and Fire
Lei, the naive country girl who became a royal courtesan, is now known as the Moonchosen, the commoner who managed to do what no one else could. But slaying the cruel Demon King wasn’t the end of the plan—it’s just the beginning. Now Lei and her warrior love Wren must travel the kingdom to gain support from the far-flung rebel clans. The journey is made even more treacherous thanks to a heavy bounty on Lei’s head, as well as insidious doubts that threaten to tear Lei and Wren apart from within.
Meanwhile, an evil plot to eliminate the rebel uprising is taking shape, fueled by dark magic and vengeance. Will Lei succeed in her quest to overthrow the monarchy and protect her love for Wren, or will she fall victim to the sinister magic that seeks to destroy her?
On Swift Horses by Shannon Pufahl (5th)
A lonely newlywed and her wayward brother-in-law follow divergent and dangerous paths through the postwar American West.
Muriel is newly married and restless, transplanted from her rural Kansas hometown to life in a dusty bungalow in San Diego. The air is rich with the tang of salt and citrus, but the limits of her new life seem to be closing in: She misses her freethinking mother, dead before Muriel’s nineteenth birthday, and her sly, itinerant brother-in-law, Julius, who made the world feel bigger than she had imagined. And so she begins slipping off to the Del Mar racetrack, to bet and eavesdrop, learning the language of horses and risk. Meanwhile, Julius is testing his fate in Las Vegas, working at a local casino where tourists watch atomic tests from the roof, and falling in love with Henry, a young card cheat. When Henry is eventually discovered and run out of town, Julius takes off to search for him in the plazas and dives of Tijuana, trading one city of dangerous illusions for another.
On Swift Horses is a debut of astonishing power: a story of love and luck, of two people trying to find their place in a country that is coming apart even as it promised them everything.
Ghosting You by Alexander C. Eberhart (5th)
Tommy hears dead people. Okay, one dead person. His best friend, Chase. Since his death, Tommy can’t stop hearing his voice. They talk every day and Tommy even sends him texts, but it always ends the same. Message failed to send. Until one day, a stranger texts back.
Getting stuck in nowhere Georgia was not on Nick’s summer agenda, but a horoscope, a chance encounter, and a cute boy has things looking up. There’s just one problem, the boy hates him. When a broken phone leaves him with a new number, Nick is ready to write off the entire summer as a loss. But then he receives a strange text.
When Tommy and Nick’s worlds collide, the attraction is instant, but Tommy just can’t let Chase go. Can Nick use his status as Tommy’s anonymous stranger to break down his defenses or is Nick destined to live in a love triangle with a ghost?
Buy it: Amazon
Call Down the Hawk by Maggie Stiefvater (5th)
The dreamers walk among us . . . and so do the dreamed. Those who dream cannot stop dreaming – they can only try to control it. Those who are dreamed cannot have their own lives – they will sleep forever if their dreamers die.
And then there are those who are drawn to the dreamers. To use them. To trap them. To kill them before their dreams destroy us all.
Ronan Lynch is a dreamer. He can pull both curiosities and catastrophes out of his dreams and into his compromised reality.
Jordan Hennessy is a thief. The closer she comes to the dream object she is after, the more inextricably she becomes tied to it.
Carmen Farooq-Lane is a hunter. Her brother was a dreamer . . . and a killer. She has seen what dreaming can do to a person. And she has seen the damage that dreamers can do. But that is nothing compared to the destruction that is about to be unleashed. . . .
Buy it: B&N | Amazon
The Starless Sea by Erin Morgenstern (5th)
Zachary Ezra Rawlins is a graduate student in Vermont when he discovers a mysterious book hidden in the stacks. As he turns the pages, entranced by tales of lovelorn prisoners, key collectors, and nameless acolytes, he reads something strange: a story from his own childhood. Bewildered by this inexplicable book and desperate to make sense of how his own life came to be recorded, Zachary uncovers a series of clues—a bee, a key, and a sword—that lead him to a masquerade party in New York, to a secret club, and through a doorway to an ancient library hidden far below the surface of the earth.
What Zachary finds in this curious place is more than just a buried home for books and their guardians—it is a place of lost cities and seas, lovers who pass notes under doors and across time, and of stories whispered by the dead. Zachary learns of those who have sacrificed much to protect this realm, relinquishing their sight and their tongues to preserve this archive, and also of those who are intent on its destruction.
Together with Mirabel, a fierce, pink-haired protector of the place, and Dorian, a handsome, barefoot man with shifting alliances, Zachary travels the twisting tunnels, darkened stairwells, crowded ballrooms, and sweetly soaked shores of this magical world, discovering his purpose—in both the mysterious book and in his own life.
Buy it: Amazon | B&N | IndieBound
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (5th)
In the Dream House is Carmen Maria Machado’s engrossing and wildly innovative account of a relationship gone bad, and a bold dissection of the mechanisms and cultural representations of psychological abuse. Tracing the full arc of a harrowing relationship with a charismatic but volatile woman, Machado struggles to make sense of how what happened to her shaped the person she was becoming.
And it’s that struggle that gives the book its original structure: each chapter is driven by its own narrative trope―the haunted house, erotica, the bildungsroman―through which Machado holds the events up to the light and examines them from different angles. She looks back at her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships.
Machado’s dire narrative is leavened with her characteristic wit, playfulness, and openness to inquiry. She casts a critical eye over legal proceedings, fairy tales, Star Trek, and Disney villains, as well as iconic works of film and fiction. The result is a wrenching, riveting book that explodes our ideas about what a memoir can do and be.
Shine of the Ever by Claire Rudy Foster (5th)
By turns tender and punk-tough, Shine of the Ever is a literary mixtape of queer voices out of 1990s Portland. This collection of short stories explores what binds a community of queer and trans people as they negotiate love, screwing up and learning to forgive themselves for being young and sometimes foolish.
The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore (12th)
This is the second book in the Chronicles of Ghadid series
Thana has a huge reputation to live up to as daughter of the Serpent, who rules over Ghadid’s secret clan of assassins. Opportunity to prove herself arrives when Thana accepts her first contract on Heru, a dangerous foreign diplomat with the ability to bind a person’s soul under his control.
She may be in over her head, especially when Heru is targeted by a rival sorcerer who sends hordes of the undead to attack them both. When Heru flees, Thana has no choice than to pursue him across the sands to the Empire that intends to capture Ghadid inside its iron grip.
A stranger in a strange city, Thana’s only ally is Mo, a healer who may be too noble for her own good. Meanwhile, otherworldly and political dangers lurk around every corner, and even more sinister plans are uncovered which could lead to worldwide devastation. Can Thana rise to the challenge—even if it means facing off against an ancient evil?
Practically Ever After by Isabel Bandeira (12th)
Ever practical Grace Correa has planned the perfect life.
She has Leia, the perfect girlfriend, amazing friends, is part of Pine Central’s glitterati, and has been accepted into her first-choice university guaranteeing one of the best paying jobs in the country. To Grace, life is an equation where everything can be perfectly calculated to ensure maximum success and the perfect future.
The problem is that life has a funny way of getting in the way of plans.
With high school rushing to an end, Grace’s plans start falling apart. The “piece of cake” final design project is anything but easy, everyone seems to need everything from her, her schedule is a mess, and after a massive fight, all signs say that breaking up with Leia is the practical choice for both of them. Especially since long distance college relationships never seem to last. Except…Grace starts to wonder for the first time in her life if she messed up her calculations.
What can a practical person do when love is the least practical choice?
Wild Life by Keena Roberts (12th)
Keena Roberts split her adolescence between the wilds of an island camp in Botswana and the even more treacherous halls of an elite Philadelphia private school. In Africa, she slept in a tent, cooked over a campfire, and lived each day alongside the baboon colony her parents were studying. She could wield a spear as easily as a pencil, and it wasn’t unusual to be chased by lions or elephants on any given day. But for the months of the year when her family lived in the United States, this brave kid from the bush was cowed by the far more treacherous landscape of the preppy, private school social hierarchy.
Most girls Keena’s age didn’t spend their days changing truck tires, baking their own bread, or running from elephants as they tried to do their schoolwork. They also didn’t carve bird whistles from palm nuts or nearly knock themselves unconscious trying to make homemade palm wine. But Keena’s parents were famous primatologists who shuttled her and her sister between Philadelphia and Botswana every six months. Dreamer, reader, and adventurer, she was always far more comfortable avoiding lions and hippopotamuses than she was dealing with spoiled middle-school field hockey players.
In Keena’s funny, tender memoir, Wild Life, Africa bleeds into America and vice versa, each culture amplifying the other. By turns heartbreaking and hilarious, Wild Life is ultimately the story of a daring but sensitive young girl desperately trying to figure out if there’s any place where she truly fits in.
Back to September by Melissa Brayden (12th)
Hannah Shephard likes her life, her job, and her perfectly cozy apartment around the corner from her shop. She’s never been one to take big risks and would much rather stay in on a Friday night with a warm cup of decaf and her favorite mystery novel, so why do her friends insist she needs more? Plus, Hannah has bigger problems to focus on. She’s in trouble. Well, her bookstore is, and if she doesn’t find a way to bring in some more cash, she’ll be closing the doors of A Likely Story for good.
When world famous romance novelist Parker Bristow accepts her request to come in for a signing, Hannah might finally be able to drum up some much-needed attention and save the shop. What she didn’t anticipate was an unexpected evening and a woman she wouldn’t soon forget. A real romance is off the table. Parker is flashy, sought after, and Hannah is just, well, Hannah. But for Parker, it seems like Hannah might be a safe place to fall. The question is, what kind of falling are they doing?
Becoming Eve: My Journey from Ultra-Orthodox Rabbi to Transgender Woman by Abby Chava Stein (12th)
Abby Stein was raised in a Hasidic Jewish community in Brooklyn, isolated in a culture that lives according to the laws and practices of eighteenth-century Eastern Europe, speaking only Yiddish and Hebrew and shunning modern life. Stein was born as the first son in a dynastic rabbinical family, poised to become a leader of the next generation of Hasidic Jews.
But Abby felt certain at a young age that she was a girl. She suppressed her desire for a new body while looking for answers wherever she could find them, from forbidden religious texts to smuggled secular examinations of faith. Finally, she orchestrated a personal exodus from ultra-Orthodox manhood to mainstream femininity-a radical choice that forced her to leave her home, her family, her way of life.
Powerful in the truths it reveals about biology, culture, faith, and identity, Becoming Eve poses the enduring question: How far will you go to become the person you were meant to be?
Floodtide by Heather Rose Jones (15th)
This is the 4th book in the Alpennia series
The streets are a perilous place for a young laundry maid dismissed without a character for indecent acts. Roz knew the end of the path for a country girl alone in the city of Rotenek. A desperate escape in the night brings her to the doorstep of Dominique the dressmaker and the hope of a second chance beyond what she could have imagined. Roz’s apprenticeship with the needle, under the patronage of the Royal Thaumaturgist, wasn’t supposed to include learning magic, but Celeste, the dressmaker’s daughter, draws Roz into the mysterious world of the charm-wives. When floodwaters and fever sweep through the lower city, Celeste’s magical charms could bring hope and healing to the forgotten poor of Rotenek, but only if Roz can claim the help of some unlikely allies.
Set in the magical early 19th century world of Alpennia, Floodtide tells an independent tale that interweaves with the adventures.
Bound to the Monarchs by Brooke Winters (17th)
Millennia ago, the people of Lencura were split into designations dependent on their abilities. Vitoria is a solviso. Others consider them the weakest of the designations but Vitoria knows she’s stronger than people think. Sure, she can’t fly, shift, or conjure magic but her blood has healing properties that the other designations covet and she knows she can use that to her advantage. She’s aware of the dangers that lurk outside of her region and that the other designations would do just about anything to possess her blood but when her father’s death leaves her homeless she’s willing to take the risk for the chance of a better life.
When Vitoria encounters marauders on her way to start a new life in the northern region of Malita, she’s forced to take a detour. Her van breaks down on the border of the shifter lands and she follows her instinct, venturing into the forbidden shifter territory. Better to take her chances with shifters than marauders. Vitoria is placed under the protection of Queen Mathilda and her mate, King Antonio. Mathilda and Antonio’s dominance awakens a passion in Vitoria that she never knew she possessed and she wonders if she might be the third mate they’ve been looking for.
When a dignitary from a neighbouring monarchdom kidnaps Vitoria and offers her anything she could ever want in return for her blood, she realises the only thing she wants is to be Mathilda and Antonio’s. Her monarchs will do anything to get her back but Vitoria isn’t sure what they really want: her or her blood.
Alexander C. EberhartAlpenniaBack to SeptemberBound to the MonarchsBrooke WintersCarmen Maria MachadoChronicles of GhadidClaire Rudy FosterDale Peckf/f RomanceFantasyFloodtideGhosting YouGirls of Storm and ShadowHeather Rose JonesHistorical FantasyIn the Dream HouseIsabel BandeiraK.A. DooreKeena RobertsMelissa BraydenMemoirNatasha NganOn Swift HorsesPractically Ever AfterShannon PufahlShine of the EverThe Impossible ContractWhat BurnsWild Life
TBRainbow Alert!
TBRainbow Alert: Memoirs
June 10, 2019 Dahlia Adler Leave a comment
Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls by T Kira Madden
Acclaimed literary essayist T Kira Madden’s raw and redemptive debut memoir is about coming of age and reckoning with desire as a queer, biracial teenager amidst the fierce contradictions of Boca Raton, Florida, a place where she found cult-like privilege, shocking racial disparities, rampant white-collar crime, and powerfully destructive standards of beauty hiding in plain sight.
As a child, Madden lived a life of extravagance, from her exclusive private school to her equestrian trophies and designer shoe-brand name. But under the surface was a wild instability. The only child of parents continually battling drug and alcohol addictions, Madden confronted her environment alone. Facing a culture of assault and objectification, she found lifelines in the desperately loving friendships of fatherless girls.
With unflinching honesty and lyrical prose, spanning from 1960s Hawai’i to the present-day struggle of a young woman mourning the loss of a father while unearthing truths that reframe her reality, Long Live the Tribe of Fatherless Girls is equal parts eulogy and love letter. It’s a story about trauma and forgiveness, about families of blood and affinity, both lost and found, unmade and rebuilt, crooked and beautiful.
Naturally Tan by Tan France
In this heartfelt, funny, touching memoir, Tan France, star of Netflix’s smash-hit QUEER EYE, tells his origin story for the first time. With his trademark wit, humor, and radical compassion, Tan reveals what it was like to grow up gay in a traditional Muslim family, as one of the few people of color in Doncaster, England. He illuminates his winding journey of coming of age, finding his voice (and style!), and how he finally came out to his family at the age of 34, revealing that he was happily married to the love of his life–a Mormon cowboy from Salt Lake City.
In Tan’s own words, “The book is meant to spread joy, personal acceptance, and most of all understanding. Each of us is living our own private journey, and the more we know about each other, the healthier and happier the world will be.”
Karamo: My Story of Embracing Purpose, Healing, and Hope by Karamo Brown
When Karamo Brown first auditioned for the casting directors of Netflix’s Queer Eye, he knew he wouldn’t win the role of culture expert by discussing art and theater. Instead he decided to redefine what ‘culture’ could — and should — mean for the show. He took a risk and declared, ‘I am culture.’
Karamo believes that culture is so much more than art museums and the ballet — it’s how people feel about themselves and others, how they relate to the world around them, and how their shared labels, burdens, and experiences affect their daily lives in ways both subtle and profound. Seen through this lens, Karamo is culture: His family is Jamaican and Cuban; he was raised in the South in predominantly white neighborhoods and attended a HBCU (Historically Black College/University); he was trained as a social worker and psychotherapist; he overcame personal issues of colorism, physical and emotional abuse, alcohol and drug addiction, and public infamy; he is a proud and dedicated gay single father of two boys, one biological and one adopted. It is by discussing deep subjects like these, he feels, that the makeovers on the show can attain their full, lasting meaning. Styling your hair is important, but so is figuring out why you haven’t done so in 20 years!
In this eye-opening and moving memoir, Karamo reflects on his lifelong education. It comprises every adversity he has overcome, as well as the lessons he has learned along the way. It is only by exploring our difficulties and having the hard conversations—with ourselves and one another—that we are able to adjust our mind-sets, heal emotionally, and move forward to live our best lives.
Karamo shows us the way.
