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Production Starts On Second Series Of True Story With Hamish & Andy
Production on the scripted re-enactments of the second series of True Story with Hamish & Andy commenced this week.
True Story With Hamish & Andy Returns With Five New Episodes
True Story with Hamish & Andy returns with five new episodes from Tuesday, August 1, at 8.40pm on Channel Nine.
True Story With Hamish & Andy To Premiere June 5 on Channel Nine
True Story with Hamish & Andy will bring to life the best Australian tales you’ve never heard, told by the very people who experienced them.
True Story With Hamish & Andy Coming Soon To Nine
Australia will discover that truth is most certainly funnier than fiction when True Story with Hamish & Andy premieres on the Nine Network in the coming months.
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Morrissey issues health update following cancer treatment
Luke Morgan Britton Aug 15, 2016 12:53 pm BST
Credit: Guy Eppel
Former Smiths frontman also confirms that next album is 'written'
Morrissey has given an update on his health, saying in a new interview that cancer treatment has “slowed” him down.
The former Smiths frontman revealed in October 2014 that he had undergone a series of cancer-related treatments, stating at the time: “They have scraped cancerous tissues four times already, but whatever. If I die, then I die. And if I don’t, then I don’t.”
He also claimed that he had “officially died for nine minutes” after suffering food poisoning during his South American tour in 2013.
Speaking in a new interview with Israel’s Walla, Moz says: “I think [cancer treatment] has slowed me down considerably because doctors and hospitals and medications are actually very aging in their way, and they can often exhaust you more than whatever medical problem you have. If I’m asked to give any more blood I think I’ll crack up.”
Morrissey also revealed that his next album is already “written” and that he is now looking to “find a distribution deal”.
“It is not possible to find a recording deal, so we would record it ourselves as soon as we can find a distributor who could make it available worldwide,” he says. “There was a time when the music industry served the artist, but now the artist must serve the music industry… which is why everything is now so tasteless.”
Meanwhile, Morrissey recently said in another interview that The Smiths reuniting “doesn’t make sense any more”.
The Big Read – EXCLUSIVE – The Cure: “Glastonbury won’t be the only time I’ll burst into tears on stage this summer”
Jerry Only, Misfits Credit: Getty
Misfits to play huge “hometown Halloween” gig with Rancid and The Damned
Mattel are releasing a new David Bowie Ziggy Stardust Barbie doll
Aerosmith Credit: Getty
Joe Perry says Aerosmith will be recording a new album “when the time is right”
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Little-known Ohio Republican Phil Davison rockets to YouTube fame with impassioned campaign speech
By MEENA HARTENSTEIN
Little-known Republican Phil Davison didn't win his campaign for Treasurer of Ohio's Stark County, but his impassioned campaign speech made him an instant YouTube celebrity.
The 39-year-old, who has served as a member of Ohio's Minerva Village Council for 13 years, just wanted to win his party's nomination for Treasurer when he got up in front of a crowd of 100 people Wednesday night.
But the speech he gave at fever pitch was so startlingly emotional and over-the-top; it turned him into an overnight Internet sensation.
"I will not apologize for my tone tonight," he bellowed, kicking off a six-minute address in which he often seemed to be near tears.
"I have been a Republican in times good, and I have been a Republican in times bad," he shrieked before stumbling over a quote from Albert Einstein.
Shouting frantically and pacing back and forth, Davidson tried to stir up emotion from the crowd with lines like, "Politics is not touch football. Politics is winner take all. It always has been. And it always will be."
Despite his intensity, his words didn't seem to spark a reaction in the audience.
"It was strange," he told Politico. "Feedback would have been nice. I really don't know how it was received."
The passionate speech didn't win him the nomination, but it garnered over 600,000 views on YouTube and numerous interview requests.
Davison is surprised by the attention, but stands by his performance.
"I spoke my mind," he told PBS. "If I had to give it again, I would give it again."
And he says his passion came from personal experience. His own struggle to find employment has inspired him to work for improvement in his community.
Emmys 2019 nominations: Old favorites and new hits make a splash
"I'm living what I spoke," Davison told PBS. "People are frustrated out there. People want change... I want to get involved. That's why I ran for treasurer."
Though his job as councilman comes with a $260-a-week stipend, that's all the income Davison is bringing in at the moment.
"I'm looking for something right now, to see what turns up. I've been turned down for minimum wage jobs," Davison said. "I certainly can't live on that, but that's all I'm doing right now."
While his new celebrity status may help him land a job, Davison wants people to know that his speech was no act.
"I'm being called a right-wing fanatic. I call myself passionate. That's real," he told The Associated Press. "Am I radical? Probably. But I don't want people to think I'm a lunatic."
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Archives|Chiang Ching-kuo Dies at 77, Ending a Dynasty on Taiwan
https://nyti.ms/29mCbkO
Chiang Ching-kuo Dies at 77, Ending a Dynasty on Taiwan
By ERIC PACE JAN. 14, 1988
View page in TimesMachine
January 14, 1988, Page 00001Buy Reprints The New York Times Archives
President Chiang Ching-kuo of Taiwan died of a heart attack yesterday, ending a four-decade era in which Chinese who fled the mainland in 1949 were the prime leaders of the island nation.
His age was officially said to be 77 -though by some accounts he was older - and he had been President since 1978.
Mr. Chiang, the son and political heir of the Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek, died in a hospital in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan. He was succeeded by his designated successor, Vice President Lee Teng-hui, 64 years old. Mr. Lee, a Cornell University-trained economist who was a Mayor of Taipei and a Provincial Governor, is the first native of Taiwan to become President.
Chinese and American specialists on Taiwan expressed concern yesterday that Mr. Chiang's death, ending the family dynasty, could lead to instability on the island. [ Page 7. ] There is doubt as to how the Kuomintang, the ruling party, will evolve, how opposition political figures will react and what position the post-Chiang leadership will take on the question of reunification with mainland China, which is about 100 miles away across the Strait of Formosa. The Republic of China, confined to Taiwan and a few smaller islands since 1949, has asserted since then that it is the rightful Chinese government.
Mr. Lee is expected by some analysts to serve out Mr. Chiang's term, which ends in 1990, and then to run for election. He is well liked on the island, but is regarded as possessing less strength of will, leadership ability and charisma than did Chiang Ching-kuo.
In Beijing, the official New China News Agency reported Mr. Chiang's death without comment in an article from Hong Kong. U.S. Expresses 'Great Sadness'
In Washington, the State Department spokesman, Charles E. Redman, declared, ''We note with great sadness the passing of this respected leader.'' The United States ended its diplomatic relations with Taiwan in 1979 when Washington granted recognition to the Chinese Communist Government as the only lawful Chinese Government.
Mr. Chiang's father, a world figure during World War II, led the Nationalist forces, which were defeated by the Chinese Communist Red Army in 1949 after long civil struggle. Chiang Kai-shek and about two million supporters went into exile on the Chinese island of Taiwan, where he established his Government and went on asserting that he was the President of all China.
The elder Chiang viewed Taiwan as a fortress from which to confront the Communist Government, and he focused much attention on how to get back to the mainland. His leadership created severe tensions within the native Taiwanese community.
As the years passed, Chiang Kai-shek groomed Chiang Ching-kuo to succeed him. He died in 1975, and the son, after becoming President in 1978, put into effect a series of liberalization measures in recent years. A 'Very Fine' Leader
In his decade as President, Chiang Ching-kuo showed more skill than had been widely expected, some China analysts said yesterday. William H. Gleysteen, Jr., a China specialist and former U.S. career diplomat who is now director of studies at the Council on Foreign Relations said:
''Many people thought he would be a mediocre leader, but he turned out to be a very fine one; he understood that, whatever the formal slogans might be, the reality was that the Government was on Taiwan and was not likely to be leaving soon.''
And Anthony J. Kane, director of the China Council of the Manhattan-based Asia Society, said, ''It is clear that Chiang Ching-kuo was a very strong leader.''
During his years in office, Mr. Chiang prompted rapid economic development on the island. He also brought natives of Taiwan into the Government and into the Kuomintang. Most recently, he set about what Mr. Gleysteen, a former deputy chief of the U.S. Embassy on Taiwan and a former Ambassador to South Korea, called ''active, genuine political liberalization on the island.'' Loosening of Stance on China
For years, Mr. Chiang maintained a firm official policy forbidding contacts with mainland China, but he was practical in applying that policy, and last year the Taipei Government began permitting its citizens to visit relatives in China.
Over the years, Mr. Chiang reaffirmed his stated scorn and confrontation of the Chinese Communists. ''The experiences of the last dozens of years,'' he declared, ''have proved that Communism will surely be thrown onto the ash heap of history. To talk peace with the Chinese Communists is to invite death. This is an agonizing, blood-stained lesson that we and many other Asian countries have learned.''
The Beijing Government, however, has actively tried to woo Taiwan in recent years, encouraging visits from the island to the mainland and also urging the establishment of mail and trade links.
Beijing has also repeatedly called for the reunification of Taiwan with the mainland, under conditions that would permit the island to retain its economic system and military.
The changes initiated by Mr. Chiang, who had been regarded with suspicion by native Taiwanese, included the lifting of martial law in 1987, after being in force nearly 40 years, and the liberalization of press laws. Challenge to Maintain Momentum
Dr. Kane of the Asia Society, a private, nonprofit institution that works toward improving American understanding of Asia, said ''the challenge now to his successor and to the ruling party, the Kuomintang, is to maintain the momentum that has been established'' toward liberalization.
As President, Mr. Chiang did much to bring Taiwanese into the island's political, administative and military spheres. About 70 percent of the Kuomintang membership, and the great majority of those in the military ranks are native Taiwanese.
Mr. Chiang also oversaw the opening up of the political system to allow for the formation of an opposition party, the Democratic Progressive Party. But the party, though it exists as a practical matter, is still not a legal entity.
In addition, he devoted much attention to the question of what sort of leadership would emerge after his death. Alan D. Romberg, a China specialist and former State Department official who is the senior fellow for Asia at the Council on Foreign Relations, said yesterday, ''He took steps to ensure that there would not be a family dynasty or a military regime that followed him, recognizing that either of those things would set back the objectives that he was working for.''
Before his death, President Chiang, who had serious health problems, had been expected to step down in 1990 at the end of his second six-year term. A diabetic, he used a wheelchair in recent years and had a heart pacemaker.
In his will, Mr. Chiang asserted that his mission had been to bring mainland China and Taiwan into unity, overseen by a Nationalist Government. Fulfilling Chiang's Mission
Mr. Lee, the new President, called yesterday for the fulfillment ''of the mission that Mr. Chiang was unable to finish.''
Mr. Chiang's formal insistence on that key question did not prevent many other nations, in addition to the United States, from giving diplomatic recognition to the Communist Government in Beijing and withdrawing recognition from the Government in Taipei. But under Mr. Chaing's leadership, Taiwan thrived economically and carried on trade with scores of nations.
For more than two decades, Mr. Chiang, who was known as being tough or ruthless, presided over the Taiwan intelligence apparatus. He became the main leader on Taiwan some years before his formal accession as President and while Chiang Kai-shek, grown old and enfeebled, still held the title of President.
The younger Chiang had the title of Prime Minister from 1972 to 1978, having variously been Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense and having held lesser positions on Taiwan. A Change of Image
As Prime Minister, he clearly concluded that it was necessary to increase public support for the Government, which had long been authoritarian and repressive. He began to cut a more benign public figure. He wore a turtleneck sweater and a windbreaker during tours of the countryside, making unannounced visits to listen to complaints by farmers and villagers about Government bureaucracy and other problems.
He also confronted such problems as corruption, poor transport and endemic poverty. In 1975, an attorney in the Taiwanese city of Tainan said that in the previous two or three years, the Government had ''finally realized that its survival depends on the development of Taiwan.''
Mr. Chiang was born in the village of Chikow in the mainland province of Zhejiang on the Chinese coast to Mao Fu-mei, Chiang Kai-shek's first wife. The elder Chiang married a second time, and his widow from that marriage, who became known as Madame Chiang Kai-shek, survives. Educated in Soviet Union
As a boy, Chiang Ching-kuo read classic Chinese literature and was drilled in Chinese calligraphy. When he was 16 years old, his father - under whom the Kuomintang was having a short-lived period of cordial relations with the Communist International - sent him to the Soviet Union for university education.
In 1925, he entered Sun Yat-sen University, which had been opened that year to train Chinese revolutionary cadres, joined a Communist Youth organization and became a Red Army cadet for a time.
But Chiang Kai-shek turned against the Chinese Communists; in 1927, large numbers of them were shot by his forces in Shanghai.
For nearly 10 years afterward, Chiang Ching-kuo was held hostage in the Soviet Union for political reasons. His jobs in that era included stints as a village worker near Moscow and toiling in a heavy industry installation in the city of Sverdlovsk in the Urals.
Years later, after rising to influence and prominence on Taiwan, Mr. Chiang said that it was his years in the Soviet Union, at the time of the Stalinist purges, that made him a confirmed enemy of Communism.
Chiang Ching-kuo's survivors include his Russian-born wife, Faina, whom he married in 1935, and three sons and a daughter.
A version of this obituary appears in print on January 14, 1988, on Page A00001 of the National edition with the headline: Chiang Ching-kuo Dies at 77, Ending a Dynasty on Taiwan. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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Asia Pacific|Gingerly, Chinese Parents Embrace the Value of Fun
Asia Pacific | Letter from China
Gingerly, Chinese Parents Embrace the Value of Fun
By DIDI KIRSTEN TATLOW JAN. 25, 2011
BEIJING — They haven’t heard of Amy Chua, the “Tiger Mother,” in Qiu County, home to about 200,000 people in the northern province of Hebei. But local educators have ambitious plans for their elementary school students.
Here’s what they want them to do: climb a tree, build a sand castle, collect tadpoles, finger paint and make kites, among other activities.
The aim? To make kids more active, happier and “improve their overall quality,” Wang Ruipeng, an educator at the No. 1 Experimental Elementary School, told Xinhua, the state-run news agency.
The monthlong Chinese New Year holiday has begun, and Mr. Wang couldn’t be reached for comment, but an official in the county education bureau confirmed the new 32-point “play plan.”
Ms. Chua, of course, is the U.S.-born daughter of Filipino-Chinese immigrants whose parenting techniques, described in her book “Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother,” startled parents around the world with stories of denied toilet breaks, 2,000 math problems a night and threats to throw out a dollhouse to get her daughters to do what she wanted — be at the top of their class, play the piano and violin perfectly and spurn the school play.
Yet fewer and fewer parents in China share Ms. Chua’s breezy confidence in her purportedly “Chinese” methods.
Instead, many are gripped by something quite different — acute concern that their children’s life choices are being lowered by a glaring creativity deficit in the traditional education system. And, increasingly, they fear for their children’s psychological well-being in a narrowly defined intellectual atmosphere, where rote memorization is considered learning and getting less than 95 percent on a test is to “fail.”
Education is a national obsession in China, the product of a Confucian system that values study far above play and sees no connection between the two. Long hours poring over textbooks will probably remain a feature of children’s lives for many years to come.
Yet China is changing fast.
On the last day of school before breaking for the New Year holiday, my son came home from his state elementary school with a new magazine his teachers had given him.
The magazine, called Growing, is distributed free at 30 elite elementary and middle schools in Beijing. Both the magazine and its Web site are backed by the municipal education commission and produced by a state-owned education company, so they can be taken to represent mainstream, government-approved opinion.
Yet there were some surprises.
The brightly illustrated cover showed a grinning second grader, Jiang Shaohao, of the Affiliated Elementary School of Peking University, clutching giant Lego pieces.
Intriguingly, it advocated a New Year holiday filled with play. In China, especially in the north, where winter is deepening its grip and temperatures have been below freezing for weeks, the holiday is traditionally a time when kids hole up indoors — and study.
Inside, an editorial expanded on the theme.
“It’s a holiday, let the children play to their heart’s content!” it said. “Ten years ago, mention the word ‘play,’ and nearly every parent would respond: ‘Got to watch that.’ But in recent years more and more parents are worrying: ‘My child isn’t playing!”’
Pointing to new state education guidelines issued last year that define priorities for 2010 to 2020, the editorial said: “In the future, ways to lighten the burden on children will be institutionalized, giving them more time to play.”
Fu Ming, the chief editor of Growing, is the mother of two sons, aged 13 and 5. Like the Qiu County education authorities, Ms. Fu had not heard of Ms. Chua.
When shown an extract from the book, she read briefly, then laid it aside. The thesis was too familiar to be interesting, she said.
“We were raised this way. We know all about it,” she said. “But actually it’s really complicated. Her education methods may have worked for her children. But would they work in my family, with my two sons? Not necessarily. Every child is so different. There isn’t one method that works for everyone, one method to suit all kids and all families.”
Wen Liangui, who wrote the editorial, said in an interview: “These days, there are so many choices and different ways of doing things. There is no standard way anymore.”
Ms. Fu’s elder son attends the No. 4 Middle School in Beijing. In his spare time, he likes to play the guitar and chess, and he resists extra academic classes.
Ms. Fu confesses to uncertainty about how to balance her son’s true interests with what she thinks he needs, an emotion familiar to many Western parents.
“I’m just not sure what’s right. I don’t make him do many extra classes. He really likes playing guitar and chess, so often I just let him do that. Actually, I’m pretty confused!”
Several factors lie behind the shifting attitudes: China’s increased exposure to the West; concerns about how children will manage in a creative, knowledge-based economy; and studies indicating increasing mental health problems among children.
More than 30 million people younger than 18, or about 1 in 10, are suffering from depression and behavioral problems, according to the China Population Communication Center. Anxiety disorders among college students increased 8 percent between 1992 and 2005, and depression rose by 7 percent, Zhang Hanxiang, chairman of the center, said at a nationwide youth mental health meeting in December. Drug-taking, violence, Internet addiction and suicide are all on the rise.
Eighty-four percent of high school students reported feeling depressed and under stress. Nearly 50 percent of elementary school students said they felt anger and shame after being criticized by parents or teachers, the study found.
Compounding this, over one in three children are an only child, raising expectations sharply in a country where parents regard children as a key source of old-age security. In a survey at an elementary school in the city of Xian, conducted by Xian Evening News, 85 percent of 300 students said academic pressure was excessive. Still, 87 percent said they were happier at school than at home, where they said they felt lonely, unable to communicate with parents who cared about their studies but not their feelings or physical welfare.
For now, few Chinese parents are willing to completely abandon traditional methods, afraid their children will be left behind in a highly competitive environment. Yet the hunt for alternatives, especially among the well-off, urban elite, is under way, and state schools are adapting, if slowly. Ms. Fu’s younger son attends preschool at the Canadian International School. She can’t decide whether to send him to a state-run elementary school or keep him where he is.
“We know about China’s educational problems,” she said. “I’m interested in trying another method.”
A version of this article appears in print on January 26, 2011, in The International Herald Tribune. Order Reprints| Today's Paper|Subscribe
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Music|Rufus Wainwright’s First Opera Was ‘a Nightmare.’ He’s Trying Again.
Rufus Wainwright’s First Opera Was ‘a Nightmare.’ He’s Trying Again.
Rufus Wainwright has been obsessed with opera since he was a child. His new work, “Hadrian,” follows the difficult experience of “Prima Donna.”CreditCreditVincent Tullo for The New York Times
By Roslyn Sulcas
VERBIER, Switzerland — Rufus Wainwright’s eyes filled with tears. He stood quietly, one hand marking time, as the rich voice of the baritone Thomas Hampson filled a rehearsal room looking out onto snow-capped mountain peaks here.
It was July, midway through the Verbier Festival, and for the first time Mr. Wainwright was hearing Mr. Hampson’s rendition of a mournful, soaring aria from his new opera, “Hadrian,” which runs Oct. 13-27 at the Canadian Opera Company in Toronto.
“The thing with writing an opera,” Mr. Wainwright, 45, said later, “is that you are so wrapped up in the technicalities — shoveling emotions, time and energy into the score — that you don’t have time to reflect. Then suddenly you’re on the top of a mountain and someone is singing it back at you.”
HADRIAN | Behind the ScenesCreditCreditVideo by Canadian Opera Company
Melodic and sweeping, with a libretto by Daniel MacIvor, “Hadrian,” which stars the tenor Isaiah Bell and the beloved soprano Karita Mattila in addition to Mr. Hampson, is centered around the passionate relationship between the Roman emperor and his male lover, Antinous. The subject was inspired by Marguerite Yourcenar’s novel “Memoirs of Hadrian,” which Mr. Wainwright read some 20 years ago.
“I instantly knew it would make a great operatic subject,” he said. “And the gay aspect of Hadrian’s life is still mostly unacknowledged.”
This is Mr. Wainwright’s second venture into the thorny trenches of opera. “I do think there is sometimes a feeling of: Who is this pop star coming in here and tinkering in our hallowed space?” he said of the opera world.
“Hadrian” stars Thomas Hampson, right, with the conductor Johannes Debus, left, and Ambur Braid.CreditMark Sommerfeld for The New York Times
That hallowed space attacked when his unabashedly old-fashioned first opera, “Prima Donna,” had its premiere in 2009. Things didn’t go smoothly. (“It was such a nightmare on so many levels,” he said, adding a couple of expletives.)
Originally commissioned by the Metropolitan Opera and Lincoln Center Theater, the Met dropped it after Mr. Wainwright insisted on having a libretto in French. “Prima Donna” then opened at the Manchester International Festival in England before going on to Toronto, Australia, London and New York.
It’s still occasionally performed — “That woman refuses to go under,” Mr. Wainwright said — even though it was widely criticized for its narrative flimsiness. A review in The New York Times summed it up as “chic and pointless.”
Some, however, some applauded Mr. Wainwright’s panache. “Strings soar, teeth are gnashed, heroines throw themselves across beds,” Elizabeth Renzetti wrote in The Globe and Mail. “It’s not opera, it’s Opera!”
Asked what he had learned from the criticism, Mr. Wainwright responded with a note of defiance. “I learned that the soul of what I’m offering is difficult for critics,” he said.
But he agreed with the pans that the dramatic structure of “Prima Donna” was “pretty bland” and that he needed to work on darkening his orchestral palette.
“I’ve lifted up the gauntlet on this project,” he said of “Hadrian.” “I’ve said, you’re right, I have to create something more powerful.”
The beloved soprano Karita Mattila called the score “the mixture of the best possible things for a singer.”CreditMark Sommerfeld for The New York Times
Alexander Neef, the director of the Canadian Opera Company, commissioned “Hadrian” not long after seeing “Prima Donna,” impressed by Mr. Wainwright’s passion for opera and vocal knowledge. “I felt another opera from him was a risk worth taking,” he said.
Openly gay since his early teens, Mr. Wainwright recounted how he has been obsessed with opera since he was a child, obliging his sister and cousins to dress up and act out scenes from “Tosca” in their Montreal home, where he grew up with his sister Martha and his mother, the folk singer Kate McGarrigle. (“A flamboyant toddler,” his father, the singer Loudon Wainwright III, says resignedly in a documentary.)
“Since I was 13, I have listened to opera constantly, lived with it, slept with it, ate it for breakfast,” Rufus Wainwright said. “It hooked into all the emotions I had when I realized I was gay — and that AIDS was on the scene and I could die. It was an intense love affair.”
“It’s an amazing swap of emotions, from composer to singer, from singer to audience, like a hot potato of life,” he added. “I do take it seriously and believe in the high culture aspect of the form, but at the end of the day it should be like a baseball game. There is a spectator quality to it: Are you going to cry at that point? Is he going to hit that high note? I think opera has lost a bit of that circuslike quality, which I love.”
“Hadrian,” he said in June at a talk in Paris, will go the whole hog: arias, duets, chorus, a ballet.
Ms. Mattila said that the music was tricky to learn because it didn’t fit into any category or follow traditional patterns of classical music: “At times it’s jazzy, at times very classical, very romantic; the mixture of the best possible things for a singer.”
The piece also features an untraditionally explicit male relationship at its center, and a musical interlude during which Hadrian and Antinous very plainly make love. (“Once Antinous and I have done the nasty, do I go off?” Mr. Hampson asked in rehearsal.)
Melody Moore in Mr. Wainwright’s unabashedly old-fashioned opera “Prima Donna,” in 2012. A review in The New York Times summed it up as “chic and pointless.”CreditJennifer Taylor for The New York Times
While gay relationships have been depicted in contemporary opera, Mr. Wainwright said he felt he was bringing something new to the stage that is “unashamedly homosexual and traditional at the same time.”
“I realized that there are no sex scenes written into opera,” he added, “let alone anal sex scenes. I think for some people it will be powerful to see gay love represented in the larger-than-life fashion that only opera can provide.”
Peter Hinton, who is directing the production, said that the scene had made him aware “of how unaccustomed I am to seeing two men making love on stage in any art form. Often nudity and sex on stage go side by side with violence; here it is the most hopeful, tender part of the opera.”
Mr. Neef said that he had no doubt that some audience members would be uncomfortable. “But it’s 2018, and it’s our job to tell these stories,” he said.
Mr. MacIvor, a well-known Canadian playwright, was brought in to write the libretto; the process proved difficult.
“Let’s just say that I don’t know Rufus and I have done anything to dispel the stereotypes about composers and librettists,” Mr. MacIvor said with a laugh. But with some mediation from the dramaturg Cori Ellison, he said, they found a way.
“I was thinking very much about singability, trying to end sentences with pretty words, paying attention to cadence,” Mr. MacIvor said, “and he would make requests about character or emphasis which I’d find annoying. Over time, though, I see that his instincts were right.”
“Hadrian,” Mr. Wainwright said, will go the whole hog: arias, duets, chorus, a ballet.CreditMark Sommerfeld for The New York Times
Mr. Wainwright studied composition at McGill University in Montreal for a year, but he dropped out to pursue songwriting. His self-titled debut album won him a citation from Rolling Stone as the best new artist of 1998, and his solo career took off. (He memorably described some sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll detours in a post-rehab interview in 2003.)
Although Mr. Wainwright had thought about a “Hadrian” opera well before creating “Prima Donna,” he waited, he said, until he felt competent to take on a big production. “There was a big problem when I began writing opera: I didn’t know how to orchestrate,” Mr. Wainwright said. “And I couldn’t conquer the Roman Empire like that.”
He learned much about orchestral and operatic composition from working on “Prima Donna,” which has a two-act structure and a small cast. “Hadrian” is on a much larger scale, with four acts, six leading roles and a full chorus. Mr. Wainwright said that a central influence had been the circular narrative of “Citizen Kane.”
“We begin at Hadrian’s villa,” he said, “travel back through his life and his choices, and end where we began.”
As Mr. Hampson worked through an Act IV aria in rehearsal, he told Mr. Wainwright, approvingly, “You give room for the sound of the voice.” Many contemporary opera composers, Mr. Hampson added, “are so busy setting text, they forget all about it.”
Mr. Wainwright said that being a singer was a weapon in his arsenal. “I know how the voice works,” he said. “My deep connection to the voice and melody — which I think a lot of composers are afraid of — is something I can present sincerely.”
And he left a journalist with a sincere message for the opera world.
“Whatever you may think about me,” he said, “I am an ally and a real devoted soul to this form. I feel there should at least be an agreement that I’m here to stay.”
He gave the abrupt, infectiously guffawing laugh that frequently punctuates his conversation. “Sorry!”
Correction: Oct. 5, 2018
An earlier version of this article misstated the inspiration for Daniel MacIvor’s libretto for Rufus Wainwright’s new opera, “Hadrian.” It is an original story, not based on the Marguerite Yourcenar novel “Memoirs of Hadrian,” though that book did get Mr. Wainwright interested in the subject of Hadrian.
A version of this article appears in print on , Section AR, Page 10 of the New York edition with the headline: Undaunted, and Still Embracing Opera. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe
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Rufus Wainwright’s 10-Year Journey Back to Judy Garland
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Film Box Sets on Blu-ray
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Home / Films on Blu-ray / Film Box Sets on Blu-ray / The Slyvester Stallone Collection Blu-ray
The Slyvester Stallone Collection Blu-ray
NewCondition BRAY4666
in Film Box Sets on Blu-ray
Please note this is a region B Blu-ray and will require a region B or region free Blu-ray player in order to play.
In 'Assassins' (1995) professional hitman Rath (Stallone) decides it's time to call it a day, even though he is still the best around. But as he searches for a way out he discovers that he is now the target of another assassin, Bain (Antonio Banderas), who is determined to be the new number one. The two men are both sent on an assignment to kill intelligence operative Elektra (Julianne Moore). However, Rath decides to flee with Elektra and outwit Bain.
In 'The Specialist' (1994) US demolition expert Ray Quick (Stallone) attempts to abort the assassination of a South American drugs baron when he realises innocent children will be killed in the explosion. However, his partner (James Woods) goes ahead with the mission, leaving the duo permanently estranged and Quick psychologically scarred. Years later, a beautiful woman (Sharon Stone) asks Quick to come out of retirement to kill a Cuban drug lord who has murdered her father. Quick initially refuses, but is soon drawn into a plot that brings him in contact with his ex-partner once again.
In 'Tango and Cash' (1989) two mismatched cops, one sharp-suited (Stallone), the other a slob (Kurt Russell), are thrown together when they are framed by a big-shot gun-runner (Jack Palance). They are put in prison, duly escape, and then attempt to clear their names whilst trying to track down a massive haul of weapons before they get shipped abroad.
In 'Demolition Man' (1993) LA cop John Spartan (Stallone), nicknamed 'Demolition Man' due to his hands-on approach to law enforcement, is condemned to 70 years in the penal freezer after being set up by Simon Phoenix (Wesley Snipes), Public Enemy Number One. Halfway through his sentence, however, both he and Phoenix are catapulted out of captivity, discovering their city has been transformed into a peaceful utopia, under the benevolent rule of mayor Dr Cocteau (Nigel Hawthorne). As a mysteriously pumped-up Phoenix carries on where he had left off 35 years earlier, Spartan teams up with a comparatively feisty cop (Sandra Bullock) to bring him to justice and expose the man who is engineering the whole scenario.
In 'Cobra' (1986) a tough detective known as Cobra (Stallone), is assigned to protect a beautiful model (Brigitte Nielsen), the only witness to a series of brutal murders. It transpires that the killings are not the work of one lone psychopath but rather a highly organised army of neo-fascists.
Actors Sylvester Stallone
Director Various
Certificate 18 years and over
Screen Widescreen 2.40:1
Languages English - Dolby TrueHD (5.1)
Additional Languages Cobra: Russian, Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, Czech, French, Italian, Polish Assassins: Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, French, German, Italian, Latin Spanish Tango and Cash: French, German, Italian, Russian, Castilian Spanish
Subtitles English ; Spanish ; Portuguese
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Writer/storyteller Ivan Coyote returns to Surrey to perform “Chest Air” on Thursday, June 27, at the Centre Stage theatre at city hall. (submitted photo)
‘Chest Air’ show in Surrey for storyteller/author Ivan Coyote, prior to city’s Pride festival
‘I want to stop the gerbil wheel a little bit,’ says award-winning artist, who has moved back to Yukon
Tom Zillich
Ivan Coyote is a frequent visitor to Surrey, and this year is no different.
The acclaimed, well-travelled writer/storyteller returns here on Thursday, June 27 with Chest Air, the final show of the 2018-19 Surrey Spectacular season produced by Surrey Civic Theatres. Show time is 7:30 p.m. at Centre Stage, the city hall theatre that doubles as council chambers.
The event is a co-production with Surrey Pride, two nights prior to the organization’s 20th-anniversary party/festival, set for Saturday, June 29 at Central City Plaza.
Coyote’s Surrey show date will be a fly-in, fly-out one for the performer, who has moved from East Vancouver back to their old stomping grounds in the Yukon – for the summer, at the very least.
“My family is here still, and I’m turning 50 this summer and I’ve been thinking a lot about what I want the next 10 years of my life to look like,” Coyote told the Now-Leader in a phone interview last week.
“I’ve been on the road pretty hardcore for the past 25 years, and pretty non-stop for the past 10 years, and I think it’s grinding me down a little bit. I want to stop the gerbil wheel a little bit, and I asked myself in what community would I be most effective, where I have the most to contribute and put back, and the Yukon feels like a place where I can do that.”
So, the award-winning author will spend the summer “off the grid, pretty much,” helping their father fix up his rural property, do some painting and fishing and also scouting the land for a site to a build a little cabin – all while trying to avoid some black bears recently spotted in the area. “They’ve been a problem – but I suppose we’re the problem, right,” Coyote noted. “They’re roaming around but I have bear spray, no problem.”
Coyote has written 11 books (with a 12th on the way), has created four short films and released three albums that combine storytelling with music.
A bio on Coyote’s website (ivancoyote.com) says the artist “often grapples with the complex and intensely personal issues of gender identity in their work, as well as topics such as family, class, social justice and queer liberation, but always with a generous heart, a quick wit, and the nuanced and finely-honed timing of a gifted raconteur.”
In Surrey, the Chest Air show will riff on many of the subjects covered in Coyote’s latest book, ReBent Sinner, to be published by Vancouver-based Arsenal Pulp Press this fall.
“There will be some new stuff, maybe a couple of oldies, so we’ll see how it goes,” Coyote explained. “I know for sure some of the pieces I’ll do, but I’m kind of building a special show for that night, and I haven’t fully nailed down the set list, still crafting it. Just yesterday I sent off the edits off for the book, the second major round of edits, so I’m not one of those artists who finish something and then shellac it and frame it and hang it on the wall, I’m always tweaking and changing, making room for a change and polishing it. I like to try new things and see if they work.”
For the new book, Coyote experimented with writing very short stories.
“I call them Literary Doritos, although I can’t technically call them that because I don’t want to be sued by an international, billion-dollar snack company,” Coyote said with a laugh. “But they’re really fun, they’re quick. It’s like building a stone fence out of gravel. I can really take the listener, or reader, on a journey with short little bits, so they’re fun performance-wise, because I can change them up and mix them up and go from a funny bit to a sad bit to a hard-hitting bit and back again, in a relatively short period of time.”
Coyote’s TED talk, one called “Why we need gender-neutral bathrooms,” has been viewed more than 1.6 million times online.
Also, Coyote has toured public schools around the world with an anti-bullying message, including a recent run of engagements at high schools in Surrey, in January and February.
“It was a series of 38 shows in 21 or 22 different schools, with a show specially made for that age group,” Coyote explained. “I used to do more of a general anti-bullying show but over the past couple years I’ve had more and more requests from schools to tackle and address trans issues, queer and non-binary issues at schools, so I tweaked the show and wrote some new stuff and made it more topical to address those issues head-on.
“I think I spoke to nearly 20,000 students in Surrey with that show,” Coyote added. “It sounds like a lot but it adds up quickly when you’re talking to 800 at a time, doing three shows a day at schools.”
Tickets for Coyote’s performance of Chest Air in Surrey range in price from $25 to $35 at tickets.surrey.ca, or call 604-501-5566. The show comes with an audience advisory for strong language. The venue is located at 13450 104th Ave.
tom.zillich@surreynowleader.com
Surrey’s Heritage Rail to celebrate first responders on Canada Day weekend
REVIEW: Neil Simon comedy serves up laughs – `50s style in White Rock
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← Kendal Parish Church, Cumbria
Carlisle Cathedral →
Sheffield Cathedral
If my maths is right this will be blog 200 – so 200 can celebrate son Harry getting his MA and Sarah getting her MSc from Sheffield University. We will also celebrate that Sheffield Cathedral has its own tram stop. It is amusing that Julie’s disabled pass from Northumberland gets her on a Sheffield tram free, but she has to pay for a ride on a Newcastle metro. Harry has been in Sheffield for over 4 years and we had not been in the Cathedral – this morning, Friday 16 January 2015 (his graduation is in the afternoon), we finally paid a visit. What a marvellous place!
Sheffield Cathedral – a place for all people, says their website. A very good website, and wheelchair access was easy too. Nice welcome from the steward on duty. They have an excellent “heritage” section on the website, which almost makes up for the fact that they don’t have a decent guidebook.