Out East: Memoir of a Montauk Summer by John Glynn
“‘We were sun children chasing an eternal summer.’ This boisterous chronicle of a summer in Montauk sees a group of 20-something housemates who’ll grow to know, to love, and care for one another. They work hard during the week, party hard on weekends, and each will face heartthrob and heartbreak. A coming out story told with feeling and humor and above all with the razor-sharp skill of a delicate and highly gifted writer.” -Andre Aciman, New York Times bestselling author of Call Me by Your Name
They call Montauk the end of the world, a spit of land jutting into the Atlantic. The house was a ramshackle split-level set on a hill, and each summer thirty one people would sleep between its thin walls and shag carpets. Against the moonlight the house’s octagonal roof resembled a bee’s nest. It was dubbed The Hive.
In 2013, John Glynn joined the share house. Packing his duffel for that first Memorial Day Weekend, he prayed for clarity. At 27, he was crippled by an all-encompassing loneliness, a feeling he had carried in his heart for as long as he could remember. John didn’t understand the loneliness. He just knew it was there. Like the moon gone dark.
OUT EAST is the portrait of a summer, of the Hive and the people who lived in it, and John’s own reckoning with a half-formed sense of self. From Memorial Day to Labor Day, The Hive was a center of gravity, a port of call, a home. Friendships, conflicts, secrets and epiphanies blossomed within this tightly woven friend group and came to define how they would live out the rest of their twenties and beyond. Blending the sand-strewn milieu of George Howe Colt’s The Big House, the radiant aching of Olivia Liang’s The Lonely City, OUT EAST is a keenly wrought story of love and transformation, longing and escape in our own contemporary moment.
Brave Face by Shaun David Hutchinson
Critically acclaimed author of We Are the Ants—described as having “hints of Vonnegut’s Slaughterhouse-Five” (School Library Journal)—opens up about what led to an attempted suicide in his teens, and his path back from the experience.
“I wasn’t depressed because I was gay. I was depressed and gay.”
Shaun David Hutchinson was nineteen. Confused. Struggling to find the vocabulary to understand and accept who he was and how he fit into a community in which he couldn’t see himself. The voice of depression told him that he would never be loved or wanted, while powerful and hurtful messages from society told him that being gay meant love and happiness weren’t for him.
A million moments large and small over the years all came together to convince Shaun that he couldn’t keep going, that he had no future. And so he followed through on trying to make that a reality.
Thankfully Shaun survived, and over time, came to embrace how grateful he is and how to find self-acceptance. In this courageous and deeply honest memoir, Shaun takes readers through the journey of what brought him to the edge, and what has helped him truly believe that it does get better.
Gender Queer: A Memoir by Maia Kobabe
Uncomfortable Labels: My Life as a Gay Autistic Trans Woman by Laura Kate Dale (July 1)
“So while the assumption when I was born was that I was or would grow up to be a neurotypical heterosexual boy, that whole idea didn’t really pan out long term.”
In this candid, first-of-its-kind memoir, Laura Kate Dale recounts what life is like growing up as a gay trans woman on the autism spectrum. From struggling with sensory processing, managing socially demanding situations and learning social cues and feminine presentation, through to coming out as trans during an autistic meltdown, Laura draws on her personal experiences from life prior to transition and diagnosis, and moving on to the years of self-discovery, to give a unique insight into the nuances of sexuality, gender and autism, and how they intersect.
Charting the ups and down of being autistic and on the LGBT spectrum with searing honesty and humour, this is an empowering, life-affirming read for anyone who’s felt they don’t fit in.
Buy it: Amazon | B&N | Book Depository
How We Fight For Our Lives by Saeed Jones (October 8th)
From award-winning poet Saeed Jones, How We Fight for Our Lives is a stunning coming-of-age memoir written at the crossroads of sex, race, and power.
“People don’t just happen,” writes Saeed Jones. “We sacrifice former versions of ourselves. We sacrifice the people who dared to raise us. The ‘I’ it seems doesn’t exist until we are able to say, ‘I am no longer yours.’ ”
Haunted and haunting, Jones’s memoir tells the story of a young, black, gay man from the South as he fights to carve out a place for himself, within his family, within his country, within his own hopes, desires, and fears. Through a series of vignettes that chart a course across the American landscape, Jones draws readers into his boyhood and adolescence—into tumultuous relationships with his mother and grandmother, into passing flings with lovers, friends and strangers. Each piece builds into a larger examination of race and queerness, power and vulnerability, love and grief: a portrait of what we all do for one another—and to one another—as we fight to become ourselves.
Blending poetry and prose, Jones has developed a style that is equal parts sensual, beautiful, and powerful—a voice that’s by turns a river, a blues, and a nightscape set ablaze. How We Fight for Our Lives is a one of a kind memoir and a book that cements Saeed Jones as an essential writer for our time.
A Wild and Precious Life by Edie Windsor (October 8th)
A lively, intimate memoir from an icon of the gay rights movement, describing gay life in 1950s and 60s New York City and her longtime activism which opened the door for marriage equality.
Edie Windsor became internationally famous when she sued the US government, seeking federal recognition for her marriage to Thea Spyer, her partner of more than four decades. The Supreme Court ruled in Edie’s favor, a landmark victory that set the stage for full marriage equality in the US. Beloved by the LGBTQ community, Edie embraced her new role as an icon; she had already been living an extraordinary and groundbreaking life for decades.
In this memoir, which she began before passing away in 2017 and completed by her co-writer, Edie recounts her childhood in Philadelphia, her realization that she was a lesbian, and her active social life in Greenwich Village’s electrifying underground gay scene during the 1950s. Edie was also one of a select group of trailblazing women in computing, working her way up the ladder at IBM and achieving their highest technical ranking while developing software. In the early 1960s Edie met Thea, an expat from a Dutch Jewish family that fled the Nazis, and a widely respected clinical psychologist. Their partnership lasted forty-four years, until Thea died in 2009. Edie found love again, marrying Judith Kasen-Windsor in 2016.
A Wild and Precious Life is remarkable portrait of an iconic woman, gay life in New York in the second half of the twentieth century, and the rise of LGBT activism.
A Year Without a Name by Cyrus Grace Dunham (October 15th)
For as long as they can remember, Cyrus Grace Dunham felt like a visitor in their own body. Their life was a series of imitations–lovable little girl, daughter, sister, young gay woman–until their profound sense of alienation became intolerable.
Beginning as Grace and ending as Cyrus, Dunham brings us inside the chrysalis of gender transition, asking us to bear witness to an uncertain and exhilarating process that troubles our most basic assumptions about who we are and how we are constituted. Written with disarming emotional intensity in a voice uniquely theirs, A Year Without a Name is a potent, thrillingly unresolved meditation on queerness, family, and desire.
In the Dream House by Carmen Maria Machado (November 5th)
A revolutionary memoir about domestic abuse by the award-winning author of Her Body and Other Parties
And it’s that struggle that gives the book its original structure: each chapter is driven by its own narrative trope—the haunted house, erotica, the bildungsroman—through which Machado holds the events up to the light and examines them from different angles. She looks back at her religious adolescence, unpacks the stereotype of lesbian relationships as safe and utopian, and widens the view with essayistic explorations of the history and reality of abuse in queer relationships.
Wild Life: Dispatches from a Childhood of Baboons and Button-Downs by Keena Roberts (November 12th)
#actuallyautisticA Wild and Precious LifeA Year Without a NameAutisticBotswanaBrave FaceCarmen Maria MachadoCyrus Grace DunhamEdie WindsorIn the Dream HouseJohn GlynnKaramo BrownKeena RobertsLaura Kate DaleLesbianLong Live the Tribe of Fatherless GirlsMemoirOut EastownvoicesQPoCQueer EyeSaeed JonesShaun David HutchinsonT Kira MaddenTan FranceTransgenderUncomfortable LabelsWild Life
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Follow Me Down
Losing a parent is painful. It is earth shattering and completely disabling. Lucas Tremaine’s loss was due to negligence at Drax Enterprises. Even more than that, his mother was left dependent on valium to look remotely sane. He wished he could bring them to book but Drax is a big corrupt entity, what can one little guy do? He wished more than anything to exact revenge on the people who did harm to his family. Lucas wished all kinds of discomfort and unhappiness for the people who caused his father’s death. So blinded by the quest for revenge, it sometimes impairs his ability to properly collect and analyze the evidence.
Drax Enterprises will not pay for their sins in the conventional way, so Lucas needs to do some unconventional and dangerous things to get justice served. With the help of Reuben Klein, his best friend, they search the old underground subway system of the city of Cincinnati. The further they explore, the more sinister and complicated the corruption and fascism of Drax Enterprises gets. Lucas, Reuben and everyone who is near and dear to Lucas is in danger. Will Lucas find what he so desperately seeks? Will Drax Enterprises eventually pay for their sins? After facing three generations of Drax Enterprises leadership, will Lucas escape unscathed?
Follow Me Down by Gordon MacKinney is an intelligent thriller with a lot of ironic situations and lively conversations. The characters are complex but still relatable. Lucas’ need for vengeance is understandable to anyone and the reader will find himself rooting for him. This book is an interesting look into the lives of urban explorers. The reader gets to explore an underground rail systems not yet explored. The authors research and attention to detail is evident with the historical accuracy of the story. Gordon MacKinney’s description of the scenes is vivid and instantly transports the reader. One can almost smell the heavy air inside the tunnels. The love stories therein are especially heartwarming. The love between father and son is a beautiful narrative that is developed throughout the book. His admiration and love for his former boss and photojournalist, Alfred Blumenfeld, feels organic and true. I truly appreciated the authenticity of the character relationships in this novel.
Action, suspense and treasure hunts are among the simple pleasures. The adventures of Lucas’ endeavor are captivating and make for a great read. The end reveals a side of Tony Drax that you least expect, but makes for a good ending to the story.
Pages: 260 | ASIN: B0779GCH3V
Tags: action, adventure, amazon, amazon books, amazon ebook, author, book, book review, books, corporation, corruption, coverup, death, ebook, ebooks, enterprise, explore, fantasy, fantasy book review, fascism, fiction, fighting, follow me down, goodreads, gordon mackinney, justice, kindle, kindle book, kindle ebook, kobo, literature, love, mystery, narrative, nook, novel, photo journalist, publishing, read, reader, reading, revenge, review, reviews, romance, sci fi, science ficiton, science fiction, science fiction book review, sinister, stories, subway, suspense, thriller, treasure hunt, urban fantasy, write, writer, writing
Apples Don’t Sing – They Shine
Apples Don’t Sing–They Shine, by George Mardo, is a classic example of literary fiction. The story follows a family over generations from 1930 all the way to 1990. Some of the story does feel dated, but that might be because of historical events that frame the novel. In some ways, it is hard to simply summarize a novel that at its’ core deals with family drama of coming together in times of war and drifting apart after. Mainly it deals with Marie, a German immigrant and her struggles with her son and the family business.
Overall, Mardo does a great job with managing what would normally be an overly complicated or possibly self-indulgent topic to write on. The drama of an inter-generational story is more than enough for the reader to follow on and enjoy. The family does become expansive as it should through the decades, but remembering names and their relations can become cumbersome after a while. The conflict between the characters should be familiar to any reader who has a family and especially one that has first generation immigrants.
The story at times may seem U.S. centralized, but Mardo expands his scope by including a Ukrainian Monastery, family drama in England, and even venturing into South America. The global scale of his story enhances how far reaching and long the narrative is as we follow the rise and fall of family unity and how families change over the decades. As with any drama set over decades, the story can run the risk of being too brief or skimming over the details of the day to day. Mardo falls into this somewhat by giving us broad, quick snippets of events that happen. He sometimes jumps years ahead in the narrative to get to another point. He may have been able to do this with more skill to not create such choppy pacing, though it does lend to the novel’s biographical story of the families of the Nesbits and Reynolds.
In some ways, the main conflict involving the family’s business, Reynolds Enterprise, tends to become too central to what the novel is striving to be, an intimate tale of family and the relations that bind. The focus does seem to shift towards the end and recenter the novel, which is a saving grace.
This work is perfect for those that enjoy tales told over generations involving many different characters. A pure drama that is accessible to anyone of any age.
Pages: 204 | ASIN: B0190UKORY
Posted in Book Reviews, Three Stars
Tags: amazon, amazon books, amazon ebook, apples dont sing they shine, author, biography, book, book review, books, contemporary, ebook, ebooks, enterprise, family, fantasy, fantasy book review, fiction, george mardo, goodreads, kindle, kindle book, kindle ebook, life, literary, literature, love, mystery, novel, publishing, reading, review, reviews, romance, stories, ukraine, united states, urban fantasy, usa, war, writing
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Another ringing success for Beacon Santa Telethon
By Patty Mahoneypmahoney@wickedlocal.com
Dec 9, 2019 at 7:06 AM Dec 9, 2019 at 7:06 AM
The closing of the 41st Annual WAVM Beacon Santa was a sight to behold. Telethon hosts decked out in navy ball gowns and dapper tuxedos; members of the technical crew sporting holiday pajamas, and their student adviser wearing a festive blazer etched with strands of colorful lights.
But the sight that drew a standing-room-only crowd of telethon staff and volunteers, was a simple white board with numbers hand written across it - $33,000. That number garnered thunderous applause and cheers, followed by hugs, tears, and per tradition - a few well-sung Christmas carols.
Although about $4,000 shy of last year’s grand total, no one in the studio looked the least bit disappointed. By all accounts, this year’s 40-hour telethon was a major success.
Throughout the course of the Dec. 7-8 weekend, 100 students and 50 to 60 adults were at Maynard High School making the telethon happen.
“We’re all very tired,” said WAVM Student Advisor Mark Minasian.
He said he preferred to talk about all the work the students put into the telethon rather than his own contributions.
“I like the kids to get the credit because they deserve it," he said.
Planning the telethon begins in September. The hosts and technical crew are chosen at that time and tech crew captains, as they are called, spend weeks upon weeks training new tech crew members. The kids go out and book performers, acquire bid items, collect pledges, and even go out with donation cans, to make this event a success.
“You see the 40-hour telethon but it’s countless hours leading up to it,” said parent chaperone Lynda Thayer, whose son Owen was one of the nine telethon hosts.
Thayer explained how these students planned the telethon in addition to completing college applications, working at their after school jobs, and participating in school sports. Many of the students are members of the National Honor Society and had commitments for that as well.
“They went to school Friday morning and have not left school,” she said.
Except for perhaps a quick trip home to shower.
‘We encourage showers,” she joked.
Thayer also disclosed that her son Owen debuted a new look at Sunday’s telethon sign-off.
“He didn’t have purple hair this time yesterday,” she said.
Thayer said her son Owen along with his classmate Owen Sullivan-Dale offered to dye their hair as an added incentive to auction bidders. The boys let people who called in to bid, choose the color of their hair, and purple won.
Owen Thayer left the event with more than some new purple hair. He was also the high bidder on a coveted auction item.
“I got it guys! I got my Star Wars stamps!” he said while raising his arm in victory.
The Telethon is the single largest fundraiser for Beacon Santa, which has distributed money to families in need in 14 towns for more than a half century.
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Tag Archives: Mr. Wicker
Mr. Wicker: One Year Later
Posted on September 22, 2015 by Maria Alexander under anniversary, bram stoker awards, interview, Mr. Wicker, review, rude people
On September 14, 2014, Mr. Wicker was released by Raw Dog Screaming Press. A year has passed, and what a wild journey it’s been…
Suicide Prevention Month
When we chose to publish the book in September, I had no clue it was Suicide Prevention Month. Mr. Wicker opens with Alicia committing suicide and succeeding, however briefly. As a result, some who have struggled with suicidal thoughts have had a hard time reading the book. It vividly portrays someone acting out that intention.
Alicia’s frame of mind had been validated for me in the worst possible way when a friend committed suicide in 2009. Her suicide note bitterly echoed Alicia’s pre-death rants in the first chapter, as well as her post-death lashings out. They say depression is frozen rage, but I’d say it’s more like rage turned inward. I knew Alicia and her obliterating rage wouldn’t be immediately likable, although anyone who’d experienced this kind of pain would instantly recognize it.
And then just days before the book trailer was released, Robin Williams took his life. Suicide was burning up the news headlines, which was awful because I didn’t want to profit from the Zeitgeist of despair.
Besides, Mr. Wicker isn’t a “suicide story.” It’s a reclaiming story. How do we make ourselves whole? That was the question I was facing when the inspiration for the tale came to me in all its gothic glory.
The critical acclaim for the book was strong from the start, with a Starred Review from Library Journal, which also named it Debut of the Month, and a really lovely review from Publishers Weekly, not to mention the many glowing reviews from genre magazines and individuals. I had almost no time to celebrate my success as I was in the publicity crush of countless guest blog posts, interviews and signings thanks to my wonderful publicist, Beverly Bambury. (And thank the gods I had both plenty of spare time and my voice technology to write everything because I suffered a hand disability at the time.)