Sheffield Cathedral is the oldest building in the city still in daily use. A Saxon cross, now in the British Museum, mark the earliest site of Christian worship, the Manor of Hallamshire is mentioned in the Doomsday Book, William de Lovetot built a motte and bailey castle where the rivers Don and Sheaf converge, and built the first church on this site in the early 12th century. In 1280 a new church is blessed by Archbishop Wickwane of York, and a few years later Chaucer mentions a Sheffield thwitel (a knife). Around 1430 a new church is built in the perpendicular style, with the central tower and spire we see today. As late as 1736 the first surviving map of the town shows the church at the centre and the town surrounded by pasture and arable land, but four years later Benjamin Huntsman invents crucible steel and the city changed. By 1801 the town had a population of 31,000, fifty years later it had reached 135,000. The University was founded in 1905, and the parish church became a Cathedral in 1914. They had ambitious plans for a major rebuild at the end of WW1, some work took place before the start of WW2, then those plans were abandoned. The new entrance and Lantern Tower was opened in the 1970s – this glass is an abstract design by Amber Hiscott. Her website http://www.amberhiscott.com is worth a look – she also did the wonderful front of the Wales Millennium Centre.
A refurbishment last year gave them a beautiful new floor, with underfloor heating, and a heritage area at the back. Enough information, but not too much – and you can listen to bells, organ and choir on headphones. (The website is also very good at explaining church, services, and what it is we all get up to). They had a little exhibition about J.R. ‘Reg’ Glenn, one of the Sheffield Pals. He was born in the city in 1893, was working as a clerk in the Education Department when War was declared, and joined the University and City Special Battalion, a battalion which was suggested by two University students and supported by the Vice-Chancellor. The battalion lost many men on the Somme, but Reg survived – until he was 101. Sheffield Libraries, Archives and Information has produced a very good document Sheffield Players in World War One about Reg and many others – you can download it at www.sheffield.gov.uk/archives.
This font is by Brian Fell, who also produced this rather lovely Sheffield Nativity. It is made of sheet steel, which meant the clothing and decorative features had to be simple. Brian says that it was interesting wondering what footwear shepherds would have worn, or the costume of the wise men. He drew on the imagery of Medieval and Renaissance art. You will note that Joseph is holding Jesus – “I believe that in traditional portraits of the Nativity he has been somewhat short-changed”; he is depicting the scene from his experiences as a father. We all remember holding our children for the first time.
On the left is the Chapel of St George, the Memorial Chapel dedicated to the York and Lancaster Regiment, formed in 1758 and disbanded in 1968. The Sheffield Pals was one of their battalions. On the east side of the Chapel is the unique Screen of Swords and Bayonets which were presented to the Cathedral by the Regiment after its disbandment. The swords which point upwards signify readiness to serve whilst the bayonets pointing downwards represent the laying aside of weapons.
Some lovely windows by Keith New showing episodes in the history of the Regiment. The campaign at Salonika (with the Royal Tiger Badge of the 65th Foot (1823) and Salonika Bay (1916)), Burma (with the green lion guard dog of the temples and soldiers crossing the river to take possession of the temples occupied by Japanese forces in WW2), and Combined Ops Europe (Allied landings of June 1944 and the Polar Bear emblem of the 49th West Riding). You don’t see many polar bears in stained glass windows.
This bronze anchor memorial (2000) is by Stephen Broadbent, and is dedicated to the relspecial relationship with the ships of the Royal Navy that have borne the city’s name. Elsewhere is a ship’s bell.
This window, and I’m unsure who it is by, is on the north side, and there is access down to various chapels. In the Crypt is a purpose-built columbarian (place for the storage of ashes) – we suggest this when we were working on Bury but the architect wasn’t keen. More regimental memorials – this one was thought-provoking. The window is by Keith New, created in 1966. It is inspired by a vision of the Heavenly City with its twelve pearl gates represented by twelve pearly mosaic circles and the glory of light is created by hundreds of tiny coloured Perspex tubes creating jewel colours through which light enters the chapel. Lovely altar frontal too.
The Chapel of the Holy Spirit is a 1930 build, lovely and airy. It is dominated by the great Te Deum window by Christopher Webb. There is a dove at the top, Christ in glory in the centre, surrounded by prophets, martyrs and the faithful through the ages. The vaulted ceiling is carved with roses, lilies and sunflower motifs. The wooden stalls and canopies were designed by Sir Ninian Comper. The reredos was given by the Freemasons in memory of those who lost their lives in WW1.
Back up at main floor level there is a chapel with the Window of the Sheffield Worthies, by Christopher Webb. Waltheof, the last Saxon Lord. William de Lovetot, the Norman Lord of the Manor. Gerard de Furnivall who fought and died on the Crusades. Thomas Nevil established Sheffield as a market town by Royal Charter in 1386. John Talbot, 1st Lord of Shrewsbury, gained the Lordship of the Manor through marriage with Maud Nevil, Thomas’ daughter. Finally, Colonel Sir John Bright, Parliamentarian Governor of Sheffield Castle after its surrender in the Civil War in 1644. The Advent Wreath was made in 2011 by Corin Mellor.
On the north wall of St Katharine’s Chapel is this window by Harry Harvey, installed in 1967. It shows the Works of Charity – but what a 1960s woman! Julie says she looks like a Vicar’s wife (she should know!!). The rest of the chapel celebrates the ministry of women in the church – and please don’t make anything out of the fact that I failed to photo the rest of it. The organ is also in memory of women who did something amazing.
They have done a superb job of managing the change from the Nave to the Chancel and the other easterly chapels – good wheelchair access too. There are memorials to the musician Sterndale Bennett and to many other wonderful people.
At the East End of the Cathedral the vergers were quite happy for me to go wherever I wanted to photo. They were also quite relaxed with a couple of young ladies who wanted to sit in the Cathedra, the Bishop’s throne – this is a welcoming place. The Shrewsbury Chapel is at the south east end – it was added to the parish church around 1520 by the Lord of the Manor of Sheffield, George Talbot, the 4th Earl of Shrewsbury. The altar is a rare pre-Reformation mensa, and the reredos dates to 1935.
There are two amazing tombs. On the right, with the sun in the wrong place, is one to George, 6th Earl. Whilst married to Bess of Hardwick, Elizabeth I entrusted him with the job of acting as custodian to Mary Queen of Scots. She spent 14 years in Sheffield under his supervision, and the Latin inscription records his faithful and loyal service to Queen Elizabeth and his military achievements. His feet are resting on a Talbot dog.
On the left is the memorial to George, the 4th Earl, who died in 1538. His first wife Anne, who died in 1520, is on his right. His second, Elizabeth (died 1567) is on his left. He is dressed in the robes of a Garter Knight, and their costume is beautiful too.
Having sorted that chapel, I have got a bit confused with the others – indeed, I’m not quite sure which of the altars I photoed is the High Altar … Lovely roof, angels and Green Men. O, just enjoy it – if you want to know more, go and visit yourself! This blog is quite long enough.
Having enjoyed the inside, I had a wander round the outside. I like the parking spaces – when I became a Residentiary Canon at St Edmundsbury I was instituted to “all the rights and appurtenances due to this stall”. “What are the rights and appurtenances?” I asked. “A parking space”.
In the modern extension on the north side is The Archer Project – website. The Cathedral works with the homeless and vulnerable. “The thing about this place is they don’t offer you help with A, B or C … they just offer to help”. There are some amazing things being done in God’s name. Her Majesty is visiting for the Royal Maundy on Maundy Thursday this year – I hope she is as impressed as I am.
Talking of being impressed … congratulations to Harry and Sarah. Here is Harry with his mum.
This entry was posted in Cathedral, Outside Northumberland, Personal, World War 1. Bookmark the permalink.
2 Responses to Sheffield Cathedral
Christopher Spencer says:
There IS a guidebook!
Great. I come to Sheffield every few weeks to give Platelets at the Blood Donor centre next to the Cathedral. I will buy one next time I pop in.
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We are biologically predisposed to provide for our offspring and may try to ensure that this provision continues after our death. However, our interactions with other members of society are wide-ranging and many people leave legacies to benefit the wider community.
All species alter their environment to some extent because they do not live in isolation from one another. The study of the interactions between plants, animals and their environ
7 Some philosophical issues
In this unit we have considered global issues that have implications for our health and the health of future generations. This places our own lives in a different context and also indicates the uncertainties that surround the future. Whilst some environmental changes have very direct health consequences, we should not forget the indirect benefits that accrue from a healthy planet. The principle that ‘we should hand on to the next generation an environment no less rich than the one we
6 Population growth
Earlier it was stated that three factors check population growth. These are predation, disease and insufficient food supply. For much of our history, our ancestors’ numbers were indeed limited by wars, disease and famine. The world population remained relatively stable until around 300 years ago. Then at the beginning of the 19th century (100 years after population growth started its geometric increase), the demographer Thomas Malthus predicted that population growth would outstrip food pro
5.5 Indoor pollutants
Before leaving air pollution you might reflect that many of us spend most of our time indoors where the air quality can differ from that outside the building.
In what ways will the air be different inside a building?
5.3 Global warming
Media attention has been such that it would be hard to have missed the fact that global warming is considered to be a ‘bad thing’. Why should this be so? What is so wrong with being a bit warmer? Anyway, is global warming really occurring and, if it is, what are the causal factors responsible for it?
Let us deal with this last question first. As we sit on a beach in summer, or in a sunny window seat in winter, we are aware of the Earth being warmed by the Sun. In fact the Earth is w
4.4 Discussion
In this second case study, I have described two different trends in energy use by cold appliances over the last few decades. On the one hand the efficiency with which appliances use electrical energy has improved but, in spite of this, their consumption of electricity has increased significantly in recent decades. Since 2000 consumption has started to decline, probably as a result of the introduction of minimum energy standards. The trend will only continue if we demand and use the most energ
4.6 P is for Provenance
The provenance of a piece of information (i.e. who produced it? where did it come from?) may provide another useful clue to its reliability. It represents the 'credentials' of a piece of information that support its status and perceived value. It is therefore very important to be able to identify the author, sponsoring body or source of your information.
4.5 M is for Method
Method is about the way in which a piece of information is produced. This is quite a complex area as different types of information are produced in different ways. These are a few suggestions to look out for:
Opinions – A lot of information is based on the opinion of individuals. They may or not be experts in their field (see P for Provenance) but the key message is to be clear that it is just an opinion and must be valued as such.
Research – You don’t have t
The internet provides a world of information, but how do you find what you are looking for? This unit will help you discover the meaning of information quality and teach you how to evaluate the material you come across in your study of technology. You will learn how to plan your searches effectively and be able to experiment with some of the key resources in this area.
This unit is an adapted extract from the Open University course Author(s): The Open University
5.6.3 Conformation and crystallinity
If there are key connections between the chain configuration and crystallisation, you might also expect some more subtle effects from rotation about chain bonds. After all, polymer chains must be able to twist into the regular conformation demanded for crystal structures (Figure 57(a)). And what influence will rotation have on
Stage 2: Analysis of the existing situation (where are we now?)
Having defined and agreed on the problem, it is necessary to decide on the system in which you consider it plays a part. In practice the two stages are closely linked and the analysis of the existing system nearly always means a redefinition or refinement of the problem or opportunity. Identifying and defining the problem and the system or systems that relate to it are critical for the success of subsequent analysis.
2.4.1 Multimode distortion
With multimode fibre, the main cause of pulses spreading is the multiple paths that signals can traverse as they travel along the fibre. This phenomenon of multimode distortion is illustrated in Figure 5.
6.1 Articulating your appreciation of complexity
I have organized the material in this section so that you can follow the activity route shown in Figure 6.
This section is primarily concerned with what can be understood by the term complexity, and how to compare it with the ideas of difficulty and mess. To do this, you are firs
8.3.2 Sputter etching: argon ion etching of gold
One commercial process for cutting inkjet printer nozzles uses sandblasting. Not surprisingly, the surface finish is rather poor and there are issues with particles contaminating the devices. However, it is a physical process very like this that we need if we are to achieve a vertical etch profile.
The key is directed bombardment by highly energetic particles. When processing on the microscale, these particles are not sand grains but ions accelerated towards the surface by an electric f
2.4 Early disasters
Many of the earliest bridges were simply a wooden trestle type of construction, an efficient and easy-to-build structure, yet providing a secure and safe passage for heavy metal trains. Although we tend to associate such structures with the United States, they were in fact widely used in Britain in the early days of steam locomotion. However, they had a limited lifetime owing to rot, so were gradually replaced by wrought iron girder bridges, often laid on brick or masonry piers.
This unit starts by giving an overview of the two main categories of disasters: disasters of natural origin and disasters of human origin. It then analyses the Tay Bridge disaster, which was caused by mechanical failure.
Inevitably, human factors emerge as important in many major disasters. They may involve the failure by engineers, designers or managers to recognise faults in safety-critical products, or managers overriding the design team for other reasons – such as keeping to a dea
I've an opera here you shan't escape – on miles and miles of recording tape.
Flanders, M. and Swann, D. (1977) ‘The Song of Reproduction’ from The Songs of Michael Flanders and Donald Swann, London, Elm Tree Books and St George's Press, p. 99
Sounds, pictures, measurement data, financial statistics, personal details, etc. can all be recorded and stored on magnetic media, i.e. m
5.5 Multiple-cause diagrams
Multiple-cause diagrams are another way of using interconnectedness to structure a complex situation. In this case, the interconnectedness is that of causation. Multiple-cause diagrams represent both sufficient and contributory cause, without making a distinction between them. Drawing multiple-cause diagrams allows for the identification of systems of causation. Such a system can be pictured as an interconnected group of events or effects; the effect is of a system that behaves
(Please refer to Reading 4: Learning to act: managing and systems practice, by Andy Lane) This unit teaches some aspects of systems thinking and practice. But what does it mean to be a systems practitioner, and is it different to being a manager? This reading attempts to answer those questions.
First, I believe a good systems practitioner will be more competent at handling complex situations, more capable of managing their working and domestic lives, and more able to learn not only how
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Illinois Issues: The Battle Over Transgender Rights — In The Bathroom and Beyond
By Maureen Foertsch McKinney • Jul 14, 2016
Cindy Martsch, whose son is transgender, reads names at a Springfield memorial for victims of the Orlando mass shooting at Pulse nightclub. Martsch told NPRIllinois she participated in the event "because my son came home, and somebody else's didn't."
The Phoenix Center
The state has some of the most aggressive protections for transgender people in the country, but the issue still generates controversy here.
Illinois, with its expansive decade-old anti-discrimination law, is one of the most progressive states in the country when it comes to transgender rights, but even in this state there has been a noisy response to rapidly evolving national and local policies on the issue.
Mara Keisling is executive director of the National Center for Transgender Equality.
Credit National Center for Transgender Equality
“I think transgender rights is a new idea for most people,” says Mara Keisling, the executive director of the Washington, D.C.-based National Center for Transgender Equality. “We’re definitely not done with the rights of other people, but, yes, transgender people weren’t that outspoken 30 years ago, and now I think we’re here. We’re bigger, and we’re more vocal. We’re winning our civil rights, and people are noticing."
As with other civil rights issues in American history, the debate has come to focus on restrooms — or the use of them — by an embattled minority group. The potential for the racial integration of bathrooms was used to sow fear during the civil rights movement. Segregationists, a white grade school teacher among them, voiced concerns that white women and children would catch diseases from blacks by sharing a bathroom. Paranoia about gay people using public restrooms cropped up as an element in the AIDS crisis. The specter of unisex bathrooms may have been in part what killed the 1970s and ’80s effort to adopt a national Equal Rights Amendment.
Listen to Illinois Issues editor Jamey Dunn interview Maureen McKinney and hear from key sources from the story.
“This bathroom scare tactic has been used by lots of demagogues for a lot of years,” Keisling says. She says that presidential candidate Donald Trump painting Mexican immigrants as rapists is an example of the same type of effort to “scare good people by saying something bad is going to happen to women and children, and it’s a hundreds of year-old tactic. It’s never true, and it only works for a little while.”
Transgender activist and ESPN baseball commentator Christina Kahrl says of the bathroom debate "it's much ado about nothing. If people would think about it, we've been using the restrooms all along."
Credit Christina Kahrl
One catalyst for the heightened national emphasis on transgender rights is a debate in North Carolina over who should be allowed to use public accommodations.
The city of Charlotte in February passed an ordinance extending legal protections to gay and transgender people. The state responded a month later with a sweeping law that made it illegal for transgender people to use restrooms in public buildings, such as universities and courthouses, if the bathroom designation differs from the gender marker on their birth certificate. The law also made it illegal for cities to have ordinances in opposition to the state’s rules. In May, the U.S. Department of Justice sued to block the law.
Illinois appears to be at the opposite end of the spectrum from North Carolina. Keisling called Illinois one of the most progressive states in the nation on transgender rights. The state’s Human Rights Act prohibits discrimination specifically on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity in employment, housing and public accommodations. Illinois is one of 20 states that have nondiscrimination laws covering sexual preference and gender identity, according to the Denver-based Movement Advancement Project, which tracks LGBT rights. The Chicago City Council voted in June to close a loophole in the city’s Human Rights Ordinance. The action prohibits such public places as hotels, restaurants or grocery stores from requiring identification to show whether a person is male or female to use a restroom
While Illinois may be ahead of the curve in how it treats its approximately 50,000 adult transgender residents, one large northwestern suburban school district drew national attention for the way it handled — or in the view of the U.S. Department Education mishandled — the case of a transgender student seeking to use the girls’ locker room. Fremd High School in Palatine-based District 211 acquiesced late last year to pressure to be more accommodating and agreed to let the student use the locker room with the installation of a privacy curtain. The move resulted in the Department of Education backing off of its demand that the district allow the girl to use the women’s locker room or lose $6 million in federal funding.
Fremd High School
Credit Township High School District 211
In another district in downstate Williamsville, 18-year-old Alex McCray of Sherman, with the help of the ACLU, convinced administrators to adopt a policy that allows transgender students to use the restrooms and locker rooms that match their gender identity.
“I want to be on the right side of a civil rights issue, and this is a civil rights issue,’’ District Superintendent David Root told NPR Illinois.
Alex McCray worked with his Williamsville school district to create a policy regarding transgender students.
Credit Alex McCray
But the issue was more complicated before McCray — now a graduate — got the assistance of the ACLU. After coming out to school officials, he was told he would be required to use a separate restroom. “I participated in PE, so that’s also where I was told to change. So it was right when I came out that everything sort of switched. I joined the men’s PE.” To change for gym class, he had to use that separate bathroom. “At the time, I was already uncomfortable with my own situation, so it made things easier for me. I say at the time because it progressively became an issue for me as I transitioned further and became comfortable with myself. That’s when I became more uncomfortable with having to be separated from everybody else.”
A complication in the situation at District 211 came in the form of a lawsuit filed in May by parents who argue that by compromising on how to treat the one transgender student, the district violated their children’s right to privacy. “When the school district was considering allowing a young man into the girl’s locker room last fall, after the Department of Education had stepped in with threats and intimidation, they heard from hundreds of parents like me who were against this policy,” parent Vicki Wilson, president of the plaintiff group Students and Parents for Privacy, told the Chicago Sun-Times when the suit was filed in May. “We expected the district to stand up to their bullying, because it’s a school’s duty to protect our children when they are threatened. The parents understood that what the government was doing was illegal and unconstitutional,” Wilson said. “We supported our school in standing up to them. But somehow, the school board decided that the privacy and dignity of our children had no value when weighed against dollars and cents.”
The lawsuit says one girl is so distressed about having to expose her body to the transgender student that she opts to wear her street clothing over her gym clothes. Others, they say, refuse to use the school’s bathrooms out of fear of sharing them with the transgender girl.
“The privacy issue is basically the right to bodily privacy — the right to not have someone see your partially or fully unclothed body,” says Jeremy Tedesco, an attorney with the Scottsdale, Arizona–based Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), a conservative nonprofit that is representing the parents. “The case law has said people, especially students, have that right, and the government can’t create a scenario where there’s a risk that students will have their partially or fully unclothed body viewed by the opposite sex, and of course that’s the exact scenario the school district has allowed to happen by creating a policy of putting a biologically male student in a locker room where girls are changing every day for gym. He’s in the PE locker room while girls are changing for gym class.”
Jocelyn Floyd, a lawyer with the Chicago-based Thomas More Society, also represents the parents. She says teenage girls in particular need to feel safe in private spaces. “We’re also talking about high schoolers here, so they’re going through puberty. Their bodies are changing, and girls are menstruating and dealing with maxi pads and tampons and all sorts of things that are awkward enough to do in front of other girls. But it’s a violation, a fundamental violation, of their privacy to have to do that in front of a male person.”
Attorney Jocelyn Floyd represents parents suing school a northwest suburban high school district because it let a transgender student use the girls' locker room.
Credit The Thomas More Society
In a statement issued after the suit was filed District 211 superintendent Daniel Cates said the district had created “workable solutions protecting the privacy and honoring the dignity of all students. In his statement, Cates said that individual changing stalls are “readily available to every student.”
Ed Yohnka, director of communications and public policy for the ACLU of Illinois, says the suing parents have “a strange notion of privacy.” The ACLU is representing the transgender girl. “The suit would have you believe that if you or I are uncomfortable or disquieted by the presence of someone else of the same gender in our facility, that we have the right to have that person excluded, and that’s never been recognized anywhere,” he says. “The idea of creating some novel suggestion that this is what privacy means in the country … won’t carry the day in our federal courts.”
Christina Kahrl, a Chicago transgender activist and ESPN baseball analyst, has been closely following the issue. “At the end of the day, all she is is a kid. She just wants to go to school. She has to take PE the same as everybody else. She’s just doing what she has to do, and yet everybody wants to turn this into something that it very much is not,” says Kahrl, who came out as transgender in about 2002.
University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign law professor Robin Fretwell Wilson, whose specializations include LGBT rights, says that all the students in the case have rights that should be respected. “I actually do think the other girls have privacy rights, just like I think the transgender girl has a privacy right,” she says. “I think the question is: how do we mash those together in a way that’s workable for everyone?”
Another issue at odds in this lawsuit and across the country is whether federal Title IX, which demands equal treatment in schools for both sexes, applies to gender identity.
A few weeks after the suit was filed, the Department of Education and U.S. Department of Justice issued a directive that under Title IX, students must be allowed to use the accommodations that correspond to their gender identity. So far, 21 states have sued, claiming that Title IX protections don’t cover gender identity, according to the ACLU. The potential precedent is what makes the District 211 case nationally important, says Tedesco, the ADF attorney.
Yohnka says precedent exists to support that sexual preference and gender identity are both covered under Title IX.
But Wilson, the U of I professor, says there is not much case law saying gender identity is covered by Title IX. “It’s exactly those kind of lawsuits that are going to work that out.”
However, she says, the agencies’ interpretation to mean that sex equals gender identity may carry a lot of with the court, “so I think it’s going to a really hard question.”
One such case occurred recently in Virginia, where the 4th district federal appellate court ruled in favor of a transgender student who had sued his school board for denying him the right to use the boys’ restroom.
In light of the federal directives and the cases winding through the court, some school groups, including the Illinois Association of School Boards and the Illinois Association of School Administrators say they have not offered more than loose guidance to districts on how to handle treatment of transgender students. The Illinois State Board of Education didn’t respond to multiple requests for comment on whether it has a stance on guidance for districts in light of the Department of Education directive.
Owen Daniel-McCarter, executive director of the Illinois Safe Schools Alliance, says his organization looks to the Illinois Human Rights Act as a guide. He says that many school systems are acting to prevent discrimination against transgender students. Several districts have joined Williamsville in adopting specific policies that spell out transgender students’ rights and call for their inclusion in restrooms and locker rooms corresponding with their gender identity. That list includes Chicago Public Schools, the Harlem School District in Rockford and districts in suburban Berwyn and Warrenville.
Meanwhile, a flurry of federal rules relating to rights for transgender people have been handed down in the last several months, most recently an announcement on July 1 that the ban on openly transgender people serving in the military will come to an end by the end of the year. In May, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services declared it illegal to deny health care coverage related to transition. In March, came federal guidance that jails and prisons must consider gender identity in placing inmates.
In Illinois, two pieces of legislation related to transgender rights didn’t get far in the General Assembly. LGBT advocates opposed House Bill 4474, which would have required students to use restrooms and locker rooms based on their biological sex. That bill never got a floor vote, nor did another, House Bill 6073, which would have allowed birth certificates to be changed to match gender identity without requiring surgery as part of transition.
In 1955, Illinois became the first state to allow transgender people to change gender markers on their birth certificates. But Michael Ziri, public policy director of the LGBT rights advocacy organization Equality Illinois, says the state’s vital records statute is now behind the times because it requires surgery, rather than doctors’ clinical recommendations, before allowing the gender marker to change on the document.
In April, a group of LGBT advocates visited Gov. Bruce Rauner’s office. Finn de Lima, a 17-year-old t ransgender student at Southern Illinois University Carbondale spoke, telling Rauner that “transpeoples’ experiences vary. Some feel you have to have the surgery. Some don’t.” De Lima, a Florida resident who transitioned while in high school, says he identified for a time as androgynous. “I moved through society in a way that people weren’t really sure of my gender, and I enjoyed that. But once I started slowly presenting myself as masculine, I really started to explore my identity, and then I realized I do enjoy moving through the world as male, and I do enjoy being recognized as male.”
Finn de Lima, an art therapy major at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, is a transgender student who met in April with Gov. Bruce Rauner.
Credit Morgan Timms / The Daily Egyptian
De Lima told Rauner that he opposed the House Bill 4474, as well. He says he is mystified by the bathroom debate. “It doesn’t make sense to me why people are so uncomfortable with it because they’ve used the bathroom with a transperson before, and there have never been any cases of a transgender person attacking a cisgender (nontransgender) person. In fact, it’s the other way around.”
Floyd, with the Thomas More Society, says there is a danger with transgender people using public accommodations. “There is a real issue with men — sexually demented, perverse men usually — gaining access to the women’s room, whether sneaking or dressing up and sneaking in taking pictures taking videos, sexually assaulting and outright raping women. ... If you say that anyone can go into any bathroom they want based on their individual self-perception of their gender identity, you remove that protection because now nobody can ask any question. No one can question someone’s motives.’’
Keisling says it’s transgender people who are at risk. This calendar year the National Center for Transgender Equality has documented 14 murders of transgender people, which is on track to top the 2015 total of 25. The overall national murder rate was 4.7 per 100,000 people in 2014, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation's most recent report of national crime statistics.
Violence and harassment are top concerns among the nation’s nearly 1.4 million adult transgender people. The center did a 2011 survey of 6,400 transgender people — the results of an updated version with 28,000 respondents are due in late summer. Results of the 2011 survey showed that families with transgender people are four times more likely than the general population to earn under $10,000 a year. They experience far greater rates of harassment at school at work and in public accommodations.
Specific Illinois responses from 233 transgender people found that 45 percent had attempted suicide, which is 28 times the national average.
Cindy Martsch holds the faces of her son Allen (left), who is transgender, and his brother, Nick (right).
Credit Cindy Martsch
Suicide was one of Cindy Martsch’s concerns when her son Allen came out as transgender when he was 17 and a senior at Springfield High School. “As scary as this might be for a mom, it’s life or death for your kid. Trans kiddos as a rule have a huge percentage of suicide attempts, and the knowledge of that knocked all my fear out my head,’’ says the Springfield school social worker. “It’s like, whoa. It’s not even negotiable. This is what we’re going to do. I’m going to find every way I can to be supportive.” The survey showed transgender people are less likely to attempt suicide if they feel accepted by their families.
Allen is now 23 and living in Burbank, California, where he hopes to get a job in animation production. He says it was hearing the word transgender that started him on the path to fewer depressive episodes.
“I don’t think it was something I always knew. When I was a kid, my gender was kid. It didn’t affect my childhood too much until a little later on when I started going to school and then puberty. And then something that I couldn’t put my finger on was off. Just the way people were expecting me to behave or to go about my life. Things that my body was changing into just didn’t feel right. As soon as I found that word and found that I could change what was making me uncomfortable, that was a really big revelation for me.”
De Lima and McCray were a bit younger when they recognized gender dysphoria and came out.
Kahrl says the idea that transgender children are coming out in school years is wonderful. “That’s the frontier. That’s the development that kind of surprised all of us because most of us were used to the idea of transitioning as an adult.” She considers life for transgender kids to be a happier place now that more families, pediatricians and schools are supporting them.
“I wouldn’t have imagined even 20 years ago that such a thing was even possible.”
Keisling says, “When I graduated from high school in the ’70s, there were not a lot of out transgender students. There may have been none in the whole country, but now there are out transgender kids in virtually every school in the country, and it’s not a big deal.”
Karhl says she hopes that view will soon be the norm everywhere. “I just want to get to the point, where I’m trans, so what?”
Illinois Issues is in-depth reporting and analysis that takes you beyond the headlines to provide a deeper understanding of our state. Illinois Issues is produced by NPR Illinois in Springfield.
Education Desk: Lawsuit Targets New Transgender Policies
By Dusty Rhodes • May 18, 2016
A lawsuit filed this month in federal court aims to reverse policies adopted in many Illinois school districts that allow transgender students to use bathrooms and locker rooms that align with their identity. Palatine School District 211 is a defendant in the case, along with the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Justice.
Education Desk: Lessons That Can't Be Taught With A Textbook
By Dusty Rhodes • May 2, 2016
Alex McCray was in the news a lot last week — he was on TV, in the newspaper, and here on NPR Illinois -- because he had reached a settlement with the Williamsville School District expanding services for transgender students.
Here's a more extensive talk with McCray, and with David Root, superintendent of schools for the Williamsville-Sherman school district.
Education Desk: Settlement In Williamsville Provides Support For Trans Students
By Dusty Rhodes • Apr 27, 2016
Ed Yohnka
The bathroom Alex McCray used during his sophomore year at Williamsville High School was small, dark, subject to extreme temperature fluctuations, and inconveniently located. Near the end of his junior year, he asked school administrators to allow him to use the boys' bathroom. McCray, who was born female, has identified as male for several years.
P-Units Ep. 1: Introducing Members Of Our Parent Panel + Bathrooms For Transgender Students
By Rachel Otwell • May 2, 2016
Listen to Episode 1
We've put together a roster of moms, and a dad or two, who will join us on Illinois Edition to take on issues that matter to those trying to successfully raise children in these hectic modern times. Rachel Otwell, NPR Illinois reporter and the mother of a toddler, hosts the rotating panel.
In Illinois - Debate About Transgender People Changing Sex On Birth Certificate
By Rachel Otwell & Maureen Foertsch McKinney • Apr 11, 2016
c-uphd.org
In Illinois, House bill 6073 would make it so transgender people can change the sex designation on their birth certificate without having to have reassignment surgery. Proponents of the measure say it's a needed change since not all trans people want the surgery, and many who do can't afford it.
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Our Coalition
Recreation Reports
Maps and Apps
Tracking The Issues
Improving Access
Defending Public Lands
Landscape Conservation
Forest Planning
Our favorite stories about public lands and opportunities for you to get involved in protecting your outdoor experiences.
Time Is Running Out to Protect Eastern Utah
September 21, 2016 Tania Lown-Hecht
Photo credit: Mike A. Shaw
The future of one of the most iconic recreation destinations in the country has been the subject of an increasingly intense debate in the last few months. We’ve written before about various plans to protect and manage this region of the country, including leasing plans from the BLM, bills from Utah legislators, and a national monument proposal from a Native American coalition. One thing is clear: whether through Congress or through the White House, eastern Utah will most likely experience changes to its land management in the near future.
Right now, Utah legislators are working to pass legislation called the ‘Public Lands Initiative’ (PLI). The PLI is a bill that proposes some major revisions in how we care for and manage eastern Utah. These changes would affect recreation, Native American cultural sites, water and air quality, transportation and oil, gas and mineral development. However, as we approach the end of the year, it’s increasingly unlikely that Congress will be able to pass the PLI. This leaves the region vulnerable, and makes it more likely that the administration will act to protect the landscape by designating a national monument.
Outdoor Alliance and Access Fund submitted testimony on the revised version of the PLI this week—you can see the full letter here or by clicking at right. Since the “discussion draft” was issued several months ago, the PLI bill has improved in a few ways, including boundary adjustments at Bridger Jack Mesa, Mexican Mountain, and San Rafael Reef, as well as acknowledgements of recreation concerns in the Indian Creek National Conservation Area and some sections of Wild and Scenic Rivers.
However, the bill still has significant problems and provides insufficient protection for the Bears Ears area in particular, including:
Unbalanced management—the PLI proposes setting up a planning and implementation committee that does not represent the spectrum of users and interests. This means that the committee would be predisposed to favor development and resource extraction over other uses, resulting in the prioritization of industrial development over recreation and public access.
Conflicts with other management plans – the PLI creates conflicts with other management plans and management practices in place for the region, including the BLM’s very strong Moab Master Leasing Plan, which takes into account the climbing, mountain biking, and paddling in the region.
Public lands transfer – the PLI includes major land giveaways to the state of Utah that would affect recreation access, the environment, the integrity of viewsheds from adjacent National Parks, and quality of life in local communities. The proposed land exchanges are designed to give away tracts of land with enormous recreation and conservation value for development. The land transfers would negatively affect the Moab community as well as Indian Creek, which is among the most valuable rock climbing areas in the country.
Overall, the PLI does not adequately consider the voice of the human-powered recreation community and, for many areas that are highly-valuable to our community, favors development and resource extraction over conservation of the environment and protection of cultural and recreation resources. Perhaps most importantly, the bill would transfer vast tracts of public land and energy leasing authority to state control, which Outdoor Alliance cannot support.
More on Eastern Utah:
Eastern Utah includes world-class outdoor recreation opportunities, unique natural values and countless Native American cultural sites. While H.R. 5780 would provide protections for some portions of this exceptional landscape, it does not provide enough to protect recreation assets and these other important values for future generations. For climbers, eastern Utah contains some of the most iconic, unique and high quality opportunities in the world, including areas like Indian Creek, Castle Valley, Fisher Towers, San Rafael Swell, Valley of the Gods, Arch Canyons, Lockhart Basin, Comb Ridge, and thousands other climbing sites. A recent survey of over 1,000 climbers nationwide who travel regularly to this region found that our members and the national community value wild experiences, vast landscapes, undeveloped viewsheds, clean air, solitude, and cultural heritage. We want to protect southeast Utah for future generations because we know firsthand how valuable the area is to personal growth. Climbers—along with the greater outdoor recreation community—also contribute significantly to the economy of the region as evidenced by growing visitation levels and the Outdoor Industry Association’s report showing that in Utah alone outdoor recreation generates $12 billion in consumer spending, 122,00 direct jobs, $3.6 billion in wages and salaries, and $856 million in state and local tax revenue. As such, the Access Fund and Outdoor Alliance are committed to working with both the Congress and the Administration toward appropriate, durable protections for eastern Utah’s incredible public lands.
categories Library
tags Bears Ears, Utah, legislation, PLI, Climbing, National Monuments
2 reasons to reform mining laws now
Outdoor Allies: Thomas O'Keefe
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Biographical Article (2)
Latin American/Caribbean Art (1)
[[missing key: search-facet.tree.open-section]] Nineteenth-Century Art (3)
Art History and Theory (2)
Books, Manuscripts, and Illustration (1)
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Northern America (3)
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Publishing x
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Camera Work
Judith Zilczer
Journal devoted to photography that was published from 1903 to 1917. Camera Work evolved from a quarterly journal of photography to become one of the most ground-breaking and influential periodicals in American cultural history. Founded in January 1903 by photographer Alfred Stieglitz as the official publication of the Photo-Secession, the journal originally promoted the cause of photography as a fine art. As Stieglitz, its editor and publisher, expanded the journal’s scope to include essays on aesthetics, literature, criticism and modern art, Camera Work fueled intellectual discourse in early 20th-century America.
Camera Work mirrored the aesthetic philosophy of its founder Alfred Stieglitz. The journal resulted from his decade-long campaign to broaden and professionalize American photography. Serving for three years as editor of American Amateur Photographer (1893–6), Stieglitz championed the expressive potential of photography and advocated expanded exhibition opportunities comparable to those available in European photographic salons. In 1897, when the Society of Amateur Photographers merged with the New York Camera Club, Stieglitz convinced the enlarged organization to replace their modest leaflet with a more substantial quarterly journal, Camera Notes, which he edited until ...
De Zayas, Marius
Henry Adams
(b Veracruz, March 13, 1880; d Stamford, CT, Jan 10, 1961).