I even attended three conventions in November 2014 to promote Mr. Wicker: BoucherCon, the World Fantasy Convention (official launch) and LosCon. Crazy, right? I don’t recommend that, by the way. But I do recommend the International Thriller Writers Debut Author Program. They supported me in a major way as I struggled to figure out the publishing terrain. I made some lasting friendships in that program, as they were all like midwives to my child.
Me and Gil Roth in my home recording the Virtual Memories Podcast.
Some of the interviews were especially perceptive, like the one with G.G. Silverman, who’d picked up on the subtle yet powerful feminist themes in the book. Gil Roth’s interview for the Virtual Memories Podcast was a real highlight for me, too, as he asked a lot of intriguing questions, weaving in my knowledge of swords. The Storyforward Podcast with Steve Peters cut to the chase and asked me to tell everyone how I really felt about that dumbass lightsaber. And in my interview with old friend Adam Campbell for Anywhere But Hollywood, the story came full circle as Adam had read the original Nicholl Fellowship screenplay and as well as the novel. (It felt like the best interview I’d ever given, although that might be nostalgia talking.)
Almost everywhere I went, the book sold out of copies. I loved interacting with readers, particularly book clubs. I discovered that people have rich imaginations and that your story is never your own once it’s out in the hands of the reading public. Reading is a deeply collaborative process; new ideas grow when your words mingle with other people’s thoughts. I had been publishing short stories for years, many to acclaim, and I’d never experienced this as I did with readers of Mr. Wicker. It was kind of magical.
When Mr. Wicker was nominated for the 2014 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel, I was thrilled. That was about the time I signed with Alex Slater at Trident Media Group for a Young Adult horror novel I’d written. I’d long had my eye on Trident, and Alex had come on board as a regular agent after handling foreign rights for many years just as I was finishing up Snowed. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, actually winning the award in Atlanta at the World Horror Convention was cathartic. For a story that survived so many incarnations to achieve so much was a “reclaiming” all its own.
Hey, @abuckslater! I WON! pic.twitter.com/voLWeKM7ai
— Maria Alexander (@LaMaupin) May 10, 2015
After the award, a number of negative reviews hit the novel on Goodreads. Before, there were certainly readers who didn’t like the book for whatever reason. That happens. I honestly wondered if some folk had bought the book without reading the synopsis, because they clearly had expected something more like Stephen King rather than the Gaiman-esque story they got, which annoyed them. Regardless, I appreciated those reviews as much as the positive ones because people gave a damn, one way or the other. That’s awesome!
However, some of these subsequent reviews were not only negative but they featured a whole new “unfiltered” flavor of nasty. One reviewer in particular sounded like she’d stayed up all night grinding glass to mix into my breakfast yogurt. I started calling the site GoodBleeds because it was like getting paper cuts every time I went there.
At that point, I decided to stop reading reviews. It just wasn’t productive. Instead, I bathed my Stoker award with my tears.
Prophetic Advice
Before I’d even won the award, the renowned science fiction writer David Gerrold had quite prophetically advised me at dinner one night, “Maria, remember that fame is like being the tallest tree in the forest. You’ll be hit by the strongest winds, but you’ll also get the most sunlight.”
I’ll always cherish this advice, David. You have no idea how much it’s helped.
So, Thank You
A massive, tremendous, stupendous THANK YOU to everyone who bought the book, reviewed it (yes, even you, glass-at-the-bottom yogurt lady), spent time interviewing me, published my guest posts, helped me with the book trailer, voted for the book, and everything else. Special thanks to Steven Barnes, Lisa Morton and Jonathan Maberry for their pre-publication blurbs. Domo arigato!
The biggest thanks of all go to John and Jennifer at Raw Dog Screaming Press. I’m so proud to be part of the Raw Dog family. You guys are the best!
As I mentioned, my agent is shopping my YA horror novel, Snowed, the first in a trilogy. At this moment, I’m almost done with the first draft of the sequel. No matter what happens, Snowed and its sequels are getting out there. I’m extremely proud of this story and its characters, especially my main character, Charity Jones, the teenage skeptic and engineering prodigy. Between the teen beta readers and their moms, as well as my film industry friends who’ve read it, the response has been spectacular. (And we all know that teenagers don’t like anything, right? Except maybe Harry Potter.)
Plus, it’s clear from multiple sources that Snowed is hitting a new Zeitgeist, one that’s just coming to America from lands foreign and invading our storytelling. Fingers crossed that one of the houses that currently has it falls truly-madly-deeply in love with it tout de suite.
I think you will, too.
Goodbye, Roger Rees: I’d Know Your Face in Ten Thousand
Posted on July 13, 2015 by Maria Alexander under death, Mr. Wicker, Roger Rees
I heard the news that Roger Rees had passed away while I was in New York on Saturday. It was like a mule kick to the gut.
The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby
Back in 1982, my parents patiently indulged me, their wide-eyed child, as I watched The Life and Times of Nicholas Nickleby, which had been broken up over four nights in a row. This was astonishing for many reasons, mostly because my dad’s soul mate was Archie Bunker, and he prefered movies like Friday the 13th and Bo Derek’s 10. (He once took me and my sister to see Bo Derek’s Tarzan, the Ape Man, which was straight up child abuse.) So, it was a huge deal that they sat with me through all eight-and-a-half hours of PBS as it aired Trevor Nunn’s production.
Roger Rees’s Tony and Olivier Awards-winning performance as Nicholas made me a lifelong fan. I don’t know if he ever landed another role that used his unique talents quite so well, but I continued to follow his work, ever hopeful. In 1999, I decided to create a fan website for him. It was crude by today’s standards, but it adequately reflected my devotion. I even started a Yahoo group so I could meet other fans. That’s where I met Jolande Hibels, who had this incredible collection of playbills for every stage production in which Roger had ever appeared. I linked to her astonishing Roger Rees gallery on my feeble website.
(I still recall the bitter outcry of the women on the Yahoo group many years ago when I informed them that Roger was gay. I suppose I should have broken the news more gently.)
Mrs. Winchester
As I wrote Mrs. Winchester in 1998, Roger was my muse. Mrs. Winchester is about a rich woman’s obsession with the dead and a poor man’s ill-fated love for her. I pictured him as Carl, the bewildered foreman who comes to work for Sarah Winchester as she builds her “bizarre yet beautiful” mansion, yet winds up falling in love with her.
The script was a quarterfinalist in the Austin Film Festival competition the next year (I think), but nothing came of it. It has since been optioned twice and placed in other competitions, most recently as a Finalist in the 2012 Shriekfest Screenwriting Competition. Everyone who reads it raves about it. I think Roger’s spark brings the story to life.
(Haven’t read it? Don’t worry. I’ll probably adapt it to novel as I did Mr. Wicker. Then maybe someone will realize what a brilliant fucking role Mrs. Winchester is for a late-50s actress. We desperately need that.)
When I First Met Roger
It was after an L.A. Theatre Works production of Lady Windemere’s Fan in 1999 that I made my way into the lobby to meet him. At first, I wasn’t going to do it because the theatre people very coincidentally had sat me right under Roger’s microphone in the front row, which made me feel profoundly uncomfortable. But afterward, as I chatted with a friend in the parking lot, I decided I’d be damned if I was going to let this opportunity slip away due to embarrassment. That just wasn’t my style.
On my way back to where I’d hoped to encounter Roger, I had a delightful, flirty encounter with Eric Stoltz in the elevator, which helped me relax a bit. I sat on a bench, waiting until he appeared. As he approached, I stood and introduced myself, explaining that I’d built him a fan website.
Eyes cast downward shyly, he asked, “Why on earth would anyone do such a thing?”
I replied, “Well, you’ve given many people like myself so much joy. I just wanted to do a little something to give back to you.”
He melted before my eyes, making all kinds of utterly charming and sweet declarations that I no longer recall. All I remember is that he signed my program and I left, walking on clouds. I didn’t even sleep that night, I was so pleased.
Two years later, he appeared in a production of 1776 that opened on September 4, 2001, here in Los Angeles with my friend Mark Ryan.
It was so much fun seeing Mark and Roger on the same stage. I’d asked Mark to vouch for me, to tell him I’m not one of those fans.
After the show, I waited in the courtyard and, to my terror, Roger emerged before Mark did. He recognized me immediately and was incredibly darling. He kissed me on the cheek, hugged me, and kept telling me how wonderful it was to see me, asking how I was doing, etc. I managed to wrangle a friend of his (Rick?) into taking a couple pictures of us with my camera. The poor guy, bless his sweet heart, had a lot of trouble with my camera. As he messed with the settings, the whole time Roger kept turning to me, still just as lively and happy, asking questions as to get to know me better.
For a long time, I was unhappy that it was more of a Roger photo than a Roger-and-fan photo, but you can see by my expression that I was delighted beyond words to be standing next to him.
(I should note that national disaster had struck the day before I was originally supposed to see this performance. They moved the show out to the following weekend. That night in the courtyard before Mark and Roger emerged, I met a young man who was friends with Mark’s agent. He’d lost two friends in the Towers, including one who had proudly just hired a staff of 45 people… He broke down. I hugged him, a total stranger, whispering to him my sympathies as he wept. What a terrible time that was. But what a perfect time to see 1776. Roger announced to the audience that they were selling signed posters of the show and that proceeds were going to the NYC Fireman’s Relief Fund. I bought one, naturally.)
Bad Fan! No Biscuit!
Years passed. Work and writing displaced the time I’d previously spent doing fannish things. I neglected the website, but I never entirely lost track of Roger’s career. I didn’t see everything he was in, but I tried. I was bitterly disappointed by Going Under, even though it had seemed as though someone had made a movie just for me, as BDSM and Roger Rees were two of my favorite topics. I was not remotely disappointed by his appearances in Cheers, The West Wing, Robin Hood: Men in Tights, The Prestige and Frida. But to be honest, there is so much that I’ve missed, it’s ridiculous. I’d probably love his work in shows like Oz, Warehouse 13 and Boston Common. And so much more. He was a prolific performer, not just on stage, TV and film, but even in audio books.
His directing talents were formidable, as well. Bret and I saw Peter and the Starcatcher, which was written by Roger’s partner, Rick Elice, and directed by Roger on Broadway. The show had won a number of Tony awards. Unfortunately, the production we saw on tour in Los Angeles wasn’t quite our cuppa. (I vaguely recall it had something to do with the lead actress.) Still, it was entertaining (“Ohmygod, ohmygod, ohmygod!”) and I’m glad we saw it.
I didn’t know that Roger was ill. He hadn’t been ill for long, apparently. In fact, he’d just been the lead in a Broadway production called The Visit when his sickness forced him to leave.
On Saturday when the news came out, I’d just been part of the Thrillerfest Debut Author breakfast at the Grand Hyatt in Manhattan, where I’d gotten the chance to introduce myself and talk about my award-winning debut book, Mr. Wicker.
I speak first this morning. They have no idea what they’ve done. #Thrillerfest pic.twitter.com/iH9oVQO1M9
— Maria Alexander (@LaMaupin) July 11, 2015
There I was in the midst of some of the most famous novelists of our time: Lee Child, Heather Graham, Sandra Brown, Charlaine Harris, and many, many more. The conference so far had been tremendous.
But later that day after breakfast, as I was sitting in the lobby between panels, I was scrolling through Facebook when I came across a photo that Mark had posted of himself and Roger in 1776 with the news of Roger’s death.
Even though Roger was 71, it felt much too soon for him to leave. My heart broke even more deeply as I thought about Rick and his grief. They’d been together for over 30 years and married for four.
I’m glad I didn’t hear of it before breakfast. As the reality of Roger’s passing soaked into me, I could think of little else. Words cannot express the sadness I felt as the day wore on, knowing that such a special presence would no longer shine on the stage.
“I’d know that face in ten thousand,” Nicholas says. And it’s true. It’s a face — a voice, a person of eminent grace, humility, kindness and talent — that I will never forget.
On Mr. Wicker Winning the Bram Stoker Award
Posted on May 11, 2015 by Maria Alexander under bram stoker awards, hwa, Mr. Wicker, Uncategorized
I’m so incredibly honored that the Horror Writers Association chose to recognize my book, Mr. Wicker, for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. As I said in my speech, my heartfelt thanks goes to each and every member who voted for my book. It had very tough competition, especially from film director David Cronenberg’s Consumed and Josh Malerman’s Birdbox. Truly, all the books were excellent. I enjoyed the heck out of meeting Josh, as well as the other nominees, Michael Knost and JD Barker. I felt honored just getting to hang out with such a terrific group of people. I was already in the Winner’s Circle with these talented folk.
Reeling
But when they called my name, I was reeling. Truth be told, I was well into into my cups and enjoying the hilarious antics of poet Mike Arnzen at our table. Raw Dog Screaming Press should probably be called Raw Dog Laughing Press, as we were the most raucous lot in the room. We already had two Stokers sitting on our table as Lucy Snyder had won twice — once for Non-Fiction and then again for Short Fiction Collection. (I know, right?!?) Anyway, I managed to stand up with the help of my table mates. My shaky, tearful walk up to the podium was then supported by many hugs, handshakes and kisses from friends and colleagues along the way. If it weren’t for my friend Joe McKinney and the awesome Dacre Stoker who were giving out the award, I don’t know if I could have stayed on my feet. Thank you, both.
That Crazy Speech
If you couldn’t tell, the speech I gave was totally unprepared. My friend, the great science fiction writer David Gerrold who won his first Stoker last year, had told me to prepare something, but I didn’t. Maybe because the buzz was so strong about the other books, I lost heart. I don’t know. I do know that, from now I on, I will always listen to David because I forgot to thank Lisa Morton for her support, feedback and friendship all these years. (When someone on the Shocklines forum asked members in 2009 what their the top ten book choices were of the last decade, Lisa responded, “Unfortunately the best book I read in 2009 has yet to be published (MR. WICKER by Maria Alexander).”) I also forgot to thank the Dark Delicacies writing group for their support. Oy! Mea culpa for the lack of preparation doused in Manhattans.
Then again, as people congratulated me after the ceremony, some said it was the most heartfelt speech they had ever heard.
At any rate, I immediately texted my boyfriend. Next, I took a photo of the award and tweeted to my agent, the wonderful Alex Slater at Trident Media Group:
And finally, I sent Neil Gaiman a direct message on Twitter, to which he responded, “Well done!!!!!!!!!” Jonathan Maberry (who won that night for Best Graphic Novel) pointed to my Stoker and told me with the biggest smile, “That was an easy win.” Honestly, I’m surrounded by amazing people. I’m pretty sure I eventually stopped hugging him. I left a trail of lipstick marks on cheeks across the conference, that’s for sure.
You All Rock
What a fantastic weekend and unforgettable night. I so loved finally meeting in person JG Faherty, Angel Leigh McCoy, Stephanie Wytovich and Alethea Kontis. I feel like I’ve known and admired Angel forever. Bless her because, as she is also the HWA webmistress, she already knew I’d won while we were on the Horror in Gaming panel, and managed not to give away anything. Of course, Lisa Morton knew for almost two months. She is Fort Freakin’ Knox, man. At Los Angeles chapter meetings, she let nary an inkling slip past the usual mischievous twinkle in her eyes. She’s amazing, y’all.
I’m sure there are others that my jetlagged brain has temporarily submerged in the fog; I loved meeting you all.
Thanks again to everyone, but especially publishers Jennifer Barnes and John Lawson at Raw Dog. Heart you guys big time. And so does Mr. BBQ Butt.
Get Ready for the Wild Rumpus!
Posted on September 13, 2014 by Maria Alexander under Uncategorized
We’re getting close to the release of Mr. Wicker!
The Wild Rumpus starts September 16, 2014. You can still preorder your copy at a discount on Amazon. If you have Amazon Prime, you get free shipping!
Guest Blog Post at Save the Cat! on 9/19
Look for a guest blog post by me on the Save the Cat!® website next Friday, September 19th. I’ll be talking about how to approach common POV writing problems that screenwriters have when they try to adapt one of their scripts to novel. Since Mr. Wicker began as a script, I’ll be speaking from personal experience and sharing my expertise as both a produced screenwriter and published fiction writer.
Shades and Shadows Reading on 9/20
As a pre-celebration, I’ll be reading from the novel at the Shades and Shadows Reading Series. Here are the details:
California Institute of Abnormal Arts
11334 Burbank Blvd
$10 admission fee
Official Book Launch at Dark Delicacies on 9/21
The official celebration will be a signing at my favorite bookstore, Dark Delicacies!