Mexican illustrator, writer, gallery owner, and publisher, active in the USA. He was the son of a wealthy Mexican lawyer and publisher. De Zayas started his career as an artist by providing drawings for his father’s newspaper in Veracruz. In 1906 he moved on to Mexico City’s leading newspaper, El Diario, but a year later, after the ascension of the dictator Porfirio Diaz, whom the newspaper had opposed, he fled to the USA. There he landed a position making caricatures for the New York Evening World. Shortly after his arrival in the USA, he came into contact with Alfred Stieglitz, who staged solo shows of De Zayas’s caricatures at his gallery Gallery 291 in 1909 and 1910, both of which proved to be huge popular successes.
In 1910 De Zayas traveled to Paris, where he stayed almost a year, scouting out adventurous forms of modern art for Stieglitz, notably the cubist work of Picasso and African sculpture. On his return, equipped with knowledge of European modern art and inspired by the work of the French modernist ...
Liberman, Alexander
Anne Blecksmith
(b Kiev, Sept 4, 1919; d Miami, FL, Nov 19, 1999).
American painter, photographer and publishing executive of Ukrainian birth. Raised in England and France, he received a degree in philosophy and mathematics from the Sorbonne in 1930. Connected to the Russian exile community in Paris, he was introduced to artists Aleksandr Yakovlev and Marc Chagall. In 1931, he studied painting with André Lhote and enrolled at the Ecole Spéciale d’Architecture, where he was a student of Auguste Perret. Later that year, he transferred to the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. While studying architecture, he was apprenticed to graphic artist Cassandre through whom he found work at the newsweekly Vu, where he created photomontage covers with Russian Constructivist sensibilities and later rose to art director. At Vu he worked with imagery by pioneers of 35 mm photography Henri Cartier-Bresson, Brassaï and Erich Salomon. A prolific photographer since childhood, he enthusiastically identified with the candid documentary style of the 35 mm camera.
Arriving in New York in ...
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mafikizolo Down under
MAFIKIZOLO Aussie tour 2018
Melbourne: Friday 24 August at Max Watts, 125 Swanston Street, Melbourne.
Perth: Saturday 25 August at Metro City, 146 Roe St, Northbridge
Afro pop sensation, Mafikizolo, one of the most popular duo acts to come out of Africa will be touring down under in August 2018, on the 24th at Max Watt’s in Melbourne and on the 25th at Metro City in Perth. Backed by an accomplished live band and energetic dancers, audiences can look forward to an energetic and unforgettable performance.
Fans can expect the duo to perform old hits and new material in their maiden Australian tour, the likes of “Ndihambanawe, Love portion, Khona, “Meet Me At The River”to name just a few.
Mafikizolo was founded in the mid-nineties by Theo Kgosinkwe, Nhlanhla Nciza and Tebogo Madingoane. Originally a trio, the group were quickly recognised for their unique style (visually and musically) and signed their first record deal in 1996. Their self-titled debut album was released in 1996 with three more albums following in quick succession.
MAFIKIZOLO PBS106.7FM Interview with Stani Goma
In 2000, the single Loot was remixed by international DJ and producer Louie Vega opening up doors for Western and European interest. The remix was so successful, that Mafikizolo took their first trip to perform on the international stage at the Miami Winter Music Conference. The band has since returned to perform across our borders and earned a huge following around the globe.
Following a car accident in 2002, Mafikizolo dedicated their next album to God by naming it Sibongile (“We are thankful”). Fuelled by the crossover smash single Ndihambanawe, the album was a massive success and sold over 350 000 copies. Mafikizolo won multiple awards and continued to get invitations to perform all over the African continent and around the world. In 2003 the group released Kwela which featured jazz legend Hugh Masekela, and sold over 370 000 copies. Less than one year after this successful album, Mafikizolo lost one of their founding members, Tebogo Madingoane.
Theo and Nhlanhla decided to continue to build the legacy and continue as a duo releasing two more albums and notable winning the 2014 MTV Africa awards. The two have established themselves as one of the best groups in the African music industry, winning the prestigious South African Music Award for Group or Duo of the year 3 times. Their latest album Six Mabone is currently a hit across Africa and beyond.
Mafikizolo is brought to you by Millenium Promotions, a reputable Australian based promotion credited for bringing names from Africa since 2013.
Tagged: Mafikizolo, Afro pop, South Africa, World Music, African Music, International Artists, Mafikizilo Australian Tour, African Artists
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Parallels RAS Blog Home
Trial Download
Microsoft Windows Server 2003 End Of Life, What’s Next?
By Alex Hunter
Windows Server 2003, along with its R2 update, has gained huge popularity in IT circles since its release over 10 years ago. Within 10 years of the release, the product was used by around 20 million servers worldwide. However, the product reached its end of life on July 14, 2015. Microsoft has not released patches for new security vulnerabilities since the Windows Server 2003 end of life (EOL) date.
Risks of continuing with Server 2003
Considering the fact that Microsoft released 37 critical updates in 2013, organizations that continue to run Windows Server 2003 put their networks at enormous risk. As there are no patches available, hackers can target Windows Server 2003 systems, which means your applications, databases, and servers are subject to cyber-attacks. Compliance, too, is at risk, as the software will not pass an audit. Businesses that deal with credit card payments should be PCI DSS compliant, while healthcare institutions require HIPAA compliance. Upgrading the infrastructure to comply with these regulations requires huge upfront investments. Another challenge is the increased operational costs incurred due to security measures applied around the legacy software.
The state of the Windows Server 2003 market
Interestingly, Windows Server 2003 has remained popular after its EOL date. According to Spiceworks, an online community for IT professionals, the WS2003 operating system still enjoys a market share of 17.9%. Big Data solutions company CloudPhysics estimates that WS2003 won’t disappear until mid-2018. The company also makes an interesting observation, estimating that Windows Server 2012 virtual machines will account for 50% of Windows VMs by the second half of 2018, which happens to coincide with the end of mainstream support for Windows Server 2012. Internet service firm Netcraft reports that there are 600,000 web-facing servers still running on WS2003, and 175 million websites are served by WS2003. In addition, there are 1.7 million back-end systems running on WS2003.
Why do organizations stay with Windows Server 2003?
Spiceworks reports that budget constraints, lack of time, and no immediate need were the main reasons for staying with the WS2003 OS. Organizations that plan to upgrade have to face certain challenges. First, Microsoft announced that it would take 200 days for server migration and 300 days for application migration, from planning to completion. In addition, the migration path is complex, as there is no direct upgrade from Windows Server 2003 to Windows Server 2012. The complex process includes moving various server roles such as DHCP, DNS, Active Directory, IIS, Print, and File server roles. In addition to being complex, the process also involves huge upfront investments. If the organization uses virtualization solutions such as Citrix or VMware, the migration process becomes even more complex and expensive.
With Parallels RAS, migrate at your own pace
Parallels clearly understands the challenges associated with the WS2003 end-of-life issues. The company’s comprehensive virtualization solution, Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS), helps IT administrators continue running on WS2003 without any issues. Unlike other virtualization solutions, Parallels RAS still supports Windows Server 2003, which means your infrastructure runs without any security or compliance issues. As virtual instances of WS2003 are delivered, security vulnerability risks are reduced. While Parallels still recommends migrating to WS2012, IT departments can do so at their own pace.
Another important benefit of Parallels RAS is its support for multiple versions of Windows. As IT administrators migrate the infrastructure in parts, the same farm might contain Windows Server 2003 and Windows Server 2012 instances. Parallels RAS allows IT administrators to run various OSes, which means the migration process doesn’t disrupt core business procedures. Furthermore, Parallels RAS supports all major hypervisors, browsers, and devices, which means you can use the existing interface and features regardless of the technology. Parallels RAS is easy to deploy and is the most cost-effective virtualization solution on the market.
Want to try Parallels RAS? Download the free trial.
Server 2003 End of Life – References
Server 2003 end of life: Server Virtualization and OS Trends | community.spiceworks.com
https://community.spiceworks.com/networking/articles/2462-server-virtualization-and-os-trends
Server 2003 end of life: Windows 2003 Support EOL: What Data Science Tells Us | cloudphysics.com
http://www.cloudphysics.com/blog/windows-2003-support-eol-what-data-science-tells-us/
Server 2003 end of life: Risks of Running Windows Server 2003 Beyond End-Of-Life: It’s Time to Act. What’s Your Action Plan? | windowsitpro.com
http://windowsitpro.com/blog/risks-running-windows-server-2003-beyond-end-life-its-time-act-whats-your-action-plan
Server 2003 end of life: Millions still running the risk with Windows Server 2003 | netcraft.com
https://news.netcraft.com/archives/2015/08/12/millions-still-running-the-risk-with-windows-server-2003.html
Server 2003 end of life: Windows Server 2003 end of life – what does this mean for your business? | infosecurity-magazine.com
http://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/opinions/windows-server-2003-end-cobw/
Comprehensive Windows Server Monitoring Software For Microsoft RDS
Top IT Trends 2017 And What You Should Expect to See
What is Parallels RAS?
Parallels Remote Application Server (RAS) is an industry-leading solution for virtual application and desktop delivery. This cloud-ready, scalable product supports deployment through Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services. Parallels RAS offers an impressive, native-like mobile experience on iOS and Android devices. With minimal effort, it works with Microsoft RDS and all major hypervisors.
Application Publishing
Remote Desktops & VDI
Automated Configuration
Blog Post Archive Select Month July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 April 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 December 2014 November 2014 October 2014 September 2014 August 2014 July 2014 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010 July 2010 June 2010 May 2010 April 2010 March 2010 February 2010 January 2010 December 2009 November 2009 October 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 January 2009 September 2008 July 2008 June 2008 May 2008 February 2008 December 2007 October 2007 September 2007 July 2007 June 2007 January 2007 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 May 2006 April 2006 February 2006 January 2006 November 2005 September 2005 May 2005 September 2002 September 2001 February 2000 January 2000 August 1999
What is Citrix Server?
How does Citrix work?
Citrix Alternative
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RDS CALs
VDI vs RDS
2X Client
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Kids At Risk for Suicide Have Gun Access, Study Finds
They said their findings show it's extremely important to screen children for suicide risk, and to educate parents about how to keep guns out of their hands if they are. And early treatment is also vital.
The researchers, who presented their findings at the Pediatric Academic Societies meeting in Washington, D.C., say they don't want their results to get mixed up in the current debate over firearms regulation. They just want to keep kids safe.
"A lot of kids, surprisingly, don't have a history of mental illness but they attempt suicide," says Dr. Stephen Teach, an emergency room doctor at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.
Suicide is the No. 3 cause of death for children and youths aged 10 to 24, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. About 4,600 kids and young adults kill themselves each year, and 45 percent of them use guns. Another 40 percent suffocate or strangle themselves and 8 percent poison themselves.
"Guns are the most lethal method that is commonly used in suicide attempts," says Dr. Matt Miller, an injury control expert at the Harvard School of Public Health. People who try to commit suicide using pills or by cutting themselves complete the suicide just 3 percent of the time, he said.
Teach and colleagues made their discovery while trying to come up with an easy, short questionnaire for emergency room doctors to use while seeing children for a range of troubles. Their study included 524 patients ages 10 to 21 being seen at three pediatric emergency rooms.
"When we were asking kids these questions, we also asked kids questions about firearms and bullets. To our surprise, one-fifth reported firearms in the home," Teach said in an interview. "That's a pretty volatile mix. Nearly half of all completed suicides involve firearms, which is pretty scary."
Image: Depressed child, via Shutterstock
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Woman Dies Days After Giving Birth As Medics Assumed She Can't Afford Ambulance Ride, Mom Claims
Little Boy Arrives at Sleepover to Find Family Shot to Death in Murder-Suicide
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Cohasset launching second youth ambassador program
Mary Whitfill The Patriot Ledger thelittlewreck
Jun 27, 2019 at 2:23 PM Jun 27, 2019 at 4:41 PM
COHASSET — Middle and high school students interested in community service, advocacy and public speaking are invited to participate in the Safe Harbor Cohasset Coalition's second youth ambassador program this fall.
The Cohasset Youth Ambassador program was launched last September as a way for teenagers to get involved with the town's anti-drug and alcohol coalition. Program Director Nicole Garrity said she was blown away by the response from local teens, and the coalition is already recruiting for next year's class.
"We were expecting maybe two, three kids and somehow, we got 15 that came every single week," Garrity said.
The students worked with Safe Harbor Cohasset Coalition to come up with projects that would help push the organization's mission to destigmatize mental health and reduce underage drug and alcohol use. Garrity said students were quick to take the lead.
"When the kids decided to join we asked what ideas they had and a lot of them mentioned they were interested in educating the younger kids about stress, coping skills, mental health and substance use," she said. "Every kid said they wished they knew then what they know now, which was really interesting."
The students, who are in seventh through 12th grade, eventually gave presentations to fifth graders about stress coping skills, and later organized and participated in a community clean up.
"They ended up picking up 3 pounds of substance-related liter — vapes, Juul pods, nips, beer bottles, all kinds of things," Garrity said.
The group meets weekly between September and June. For the 2019-2020 school year, interested students are required to participate in a training session, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Friday, Aug. 16, at Second Congregational Church, 43 Highland Ave., Cohasset. The cost is $15 and includes lunch.
"We really want to help clean up their public speaking skills and their advocacy skills so they're ready to do bigger and better things in their communities," Garrity said.
For more information, visit safeharborcohasset.org.
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EU Parliament Wants Tighter Monitoring of Internet Censorship
By Jennifer Baker
The European Parliament has called for new rules to monitor Internet censorship by autocratic regimes.
The political body voted overwhelmingly in favor of the motion on Wednesday, 580 votes for, 28 against and 74 abstentions.
British member of the European Parliament, Richard Howitt, said that new technologies have massive implications for human rights and that the European Union needs a coherent policy. "There is a race between those harnessing new media to the purpose of liberation and those who seek to use it for repression," he said.
Wednesday's resolution calls for the European Commission to come up with new rules by 2013 to improve the monitoring of E.U. exports of technology that can be used to censor or block websites and monitor mobile communications. It also wants more accountability for companies that willfully sell to despotic regimes.
Howitt condemned Vodafone's action in suspending its services at the request of Hosni Mubarak just weeks before the revolution in Egypt. However he singled out Google for praise, saying the Internet giant had done a lot to resist censorship in China.
A study by the OpenNet Initiative recently found that political censorship is pervasive in seven countries including China, Syria and Burma and widespread in many others.
Follow Jennifer on Twitter at @BrusselsGeek or email tips and comments to jennifer_baker@idg.com.
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Meet the candidates to be decided on the April 2 ballot
The City of Okemah is holding a citywide election Tuesday, April 2 to decide on two City Council seats, Ward 3 and 4, currently held by Councilor Loren Aldridge and Councilor Anthony Landers.
Aldridge and Landers both chose to re-file for their current seats, each drawing an opponent, all of which will face off in the near election.
With the election coming up in the next few weeks, the Okemah News Leader has sought to inform the public on the four candidates on the ballot.
The conversations with each candidate were based on these four questions: What is your history/experience in politics and/or leadership?, What made you decide to run or re-file?, What do you see as the most important issues to be faced for the City of Okemah?, and if elected/re-elected what do you hope to accomplish?
Find that information below, starting with the opponents, then the current seat holders, and don’t forget to vote … doing so, in the very least, somewhat informed.
Kelly West:
West has been a resident of Okemah for 46 years. Her father taught at Okemah High School for 30 years, and her mother worked at both Okemah City Hall and First Baptist Church.
West has worked for the Bearden Public School District for 13 years, as well as two years with the Okfuskee County Treasurer’s Office.
She doesn’t have a history in politics and has not served on the City Council, but she said, “I have always proudly called Okemah my home, and I have a passion for making it the best city it can be. That is why I ran.”
West continued, “I feel privileged to have been raised in this town and to raise my children here.
“In the past few years, though, I have become rather concerned with the direction in which our city is headed.
“My two foremost concerns as of now are the safety of our neighborhoods and the appearance of our city, which seems to not draw much pride in it from the citizenry, which we need.
“My family has been the victim of property crimes in the past, and I support law enforcement. However, I know that they alone cannot make Okemah safe.
“It takes everyone working together, supporting each other and watching out for each other to make our community safe. I want to see law enforcement partner with residents to keep our families and homes safe.
“I want to see neighbors looking out for neighbors, and, in particular, I want to see everyone protecting the children growing up in our community. Additionally, I want to see unsafe structures quickly addressed by the City of Okemah. Not only are these dilapidated buildings unsightly, they are a safety hazard.”
She concluded with, “I am lucky to be entering this journey with the support of and friendship of a fellow candidate with similar concerns and ideas, Mr. Ron Gott. I encourage each of you to vote on April 2 and vote for Ron Gott and Kelly Robertson West”.
Ron Gott:
“Over the last two weeks I have been asked many questions about my desire to again sit on our City Council so I will attempt to address some of those questions right now. The first question is what is different now than when you first sat on council and resigned after serving your community. Well, back when I was a sitting councilman, I was working full time for a Government Contractor and traveling often.
“Also, having returned from Iraq in 2005 was still dealing with issues despite retiring a couple of years earlier.
“I’ve always believed to give 100% towards any endeavors and believed that down deep in my heart that I wasn’t being very effective being gone so much. I now have time to devote to our City having retired from the Government Contracting job, Department of Defense and Military. Currently I devote as much as my time as possible to helping our veterans and our children and youth in our communities.
“The next question I wish to address is why would you want to be a councilman? The simple answer to that question is to give back and do what I can to move our City forward in many different areas. I believe that with my life experiences that I may have something new or different to bring to the table on behalf of our citizens.
“Another question which I felt was somewhat ridiculous was at your age wouldn’t you feel embarrassed if in fact you did not win the election? Well, at age 70, I do not worry about what most people think, I believe that might be a senior citizen mentality because us seniors have already been there and done that and our egos are not easily abused. If my opponent wins, then I’ll back him 100% and will not quit trying to help our city.
“I want to add at this point, from my first time on council, that anyone sitting on the City Council opens themselves up to criticism and ridicule from the citizens they are serving, why? Councilman donate their time and money in order to make decisions that are in the best interest of our city, they receive not one dollar for doing what they do. Some decisions are unpopular and the councilman suffer accordingly.
“Years back we had some councilman actually arrested for an open meeting violation and had to spend hundreds of dollars out of their own pockets in order to pay an attorney to defend each one of them charged, after many proceedings the charges were dropped but those that brought the charges did not have to spend a dime while the three defendants were out again hundreds of dollars each.
“As a community we need to come together and work together in order to make our community stronger. I’ve also advocated for a junior chamber of commerce because our High Schoolers can bring ideas to the table, they are indeed old enough and smart enough to provide input for how our City moves forward.”
Loren Aldridge:
Aldridge currently holds the Ward 3 seat.
He has not faced an election, and until being appointed by the Council in summer 2017 after the resignation of Bobby Massey, his Ward’s representative, he had no political experience.
He said that has changed now, and he is more informed as a leader.
“What I am looking to improve, which we have already started improving, is the infrastructure of the city.
If we are going to grow in this city, some important issues must be addressed.
In order to support growth in this city, we are going to have to improve some infrastructure, noting the waste water plant, water treatment plant, water lift stations, sewer lines, continued road improvements and making this city more attractive.
Other issues are better working conditions for our city employees, to be safer, more efficient and have better and safer equipment to do their job.
As a starter for the growth of our city, we have a really good fire department, and we have the number one, the best police department in Okfuskee, according to the judges in this district and the District Attorney’s Office.
Aldridge said he did not know much about his opponent, and said he had no comment to make regarding the matter.
What we have started on in this previous is our code enforcement methods and procedures … the codes have always been here, but we need to do better enforcing them.
We have a lot of condemned homes and dilapidated structures, and I would like to see a five-year program with a $30,000 per year budget to go towards paying for the cleanup and removal of those structures.
That allotted amount of money could equate to eight to 10 homes being removed per year.
We go through every avenue to work with the home- or landowners to get them to clean the places up and pay for it, but that can be difficult, so often the city assumes liability. That said, there are still revenues to recover our expenses for demolition, cleanup and removal even after that.
Now that I have been on the council for two years, I have some experience. When I first started, I didn’t know how it worked. With experience, though, I now know the laws and regulations to look into and research to better our city.”
Anthony Landers:
I was born and raised in Okemah … gone to college for a few years, but I never considered leaving. This is my home and has been my whole life.
I have been married to Vicky Landers for just under two decades, May being the 20-year mark.
I have been a youth minister at First Baptist-Okemah for 14 years.
I was hired by Walmart in 1997, and I have been with them ever since, (save for a two-year hiatus where Landers opened his own business). I’m now an assistant manager at one of the stores.
Landers won a runoff election in May 2012, remaining on the council since then.
The reason I initially ran for office is that I thought our city needed a change, and I thought it was a good opportunity to get in and serve and represent a younger generation.
I’d served on the school board for a couple years prior to being on the council.
The thing I am most passionate about and what I have focused on the most is moving forward.
One of my biggest motivators, is enhancing our city-owned Okemah Lake, as well as growing industrial business and moving forward. For example, the Quantum building has now been occupied for just about five or six years now, which has alleviated that liability from the City.
As for his opponent, Landers said, “Gott is a distinguished veteran … He does a lot of good, and I’m very appreciative of what Gott does for the community,” also noting his work with the American Legion and Oklahoma National Guard.
The biggest issue I’d like to address if re-elected is the I-40 corridor … We need to bring more businesses to that area that will increase revenue to our city.
If we can increase our revenue, we can grow our population, better address our streets and infrastructure, due to the fact that we have more revenue to put towards those important issues.
If we have more revenue, we can do more things to better this city, and that is my focus.”
Posted in Area News
Investigations into recent Graham-Dustin and courthouse bomb threats continue
Okemah native congratulated for successfully completing probationary period at Stillwater Fire Department
Shot Nets $20,000
Crime Saga of Michael Magness Ends with a Plea Deal
April 26, 2019 | No Comments »
Courthouse Sidewalks to be Replaced: Commissioners approve solicitation of bids to replace courthouse sidewalks
Okemah News Leader
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Europe » England » Bristol » Morley Square, Bishopton
Morley Square, Bishopton
County Bristol
Study Area Morley Square, Bishopston
About the Study One of about half a dozen private squares in Bristol, Morley Square is the only one in Bishopston. We are have lived in the square for 20 years and recently researched the history of the square and the 28 dwellings whose owners are jointly responsible for the upkeep of the square. The research spans from its inception in 1888/90 till current times. The result is a book and a website.
The population of the square has changed considerably over the 130 years since the houses were build: the 1891 census shows 153 people lived in the square, 70 of them children! The square itself has had a chequered history and was narrowly saved from being taken into Council ownership after the Second World War by the efforts of the residents.
Population 170 in 1891
Contact Chris Wallace
Website http://morleysq.org.uk/
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The First I Love You
Every night before bed, Hubby rocks the Little Man and I come in and get my good night kiss. I say "Good Night, Little Man" and sometimes, but not always, he says, "Good Night, Mama!"
Then I usually say, "I love you!" and he usually just looks at me or ignores me or whatever and it's no big deal. Last night for the first time ever though, he responded with, "I love you, mama."
This was wonderful and surprising, but probably not in the way you'd expect from a mama. It was significant because it means he understands the complex syntax and the social use of it. He doesn't have to feel love when he says the words, we already have our nose beep system for that, it's the comprehension and production of language that is interesting.
You see, he didn't just parrot back, "I love you Little Man" or just "I love you" - it's more complex to understand that the subject of the sentence changes. It means his little brain is learning tons about language. That's very cool!
I Love You Mama Greeting Card by oodlesdoodles
Labels: asd, autism, I love you, I love you mama, language, language learning, love, mama, onequartermama
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The global body for maritime professionals.
The Nautical Institute is a non-governmental organisation (NGO) with consultative status at the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Our aim is to represent seafarers' and practical maritime professionals' views at the highest level.
As a representative body, the Institute fulfils its role in many different ways. Membership by proven qualifications and experience helps to set standards. The technical committees ensure that professional opinion and advice is fed back to the industry’s decision making bodies.
Publications written by practitioners for practitioners provide the best operational guidance available and the branches encourage professional development in local areas.
- To provide the strongest possible professional focus, dedicated to improving standards of those involved in control of seagoing craft, while maintaining the Institute as an international centre of nautical excellence.
- To represent the professional views of the Institute's members to and within the international, national and local bodies considering the safety and efficiency of shipping operations.
- To promote and co-ordinate in the public interest the development of nautical studies in all the Institute's branches by :
Encouraging and promoting a high standard of qualification, competence and knowledge among those in control of seagoing craft including non-displacement craft.
Facilitating the exchange and publication of information and ideas on nautical science, encourage research and publish its results.
Establishing and maintaining appropriate educational and professional standards of membership.
Co-operating with Government Departments and other bodies concerned with statutory and other qualifications, and with universities and other educational institutes and authorities in the furtherance of education and training in nautical science and practice.
Encouraging the formation of branches and professional groups in different areas worldwide.
Composed of 8 to 15 Trustees elected by Council, the Executive Board meets 3 or 4 times per year and is the ultimate decision making body for the Institute. It is tasked to develop and implement the Strategic Plan, manage the affairs of the Institute on behalf of the members, and appoint and oversee the performance of the Chief Executive.
It may delegate powers to committees but remains responsible for policy decisions, monitoring progress against plans, issuing an annual report and audited annual accounts. The Trustees must also discharge their statutory and legal responsibilities as Company Directors. Any submissions under the Institute’s Disciplinary Guidelines will be handled by the Board. A sub-committee of Trustees specialises in Financial and Audit matters. The Nautical Institute maintains standards through its committees which mostly report to the Executive Board.
The principal responsibility of Council is to elect the Trustees and ensure delivery of the Constitutional objectives of The Nautical Institute, assurance of performance and assessment of risk. Council also acts as an advisory body to the Executive Board and the specialist committees due to its larger, international composition (35 to 56 members) drawn from many sectors of the maritime industry.
At least half the members of Council must be actively employed in a sea-going capacity. Important functions are strategic oversight and input to the management process and to consider/approve Strategic Plans prepared for the Executive Board by its committees. In so doing it will ensure exploitation of the full range of expert advice available in the international members. The Assurance and Nominations committees report to Council.
Younger Members' Council
The Younger Members' Council is a new addition to our structure, and will come into full operation at the end of 2019. The Younger Members' Council will be made up of 14 members aged 18-35, who are keen to help The Nautical Institute better support our younger members and ensure their views are fully represented. Applications for membership will be open from 1 June until 31 July.
Membership number *
Why do you want to be a part of the NI Younger Members' Council? *
Why do you think you would be a good member of the Younger Members' Council? *
What would the Younger Members' Council achieve? *
Thank you very much for your interest in joining us.
Assurance Committee
A sub-committee of Council members to assess the performance of the Executive Board and committees against agreed Key Performance Indicators and make remedial recommendations to Council where necessary. To assess risk within the governance structure and provide consequent advice to the Executive Board.
Composed of 12 members and reporting to Council, it is tasked to assess candidates for nomination as prospective members: of the Council and its committees; of the Executive Board; and as Chairmen, and where appropriate Vice-Chairmen, of the committees.
This will entail effective succession planning and recommendations to Council. Standards and candidates for Fellowship and Honorary Fellowship are also assessed by this committee so as to make recommendations to Council and the Executive Board. It is also responsible for developing further criteria and procedures, if necessary, for election to and dismissal from the Executive Board.
To consider and make recommendations to the Executive Board concerning all matters of a technical professional nature and their training requirements (correlated with the Professional Development Committee); to oversee, through a Publishing Advisory Group, the publishing activities of the Institute, ensuring that appropriate media are used and standards are maintained. The committee will normally meet twice per year.
To keep under review and advise the Executive Board on proposals and topics related to education, qualifications and professional development for the maritime profession, including accreditation standards. The Committee will particularly ensure recommendations are correlated with seagoing requirements and experience, and that effective professional techniques are proposed to meet new developments internationally. The committee will normally meet twice per year.
This committee will normally meet once per year to formulate, on behalf of the Executive Board, the policy of the Institute on matters to be debated and worked on at the IMO. The committee also oversees the work of the Institute delegation to the IMO and liaises closely with the Chief Executive and Head of Delegation to ensure the Institute makes an effective contribution to the work of the IMO on the basis of evidence gathering from the membership.
A key responsibility of the committee is to select the subject matter that is most important for the Institute to contribute to the IMO. The committee provides a summary report of the Institute’s activities at the IMO to Council and the Executive Board on an annual basis, and it is considered that substantial electronic communication between the members of the committee is necessary throughout the year. Members of this committee are directly elected by Council for 3 years and may be re-elected for further 3 year periods.
The Institute employs a fairly small permanent staff on a full time or part time basis. At least one third are professional mariners who have held senior positions at sea and / or within the maritime industry previously and they are encouraged to maintain current knowledge through coastal voyages annually. Performance standards for staff are laid down in the Institute Staff Handbook. The Institute runs an appraisal scheme related to tasks and performance reviews which in turn are linked to the provisions of the five year Strategic Plan.
Nautical Institute Branches are grouped into world zones.
The principal aim of the Branches is to promote the activities and increase the membership of The Nautical Institute in their area.
The Branches are vibrant, pro-active organisations of current professionals, and provide:
A local professional focus
Communication and fellowship with other nautical professionals (networking)
Solving professional problems through seminars and workshops
A programme of technical and social meetings
Local and, in some cases, national representation on regulatory bodies or user groups
Assistance with updating and professional development
Involvement with projects locally and internationally
Development of management and organisational skills
Captain Nick Nash FNI
Captain Nash is Senior Master for Carnival Corporation’s 144,000 GT, 3,650 passenger vessel the Royal Princess. He also teaches at the group’s simulator training facility in Amsterdam, where he is a part-time lecturer on BRM and Shiphandling.
Captain Nash also served as Vice-President and Senior Vice-President for The Nautical Institute and is an active and enthusiastic member of Council.
Jillian Carson-Jackson FNI
Senior Vice-President
Jillian has over three decades of experience in the maritime environment, both afloat and ashore. This encompasses management experience in aids to navigation, vessel traffic services (VTS), vessel tracking and maritime technology related fields. She also has experience at senior management level in decision-making, policy development, strategic business planning, consensus building and research and development. Her experience spans three continents, with a global reach throughout the international maritime environment.
As an active member of the IALA VTS and ENAV Committees, and as chair of the communications working group of the IALA ENAV Committee, she promotes the effective use of technology to support safe, efficient and pollution free transits. Jillian’s expertise in navigation, education and maritime radio communication technology has been recognised by the award of Fellowships from both the Royal Institute of Navigation and The Nautical Institute. In addition to her active role in the NI, Jillian is both an assistant editor and a peer reviewer of professional papers for the Journal of Navigation (Cambridge University Press).
Captain Duncan A P McKelvie FNI
Duncan is semi-retired and UK based. He oversees the activities of his own company offices in Poland and Dubai supplying general marine and quality documentation, surveys and audits. He also sources skilled shipyard labour for shipyards in Northern Europe, Baltic and Scandinavia and riding squads and superintendents for long and short term contracts.
Mr Walter Vervloesem FNI
Walter founded the IMCS Training Academy in 2014, having been involved in the expansion of the IMCS Group to 19 branch offices worldwide and becoming its Chairman in 2000. He became a marine surveyor on leaving the sea in 1988 with the rank of chief officer on short-sea trade vessels. He pioneered the use of ultrasound for testing the weathertight intergrity of hatch covers and trains people in its use.
Captain André Le Goubin FNI
André is currently employed as a Mooring Master in the lightering trade, undertaking ship-to-ship transfers in the Gulf of Mexico. He has recently started his own company, DNA Marine, where he specialises in providing expert witness services. His experience includes command of high-speed ferries (hydrofoils, mono- and multi-hull ro-ro passenger vessels), working as a pilot for the London Pilotage Service and acting as a marine consultant.
André is also the author of 'Mentoring at Sea - The 10 minute challenge'.
Captain Trevor Bailey FNI
Trevor is a highly-respected Master Mariner with over 45 years’ sea-going and maritime industry experience, starting with BP Tanker Co. Ltd. His experience includes over 15 years in command of cruise ships and ro-ro passenger ferries and extensive experience in marine consultancy.
Trevor is Chairman of the Institute’s Technical Committee and was the Technical Editor for the third edition of the NI’s publication The Nautical Institute on Command.
On Trafalgar Day 2015, Trevor was awarded the UK Merchant Navy Medal for services to safety on high-speed catamaran ferries and to The Nautical Institute.
Mr Peter Hinchliffe FNI
Chairman of the Executive Board
Captain Duncan Telfer FNI
Honorary Treasurer, Executive Board
Captain John Lloyd RD MBA FNI
John joined The Nautical Institute from the Australian Maritime College (AMC) in Tasmania where he was a Professor in the National Centre for Ports and Shipping. During his seven years at AMC he had a two years leave of absence to set up the Angolan Maritime Training Centre. Before joining AMC he spent two years working in the Vanuatu Maritime College.
John’s varied career prior to these appointments included four years in senior positions with Flagship Training in the UK, 10 years with Warsash Maritime Centre as a senior and principal lecturer in simulation and operations, and two years as a marine pilot in Walvis Bay. He served at sea from 1975 for 16 years, gaining command in 1987.
Mr Waheed Din
Ms Bridget Hogan
Director of Publications and Membership
Bridget Hogan is Director of Publishing & Marketing of The Nautical Institute, where she is responsible for the Institute’s 100 plus book titles, its magazine production and its marketing and communications. She has been involved with the publishing industry for more than 40 years and has worked in the maritime industry in various roles for over 35 years.
After starting in newspapers, Bridget moved to industrial reporting, first in the motor industry, then ports and finally shipping. She was appointed a News Editor at 21 and then moved to Lloyd’s List as its senior shipping writer. From there she moved to the shipping industry.
After working for a shipowner, developing the group’s newbuild and offshore programmes, she set up her own consultancy. During that time, she worked in projects, marketing and communications for, among others, shipowners, ship managers, a flag state, ports, the Baltic Exchange, Lloyd’s Register of Shipping, the Oslo Stock Exchange, and the Renault Group.
Bridget has also edited Marine Money and a local newspaper, contributed to a number of international maritime and related journals around the world and has trained and mentored many over her career. After moving to LR Fairplay to manage third party publications, she joined the The Nautical Institute in 2008.
Mr David J Patraiko FNI
Director of Projects
David Patraiko is the Director of Projects for The Nautical Institute, and coordinates its Technical and Professional Development Committees. He is responsible for developing and managing major Institute projects and he represents the professional interests of members in general shipping, training and technical forums.
Much of this work is aimed at assisting members of the Institute with continuous professional development. He has led research and produced many papers and articles on training, electronic navigation, the associated ‘Human Element’ effects created by technology, and Marine Spatial Planning. He is currently involved with the international debate on e-Navigation and is Chairman of the IALA e-navigation working group for Strategy and Operations, Chaired the Industry ECDIS Training Group, and is Chairman of the Green Awards Board of Experts.
After a brief period as an independent consultant and surveyor, in 1997 he accepted the position of Project Manager for The Nautical Institute, and became Director of Projects in 2003. A graduate of the Massachusetts Maritime Academy (US), he sailed on a variety of international vessels in his twelve years in the Merchant Navy (1985 – 1997). He holds an Unlimited Master Mariners licence, and was awarded an MBA degree from Henley Management College (UK).
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Emergency Appeal: Over the past 40 years, @JubileeSailing has delivered nearly 50,000 transformative sailing adventures. They need to urgently raise £1m to be able to continue this life changing work. Donate via their website here: http://www.jst.org.uk/
@NauticalInst Jul 19
The brand new edition of Seaways is out now! This month, we cover safety at sea, paper navigation and inclusive employment. Take a read here: https://bit.ly/2Z8ZzGr
Pleased to support our IMO Goodwill Maritime Ambassador and Fellow of The NI, George Hoyt, yesterday. George gave an inspirational presentation on the 'adoptaship' initiative; generated questions and support form the audience. Great to see youngsters being engaged in maritime.
@NautInstCEO Jun 19
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Battle lines drawn in Scarborough over Wentworth school bond referendum
By Mario Moretto
SCARBOROUGH — Wentworth Intermediate School has problems.
There’s the sprawling nature of the school, with it’s long corridors stemming from a central hub by the main office. The building includes what was supposed to be a temporary addition of portable classrooms; they have no running water or restrooms. It’s estimated that some students spend up to 90 minutes a day commuting to and from class, recess, lunch, gym and the bathroom.
A lack of air conditioning means sweltering classrooms in late spring and early autumn. Services such as occupational therapy are conducted in old locker rooms, where duct tape covers the shower drains.