3512 W. Magnolia
See my Appearances page for more information about upcoming events in San Francisco, Orange County and San Diego.
Stay Tuned for More Sword Controversy
I’m currently writing a guest blog post for SF Signal about swords in film and fiction that might heat up the interwebs, as well as completing interviews for The Qwillery, The Big Thrill, and many more.
Catch you all on the flip side of the rumpus.
Book Trailer for Mr. Wicker
Posted on August 15, 2014 by Maria Alexander under Uncategorized
Lots of talent went into this video. John Palisano directed the trailer and created the special FX, with backup from major Hollywood effects pro and author, Mike McCarty. The gorgeous and creepy interstitial cards were created by the very talented designer, Neil A. Williams II. I wrote the Mr. Wicker theme ages ago, but Jill Tracy‘s amazing adaptation and performance of it just floors me. Her magic makes this video complete.
And, yes, there’s something special at the end. Ahem.
Is this “triggery”? Yup. So is the whole damn book. Consider this a warning. Or a big red, shiny bow. Whichever you prefer.
Thanks for watching! Don’t forget: save money when you pre-order your copy of Mr. Wicker directly from Raw Dog Screaming Press.
My First Book Deal: Mr. Wicker
Posted on October 11, 2013 by Maria Alexander under announcement, Mr. Wicker, writing
I am beyond delighted to announce that Raw Dog Screaming Press will be publishing my first book, Mr. Wicker, in 2014.
Based on a screenplay that placed highly in the prestigious Nicholl competition, Mr. Wicker is an urban fantasy about a woman who is missing a deadly childhood memory. She must find that memory before it takes her life — again.
Located beyond life, The Library of Lost Childhood Memories holds the answer. But the Librarian is Mr. Wicker — a seductive yet sinister creature with an unthinkable past and an agenda just as deadly. Once you meet him, he will change your dreams forever…
Raw Dog Screaming Press has published many award-winning authors, including Jeff VanderMeer, Mike Resnick and Elizabeth Massie. I’m so proud to be amongst such distinguished writers.
Just remember: What you can’t remember can kill you.
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Ovulation is the ejection of an egg – ovum – from a follicle on the ovary. It occurs, modally, approximately monthly in sexually mature females and is followed about two weeks later by menstruation unless pregnancy supervenes. A sensation commonly accompanying it, which may be related to the spilling of some fluid or blood into the peritoneal cavity is called mittelschmerz.
The fertile period in each cycle is around ovulation.
Ovulation is preceded by a gonadotrophin surge, which can be detected, followed by a hormonal rise produced by the luteal body and accompanied by a change in resting body temperature which may be measured.
The combined oral contraceptive pill prevents ovulation in most cycles.
Clomiphene in the early few days of the cycle, by blocking perception of oestrogen by the pituitary, causes an increased output of gonadotrophins. This increased drive to the ovary makes ovulation more likely and makes multiple ovulation more likely in those whose cycles are already ovulatory. This may have complications.
The action of Clomiphene can be monitored by measuring progesterone on day 21 of the cycle.
Counting ovarian follicles by ultrasound imaging can also be done.
Back to Obstetrics and Gynecology
See also Delaying Menstruation
The Lazarus phenomenon
Terrorist incidents in London
Antiarrhythmics
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Couples That Make Together
by Shetara Edden on February 14th, 2016 in Business, Entrepreneur, Factories, Made In America, Manufacturing
This February, we wanted to highlight these power pairs who are making waves in the American manufacturing industry. They prove that when it comes to establishing and growing a business, two is stronger than one.
Irene + Dan
Cross Country Box Company, Inc.
Buying to Build
Cross Country Box is a family-owned, high-quality, custom box manufacturer which makes rigid /set up and folding (carton) boxes. Irene said it was “my husband’s idea to buy a small business and build it up. We went together to meet the seller, made all the decision together. At first, he worked more and I was part-time, but as the children grew up, and the business got bigger and more customized, I started working full-time. Eventually, we moved into a larger manufacturing plant, bought more equipment, and found our clientele had changed so much, that both our jobs had expanded.
The Perfect Balance
Dan is involved with the production side because he has “the best head for numbers,” while Irene handles design, presentations, marketing, and customers. Dan believes it makes for a smooth back and forth because Irene is “a great sounding board to talk over ideas or discuss problems. She usually gets to the heart of things. She has the patience he lacks, and she enjoys connecting with people.” Irene also complimented Dan’s business style, “Dan is honest and not afraid to admit a mistake. Instead, he chooses to learn from them. He gives credit where credit is due. He is a hard worker and always gives 100 percent.”
When asked about the benefits of working together, Irene answered “having each other to lean on when one of us is pressured, tired, or just needs to solve a problem. The worst part, knowing that there isn’t any other income, that everything is tied up in this one company, so you sink or swim together. When you work together, every success is a reason to celebrate together, and when one has a bad day, the other truly understands why it was a bad day and can commiserate while cheering you up; you’re never really alone.”
Related Reading: Nine Weird Things You Can Make in America
Annie + Alan
Dynotex Inc.
Just Starting
Established in 1999, Dynotex is a unique contractor that provides various services, including cut & sew, pattern-making, and grading. Annie shared with us “It was Alan’s idea to start the business, though we both saw how difficult it was to find a contractor to handle small orders.”
Both Annie and Alan agree that their personalities is what makes them great business partners. Alan shares “Despite almost daily conflicts, we do not carry that back home.” When asked if one could run the business without the other? the answer was a unanimous “Definitely no.” Alan handles the sales and Annie runs the factory. However, being a small company, there are many areas that they have to cover and they will sometimes overlap in those areas.
Alan shared “the best thing about working with your partner is we do not have to make a date. We see each other 24/7. Worst thing is also we see each other 24/7 and when we fight, we cannot walk away.” Despite being constantly together, the couple admits that their relationship has changed for the better. Alan said “On one hand we have became more close. On the other hand, we have to face the daily conflict as I handle sales and Annie handles production.”
Marianne + Charles
Quick Turn Clothing
Finding Love + Quickturn
Quick Turn Clothing is a full-service apparel pattern and sample making and production management company, specializing in NYC Domestic production with no minimum requirements. The company was born from the combined experience of the co-founders Charles Webber and Marianne Webber. Marianne shares “We met in the industry when I was a designer and he was a pattern maker, so between the two of us, we have worked doing every aspect of getting clothes to market.”
Experts in Their Own Right
Marianne specializes in fabric resourcing, pricing of garments, and sourcing of factories. Charles makes all the patterns, manages the technical aspect, technical design, and quality. Together they can offer clients everything they need. Marianne says “between the two of us, we give our customers a world of knowledge of understanding all their challenges and dealing with buyers and pricing garments and everything that has to come together very, very quickly in this industry”
Related Reading: The Staple Manifesto for the Designer, Entrepreneur, & Fashion Aficionado
Alex + Dan
The D.N.A. Group
Getting It Right the Second Time
When asked how The D.N.A. Group was started Alex told us it was a learning experience. He explains “ I had started my own line a little bit prior to meeting Dan. I met him in school at the time, and he was incredibly supportive and always kept track of trends and such. We kinda just grew together and started trying to work together. It didn’t really work well the first time around.” Alex and Dan decided to work separately. However, Alex describes how things changed a few years ago, “we had just moved to San Francisco from NYC and I was consulting for a manufacturing company. I ended up acquiring the company. Dan stepped in to assist with operations as we were trying to merge both companies together. It was never supposed to be permanent. Years later, here we are, he is my Director of Operations, the absolute best at it and loves working with all of our amazing clients.”
Amazing Adventure Together
Alex believes that their relationship has changed for the better. He admits, “There is such a sense of security knowing that you are working with your loved one, knowing that they support you and your business. It brought us much closer together. We have our moments, but it’s such an exciting adventure together. If your relationship is really able to handle 24/7, there is something to be said for that.” Alex and Dan have found the balance of managing both a relationship and a business. Alex realizes “There is a much larger picture than just the success of your business….I realized working with him that I wanted to spend my life with him.”
Nicole + Tim
Nicole Melendez Design and Consulting Group
Related Reading: 10 Women In American Manufacturing
Nicole Melendez Design and Consulting Group is a full-service product development design collective with a mission to make apparel design & development approachable. Nicole and her husband Tim have “managed to go from a ‘one man band’ into a designers’ collective” in the last two years. Nicole credits Tim as “the one who pushed me to understand that only by relying on my team I will be able to create something bigger than myself, and to be honest, I don’t think neither of us knew this was going to be what is is growing to be.”
Business and Love
Dividing up was natural. Nicole works in the front office with her team on all the design, running around, project handling, while Tim works with the back office managing the numbers as well as managing staff relations. Since working together the couple has become more self-aware, We have really strong personalities and even though we don’t agree most of the time we find that we do listen to each others feedback, needs and worries and one way or another we make room for small daily goals that help us put into action each other’s feedback. I think our relationship has definitely changed for the good and matured in ways that even surprise us. We can say that we are legitimately best friends who can work together but have a life as well.”
Know any other couples in manufacturing? Share in the comments below!
In Love With Your Product Idea? Get it made on Maker’s Row!
Inspired by these power couples? You might also like these influential individuals:
>Failure Is An Option: 5 Famous Entrepreneurs that Failed Before They Succeeded
>It’s Not Too Late: Famous Design Entrepreneurs Who Started After 30
>20 Brands And Manufacturers Under 40 – 2015
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Batch manufacturing isn’t a new concept. But startup culture and the interconnectedness of the global marketplace require business…
Acme Design launches design incubator to launch brands in New York City
Since our inception, Acme Design‘s core values are to support domestic production…
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Summertime and the deliveries are easy….not so much! You want to flood the block…
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Bill S.295
SECTION 1. Chapter 71 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2016 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding, after Section 93, the following section:-
SECTION 93A. DEVELOPMENT OF TECHNOLOGY PRIVACY AND SAFETY MEASURES
(a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following meanings:
“Confidential data” is data collected on students or staff and which includes:
(1) standard identifying information:
i. names of staff and students
ii. dates of birth
iii. addresses
iv. grades
v. medical information
vi. exam results
vii. staff development reviews
viii. assessments
ix. other personal identifying information
(2) identifying data such as location-tracking, photographs, and biometric data, which includes unique biological identifiers such as voice audio or fingerprints
(3) personal writings or other personal work such as art
(4) political views
(5) socioeconomic data
(6) disciplinary data
(7) similar data or information on other individuals that are not students or staff, but may be referenced in or extracted from student and staff data.
(8) observed and inferred data from the data provided
“Granular opt-out processes for different uses of data” is providing separate options to refuse different types of data sharing. Considerations include but are not limited to placement in a yearbook or directory, using cloud services, or using school-issued devices or personal devices.
“Opt-out alternatives for technology” is an opt-out of using technology with a comparable or alternative non-technological assignment.
“Students and staff” includes all students in pre-K through 12th grade, including students in home schooling, as well as preK-12th grade staff and teachers, including tutors and extra-curricular leaders. Tutors or other arranged staff, including legal guardians or volunteers, that provide extra-curricular activities or other educational learning, are also included.
“Scope and sequence” refers to a document providing an overview of the scope, or depth and breadth, of content to be taught at a specific grade level and the sequence, or order in which content should be taught throughout the year.
(b) Each public school committee in conjunction with the superintendent or the board of trustees of a charter school shall also provide for a scope and sequence for a Safer Technology & Digital Citizenship Curriculum, hereafter called STDC, which shall include age-appropriate practices in healthier, safer and more environmentally-friendly and responsible technology use, behavior, and communication. The STDC shall include, as age-appropriate, education in individual and societal risks from technology, including but not limited to risks stemming from privacy loss, automation, digital addiction, loss of human contact, environmental costs, reduced health, programming mistakes, and aptness as weapons, shaping tools, and propaganda.
The STDC shall be flexible to allow for integration of concepts across disciplines, current events, and to respond to rapidly evolving technology.
(c) Each public school committee in conjunction with the superintendent or the board of trustees of a charter school shall provide for a Technology
Safety Policy, hereafter called TSP, for safer use of technology. Any such TSP shall:
(1) Require the notification of the parents, legal guardians, students, and additional stakeholders of the policy and any changes to it every two years at the beginning of the academic year with opportunity for public input and recommendations;
(2) Be evaluated at least every two years by the school committee in conjunction with the superintendent or board of trustees of a charter school to ensure that the policy conforms to current law, internet practices and technical requirements of teachers, provided that the results of the evaluation are made subject to a public hearing to accept public comment and input;
(3) Require employment of a STDC pursuant to subsection (b) of this section;
(4) Insure technology use is educationally-focused;
(5) Provide for accessibility through universal design;
(6) Provide a procedure for legal guardians and students to register complaints with respect to TSP failures;
(7) Establish and make publicly available the specific measures to protect privacy, safety and health pursuant to subsection (h) of this section, and make publicly available the individuals responsible for making these decisions; and
(8) Restrict access to online content that contains obscenity, pornography, or material harmful to minors including the following measures:
i. Make publicly available specific measures to block, filter, or alter websites, the basis for doing so, and the individuals who are responsible for making those decisions;
ii. Provide a procedure for teachers to override a website that has been blocked, provided that the website does not contain obscenity, pornography, or material harmful to minors;
iii. Establish criteria for the overruling of a request by a teacher to allow access to a website that is blocked by the internet protection measures, a procedure to provide the requesting party with an explanation of the reasons for denial of a request, and a procedure to record and submit any requests and overrulings to the school committee every two years; and
(d) Each district or charter school shall establish a Technology Safety Council with relevant expertise or abilities to develop, examine, and review the STDC and TSP, and shall publicly invite and not exclude parents, legal guardians, and local public school teachers as members, besides invitations to advocates or experts in safer technology. Technology Safety Council members may not have served or serve as a product defense consultant or expert for the industry, and members must submit conflict of interest statements. Technology Safety Council members and conflict of interest statements shall available to the public at no cost. The formation of the Technology Safety Council shall be publicly announced and posted within 45 days and formed within 70 days of enactment of this section. The Technology Safety Council shall have 9 months to provide an initial draft. Upon initial completion, the STDC shall be provided to the local public school teachers and the local community for a 45-day review period to allow for criticism and ensuing revision for a period of four months.
(e) The state Board of Education shall provide a template for the TSP and STDC and may provide additional materials. The Board of Education shall establish a Safer Tech Council to prepare these models, and provide needed support and coordination of meetings, whether by secure conference call, online exchange, or in person.
Safer Tech Council members shall be provided with reasonable costs for travel or conference and research needs. An hourly wage or stipend for work shall be provided based on need to prevent exclusion of lower-income or financially struggling members.
(f) Massachusetts residents and non-governmental organizations shall have the right to make nominations to the Safer Tech Council of members and of relevant concerning issues. Relevant experts or advocates may also self-nominate. Following enactment of this section, there shall be a public announcement of nominations and a 25-day period for nominations. Nominations shall be contacted immediately or regularly and as soon as possible to determine interest in the position and any conflicts of interest. Interested nominees shall be listed for the public as soon as possible and at minimum within the following 25 days, and then remain listed and accessible for a period of 35 days, to allow for Massachusetts residents and non-governmental organizations to express opposition to member nominations. Opposition to member nominations shall be listed in the public record. Nominations of concerning issues shall also be listed, along with relevant interests, background, abilities, and any conflicts of interest of member nominees.
The Safer Tech Council shall include public and retired public school teachers, public school legal guardians, and public school administrators. Other members of the Safer Tech Council shall be privacy and safer technology advocates. Technology experts, scientists, and doctors with relevant, current expertise regarding STDC and TSP concerns shall assist. Excepting that technology experts may be excused from the influence of employment, all Safer Tech Council members shall be free of undue and unusual financial or industry influence from employment, investments, or business clients served. Safer Tech Council members may not have served as a product defense consultant or expert for the industry.
The Board of Education shall have 35 days following submission of opposition statements to select a final list of Safer Tech Council members from nominees, providing for relevant expertise to address the concerning issues provided in relation to the STDC and TSP. The Board of Education shall simultaneously prepare a public document, signed by all board members and noting objections by any member, clearly explaining reasoning for any decision to fail to provide qualified experts or advocates for a relevant concern or to ignore opposition to certain candidates when based on concerns that the nominee is unduly influenced by financial interests, industry, or, in the case of experts, lacks appropriate expertise and credentials, and in the specific case of advocates, lacks appropriate history. This document may be used by any Massachusetts resident to engage in an expedited suit for a summary judgment regarding removal or addition of members to the Safer Tech Council, and may be used similarly by the attorney general, provided that the multiple suits shall be combined. The expedited suit shall allow for the addition of a member or members to the Safer Tech Council based upon failure to address a concerning issue with knowledgeable and appropriate members or serve to remove and potentially replace a member based upon failure to provide advocates with appropriate experience; failure to prevent undue financial or industry influence; or failure to provide experts with appropriate expertise or credentials.
The inability to continue serving or retirement of any Safer Tech Council member shall initiate the same selection process following a 45-day grace period.
(g) The Board of Education and Safer Tech Council shall heed the advice of privacy and safer technology advocates in drafting the model TSP and STDC materials in order to best protect students, adopting caution and avoiding risk. The process and publication of relevant TSP and STDC materials shall be within one year from appointment to the Safer Tech Council, with drafts published at 3 and 6 and 9 months for public comment. The STDC and TSP model materials, including the scope & sequence, shall be updated every two years or sooner to reflect the evolution of technology, society, and the continuing advice of the legal guardians, students, parents, teachers, and school administration, as well as privacy and safer technology advocates. Updates shall require only one draft and comment period before publication.
(h) Each school committee in conjunction with the superintendent or board of trustees of a charter school shall support the protection of privacy, health, and safety by establishing the following, allowing for exceptions when not applicable:
(i) Granular opt-out processes for different uses of data;
(ii) Identification and labeling of processes and equipment which may risk confidentiality or safety;
(iii) Respectable informed consent and opt-out procedures;
(iv) Shredding or secure erasure of unneeded data;
(v) Access to clearly described vendor data collection policies and data security to relevant students, legal guardians, and staff;
(vi) Preferred technology vendors, software, and equipment for privacy protections, health, and safety;
(vii) Staff training and student education on the confidentiality, privacy, and technological health and safety concerns;
(viii) Policies on digital devices to protect confidentiality, health, and safety;
(ix) Policies and procedures on screen time limits;
(x) Timelines to move towards hard-wiring equipment, isolating systems, providing safer technology, reducing technological reliance, and other more expensive or time-consuming procedures for security and safety;
(xi) Evolving goals and established processes for reducing staff and student reliance on and use of technology that threatens confidentiality, health, or safety; and
(xii) Yearly benchmarks set by the district and schools to move towards goals.
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Tamriel Infinium: My favorite things in The Elder Scrolls Online
Ben Griggs
If you’ve been following the Tamriel Infinium column at least since my own arrival at Massively OP, you may have noticed my propensity for lists. Perhaps it’s an easy way for me to break the narrative apart into smaller, loosely coupled segments, or perhaps it’s just how my mind operates.
Play Elder Scrolls Online
As we head into the new year, I’m filled with positivity, so I thought it would be fun to think about some of my favorite things relating to the Elder Scrolls Online, particularly now that it’s taken home another GOTY award from our site. I’m going to set aside my critical eye (for now) and revel in some of the best aspects of what has become my favorite MMO – in list form!
I will occasionally peruse the ESO subreddit and am constantly amused at the number of people who start a thread to the effect of “I’m level 50, now what do I do?” I’ve even snarkily replied to them; once, I informed a poster that he’d completed the game and there was nothing more he could hope to accomplish – a sarcastic reply that was thoroughly and rightfully downvoted to oblivion.
I guess it’s just difficult for me to understand the powerlevel mindset in a game with such careful and interesting storytelling as ESO. The Elder Scrolls franchise has always been about the story, at the very least your story, an element that’s carried over into the MMO version. Among the wider themes of spiritual and political struggles throughout the land of Tamriel are numerous smaller stories filled with nobles and townsfolk, each making their own contributions to the larger direction of history – you among them. It’s probably my very favorite thing about the game, so a failure to appreciate it is impossible for me to wrap my mind around.
While this is closely tied to the story, I think that the characters themselves deserve a special mention. ESO has the benefit of an existing world, with a history that has already been hinted at via the lore books of earlier single-player titles. These breadcrumbs from devs of games past leave us wanting to know more about the events and characters referenced within. Some of these (the Tribunal, the leaders of the factions) make appearances that flesh out what we already knew of them in greater (and lifelike) detail. Other characters were invented specifically for ESO (Naryu, Razum-dar, Abnur Tharn, Lyris) but are so likable that they have spawned dedicated and sincere followings within the playerbase.
The content cadence
One big problem that MMOs of the past faced was the slow release of new content, at that time usually referred to as merely patches and expansion packs. Even the most casual of player would burn through the new content in a matter of weeks, leaving weeks or even months of repeating quests and or/dungeons until the next new thing came along. Many times, players would simply stop playing after finishing the new content and not return to the game until the next major release.
In my estimation, ESO has addressed this eternal MMO problem by releasing four moderately sized updates every single year. This quarterly cadence is frequent enough to keep players in the game throughout the course of the year, yet it allows enough time for the anticipation of the next stage to build. In other words, we get a lot of new content without feeling buried by it.
The crafting bag (inventory)
I know, I know. The crafting bag is accessible only for ESO Plus subscribers, which makes it a prime complaint about the game. But it’s so good that it deserves mention as one of my favorite features.
Personally, I loathe inventory management in MMOs. The last time I decided to get back into LOTRO, for example, I took one look at my full bag and immediately logged back out without taking a single quest. I don’t want to spend my in-game time shuffling items around or searching out the nearest banking location. ESO’s infinite craft materials bag in conjunction with (purchasable) portable bankers and merchants has all but eliminated one of the most annoying foibles of the genre.
Now, if only it weren’t locked behind the subscription…
Who doesn’t love a continent thick with every type of biome imaginable? From the swamps of Black Marsh and snowy Wrothgar to the volcanic ash of Vvardenfell, the beauty of this land cannot be overstated. The longer the game is active, the more regions are added to the game – and the more landscape is available for exploration. Iconic locations from the single-player games are realized in fantastic detail. Red Mountain, Riften, and Imperial City (if you don’t mind a little PvP) are all there for players to enjoy and experience in a time period that was only previously rumored in whispers and tomes. Towns come to life with NPCs chatting about some mysterious hero’s latest exploits. Exploring the countryside of Tamriel can be a real treat, with some curious locations providing more questions than answers.
The customization
Some MMO players complain about overly complicated character creation options and prefer to jump right into the action of the open world.
I am not one of those people.
I’ve never met a character creation screen that I’d consider “too complicated.” The more sliders, the better, as far as I’m concerned. I want my MMO characters to feel unique, and the Elder Scrolls Online provides many, many options for both character creation and customization that work towards that end. Costumes and crafting styles, mostly all dyeable, along with personalities, adornments, hairstyles, and body markings provide an almost limitless number of unique looks and styles. You’ll be hard-pressed to find your twin in Tamriel!
In a game as large as ESO’s, you’ll find all types of players. Fortunately, much of my experience with the ESO community has been very positive. Admittedly, the game became much more enjoyable when I found a guild of like-minded people. But even outside of the guild, in-game players and content creators have all been very positive and supportive influences. They understand that different players enjoy themselves in different ways. They appreciate the work that goes into the game and generally seem to reject the “rush to cap” mentality that bypasses so much of the impressive content. Many have been extremely helpful, available to run dungeons for undaunted pledges or to craft training gear for newer players.
For a while, I think ESO suffered from being a mouse-driven game, which made simultaneous interaction with your character and the chatbox a challenge. But the rise of Discord and other out-of-band communication methods has once again injected the social aspect into ESO.
Traverse the troubled land of Tamriel in the Elder Scrolls Online! Larry Everett and Ben Griggs will be your guides here in Tamriel Infinium on Wednesdays as we explore together the world created by ZeniMax and Bethesda in one of the biggest MMOs in the genre. Larry and Ben welcome questions and topic ideas!
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Viktor Budusov
add to the list scaling, horizontal progression and thievery :)
Allwynd
For me it’s predominantly the opposite.
Character creation is nice, but still leaves a lot to be desired in terms of facial options, also the thinnes characters look unrealistically thin. I’ve noticed if you strip your character naked in the creation, you will notice their torso is longer than a normal torso, could be something they did for the sake of armor, but naked characters look like monsters from a horror game because of that.
The faces and facial hair also don’t gice you enough freedom to create the type of character you want and what I hate is some facial hairs are locked to some races. For example some Breton has a beard that I want to use on a Redguard, but it’s not available there.
Stupid, stupid, stupid developer decisions.
The story is OK, but only for one playthrough on your first character. The stupid game design now has level scaling which implies you can level in any xone you want, bit if you want to follow the factiob story, you have to go through their zones in the intended order prior to the level scaling. This completely defeats the purpose of having level scaling in the game where story still forces you to visit the zones in their original order.
Again, stpid, stupid, stupid developer decisions.
The combat also feels very clunky and lacking impact. Especially using melee is the worst, followed by ranged spells and staffs and the only type that’s remotely OK is bows and I hate bows. I like melee combat and melee classes this game is showing me the finger for that.
What I hate the most about the game is that i the end it’s just a stupid casual theme park. Finish the story, grind gear for PvP or PvE, do Alliance War or Trials, complete everything uninstall the game. Literally the same theme park trash like Retail WoW. ESO literally feels like TES 5 Skyshit and WoW had an inbred child together.
I won’t lie, I’ve spent over 940 hours in the game, but that’s when I was fresh off the boat. Aroun yhe 900 mark, I started losing interest in the game and started seeing its flaws, and at the end, I was forcing myself to log in and play. Later I was only for ing myself to log in for the daily reward and later I couldn’t rvrn be bothered to do that.
I spent some decent amount of timr on the game, there is no denying it, but ehen I look back, I can’t remember anything and it happened only a year ago. That’s one hell of a forgettable and mediocre experience.
While there are different zones of every biome, they somehow feel the same – mediocre, forgettabtle, copy-pasted. The most fun I had in the game I remember was wall-jumping and trying to leave the boundaries of the map.
I’d say ESO is not worthy of being called a TES game and it’s just a modern day theme park causal MMO intended to appease the masses suffering from short attention spans who want to pretend like they’re playing an MMO. ZOS might as well port it to mobile and add auto-play, it won’t even make a difference.
hurbster
900+ hours to decide you didn’t like the game ?
K then.
You have reading comprehension issues? I explicitly said that after the 900 hour mark I started noticing the flaws of the game, before that it was OK, but also nothing memorable.
Ah, you are just being angry and rude, fair enough.
Bit of something for everyone. Huge PvP area, safely locked off from the rest of the game as well ;)
Darthbawl
Personally, I loathe inventory management in MMOs.
MJ is probably yelling “get out of my head!” 😆
PanagiotisLial1
I burnt over 4h on it today, which is close to all today’s gaming time for me, but had a lot of fun and I got to agree you are spot on for all these. I think it will continue thriving for many years. Problems will come every now and then like all mmos but I am confident it will eventually be considered the top mmo
Ironwu
100% spot on here, I think. All of these points are very much strengths of the game. :)
One that was missed, I believe, is the ability of even brand new players to play the game in pretty much any zone and along with any other Level/CP player. Of course, there are Dungeon and Trial (Raid) content that is targeted to more advanced players, but there are hundreds of hours of content a brand new player can engage in before being even close to needing to do higher level stuff.
TESO is really kind of the best of the best when it comes to avoiding the sort of vertical gear grinding so prevalent in other MMOs. Sure there is some questing for specific gear sets, but they are achievable for even new Lvl50/CP160 (the gear max) players.
TESO is very close to being the gold standard for a horizontal progression MMO.
Just my 2c based on my experience and feelings.
Yep, the elimination of level gating belongs on this list, I agree. I’ve just started to take that for granted at this point! I did remember to include it in my Overthinking contribution for this week, though :D
Except if a brand new player plays in any zone they can’t follow the story as the zones are still intended to be played in their original order. For instance AD’s story starts in Kenarthi’s Roost, DC on Stros M’kai and EP on Bleakrok Isle, you have to follow the story from there.
I hear Retail WoW also has scaling now and you can play in every zone, but as far as I remember, the story in Elwynn Forest leads to Westfall, which leads to Redridge Mountains, then to Duskwood and do on.
In both scenarios if you don’t follow the story, you get one jumbled mess that you won’t be able to make any sense out of, like some NPC that gives you quests in ESO gets assassinated, then you go back to the previous zone (thinking you’re going to the next one) only to find the same NPC alive and kicking and still giving you quests about something you don’t even understand. Or imagine going to the last zone where the story’s culmination takes place and then next going to the first… tha’s a lot of stupid decisions of stupid developers right there.
Unless of course you don’t care abouthe story and only care about playing with somebody else.
WoW is NOT the same thing at all. The Level Gating in WoW is grouped into zone sets. So the Original Game zones are 1-60, BC/WotLK are 1-80, and so on. In addition, dungeons are still staggered so that they become not available as you level up out of their (small) level range. Really sucks actually.
You are 100% correct on the Story aspect, though. Nothing at all to be done about that. However, if one wants to play through the zones in order for the story content, that can be done with full effect. And, your higher level friends can come play with you for full exp and level appropriate loot, even if they have already done the zone.
All in all, ESO has a very superior system, I think. The decision to start everyone out at max level HP/Magika/Stamina with all the MOBs at the same level/health as they will be when the player is at max was brilliant. It really works well.
The thing is the story content is so easy you can solo it with great ease, so I don’t see a point in asking someone to come play with me. I could ask them to help me for veteran dungeons or trials, but just leveling… meh. For me Warden was the easiest faceroll class I had played. I killed mobs so fast that I felt like I was playing a single player RPG with god mode. The only times where I died, was when I was AFK and went to get something to eat and some groups of mobs spawned right next to me.
The problem with ESO’s leveling content, which is a crucial part of the game considering all the voice acting on everything, is that around 2016, the game was dumbed down severely and made too casual. I remember when I bought it in 2015 and was getting my ass kicked by mobs my lever when I was still around level 10-20. Taking on an Anchor on your own was a suicide mission, now I can solo an Anchor with my butt cheeks on the mouse and keyboard, and when it’s so easy, it just isn’t fun anymore. And this is also why I don’t see a point in asking someone to play with you during the leveling part in the overworld. My gripe with this is that the game is so easy it’s boring.
I’ve suggested on the forums (both for ZOS to see and for me to see how other players react) that there should be added some hardcore mode, kinda like in Diablo 2 where when you create your character, you tick a checkbox and your character is now hardcore. The results of this is that mobs have all their stats like resistances, HP, damage boosted by around 50% and your hardcore character has theirs respectively nerfed by around 50% (the percentage could be more or less). The repercussions are undecided at this point (it can mean once you die, you can’t play anymore or something else) and the bonuses are you get better loot or more XP or whatever. The idea behind is that since they have an already useless level scaling system, they can put that system to an actual good use for once where they can have hardcore and normal characters at the same time where they can play together.
This is why I don’t play the game anymore and why I don’t see a point in playing with someone during normal questing – it’s already so easy, dumb and boring that having other people with you doesn’t make a difference – it doesn’t get easier as it’s already too easy as it is and they aren’t really helping you.
I honestly fail to see how their scaling system is good in any way – it’s the same system in every such game that has level scaling.
AdventureQuest 3D - MJ
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2:00pm: AdventureQuest 3D - MJ
Harrowstorm hits the Elder Scrolls Online PTS with new housing and...
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Does harmonic complexity reduce to 3-adicity?
I have been updating the chapter Self and Binding of TGD inspired theory of consciousness. The goal is to base the theory from the beginning on ideas like zero energy ontology, hierarchy of Planck constants aand its connection with dark matter, p-adic physics as physics of cognition and intentionality -and in in particular, life as something residing in the interection real and p-adic worlds. The notion of number theoretic entropy makes it possible to assign to rational or even algebraic entanglement probabilities a positive negentropy and this has meant a breakthrough in the understanding of TGD inspired theory of consciousness and life. These updatings are extremely fruitful -not only because they force to throw away the ancient and obsolete stuff- but because the interaction of new ideas with old ones produces something completely unexpected new ideas.
The understanding of music experience is especially fascinating challenge for a consciousness theorists. In TGD framework quite nice vision about the basic aspects of music experience emerges. Octave phenomenon can be reduced to p-adic length scale hypothesis implied if the causal diamonds defined as intersections of future and past directed lightcones and playing key role in quantum TGD have discrete size spectrum coming as octaves of CP2 length. Also the preferred role of certain rational frequencies can be understood in the p-adic context from the fact that sine waves in p-adic context can be defined only by introducing an algebraic extension of p-adic numbers allowing the needed roots of unity. Plane waves are defined p-adically only in discrete subset of points and for harmonics of the fundamental frequency. This implies automatically the preferred role of a limited set of rational valued multiples of the fundamental.