And an ongoing asbestos problem means many windows are permanently closed for fear of exposing children to the dangerous mineral.
For these reasons and others, Scarborough residents will be asked on Election Day to authorize borrowing $39 million to tear down Wentworth and build a replacement. With interest payments estimated as high as 4.5 percent, the total cost could be up to $66 million for a 30-year bond.
Supporters argue that a new building is the only responsible option.
“It’s not a question of if we have to replace the school, it’s a matter of when,” said Paul Koziel, chairman of the Wentworth Building Committee, which designed the plan for a new school.
Opponents say that even if a new school is needed, the town can’t afford the price tag – especially because neither the School Board nor the committee charged with addressing Wentworth’s problems sought any state money to help fund the project.
“Does it need to be replaced at some point? Yes,” said Jeffrey Messer, a former town councilor. “Does it need to be replaced the way they’re proposing it? Absolutely not.”
Residents were first asked to rebuild the school in 2006, when a plan for a new Wentworth and a new middle school was defeated by voters.
Last year, the Town Council formed a more than 40-member committee to figure out what to do about Wentworth. The committee’s plan became the basis for the proposal on the ballot next month.
The building would total about 163,000 square feet, for a construction price of about $240 per square foot, including a geothermal heating and cooling system.
The school would stand two stories and contain 40 classrooms. It would feature a large, internal courtyard to maximize natural light to classrooms, which ideally will mean no need for artificial lighting during the day. A large gym would be divisible by a curtain, so two gym classes could be held at once.
The school would be home to operations larger than just Wentworth: The high school basketball and track teams would be expected to use the gym, the kitchen would continue to provide food for Wentworth and all the elementary schools, and space would be reserved for community services.
If the referendum is approved, construction could begin as soon as fall 2012, Koziel said.
Too big to pass
But Messer said the Wentworth proposal is the wrong plan at the wrong time.
Messer, a town councilor from 1996 to 2008, served on the High School Building Committee, which developed a plan leading to a bond to renovate that school three years ago.
He says the proposed Wentworth school, topping in at about 203 square feet-per-student, is more than Scarborough needs and too costly.
“It doesn’t strike a balance between affordability and the needs of the students,” Messer said. “A building about 33 percent smaller would be more appropriate.”
Messer cited numbers from School Planning and Management magazine, which said the national median for square footage per student in a middle school is 125 square feet – a number drawn from a survey of construction projects across the nation, including 10 in New England.
Though Maine’s Department of Education doesn’t outline a size standard, Messer said Wentworth is well beyond the national average, and bigger than other projects in the state, all of which at least received state funds.
According to DOE documents, most of the schools that receive money from the state provide between 130 square feet and 180 square feet per student.
Massabesic Middle School in Waterboro, for example, serves about 800 students and provides 136 square feet per student. The SAD 71 Middle School in Kennebunk serves 760 students, with 135 square feet per student.
“I don’t have a problem with replacing the building, but it should be conservative,” Messer said. “At the elementary school level, you don’t need a flagship building.”
‘Smart planning, smart spending’
Koziel, the building committee chairman, said there’s a good reason the Wentworth plan is the size it is: necessity.
The school is designed for a 15 percent growth rate without any more construction, Koziel said. At 900 students, it would be about 181 square feet per student.
Most importantly, he said, the cost of the school is comparable to similar projects.
“If you look at our number in comparison to other schools that have been made at this level, we’re right in the middle,” Koziel said.
The Wentworth project costs about $240 per student. Pricier elementary schools recently received state funding in Brunswick (2010: $301 per student), Falmouth (2009: $331 per student) and Gorham (2010: $314 per student).
Other elementary schools funded in the last three years in Lewiston, Brewer, Ellsworth and Durham all carried higher price tags per student than Wentworth.
Koziel said state funding wasn’t sought because the town can’t afford to wait for funding before building a new Wentworth.
“We likely would not have qualified anyway,” Koziel said. “It’s not that we don’t need a school, it’s that others need it more.” He also said that even if the school did make it on the list, Scarborough may have had to wait years before coming up for funds.
In that time, residents will have to pay between $2.2 million and $2.4 million to continually mitigate the problems from asbestos, mold and flooding. Todd Jepson, the school district’s facilities manager, said $1.6 million has been spent on Wentworth since 2006 on work that will need to be done every year.
Koziel said that’s throwing good money after bad.
“Why not spend money on a new school where there is a return on investment?,” he said. “It’s smart planning, and smart spending.”
‘It’s like a third-world country’
Kelly Noonan-Murphy, a member of the Wentworth Building Committee and candidate for the School Board, called the existing Wentworth school “an embarrassment.”
“This is like a third-world country compared to the middle school,” she said.
Noonan-Murphy has twin fourth-grade daughters at Wentworth. She said the committee worked hard to make the plan as small as possible, while still fulfilling the needs of the students and factoring in future growth.
But, she worries voter turnout will work against her cause.
“People think this is a done deal,” she said, because the Wentworth initiative has taken up so much time at Town Council and School Board meetings. Both those bodies have shown support for the new school.
Noonan-Murphy and the Building Committee are in full campaign mode for approval of the referendum question. Committee members have met with town groups and neighborhood associations and will continue to do so until Election Day.
But Messer said there are more opponents than are making themselves known.
“People won’t speak on the record,” he says. “They know the other side will make them out to be anti-education.”
Koziel said he and the Building Committee are prepared to address any and all concerns about the proposal. The committee will hold a presentation and question-and-answer session at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, at the Scarborough High School Auditorium.
Voters will have their say on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
Mario Moretto can be reached at 781-3661 ext. 106 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @riocarmine.
Forecaster News
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FIGHT FOR THUNDERPUSSY’S TRADEMARK APPROVAL TO RECLAIM NAME FUELLED BY SUPREME COURT
SUPREME COURT STRIKES DOWN BAN ON “SCANDALOUS” TRADEMARKS, FUELING FIGHT FOR THUNDERPUSSY’S TRADEMARK APPROVAL TO RECLAIM NAME
7 WEEKS SUMMER TOUR KICKS OFF JULY 5TH
“Nothing Scandalous Here: It's Time To Grant Thunderpussy's Trademark!” - Forbes Magazine
Yesterday, the Supreme Court struck down a ban on trademarking “immoral” or “scandalous” words as it violates free speech rights, siding with clothing designer Eric Brunetti and his clothing brand FUCT in the case of Iancu v. Brunetti. This will hopefully pave the way for Seattle-based all-female rock band Thunderpussy, who applied for a U.S. trademark to protect their name but were denied on the grounds that it was “immoral” and “scandalous” per the guidelines laid down in the Truman-era Lanham Act of 1946.
In a joint statement, Thunderpussy says: “We were elated after hearing about the decision in favor of Brunetti this morning. For us this has always been a First Amendment issue. It’s not just a victory for one man with a clothing brand or for a misunderstood band, but a triumph of free speech. Thank you Simon Tam and The Slants for laying the groundwork, and thank you to the supreme court for upholding the value of free speech in the Brunetti case.
Much gratitude to the US government for recognizing that there is value in all forms of expression including those that are ‘scandalous and immoral.’ This is a huge step forward! BUT it does not mean that we will automatically be granted our trademark. In fact, it is possible for the US Patent & Trademark Office (USPTO) to rule against us on other grounds if they so choose. But the ruling certainly gives us hope!”
The justices' ruling, which goes against President Trump’s administration, follows a course the Supreme Court took in 2017 striking down a law banning registration of “disparaging” trademarks, in a case involving Asian-American band The Slants whose trademark was initially rejected as being “scandalous” and “disparaging.”
Two years ago, The Slants won their case based on the argument that they were re-appropriating an ethnic slur and turning it into a badge of pride. Similarly, as women, Thunderpussy’s intention has always been to shed a positive light on a word that has been used in a derogatory manner and seen as a joke or weak. Because it is exactly the opposite - the word pussy is powerful.
The band, signed to Stardog Records/Republic Records, is currently working on their second album and will embark on a national tour with Black Pistol Fire and then Hollis Brown next month - full tour dates below & tickets here. Stay tuned for more!
DON’T MISS THUNDERPUSSY LIVE!
7/12: Santa Fe, NM @ Meow Wolf*
7/13: Telluride, CO @ The Ride Festival
7/16: Phoenix, AZ @ Crescent Ballroom*
7/17: Los Angeles, CA @ El Rey*
7/19: San Diego, CA @ Belly Up*
7/20: Sacramento, CA @ Holy Diver*
7/22: Eugene, OR @ Wow Hall
7/23: Portland, OR @ Hawthorne*
7/25: Salt Lake City, UT @ Metro Gallery*
7/26: Aspen, CO @ Belly Up Aspen*
7/29: Kansas City, MO @ The Riot Room*
7/30: St Louis, MO @ Firebird #
7/31: Columbus, OH @ The Basement #
8/2: Cleveland, OH @ Grog Shop #
8/3: Buffalo, NY @ Cobblestone Live
8/4: Montreal, QC @ Turbo House #
8/5: Toronto, ON @ Horseshoe Tavern #
8/7: Cambridge, MA @ Sonias #
8/8: Asbury Park, NJ @ The Saint #
8/9: Brooklyn, NY @ Brooklyn Bowl #
8/10: Philadelphia, PA @ Milkboy #
8/11: Baltimore, MD @ Metro Gallery #
8/13: Nashville, TN @ High Watt #
8/15: Indianapolis, IN @ Hi-Fi Indy #
8/16: Chicago, IL @ Reggie’s Rock Club #
8/17: Saint Paul, MN @ Turf Club #
8/19: Bozeman, MT @ The Eagles Ballroom #
8/20: Boise, ID @ Humpin’ Hannah's
*w/ Black Pistol Fire
with # = w/ Hollis Brown
Source Republic Records
Republic Records: Profile Page
571 Press Releases
June 25, 2019 11:31am ET by Republic Records
republic, records
Shortlink to this content: http://bit.ly/2X6kJc2
All Press Releases By Republic Records
Goo Goo Dolls Unveil Colorful New Music Video For "Miracle Pill"
Sam Huber And The True Groove All-Stars Live At “Berlin Under A” Sunday July 21st, 2019
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As tariffs send soy and corn prices plummeting, Trump says farmers will act like 'patriots'
July 31, 2018 · 4:00 PM EDT
Soy farmers like Phil Sidles have seen prices for their soybeans fall sharply — down around 20 percent since May, not long after China announced retaliatory tariffs on American soybeans.
Jason Margolis/PRI
President Donald Trump was in southwest Illinois last week touting the re-opening of a steel mill. He credited tariffs for bringing back steel jobs.
But Illinois is also soy country — it’s America’s No. 1 soy-producing state — and soy and corn farmers there are worried about tariffs, retaliatory ones from China.
Speaking in Granite City, Illinois, Trump said American farmers would act like patriots to help him win a trade war.
But just how patriotic and patient are American farmers in Illinois feeling? How much belt-tightening can and will they do?
About 100 miles from where President Trump was speaking, Phil Sidles, 31, raises soybeans and corn. His grandparents started the farm in Buffalo, Illinois.
“Grandma, she’s 90 years old, and makes us lunch every once in a while, and Grandpa loves coming out,” Sidles said. “He's not active in the day to day anymore, but still likes to come out and make sure everything's going to plan.”
Things aren’t going to plan right now. Corn and soybean prices have fallen roughly 20 percent since China announced that it was putting tariffs on them back in the spring.
Corn and soybean prices.
farmdoc daily/University of Illinois
“It's hit our bottom line, sure," Sidles said. "This is kind of a new playing field, for me, especially, being a younger generation farmer: a trade war. And that's a scary term.”
Many farmers did lock in contracts before the price slide, and some are simply holding onto their crop until things turn around. Still, some farmers have to sell while prices are lower. (The US government discontinued direct payments to help farmers in 2014, but does help with a type of subsidized crop insurance.)
Sidles voted for Trump, and he believes in the president’s larger mission: trying to create a more level playing field for US trade overall, not just for agriculture.
“I have confidence and hope,” Sidles said. “He’s a businessman and knows what he’s doing. I think we can all agree that there have been trade problems in the world.”
But Sidles also appears conflicted about the president’s tariffs, and he worries about his family’s farm: “How long do we have to take it on the nose to see the endgame and have those positives of what he's trying to do?”
With that in mind, would Sidles vote for Trump again if the election were next week?
“To be honest, I really can't answer that,” he said. “I really don't know. There's a whole heap of things that go into my decision when I make a vote. And, obviously, running a business is a huge part of it. But there are a lot of other things: social issues and a whole heap of things.”
Mark Reichert, 58, grows soy and corn in Auburn, Illinois, and sits on the Illinois Farm Bureau board of directors. He didn’t want to talk about Trump or how he voted in 2016.
“I'm just not going to get political,” he said.
Reichert likes that the president has rolled back some regulations. But Trump’s trade policies have him worried that he’ll lose customers to places like Brazil.
"After all those years of being a trusted trader, now you have to rebuild all those relations. And it's going to take a little ways to recover,” Reichert said. “It's going to take a lot of work on our part to garner that business back.”
Illinois farmer Mark Reichert stands in his soybean fields. Reichert worries about the long-term impacts of Chinese tariffs — that it could be hard to get Chinese customers back.
Reichert is also bothered that the president has stepped away from international trade deals, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership, a 12-nation trade pact negotiated under the Obama administration that would’ve opened new markets for farmers. Trump pulled out of the deal as one of his first actions as president.
To help weather the storm, Trump announced last week that he would provide farmers with $12 billion in aid. Reichert said he appreciates the gesture, but: “Farmers would much rather embrace the free market. We would much rather have a market for our products than taking welfare.”
Soy and corn farmer Dale Hadden, 55, in Jacksonville, Illinois, says he has a better idea what to do with that aid money. “Take that $12 billion and use it in improving access to world markets.”
Last week, the president said that Europe would be buying a lot more American soybeans. Hadden wasn’t impressed with the announcement.
“Honestly, that deal was already in the works," he said. "What he's accomplished might have made it a little bit better. But what I'm saying is Europe is not one of our major importers of our goods. Mexico, China, Canada, Japan — those are big importers of our products.”
Trump also offered no details about how he would get Europe to buy more American soy, especially since private European businesses would be doing the purchasing and it’s unclear how European governments could make them buy soybeans from American farmers.
In agricultural towns like Jacksonville, it’s not just farmers feeling the pain from tariffs.
“I had a conversation with a car dealer the other day about my 16-year-old daughter looking for a vehicle. And I asked him, ‘Is it having an effect?’ And he said, ‘Definitely it's having an effect,’” Hadden said. “When farmers are not able to produce their crops and get at least what they need to recoup their costs, they're not going to be buyers in the marketplace for new products such as a pickup truck, or a new piece of farm equipment, or making improvements to a grain-handling system. So it’s going to have a ripple-down effect throughout all of rural America.”
So just how long can these farmers, and rural America, hold out? They’ve had several difficult years already. What are Hadden’s thoughts about the president’s statements that farmers would be patriots and stand up for his trade policies?
“I don’t disagree," Hadden said. "I know it's important to try and get some level-playing fields for some of these other markets. [But] we can't stand to be in this predicament price-wise for a very long period of time. These commodity prices were barely at or above break-even for me, so we’re below break-even, our cost of production.”
Hadden says if the financial stress continues into next year, people are simply going to give up and sell the farm.
Phil Sidles, who’s a generation younger, is trying to take the long view: “Grandma and grandpa literally lived through the Depression, and the struggles in the ‘80s, and then here we are the third generation talking about the ‘Tariff of ‘18.’”
The farmers hope that name sticks, and it doesn’t become known as Tariff of ‘19 as well, or worse.
Farmer Dale Hadden pets his dog, Boomer. Hadden worries that if commodity prices stay depressed into next year, there will be an exodus of farmers in Illinois.
Puerto Rico’s Vieques island ousted the US Navy. Now the fight’s against Airbnb.
Business, Economics and JobsBusinessEconomicsLifestyle & Belief50 States
North AmericaEuropeChinaUnited StatesTrumpPhil SidlesDonald TrumpMark ReichertDale Hadden
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The U.S. Department of Energy awarded Interplay Learning a $1.25 million cooperative award
Driving development of Interplay Learning's Solar Training Platform
Interplay Learning
AUSTIN, Texas, Oct. 4, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Interplay Learning is honored to announce that U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative has awarded it a $1.25 million cooperative award. The award will drive the development of Interplay Learning's Solar Training Platform, a first-of-its-kind content platform featuring 3D simulations and leveraging the latest in education technology.
Interplay's Platform will reduce training costs and drive employee productivity. The training solution addresses the installation quality issues and manpower bottlenecks which have constrained industry growth over the last several years.
The funding is delivered through the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative's Technology to Market program. The goal of the program is to enable the widespread market penetration of highly impactful solar technologies and solutions through technology research, development and demonstration to facilitate new products entering the solar market. Interplay will be using the funding to build out a series of simulation-based trainings and a platform of tools to accelerate how solar companies onboard and train new employees. Interplay will work directly with solar manufacturers needing to scale pivotal trainings across the solar market.
Doug Donovan, chief executive officer of Interplay, adds, "We are thrilled to be contributing to advancing the goals of the SunShot Initiative. The Interplay Training Platform will directly translate into lower industry soft costs for installer companies and equipment manufacturers."
Interplay entered into the solar training space in 2014 in partnership with the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) by delivering an Advanced Solar Troubleshooting Simulation Training.
About The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative
The U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative is a collaborative national effort that aggressively drives innovation to make solar energy fully cost-competitive with traditional energy sources before the end of the decade. Through SunShot, the Energy Department supports efforts by private companies, universities, and national laboratories to drive down the cost of solar electricity to $0.06 per kilowatt-hour. Learn more at energy.gov/sunshot.
About Interplay Learning
Interplay Learning develops online digital learning products for students and professionals to build career skills and technical aptitude. Interplay's specialty is 3-D interactive life-like simulation which allows a learner to accelerate practical understanding and application. Interplay products can be found in education, government, career certification and industry.
Contact: Interplay Learning, Craig Carter, (310) 662-1767
SOURCE Interplay Learning
http://www.interplay-learning.com
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When Pocket-lint met Dr Dre
Dan Sung | 28 May 2014
What is the Pocket-lint daily and how do you get it for free?