The following little excerpt from the updated chapter provides a inspired vision about one particular aspect of music experience, namely the harmony and allows to interpret Pythagorean vision about music scale in terms of 3-adicity, to deduce a measure for a harmonic measure of the chord, and to replace the Pythagorean tuning of 12-tone system based on perfect fifths with a unique tuning based on 3-adicity.
An interesting question relates to the conditions guaranteing that a chord is experienced as harmonious in the Pythagorean sense. Pythagorean tuning is based on the notion of perfect fifths identified as a scaling by 3/2 producing the sequence C,G,D,A,E,.. In this tuning major-C scale corresponds to ratios C= 1/1, D=9/8, E=81/64, F=4/3, G= 3/2, A=27/16, B= 243/128, C=2/1. Eb and F# correspond to ratios 25/33 and 36/29. All notes are expressible as powers of two and three. Since the multiplication of any note by a power of two does not affect the harmony it should be to drop the powers of two from the integers characterizing the notes in the ratio of three notes. For instance, C-E-G reduces 3:34:1, C-Eb-G to 34:1:33, and tritonus C-Eb-F# to 39:1:33.
The problem of Pythagorean tuning is that one cannot represent 2 as an exact integer power of 3/2 and the scalings give infinite number of tones. If the construction starts from Gb then F# and Gb correspond to frequencies, which are not quite identical in Pythagorean tuning. One could make compromize by introducing the geometric mean of F# and Gb but this would bring in 31/2 and would force to leave the world of pure rationals. For string instruments and electronic instruments the Pythagorean tuning is practical but for instruments like piano the transposition of the scale is impossible.
One should be able to characterize a given chord harmonically by a function F(a,b,c), which is symmetric under the permutations of the reduced pitches a, b and c obtained by dropping powers of two and is invariant under over all scaling of the reduce frequencies. The elementary symmetric functions F(a,b,c)=[a2(b+c)+b2(a+c)+c2(a+b)]/abc and G(a,b,c)=[a3+b3+c3]/abc are the simplest functions of this kind. Either of these functions or their product or ratio could be considered as a measure for the harmonic complexity. The value of the denominator abc equals to 3n, n=3,7,12 in the cases considered. The numerator has in all cases 3-adic norm equal to one for both F and G. This suggests that the 3-based logarithm of the 3-adic norm 1/|abc|3=|F|3=|G|3 having the values 3,7, and 12 for C-major, C-minor, and tritonus could serve as the measure for the complexity. It is indeed smallest for major and largest for tritonus. 3-adic norm for the product 1/a1a2...an of n tones of the chord defines a measure of complexity in more general case. A good guess is that the 3-adic norms of the elementary symmetric functions give rise to the same measure.
For the chords C-E-G, F-A-C, and G-H-D appearing as basic chords in C- major scale the values of the harmonic measure are 3, 2, and 8. This means that the basic chords are not harmonically equivalent in Pythagorean system whereas in equally tempered system they would be. One might think that this explains why the tonic is remembered. The anomalously low value for F-A-C relates to the fact that it is only tone for which the power of 3 is negative. Situation changes of F is identified as a minimal power of 3 giving F equivalent with Pythagorean F within the resolution of ear to pitch which is about |Δ f/f|= 4.3 per cent . F=35/28 gives |Δ f/f|= 4.8 per cent. This F would give for F-A-C the harmonic measure 8 which equals to that for G. This looks more reasonable than the purely Pythagorean value. This definition would also allow to find a unique choice of powers of three for 12-chord system. For instance, F# is favored over Gb since it corresponds to a positive power of 3.
To sum up, music seems to provide a possible manifestations of 3-adicity, and the proposed measure of harmonic complexity might provide a manner to construct also a theory of aesthetically pleasing harmonic progressions.
Posted by Matti Pitkänen at 10:30 PM 13 comments: Links to this post
Negentropic entanglement and the role of neural transmitters
Soon after starting to develop TGD inspired theory of consciousness, I somehow ended up to an email correspondence with Gene Johnson who insistently emailed me links to abstracts about neuroscience. I read the classic Bible about brain by Kandel et al [2] and tried to make sense of it in my own conceptual framework. This was of course hopeless task since I had only the notions of quantum jump and self. The feeling that something very simple -about which I do not and perhaps cannot ever have a slightest clue- must be behind this incredible complexity made the situation really frustrating. The deeper meaning of EEG, nerve pulse neurotransmitters, hormones- actually of entire brain chemistry and also biochemistry- remained a total mystery.
Development of ideas After required number of years however some concrete ideas began to emerge.
The notion of magnetic body with fractal onionlike structure meant a decisive step of progress. Also the hierarchy of Planck constants and dark matter as controller of visible matter in living systems emerged. The function of EEG as communication and control tool of magnetic body using biological body as a motor instrument and sensory receptor looked very natural. This led also to a proposal that there is an entire hierarchy of EEGs and their variants. After several trials a vision about nerve pulses as concomitants of quantum level communications emerged as also a vision about DNA as topological quantum computer based on the flux tubes connecting DNA nucleotides with the lipid layers of cell membrane emerged and providing a function for the intronic portions of genome as carriers of quantum computer programs [1].
Also a vision about the biochemical role of dark matter evolved. In particular, phase transitions reducing Planck constant for a magnetic flux tube would induce its contraction and force biomolecules near to each other. This would explain the miracles of DNA replication, translation, and transcription and quite generally the processes known as aggregation of proteins. The reconnection of magnetic flux tubes changing the topology of the biological Indra's net would be also a central mechanism.
The model of nerve pulse and the vision about living matter as a kind of dynamical Indra's net led to a first clear idea about the role of neural transmitters. Transmitters are classified to inhibitory or excitatory depending on whether they increase or reduce the magnitude of the membrane potential. This property is however a property of the receptor rather than that of the transmitter. The same transmitter can have both excitatory and inhibitory receptors although often either receptor type dominates. The proposal was that neural transmitters are associated with the ends of the links of the 4-dimensional web connecting neurons to each other. Neurotransmitter attaches to the plug defined by the receptor connecting the communication wire from presynaptic neuron to the flux tube leading to the passive portion of postsynpatic DNA strand acting as sensory receptor. This would make possible rapid communications to DNA. The corresponding active portion of DNA strand could then respond by generating an activity at the level of cell membrane. This conforms with the general idea that proteins represent only one particular outcome of the gene expression. This left open the question whether the excitatory-inhibitory dichotomy could have some deeper meaning.
Also it became clear the emotions and information are closely related and that peptides acting both as neurotransmitters and hormones are crucial for emotions [3]. I proposed that emotions are "entropic" qualia. Although I realized the importance of negentropic entanglement I did not have time or I was not able to realize how far reaching this notion actually is.
Is genome a fractal counterpart of brain?
Fractality replaces standard reductionism in TGD Universe. An old idea inspired by p-adic length scale hypothesis is that the binary structures associated with p-adic scales L(k) propto 2k/2 and L(k+2) define a fractal hierarchy. Brain hemispheres would represent one example of this kind of pair, lipid layers of the cell mebrane second one, and DNA double strand third one. Just for fun one could assume that the structure and functions of brain hemispheres have fractal analogs at the level of DNA double strand and vice versa and look what kind of questions this inspires.
Could the identical structures of DNA strands correspond to the anatomical similarity of right and left brain and could the functional asymmetry of the strands correspond to the laterizalization of brain function? Could the genome act as the brain of cell? Could various brain areas have counterparts at the level of DNA? Could the hydrogen bonds between nucleotides serve as the counterpart of corpus callosum? Could the splitting of these bonds during transcription and replication correspond to what happens to a split brain patient?
Before continuing it must be made clear that the global identification of right-left dichotomy with holistic-reductionistic dichotomy is wrong. One can however consider its local variant with holism and reductionism assigned do the pairs of right and left brain areas. For instance, emotional right (left) brain (amygdala) would be reductionistic (holistic, negentropic) and intellectual right (left) would be holistic (reductionistic, entropic). The practical reason to the division to the entropic and negentropic pieces could relate to the metabolism. The entropic regions could provide the binding energy as a usable energy to the positive energy negentropic entanglement. Good is not possible without Evil! There are no winners without loosers! Right brain is specialized in spatial thinking and left brain to verbal thinking and arithmetics: the geometry-algebra division of mathematics! Right brain is not so good in motor actions as left brain as any right-handed person knows. Right brain is however better in tactile sensing: right handed persons tend to use left hand for touching objects to get an idea about their shape. Also this can be understood in holistic-reductionistic picture.
Apart from reflex actions almost all activities of the body seem to be controlled to a high degree by brain. Could also the activitites of cell be regarded as motor actions of the genome acting as the brain of cell receiving sensory imput from the cell membrane? Could one identify the analogs of sensory areas receiving information from cell membrane, processing, and sending it to the association areas? Could the analogs associative areas be identified as intronic portions of DNA performing topological quantum computations and communicating the outcome to the higher motor areas at the intronic portions of the of the complementary strand, wherefrom they would be communicated to the primary motor areas identifiable as the regions of DNA expressing themselves either chemically (RNA and proteins), as activitites generated directly at the level of cell membrane, or electromagnetically? For instance, could neurotransmitter in the receptor generate the feed of sensory input to the genome inducing the change of the membrane potential as the counterpart of motor action. Could prokaryotes without introns be analogous to brain with only primary sensory and motor areas or to mere ladder-like nervous system?
One could argue that the analogy between DNA are brain fails because second DNA strand is completely passive whereas both brain hemispheres express themselves via motor actions. This is not the case! Both DNA strand has regions expressing themselves but the transcription takes place in opposite directions. Hence DNA strands have motor and sensory areas as also brain does, and the natural guess is that primary motor areas correspond to the areas expressing themselves in terms of RNA, proteins, and possibly also as actions at the level of cell membrane. Primary sensory areas would correspond to to regions complementary to the primary motor regions.
What right brain sings-left brain talks metaphor could mean in this picture? Pitch-rhythm dichotomy is more technical expression for this dichotomy. Function providing local data and its Fourier transform providing global data is more abstract representation for this dichotomy and Uncertainty Principle for momentum and position relates closely to these two representations of information. This dichotomy could reflect the presence of two different natural time scales and millisecond time scale for nerve pulses and .1 second time scale for moments of sensory experience are the natural candidates.
If so, this dichotomy could directly reflect the different time scales assignable to u and d type quarks (1 millisecond) and to electron (100 ms) and reduce to the level of elementary particle physics. This dichotomy would also have fractally scaled up variants made possible by the hierarchy of Planck constants. The analog of Fourier transform would be the negentropic unentanglement of sub-CDs (assignable to quarks) to single mental image inside electron's CD. The analog of function itself would be a collection of sub-CDs representing separate unentangled mental images assignable to individual nerge pulses in millisecond time scale. Also the topological quantum computations assigned to the intronic portions correspond to different time scales due and reflect quark-lepton dichotomy. The quarks in question could be the quarks assigned to the ends of flux tubes in the model of DNA as topological quantum computer.
This raises some questions. Could the gene expressions of the two strands somehow reflect this dichotomy? For instance, could the flux tube structures assignable to the aminoacid sequences correspond to the millisecond and 100 ms scales assignable to quarks and electron have the property that also the functioning of these proteins is characterized by these typical time scales? The time scales of protein folding indeed appear in two typical ranges beginning from ms [5] and 100 ms respectively [4]. There are also short proteins for which the folding takes place in microsecond time scales which might relate to the CD of proton.
What can one say about the function of neurotransmitters?
Can one say anything interesting about the the function of neurotransmitters if one combines this highly speculative picture- which can be defended only by the belief on fractality as universal principle- with the idea that bound state and negentropic entanglement make possible the fusion of mental images.
Suppose that the fusion of neuronal mental images is required to build higher level mental images that we experience. Suppose that neuronal mental images involve DNA in an essential manner. Suppose that magnetic flux tubes serve as correlates for the entanglement so that the transmission of nerve pulse from pre-synaptic neuron to post-synaptic one creates a flux tube connection between neurons possibly extending to the genome of the post-synaptic neuron. The transmitter at the end of flux tube attached to the receptor acting as a plug would build this connection to some part of DNA specialized to receive particular kind of sensory data from a particular region of cell membrane with complementary strand activating as a response a motor function inducing gene expression at cell membrane level. Gene expression as build-up of proteins would not be necessary and is also too slow for neural activities.
Suppose that the entanglement between neurons generated in this process is always negentropic as the interpretation as the idea about neural correlate for a conscious association suggests. One could also ask whether the neurons could entangled entropically and whether the entropic-inhibitory association could make sense. This does not lead to anything interesting and entropic entanglement between neurons should be regarded as a pathological condition. Note that neuron-neuron entanglemement would be naturally time-like and in this case only negentropic entanglement might be meaningful.
To gain some perspective consider the activation of cell in general by some external perturbation from the resting state to the active state (here I have learned a lot from email correspondence with Vladimir Mateev) In the resting state the proteins inside cell are passive -or rather, forced to be passive- as one might expect on basis of the general vision about homeostasis. The unfolded proteins and unfolded portions of the folded proteins are connected by hydrogen bonds to ordered water so that the folding occurring otherwise spontaneously is prevented. One can say that the cellular winter prevails. The situation is however nearly critical and if external perturbation occurs cell liberates metabolic energy melting the ice and spring comes. Also the outer surfaces of globular proteins are hydrogen bonded and when the ordered water melts, spontaneous melting of the protein takes place leading to a partial unfolding.
The resulting folded proteins and partially unfolded globular proteins interact by forming aggregates and this activity would naturally involve hbar reducing phase transitions and flux tube reconnections. In TGD based model the mechanism of both folding and melting would be the liberation of metabolic energy destroying the hydrogen bonds and the energy for this comes from the ATP containing positive energy negentropic bond between O=s of phosphates.
Similar situation could prevail at the cell membrane. One can imagine that cell membrane is like a particle at the bottom of a small potential well. At the other side there is a deep well representing the generation of nerve pulse and at the other side a high wall corresponding to hyper-polarization requiring energy. Both polarization and hyperpolarization are prevented by the freezing of protein activities needed to induce them. The flux tubes connecting the presynaptic neuron and receptor and possibly genome are always negentropic and their formation can as such serve as the signal leading to the partial melting of the ordered water making possible to generate action leading to either depolarization or hyperpolarization. The signal could be just the additional metabolic energy making it possible for these transitions to occur.
This picture does not require any communications from the receptor to the genome and in the simplest situation the resulting action could be seen as the analog of a reflex action. These communications could of course be present and the negentropic entanglement could make it easier to induce depolarization also now. Also the question whether excitatory-inhibitory dichotomy for the receptors has some deeper meaning apart from taking the neuron nearer to or farther from criticality for firing remains unanswered.
The chapter DNA as Topological Quantum Computer of "Genes and Memes".
E. R. Kandel, J. H. Schwartz, T. M. Jessel (1991), Principles of Neural Science. Prentice-Hall International Inc..
C. B. Pert (1997), Molecules of Emotion, Simon and Schuster Inc..
T. E. Creighton (1993), Proteins: Structures and Molecular Properties. W.H. Freeman and Company. New York.
Protein folding.
For background see the chapter TGD Inspired Model for Nerve Pulse.
Posted by Matti Pitkänen at 3:28 AM 24 comments: Links to this post
EEG synchrony and negentropic entanglement
In the discussion related to the previous posting someone turned my attention to 40 Hz synchrony. If one accepts the vision about life as something in the intersection of real and p-adic worlds 40 Hz EEG synchrony can be interpreted as a correlate for the generation of negentropic entanglement between cortical neurons. Before proposing this interpretation let us first describe the experimental findings of a finnish neuroscientist Antti Revonsuo (see his article Binding and the Phenomenal Unity of Consciousness).
The interpretation for 40 Hz EEG frequency inspired by the binding hypothesis is as a synchronizing frequency necessary for the generation of unified percepts. This hypothesis has been studied using auto-stereograms. There was no detectable difference in the power spectrum at 36-44 Hz range in the situation when auto-stereogram was experienced as a set of random dots as compared to the situation when it was perceived as a coherent, symmetrical gestalt. The situation was same also in 8-13 Hz and 13-20 Hz beta bands.
On the other hand, when the conscious percept was transformed from a random set of points to a coherent gestalt, there was a detectable increase in 40 Hz power in the occipital and right posterior sites for EEG electrodes in a time window 300-500 ms before the unified percept was reported. There could be also some time lapse between the unified percept and the report about it but probably this cannot explain the entire lapse. No increase of power in beta bands was detected: this might be due to the fact that the widths of the measured bands are much wider than the widths ofthe narrow sub-bands reported masked by other EEG activity according to Nunez (Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 23, 2000). Note that in the model for a hierarchy of EEGs based on dark matter hierarchy beta band correspond to data communicated to the magnetic body (see this).
That the change in activity is associated with the emergence of a new percept suggests that the temporary increase of the EEG power could be assigned to the communications of the forming percept to the magnetic body.
Interpretation in terms of a generation of a negentropic entanglement
A fresh view about what really happens during 40 Hz synchrony came with the realization that negentropic entanglement is possible in the intersection of real and p-adic worlds. The generation of negentropic entanglement between two subselves means that the corresponding mental images are fused (see see this and this). The process is experienced by the fusing subselves as an expansion of consciousness whereas consciousness is lost when when bound state entanglement is generated. Also the meditative states begin with enchanged 40 Hz activity and interpretation would be same. Quite generally, the generation of negentropically entangled neuron groups could be a correlate for the emergence of a new idea or a new holistic pattern emerging from a chaos. Synchronous firing would be a natural correlate for the synergic state resulting in this manner. The paradoxical looking reduction of the oxiditative metabolism associated with 40 Hz firing could be seen as a signature of reduced dissipation when dissipating ensemble of neurons forms a single quantum coherent system.
What could then be the interpretation of the 300-500 ms time scale and synchronous firing in TGD framework?
If one assumes that only brain is involved, one must answer whether the new percept emerges after such a long time period. One would naively expect that negentropic entanglement immediately gives rise to the percept. Negentropic entanglement however means that a quantum superposition of several alternative percepts is involved. In the beginning the new percept is present with only small probability so that one would only know that the moment of heureka is quite near (this is indeed the experience that one has) and in the final situation it dominates but not completely since it requires conscious effort to preserve the percept.
Also magnetic body should be involved in TGD framework. The natural question is "Why this synchronous neuronal firing?". The natural answer would be that it allows to communicate the new percept as a consequence of a generation of negentropic entanglement to the magnetic body. The frequency scale of 40 Hz corresponds to a time scale of 25 milliseconds and corresponds to a length scale involved is about .75× 107 m, a good candidate for the size of the part of the magnetic body involved. This time scale is much shorter than 300-500 seconds. If the layer of the magnetic body in question corresponds to the fundamental 100 millisecond time scale assignable to electron as is natural in case of sensory percepts, the time lapse could be essentially due to the communication. If one takes the time scale literally the value of Planck constant which is about 3 to 5 larger than its standard value would suggest itself. Of course, the development of the percept from a fuzzy inkling to the final heureka could involve several communication loops between brain and magnetic body so that the interpretation as a lapse due the slowness of communications need not be inconsistent with the first interpretation.
The time scale 300-500 ms could characterize the duration of negentropic entanglement but this is not necessarily the case since negentropic entanglement would be un-necessary after the percept has been represented symbolically so that one knows what is lurking behind the chaos.
The reported lower oxidative metabolism during the negentropic entanglement could be either due to the reduced dissipation due to the absence of dissipating neuronal selves or due the fact that magnetic body provides in this kind of situation the metabolic energy.
Negentropy Maximization Principle updated
Conscious existence is continual recreation of the Universe. My own humble contribution to this magnificent activity is endless updating of the chapters of the books about TGD. During this particular cascade of quantum jumps I updated the chapter Negentropy Maximization Principle of "TGD Inspired Theory of Consciousness" so that zero energy ontology and causal diamonds, hierarchy of Planck constants, and the vision about life as something in the intersection of real and p-adic worlds - which is nothing but number theoretical criticality- are taken into account from the beginning. I managed to build a vision about what it means mathematically to be in this intersection and what it means for U-matrix. I also found an expression for U-matrix as a collection of M-matrices so that these two matrices are not independent of each other as I had erratically thought. Unitarity of U states the orthogonality for the zero energy states defined by M-matrices. Very beautiful.
Number theory enters into game strongly: for instance, different algebraic extensions of rationals are regarded formally as quantum states and there is unitary dispersion in this space. Also the notion about leakage between different number fields at the level of partonic 2-surfaces leads to amplitudes expressible in terms of points of partonic 2-surface belonging to the algebraic extension of rationals. Kind of number theoretic QFT emerges naturally. For the first time I encountered really naturally infinite collection of commutative diagrams, which mathematicians have used since the days of Adam and Eve. We theoretical physicists are rather slow in our reactions. I attach the abstract of the updated chapter below.
In TGD Universe the moments of consciousness are associated with quantum jumps between quantum histories. The proposal is that the dynamics of consciousness is governed by Negentropy Maximization Principle, which states the information content of conscious experience is maximal. The formulation of NMP is the basic topic of this chapter.
Negentropy Maximization Principle (NMP) codes for the dynamics of standard state function reduction and states that the state function reduction process following U-process gives rise to a maximal reduction of entanglement entropy at each step. In the generic case this implies at each step a decomposition of the system to unique unentangled subsystems and the process repeats itself for these subsystems. The process stops when the resulting subsystem cannot be decomposed to a pair of free systems since energy conservation makes the reduction of entanglement kinematically impossible in the case of bound states. The natural assumption is that self loses consciousness when it entangles via bound state entanglement.
There is an important exception to this vision based on ordinary Shannon entropy. There exists an infinite hierarchy of number theoretical entropies making sense for rational or even algebraic entanglement probabilities. In this
case the entanglement negentropy can be negative so that NMP favors the generation of negentropic entanglement, which need not be bound state entanglement in standard sense. Negentropic entanglement might serve as a correlate for emotions like love and experience of understanding. The reduction of ordinary entanglement entropy to random final state implies second law at the level of ensemble. For the generation of negentropic entanglement the outcome of the reduction is not random: the prediction is that second law is not a universal truth holding true in all scales. Since number theoretic entropies are natural in the intersection of real and p-adic worlds, this suggests that life resides in this intersection. The existence effectively bound states with no binding energy might have important implications for the understanding the stability of basic bio-polymers and the key aspects of metabolism. A natural assumption is that self experiences expansion of consciousness as it entangles in this manner. Quite generally, an infinite self hierarchy with the entire Universe at the top is predicted.
The identification of life as a number theoretically critical phenomenon is also consistent with the idea that the transformation of intention to action corresponds to a U-process inducing leakage between different sectors. This leakage makes sense in the intersection where same mathematical expression defines both real and p-adic partonic 2-surfaces which are the fundamental objects in TGD framework. What these statements really mean requires a construction of number theoretical variant of quantum theory applying in the intersection of real and p-adic worlds.
Besides number theoretic negentropies there are also other new elements as compared to the earlier formulation of NMP. Zero energy ontology modifies dramatically the formulation of NMP since U-matrix acts between zero energy states and can be regarded as a collection of M-matrices, which generalize the ordinary S-matrix and define what might be called a complex square root of density matrix so that kind of a square root of thermodynamics at single particle level justifying also p-adic mass calculations based on p-adic thermodynamics is in question. The hierarchy of Planck constants is a further new element having important implications for conciousness and biology. Hyper-finite factors of type II1 represent an additional technical complication requiring separate treatment of NMP taking into account finite measurement resolution realized in terms of inclusions of these factors.
NMP has important implications for thermodynamics. In particular, one must give up the standard view about second law and replace it with a formulation taking into accoung the hierarchy of causal diamonds assigned with zero energy ontology and dark matter hierarchy labeled partially by the values of Planck constants, as well as the effects due to negentropic entanglement. In particular, in the case of living matter breaking of second law in standard sense is expected to take place and be crucial for the understanding of evolution. Self hierarchy having the hierarchy of causal diamonds as imbedding space correlate leads naturally to a thermodynamical description of the contents of consciousness and quantum jumps is very much analogous to quantum computation. This leads to a vision about the role of bound state entanglement and negentropic entanglement in the generation of sensory qualia. Negentropic entanglement leads to a vision about cognition. Negentropically entangled state consisting of a superposition of pairs can be interpreted as a conscious abstraction or rule: negentropically entangled Schrödinger cat knows that it is better to keep the bottle closed. A connection with fuzzy qubits and quantum groups with negentropic entanglement is highly suggestive. The implications are highly non-trivial also for quantum computation, which allows three different variants in TGD context. The negentropic variant would correspond to conscious quantum computation like process.
Negentropic entanglement and the role of neural tr...
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Critique of LAU’s Major Theater Production:Patriarchial Authority Revealed
Filed under: LAU, LAU Tribune articles, Lebanon, Theater — Leave a comment
(picture from LAU website: http://www.lau.edu.lb/news-events/news/archive/major_theater_production_bring/)
And she slammed the door open…said “You are dancing, pigs? Keep it on!” and vanished through the other door of the dark Irwin Hall Theater. The director Lina Abyad chose this time, with her presence in the performance, to be part of Kafka’s inner psyche. Like a psychoanalyst, she invited us to take a journey into Kafka’s mind and into his life that is loaded, at least with what we witnessed on stage, misery and harsh patriarchal dominance.
“A first sign of the beginning of understanding is the wish to Die.” Kafka’s Diaries. With that quote we could draw a bleak picture of what the performance would be, but with the creativity of Abyad, the performance included some hilarious moments but still in the framework of agony and inner pain. LAU’s spring major theater production, Kafka, His Father, the Boss, the Wolf, and the Pigs, was performed on May 8,9,13,14,15,16 at LAU Beirut’s Irwin Hall Theatre. The performance revolves around flashbacks from Kafka’s bitter childhood intermixed with readings of the letter that Kafka himself wrote when he was 36 years old and that was apparently never delivered. The letter was first translated into English from German and published in 1966 titled Letter to his Father. In 2008, a new English translation was published under the title Dearest Father. Abyad and Rachid Al Daif translated the texts to formal Arabic and the performance was in both Lebanese dialect and formal Arabic. The Lebanese dialect reduced from the potency of the play, but the use of formal Arabic when reading parts of the letters regained it.
Kafka’s miserable psychological composition found a compelling theatricality when his inner psyche was revealed on stage, but maybe Abyad’s vision was too internalized, too dependent on triggering associations in the contemplative minds of audience members. Maybe the mere act of exposing Kafka’s troubled relation with his father on stage was a catharsis that Abyad wanted to be involved in. Having many actors resembling the same persona –Kafka- who rush around during which another Kafka reads some lines of his letter, aids in creating a hallucinatory dimension. It’s not only a psychic pain, but also a sense of alienation. This is shown when the thoughts of Kafka seem literally alienated from, though multiplied in number, his body where it becomes under the subjugation and supervision of the father figure. In fact, the notion of patriarchy resembled in the play goes in line with the Arab societies where the father figure sits on the top of the pyramid and controls the family members. The play’s powerful effect originates from the affirmation of patriarchal authority which motivates its plot.
Previous plays directed by Abyad like her last year’s “The House of Benarda Alba” written by Lorca tackle the same theme of parental oppression of their children and depicts the conflict between the parent and the child. With the new play, the oppressor is not the mother but the father under the same theme of traditions’ constraints. The previous play forms a trilogy expressing what Lorca saw as the tragic life of Spanish women. It is also a play expressing the costs of repressing the freedom of others. In this play, one’s individualism is threatened and the longing for freedom is seen through the symbolic meanings given by the acts of Kafka’s climbing the ladder and his conversation with the bird. The play could be also understood from political perspective where the father figure designating the Arab regimes is to be obeyed and not questioned.
The multiple Kafka personas seeking freedom via bird symbol
Tags: Kafka, LAU, Lina Abyad, patriarchy, plays, theater
The Arab Highway; Dream to Some…Nightmare to Others
Filed under: Construction, LAU Tribune articles, Lebanon, Projects, Social Issues — Leave a comment
The Arab Highway's construction site at Jdita
By Maysa Shawwa & Walaa Harb
Kifah, meaning struggle in English, is her name and her destiny…Kifah Hachem gives her child a gaze full of apprehension and then cuddles her leaving a faint smile that vanishes behind her troubled face. She says, “We won’t leave our homes even if the bulldozer runs over our dead bodies.” Kamal Masood, another Jdita resident whose house is going to be destroyed says, “The money they want to give us won’t buy us even a tent!” The head of the municipality of Jdita Wahib Keekano says that there are around 150 families in Jdita who will have to evacuate their homes because their houses lie on the trail where the Arab highway will be constructed. He adds that he isn’t satisfied about the monetary compensations that will be paid to the residents “at the end of 2010”, but Elie El Helou, the Arab Highway project manager, has something else to say about the values of the compensations. He says that a committee from the Council for Development and Reconstruction in 2003 visited the houses that are going to be abolished and decided on the compensation values. “These residents were actually paid treasury bonds of 9% interest rate in 2004. We didn’t even ask them to leave their houses back then,” El Helou says.
Darwiche Ghaziri, director of the department of education services in civil organization in the Ministry of Public Works and Transportation, says that “the monetary compensations were paid in 2004 and the responsibility lies on the residents themselves since they had the right to either take the treasury bonds or leave them in the bank.” El Helou adds that the problem that has emerged then is the result of some citizens investing their treasury bonds in the banks,” instead of buying with them new houses when the prices of houses and lands were low.”
Some citizens claim they haven’t received any compensation. Ali El Andari of Abadieh town says irately “This Arab highway will be constructed neither in Lebanon nor in any of the Arab countries!” He stops talking and lights a cigarette so that to escape the tense moment and continues “No compensations have been paid to us and even if they give us money we will not leave our homes.” His smoke puffs intensify and he glares at his watch murmuring “Darn them all!” Others clarify that in Abadieh town, construction process hasn’t started yet and thus no compensations have made. Anis Madi says, “The Arab highway’s project has only been planned ”
Another conflict that has emerged between the residents whose homes or lands are going to be destroyed or expropriated is the “free quarter” controversy where the government has the right to take quarter of the lands without paying anything for its citizens by law. Some citizens were skeptical about this issue and started questioning about it. Some declared that such a thing doesn’t exist in Lebanese laws. Keekano states “Since the Arab highway is a closed project, the government doesn’t have a right to take the quarter of these lands without paying its citizens and this fact is stated in the Lebanese constitution”, but El Helou, when asked about this issue, denied the existence of such laws that prevent the government to take the quarter of lands for free. Looking at some of the property laws, there seem some kind of contradiction between what El Helou was saying and what the Lebanese modified property law number 58 date 29/5/1991 actually declares. This law was modified on the first of November 2006 and was published in the official newspaper. It states in its article 14 that no one could expropriate the quarter of the lands/estates without equivalent compensations in real estates made to the citizens and this law corresponds to the closed highways or bridges. When asked about the validity of this law, the lawyer Habib Abdo said that “the government has the right to expropriate the quarter of the lands/estates without paying the citizens anything in return.” This issue seems a bit of a stuck one since the law declares something whereas everyone seems to be interpreting it in a way that is adequate for his own interests.
“The public benefit is more important than the personal benefit” Ghaziri says. Ghaziri mentions that each time a new project is implemented in this country, some citizens will agree and others won’t and would blame the government for the negative consequences of the project. Madamme Ammar Andari of Abadieh town says that she supports the construction of the Arab highway. “It is a great benefit for us because it will decrease traffic and will enhance the roads between Damascus and Beirut” Andari says optimistically. According to Ghaziri , the citizens who were complaining about the destruction of their houses initially have built their houses illegally. “Those people who are complaining are actually acting against the Lebanese law by the illegitimate building of houses on that area because when studies were conducted about the Arab Highway, there were no houses there and the government prohibited any construction of houses in that area” Ghaziri explains.
Some citizens don’t want their houses they have inherited from their ancestors to be demolished because of the fact that these houses remind them of their ancestors, their traditions, and their heritage. Georges Bijjani, the head of the municipality of Kahale, stresses on the fact that these houses are the embodiments of the ancestors that used to live in them. “They are sacred to the people” says Bijjani. “With each wind gush and church bell ring I hear, I can picture my family sitting near the sobya on a holy Sunday night and this house is what is left of that blissful memory” says the old Ronda Feghali. Bijjani mentions that Kahale’s roots are Syriac and Aramaic. He says “the name Kahale means breath of the God El, who was considered father of the Gods and of mankind and this makes Kahale divine to its residents.”
A building that will be destroyed in Jdita (path of Arab highway)
Bijjani talks about the main reason behind his residents’ refusal to the Arab highway construction project. He says “We are not refusing the idea of constructing the highway, but we are against its passage in our town” He adds “It is not because we are not satisfied about the values of the compensations made, but because we lived all our life here and we don’t want to leave the past behind us.” Bejjani explains that getting out of the houses isn’t an easy thing. He adds that whatever the price is to leave the houses; that means nothing.”What matters are the memories and the feelings detached to these houses.” Bejjani asked the Council for Development and Reconstruction to change the path of the Arab highway. “We need to solve this problem with least disadvantages, trying not to hurt anyone” The current construction process of the Arab highway at the Kahale region is halted because of the citizens’ objections. Elie El Helou says, in this regard, that till now “we didn’t find a path where everyone consent on and we had an old path for the Arab highway and we tried to renovate it, but Kahale residents also objected”. This is not the only cause for the Arab highway construction hindrance, but there are other reasons for that. El Helou says, “At some point, the funding was not available because we relied on outside funding and this procrastinated the construction process” Abed Al Hafiz Kaissi, Director General of Land & Maritime Transport, says that the Sofar Arab highway part is funded by the Lebanese government whereas the other parts are funded by outside countries. “The Masnaa part is funded by the European Investment Bank, the Namlieh bridge-Taanael is funded by the Saudi Fund, and the Baaleshmay part is funded by the Kuwaiti Fund” Kaissi elaborates. In fact, studies done on the finance of the Arab construction highway showed that it costs billions of dollars and Kuwait is one of the Arab countries that is funding Arab Economic development with Lebanon and both have signed an agreement to finance the construction between Hazmieh and Sofar. With this agreement Kuwait’s contribution in the project has reached 32 million dinars.
The Arab highway construction has started since the 90’s where “the Sofar 5 km part was completed” as El Helou describes, yet some citizens haven’t heard about the project. “I have no idea” says Rose Rizallah, a resident of Kahale town. “I heard my neighbors talking about it, but I don’t know exactly if it will pass through our town”
In 2007, construction works started at the Masnaa section and in June 2009 works started at the Namlieh bridge-Mudeirij bridge part. “Sofar-Jamhour-Siyyad part is under construction now” says El Helou whereas the Sofar-Beirut part is not under construction because of conflicts between the towns’ residents and them, as El Helou puts it. “On the 14th of May 2009 and under the patronage and the presence of the Prime Minister, Mr. Fouad Siniora, the foundation stone for the Arab Highway project (Mudeirij – Taanael section) was laid” Kaissi says.
The planning for the Arab highway project was done long ago.”There has been talk of a new highway that would be built between Beirut and the Syrian border, to connect with Damascus as many Arab countries even before the civil war started” Kaissi declares. The plans intensified after the civil war ended. “The plan for the Arab highway was renewed in 1998” El Helou says. It would be of 56 kilometers long yet it would have dire environmental impacts, as Keekano says. “The main reason for our oppositions to the Arab highway’s construction is the fact that it is going to damage the environment especially in Jdita” Keekano emphasizes. He says that doctors have confirmed that Jdita has an idiosyncrasy of being a natural treatment place for people with diseases of bronchitis. “‘The bulldozer has eaten the mountain’ my 7 years old son said when he saw the bulldozer shoving the dirt nearby”, says Narida Yaseen, a Jdita resident whose house won’t be destroyed, but will be near the Arab highway when constructed.” He cried and said that he won’t be able to go to the field anymore and enjoy playing near the pine trees as he used to do each summer”, adds Yaseen. Keekano also points out that Jdita will soon lose its capabilities of being a center of spa tourism in Lebanon. “With the Arab highway construction, investments in spa tourism projects would decrease because there would be a threat of contamination of Jdita’s springs.”Keekano clarifies. The Environmental Assessment for the Mudeirej Bridge Reconstruction (Mudeirij Bridge reconstruction is part of the Arab highway project), July 2007, summarized the potential adverse environmental impacts as follows; air quality deterioration (dust, on-site power generators), pressure on natural resources (construction aggregates), construction waste, wastewater from project headquarter (located on site), handling of hazardous waste (for construction activities), and the disruption of natural groundwater regime. The assessment points out that the reckless disposal of the demolition waste would seriously degrade the environment and the landscape The reuse of rubble however is less prominent taking into consideration that “…there are no rubble recycling plants in Lebanon.”
So if the Mudeirij Bridge, which constitutes part of the Arab highway project, would cause such undesirable environmental impacts, what about the whole project’s environmental effects? Ghaziri views the environmental Arab highway impacts controversy from a broader spectrum approach. “Environmentally it is better. All the CO2 and gases that are released from the containers passing on the roads will decrease.” Ghaziri explains that on the long-term the trucks’ fumes would be concentrated in a specific area. Dr. Samira Korfali, the chairperson of the Natural Sciences department at LAU, emphasizes the same point made by Ghaziri. She says “This highway should be done” She explains that it will solve a big problem since “it will reduce the pollution and the congestion of air that results from traffic.” She adds that “the ongoing heated discussions on the Arab highway project are because of politics.” Kaissi mentions that they had conducted studies on how they are going to retain the natural balance of the rural areas. “We have a plan to implant trees on the sides of the Arab highway and we have already brought the fertile soil for this reason” We can’t deny the fact that ,as studies showed, that over a million square meters of forest, meadow and orchard would be put under pavement, not to mention areas on either side disrupted by construction. Countless houses, old and new, would be destroyed, necessitating new construction elsewhere just to house the displaced people. Important summer resort areas would suddenly be subjected to the noise and fumes of thousands of big trucks and cars.
Gharizi gave the example of the highway between Beirut and South Lebanon to show how the Arab highway’s future would be brighter and people would learn to accept its idea gradually. “It was planned for this highway since 1954 but it wasn’t implemented until Rafik Hariri did this in the 1990s. In that time also people were paid compensations but not of values they agreed upon.” In that time many houses were destroyed and people opposed the project, but now the highway solved many problems. “Before the highway was constructed it took more than two hours to South while now it takes less than one hour” he adds cheerfully.
While many people may look at this as bad news such as some of the residents of Kahale and Jdita, it may be looked at as a good sign. Ghaziri says that the way to Alley consumes a lot of time and the way is congested of containers in addition to the traffic and the accidents that occur on this way. Despite that, the citizens still have problems with it. “Government has no conscience” Youssef Madi, a citizen in Abadieh village, expresses his frustration. He adds that the government has made a chaos in our village by destroying the people’s homes. “This project is a complete failure. The government brainwashes the minds of the residents since they trick them by letting them expect high compensations which is not true at all! The government didn’t give us even a dollar!” Madi claims.
Each one talks from his own point of view. The government which is represented by the ministry of Public Works sees that the benefit of the public dominates over the personal level. Moreover, what they say is that they are compensating the people with treasury bonds of 9% interest rate in 2004. On the other hand the heads of municipalities of Kahale and Gdita refuse the idea considering the environmental impacts, the values of compensations, and the emotional aspects.
“My husband is in another country and I have to pay the school fees of my children… I need one to two years to find another house”, Hachem says, poses for a minute and continues” We have only God to rely on.”
As simple as it may look, this shop (that will be destroyed) is the source of living for Massoud's family
Tags: Construction, Council for development and construction, LAU Tribune articles, Lebanon, projects, tragedies of Lebanese
A Burial Crisis In Beirut
Filed under: LAU Tribune articles, Lebanon, Social Issues — 2 Comments
by Maysa Shawwa (Published in the LAU Tribune-Spring semester 2010)
Bachoura's crowded graveyard
She looks gorgeous in her dress. Her white-silky hair is nicely combed and shoved behind her shoulders. Her classic makeup makes her face angelic. She will sleep tonight in her wooden bed with mere silence … the insipid silence that creeps through the spines and leaves them chill. He washes and dresses a white sheet of cloth. Then, he finds himself in the mid of certain prayers in the mosque. Few hours later, he will be left alone in darkness; his face positioned towards stone. For both, Janette Aayan(died on 28th of March 2010) and Tawfeek Al Arwadi (died on 21st of February 2010), a ceremony was waiting for them. It was their death ceremony. When you know that your time has come around whether you are prepared for it or not and whether you utter your last goodbyes or not, you are faced with a simple hurdle: no place for resting in peace. The graveyards in Beirut ran out of room for hosting the new dead people. Kamal Harb, the director of the Harb association for burying the dead (for the Shiite sect), says “Beirut’s cemeteries are crowded now; it is difficult to find enough space to bury a new dead”. Antoine Kyrillos from the Administrative and Financial Committee in the Commissions of the Central council of the Maronite Societies echoes the same idea. He says, “The cemeteries are full now in Beirut and although people could bury their family members in the (Roman Catholic and Maronite) cemeteries of Fanar, people still prefer Beirut’s cemeteries because the maintenance is better there.” Speaking about maintenance of these cemeteries, in November 2009, the public areas of the Ras El-Nabeh cemetery were renovated and planted walks and an adequate lighting were set up.
The director of Bachoura and Ashohada cemeteries (for the Sunni sect) in Beirut, Mostafa Arab, says “the ground is not a renewable resource and we should deal wisely with it” That is why he thinks that burying a family member over another is a solution for this problem. He says, “We must stop the muddled excavation process and start burying family members over one another to save space” This solution offered by Arab has two main problems. First, the time-interval between the deceased body to perish and the time when the newly dead body would be buried cannot be controlled. In other words, the time-interval should be no less than one year so that the old body would decay completely before the newly dead body would be laid upon, but what happens when the time-interval is less than one year? This case happened with Al Bondokgi family. Samar Traboulsi Bekdash tells the story of her husband’s three uncles (Al Bondokgi family) who died the same year. She says that last year the first uncle was buried over his mother in Bachoura cemetery. Within a week, his brother followed, but they couldn’t bury him over the first one because there wasn’t a one year interval between the first and second burial, she explains. “After several wastas (connections), they buried him in Ashohada cemetery and they paid around $3,000 for digging a new tomb.” After 40 days, the third uncle died and he was buried in the recently built cemetery in Horog. Sometimes they don’t have a choice but to bury the family members over one another even if the body of the one who died before wasn’t fully decayed. Bilal Naccash, the son of Adnan Naccash, followed the steps of his father even in death. After about 8 months, Bilal died in March 2009, and although the time-interval between the father’s death and the son’s was less than a year, they buried him over his father. One of Bial’s friends, Mustafa Shawwa, who attended the burial scene, saw Adnan’s body still without full decay, but the family had no choice but to bury Bilal over his father since the price of digging up a new tomb was high. The second problem regarding burying a family member over another is that the managing office of the cemetery needs the consent of each adult in family X, if the dead person was not of that nuclear family, to agree on burying him in family X’s tomb and this where the conflict lies. Afif Ghalayini’s burial wasn’t that easy. His step mother’s tomb was available, but the family didn’t accept Ghalayini’s burial there. After Ahmad Ghalayini’s, Afif’s son, visits to the family begging them to bury his father there because of no other choice at that time, the family was convinced. “It is humiliation”, says Ghalayini explaining his frustration of the crowdedness of the cemeteries back then. Farah Hasna tells the story of her grandmother Rafeeka Zahra who was buried over her sister Suaad after the consent of Suaad’s children on the condition that after her burial there, Suaad’s family will regain the ‘ownership’ of the tomb and her children would be buried there in the future. (Did we reach a stage where people confiscate tombs? maybe) Mostafa Arab points out that the burial crisis is more of crisis in families’ kinships. He provides an example to explain what he means,” A woman was so frustrated that her daughter was going to be buried over her mother because she had a tense relationship with her mother that she said ‘I wish I threw my daughter in garbage rather than burying her over my mother’ ”
Kamal Harb says that there isn’t a solution for this crisis. He alleges that those whom their hometowns are in the rural part of Lebanon have the chance to bury their dead there as “the towns have wider space areas for burial and the prices of tombs are lower than in Beirut.” When trying to conduct an interview with the director of Rawdat Ashahidayn cemetery to ask him more about this crisis and whether there are any solutions to this problem, he refused because he claimed that that cemetery” is a security point”.
“Starting from the year 2000, we tried to implement a new policy concerning the burial issue”, says Arab. He explains that they halted the selling process of tombs and they started forcing people to bury their family members over one another. He says, “We first ask the family members if they have available tombs of relatives and here we are sure that they have, but people tend in many cases to deny this since they usually have problems with their relatives and they don’t want to be ‘in debt to’ the other family” If they denied the fact that they have available tombs and insisted on excavating a new tomb, ” we start raising up the prices and we usually advise them if they weren’t able to pay that much to go and bury their dead in Horog that costs 500,000 L.L only.” One should note here that Awkaf is responsible for the newly established Horog graveyard whereas the Makassed Philanthropic Islamic Association is responsible for the Bachoura and Ashohada cemeteries. Arab also claims that 40% of burials held in Ashohada and Bachoura are for free funded by charity projects. He explains, “Some families out of social pretenses like to make the death ceremony an unforgettable one so they don’t mind paying more for extra services that actually goes for the free burials.” Mazen Mahmasani, the responsible for the official papers and transactions for dead, says that such cases of free burials do not exist. “What they mean by free burial is that one has to pay 750,000 L.L to one million L.L; they tell the family members that this amount is paid as expenses for the workers there.” Arab, refuting Mahmasani’s explanations of the supposedly free burial cases, says that these people, who benefit from this service, if asked, won’t declare that they buried their family members for free. Kyrillos states that in Ras El-Nabeh cemetery one could bury for free if the family can’t afford the expenses. He adds, “There are only ten vaults left in Ras El- Nabeh cemetery for free burial.”
The Business of Death
They stand soulless and speechless; not only the dead, but also their family members because of the grief they are going to bear as they lose their beloved ones and because of the high prices of tombs.
Arab says that when he will resign, he is going to write a book that constitutes of his diaries in the cemetery and the weird stories he heard there. A person who owns five buildings in Hamra, as Arab claims, brought a testimonial that proves he is poor (Shahadit Fokr Hal), for the sake of burying his mother for free. Another thing he points out from his daily observations is that people tend to make money out of burials. He says, “One time, a guy who just walked out of my office after we finished the official procedures for burials, I heard him talking on the phone and telling his brother that it cost him $2,000 for his father’s burial whereas it didn’t cost him $500.” Arab adds that the man could regain the money he paid from the governmental employee’s cooperation and the only explanation for this is treachery.
After the war, some of the Bachoura’s tombs were damaged completely and since there were no written records of the names of the dead, the tombs were resold again but for “$5,000 per a tomb”, as Mazen Mahmasani puts it. Mahmasani criticizes this ‘unethical act’, as he names it, and says that the cemetery’s directory office should have kept track of the names of the dead or at least tried to do something about it instead of using this opportunity to “make some business.” Today, Arab says, everything is archived and no one can rob a tomb.
Although the burial prices are lower in Horog, Mahmsani says that Dar Al Fatwa forces the family to pay an extra $500 for the tomb stone while as Mahmasani points out “It doesn’t cost more than $100.”
Squeezing the Dead in Palestinian Refugee Camps
They weren’t supposed to be homeless during their final stay on Earth.13 Palestinian martyrs, who were part of “Arradwan” exchange of martyrs mission that was held on 16th of July 2008, were literally buried on the sidewalk facing Ashohada cemetery. Arab claims that this happened with coordination and prior- planning with the municipality of Beirut. He adds that the municipality expanded later on Ashohada graveyard and the sidewalk, where the martyrs were buried, became part of it.
Although the cemeteries in the Palestinian refugee camps are crowded, Palestinians have the chance to bury their dead in Lebanese cemeteries outside their camps. Jamal Najami of both Palestinian parents says that when they wanted to bury her father five years ago, Ashohada cemetery charged them $7,000 for a new tomb. They couldn’t afford that so her cousin offered her the tomb of her father and the father was buried over his brother. Solved. This March, Najami’s mother died, but they couldn’t bury her over her husband because the tomb is for her cousin’s family. With the newly built cemetery in Horog, Najami’s family was able to bury the mother there by paying $500 only. Still the cemeteries of Ain Al Helwe, Shatila , and Burj Al Barajne camps are choking with their dead.
Will the solution be cremation? The entire process of cremation, whether or not it includes a service or just the incineration of the corpse, is far cheaper than burial, even though a coffin is used. The ashes of the buried person can be kept at home in a an urn, thus offering the family the opportunity to remember the loved-one on a daily basis, but religiously it is illegal and some people might not like it because simply they don’t like seeing their loved ones being burned.
Death is inevitable and one should be prepared for it whether spiritually (for believers) or even financially. Some may go further by reserving their own tombs, but now “the act of reserving a tomb is banned”, as Arab points out.
Aayan’s coffin sprinkled with holy water before it was removed from the house is now ready for burial. Al Arwadi’s body washed and wrapped in sheets of white cloth (kafan) and transported to the site of the funeral prayers (salat-l-janazah) is also now ready for burial, but what is not ready is the tomb.
Tags: Cemeteries, Graveyards, LAU Tribune articles, Lebanon
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