In 2010 Pocket-lint flew to New York to interview Dr Dre and Jimmy Lovine to talk about the Beats Audio headphones launch.
Although promised a long interview slot with the two founders about gadgets, tech, and the new headphones, the 3-day trip ultimately boiled down to a 15 minute interview with Dr Dre telling us that he "didn't like gadgets."
On the news that the pair will join Apple following the sale of the company for $3bn we've republished the interview from October 2010. Many of the answers the two gave then stand true today, and it's fascinating to see that, even then, the company was working closely with Apple.
New York's a long way to go for the sake 15 minutes, but when those 900 seconds are to be spent in the company of Dr Dre, it's worth the trip.
Waiting just inside the door of suite 503 of the St Regus Hotel on East 55th, Pocket-lint's told that our time slot has dropped by a third. We cross out a handful of the more trivial questions from our biro-scrawled spiral bind. Probably not so important to find out if there are any other products that the legendary rap producer will be putting his name to beyond the Beats By Dr Dre series of headphones that have been launched just an hour ago, and the line of cognac he's set to be starting. It might also be best to steer away from nagging about the next album. Okay, so that’s about 10 minutes worth of chat now.
What we hadn't bargained on was the lion's share of that getting sucked up by Dre's business partner in the Beats venture - producer and owner of Interscope Records, Jimmy Iovine.
Walking into the sitting room of the suite is something closer to going onto a film set. One end of the cream, Regency-style quarters is taken up by a lighting rig beaming an over-bright spot onto the striped sofa at the far wall, and the only thing that shines back brighter than the ivory upholstery is a ring of thick cut diamonds wedged about the bezel of what would probably be a Rolex if it were possible to actually read the face of the timepiece but for the blinding shards of reflection.
Wearing the watch is one Andre Romelle Young, founder of the West Coast G-Funk sound, Grammy Award winnner, one time co-owner of Death Row Records and also known as Dr Dre. In his mid-40s, he's definitely aged from the inside cover picture of his last album recorded more than 10 years ago now. To his credit though, the man's been working out. Still Dre, still broad shouldered and even more barrel-chested than any photograph could tell, but no hint of what appeared to be a little too much of the good life in times gone by.
He sits perched on the edge of the couch in a pair of black jeans and matching black long sleeve top, fingers knitted in a barricade between him and Pocket-lint. If we didn't know better, we'd have said he looked nervous.
To his left, half his size but occupying just as much space at the other end of the sofa is Dre's business partner and old-time record producer with just about all the top US stars you can think of on his label - Jimmy Iovine. You couldn't pick two more different looking people - Dre from the West Coast, large set with tight cropped hair, generous features, a frame to match and, as it turns out, rather quiet; Jimmy - short, slight, wiry with what hair he may or may not have permanently hidden under a baseball cap and a mouth hurling Brooklyn vernacular at a rate that makes you wonder how he finds the time to breathe.
Both greet Pocket-lint with a firm handshake and sit ready for battle, slightly more confrontational than the friendly encounter we'd been hoping for. There's one thing on their minds and that's to sell Beats By Dr Dre. We've already been warned not to ask them personal questions. This interview is to be firmly based on the products and, just in case we'd forgotten, there's a Beatbox sitting on the glass coffee table between the two sides of this meeting.
"You want a cookie?" asks Iovine with a face so straight we can't help wondering whether he's taking the piss. Fourty-three seconds already gone and we've no intention of eating up any more time trying to find out.
Question 1: If you gave someone a set of Beats and you had one song to play to them to convince them to buy a pair, what would it be?
Jimmy: "In Da Club by 50 Cent. It was actually the track we used to tune these products by. We chose it because if you look at the wave form of it, it's like a sandwich from Carnegie's Deli. It's just packed full; so thick with lines all over the place that it covers all the ranges that we need sound equipment to be able to perform on. Then I would go to rock songs like any great U2 record (an act which Jimmy produced) and then one that I use to tune it is Here Comes my Girl from Damn the Torpedoes (Tom Petty also featuring on Iovine's CV). We have to make sure it works on different genres. Once we set it on In Da Club, then we also make sure it sounds great on rock and pop - Lady Gaga's Bad Romance is another good one."
Dre: "Yeah, one of the other songs I like is Human Nature."
Jimmy: "Billie Jean, I listen to as well. That has a great bass profile."
PL: And are those the songs you would listen use to test out any music kit you bought for your home?
Dre: "Absolutely, those are the songs. Human Nature, I feel, is a perfectly mixed song. One of the few perfectly mixed songs. That song and definitely Billie Jean - and a couple of Nirvana songs."
PL: Which ones?
Dre: "I really like (laughs), as funny as it sounds, there was a song that Nirvana did called Stay Away. I really like that and Smells Like Teen Spirit, but Stay Away wasn't a big record, not one of their more popular songs but I really like it."
One, or one and a half, questions down, if you count the follow up, and 3.27 minutes gone says the Pocket-lint voice recorder on the table below. We want to ask what other music the Doc's into, we're dying to find out about his upcoming album, Detox, but there just isn't the time. The clock is ticking and it's strictly business.
Question 2: If you could give a set of Beats to one person in the world, dead or alive, to show them how great they are, who would you pick?
There's murmurings from both men as their eyes search the hotel room beyond the cakes and drinks delicately poised on a silver trolley for any answers to a question they've clearly never considered. Ten or 20 seconds of our precious time later...
Jimmy: "That's easy for me, John Lennon." - a man whom Jimmy worked with.
Dre: "Oh that's good. I'd have to go with Michael Jackson."
PL: "Why?"
Another pause. "They, in my opinion, were the greatest at what they did", says Jimmy. Dre nods, and that's as much explanation as we get on the matter. 4.36 on the clock
Question 3: Apart from the Beats series, what other gadgets are you into?
Jimmy: "Well we differ quite considerably here. I like convenience. When I walk or run or whatever, I want a song around my head. If I'm at a hotel room, I want that (he points down to the Beatbox). It depends on what I'm doing, I like the convenience."
Afraid of Jimmy going off on one about the Beats By Dr Dre products - a speech we heard at the press conference and one he's threatened to embark upon once already during this interview - we decide to avoid a follow up and instead turn to Dre.
Dre: "I'm not really a gadget fan. All I do is check emails and use my iPhone. If I can't use something in the studio, then I don’t care."
"I'm not really a gadget fan". Walls tumble down inside Pocket-lint's head; a mental list of questions and fantasised conversations on everything from video gaming to iPad apps is eradicated in imaginary red pen. Stunned for a second, Jimmy senses weakness and starts in on the spiel he's been determined to roll out all afternoon.
Jimmy: "You know, I just took my $8000 Tannoy system and I replaced it with that," he says pointing back to the Beatbox. "It took me 15 years to put my system together. I bought the speakers there in the shop in Oxfordshire or wherever it was but all I'm listening to at the moment is this."
We're not going to argue with him on the virtues of a modern $400 iPod dock with no sub-woofer next to a classic, all wooden set up worth 20 times as much. He might be telling the truth, but the fact is that we've not had the opportunity to put the Beatbox through its paces, nor the invitation to go to Iovine's studios to make the comparison.
"Last question", calls the Beats By Dr Dre PR representative from behind us. The counter on the recorder reads 6 minutes. We're not going to waste the last of it arguing about the time.
Question 4: How do you feel about digital music? We heard what you said before at the press conference and there's obviously a strong feeling about it...
"No, it's a fact", interrupts Iovine. His opinions on file compression all too clear from this afternoon's speech at the Best Buy Theatre on Broadway and one of the reasons he and Dre have decided to launch products to make music sound better. We continue.
But at the same time it gives people access to more music that maybe they didn't have before. So, how do you feel about them listening to these files through your carefully tuned products?
Jimmy: "Access is one thing. You've got access to food but if it's bad, it's bad."
PL: "Right, but people have got to eat, haven't they?"
Jimmy: "If they want eat and throw up really quickly they can eat bad, rotten food. Access ... access ... is ... I don't ... I'm not afraid of the access..."
There ensues a flow of answers to a question we didn't ask. The conversation bends round to talking about the deal between Beats By Dr Dre and HP to make a special range of Envy notebooks with a bigger proportion of the internal space given over to audio circuitry and larger speakers.
"...We're not saying we have to do every computer. We're doing 5 million of them with HP that sound better than any other computer in the world, and if I was somebody and I'm going to buy a PC, I would by an HP PC because it sounds better. They cost the same and the prices are competitive. If you're going to use your computer through a home system, your stereo system, right now it sounds like a portable radio or portable television."
Seconds remaining on the clock and Iovine manages to sidetrack himself back on topic and finally come up with an astute answer that a clearly clever man has been managing to hide from himself for a good minute or two.
"With Beats By Dr Dre, it means that at least two parts of the digital music chain are now right - they have Beats headphones and an MP3 player which is probably good. The files are going to get better. What we're doing now from Interscope's side is we're shipping better files to Apple for iTunes. We're upgrading the files and they're working on theirs to make them better. So, you've got a file and a computer, MP3 player, a set of headphones or good pair of speakers that are true, or not so much true as sound the way the musician wants them to sound. That's a good ecosystem. So you improve as many parts as possible and maybe soon the journey from the artist to your ears will be as the music was originally intended."
PL: "So what's next," we ask, "Beats By Dr Dre encoded files?"
Dre nods with interest but, again, it's Jimmy who replies: "All you need is to get close to the original file and Apple's getting close to handling that. We've got to build quality. The rest will come."
"Damn, it's cold in here," says Dre as he leaves the room to get a jumper. 8 minutes and 21. The interview is over.
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Eric Draper/George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
‘We’re the Only Plane in the Sky’
Where was the president in the eight hours after the Sept. 11 attacks? The strange, harrowing journey of Air Force One, as told by the people who were on board.
Journalist Garrett M. Graff (@vermontgmg) is the author of The Threat Matrix: The FBI at War, and a former editor of POLITICO Magazine. His next book, Raven Rock, about the U.S. government’s Doomsday plans, will be published in May 2017. He can be reached at garrett.graff@gmail.com.
Nearly every American above a certain age remembers precisely where they were on September 11, 2001. But for a tiny handful of people, those memories touch American presidential history. Shortly after the attacks began, the most powerful man in the world, who had been informed of the World Trade Center explosions in a Florida classroom, was escorted to a runway and sent to the safest place his handlers could think of: the open sky.
For the next eight hours, with American airspace completely cleared of jets, a single blue-and-white Boeing 747, tail number 29000—filled with about 65 passengers, crew and press, and the 43rd president, George W. Bush, as well as 70 box lunches and 25 pounds of bananas—traversed the eastern United States. On board, President Bush and his aides argued about two competing interests—the need to return to Washington and reassure a nation and the competing need to protect the commander in chief. All the while, he and his staff grappled with the aftermath of the worst attack on American soil in their lifetimes, making crucial decisions with only flickering information about the attacks unfolding below. Bush struggled even to contact his family and to reach Vice President Dick Cheney in the White House bunker.
The story of those remarkable hours—and the thoughts and emotions of those aboard—isolated eight miles above America, escorted by three F-16 fighters, flying just below the speed of sound, has never been comprehensively told.
This oral history, based on more than 40 hours of original interviews with more than two dozen of the passengers, crew and press aboard—including many who have never spoken publicly about what they witnessed that day—traces the story of how an untested president, a sidearm-carrying general, top aides, the Secret Service and the Cipro-wielding White House physician, as well as five reporters, four radio operators, three pilots, two congressmen and a stenographer responded to 9/11.
Andy Card, chief of staff, White House: We woke up in Sarasota, Florida, at the Colony Resort. There was a terrible stench in the air—the red tide had killed a lot of fish that had washed up on the shore. I remember being struck by that smell coming from Air Force One the night before. We’d gone off to dinner in Tampa. It was unusual for President Bush to stay out late like that, but it was a relaxing evening.
Ari Fleischer, press secretary, White House: The day couldn’t have begun any better or more beautifully.
Gordon Johndroe, assistant press secretary, White House: The day starts off very normally—the president went for a run, and I took the [press] pool out with the president. I remember I got stung by a bee, and I asked Dr. Tubb if he had something he could give me for the swelling. He said, “Yeah, we’ll get you something when we get to the airplane.” Needless to say, I promptly forgot about it that day.
Sonya Ross, reporter, Associated Press: This was a garden variety trip. It was low-ranking staff and a lot of the top journalists didn’t come. It was a scrub trip.
Mike Morell, presidential briefer, Central Intelligence Agency: I walked into his suite [for the president’s morning intelligence briefing]; he was surrounded by breakfast foods and he hadn’t touched any of it. He asked me if I’d gone to the beach the night before, and I told him I’d just gone right to bed. The second intifada was well underway then, and the briefings at that time were very heavy on Israeli-Palestinian stuff. A good bit of the briefing that morning was about Israeli matters. There was one thing that caught his attention, and he picked up the phone to call Condi [Rice] to ask her to follow up on it. There was nothing in the briefing about terrorism. It was very routine—just him, me, Andy Card and Deb Loewer from the Situation Room.
Andy Card: The president was in a great mood. He had that George W. Bush strut that morning.
B. Alexander “Sandy” Kress, senior education adviser, White House: The whole point of the trip was education. He was pushing No Child Left Behind as Congress was coming back to Washington. [Secretary of Education] Rod Paige and I briefed him ahead of his remarks to the press. It was a beautiful day—we were in his suite. He was in a really good mood. We were out of the Oval and he was relaxed. Those were probably the last carefree moments he had in his term.
Andy Card: I remember literally telling him, “It should be an easy day.” Those were the words. “It should be an easy day.”
I. Emma Booker Elementary School, Sarasota, Fla.
Ari Fleischer: Back in 2001, no one had iPhones or BlackBerrys. I had this high-tech pager on my belt—it was two-way, in that you could send back one of like 14 preprogrammed responses. For the day, it was pretty fancy-fancy stuff. As we were driving to the first stop for the day, I got a page from Brian Bravo, who put together the White House news clips.
Brian Bravo, press assistant, White House: My job was to just scour the news—TV, the AP wire, Bloomberg. I just spent my time at the desk [in the White House], feeding the news all day to the White House staff. I actually had a buddy in New York who called me. He worked in a tall office tower and had seen the first plane hit. It was word-of-mouth intel, but then I started to see TV starting to cover it. To get to the pagers they used back then on the road, I’d have to parse any story down to a few short words. I just said, “A plane has hit the World Trade Center.” At that point, no one knew what it meant.
Ari Fleischer: I got out [of the motorcade] thinking this must’ve been some kind of terrible accident.
Brian Montgomery, director of advance, White House: When the motorcade arrives, I get out and I was running towards the limo—I always run towards the limo—and Mark Rosenker, the head of the White House Military Officer, says to me, “Dr. Rice needs to talk to the president.”
Ari Fleischer: Karl Rove told [the president] first.
Karl Rove, senior adviser, White House: We were standing outside the elementary school. My phone rang. It was my assistant Susan Ralston, saying that a plane had hit the World Trade Center—it wasn’t clear whether it was private, commercial, prop, or jet. That’s all she had. The boss was about two feet away. He was shaking hands. I told him the same thing. He arched his eyebrows like, “Get more.”
Dave Wilkinson, assistant agent-in-charge, U.S. Secret Service: Eddie Marinzel and I were the two lead agents with the president that day. The head of the detail was back in Washington. We heard, “There’s an incident in New York.”
Brian Montgomery: There was this group of students, all young ladies in uniforms and teachers, all oblivious to all of this. They had no idea what was going on. The president was very gracious and greeted them, and then said, “I need to go take an important telephone call.” He went into the holding room and went directly to the STU-III [the secure telephone].
Ari Fleischer: There’s always a secure telephone waiting for the president, but in the nine months he’d been president, I don’t think we’d ever used one before an event like that. Condi was holding for him.
Andy Card: We were standing at the door to the classroom, when a staffer came up and said, simply, “Sir, it appears that a twin-engine prop plane crashed into one of the World Trade Center towers.” We all said something like what a tragedy. I remember I was thinking about the passengers—how much they must’ve worried as they realized what was about to happen. It was only a nanosecond, and then the principal opened the door and the president went into the classroom to meet the students.
Brian Montgomery: We’re trying to get a TV for the hold room—all we could find was this massive 30-inch TV on a cart with rabbit ears.
‘The Safest and Most Dangerous Place in the World at the Exact Same Time’: Click to view gallery. | George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Dave Wilkinson: We take everything extremely seriously, anything that could affect the presidency. We began speaking to experts back at the White House. No one knew anything. We’re asking ourselves, “Is there any direction of interest towards the president?” That’s the phrase, “direction of interest.” Or is this just an attack on New York?
Sandy Kress: I was back in the media room. There was some buzz about the first plane, people were watching it on a TV. Then there was a stampede across the media room as they saw the second plane hit.
Rep. Adam Putnam (R-Florida): I was brand new. I was a freshman [congressman]. We’d gone into the media center, when the main event was going to be, while we wait for the president and the children to read together in the other room. We were clustered around the TV and watched the second plane hit.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark, superintendent of communications, Air Force One: From all indications, it was going to be a simple trip. I had breakfast with one of the navigators, and we were talking about how we were having breakfast in Florida and we’re going to be back in time for lunch.
Col. Mark Tillman, presidential pilot, Air Force One: We were all getting ready, based on the estimated departure time. All of us had already shown up at the plane.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: There were two TV tuners, worldwide television tuners [at my workspace on Air Force One]. They were like old-school rabbit ears—UHF and VHF frequencies. We didn’t have the ability to tune into CNN, Fox, or anything else. It was the Today Show, the strongest signal that day, and they’re showing pictures [of the Towers], smoke billowing out. I saw the second airplane strike. I said, “Oh shit.” I just dropped everything and ran downstairs to get Colonel Tillman: “You’ve got to come see this.”
Col. Mark Tillman: It didn’t make any sense. It’s a clear-and-a-million day.
President George W. Bush participates in a reading demonstration the morning of Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida. | George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Staff Sgt. William “Buzz” Buzinski, security, Air Force One: Our job is to protect the asset [Air Force One]. The Secret Service is principal protection. We’re asset protection. We protect the plane 24 hours a day, even after the president has left. One of the advance [Secret Service] agents had told us about the first plane. Then about 17 minutes later, I see the same guy sprinting across the tarmac. He said, “Another plane hit the towers.” I knew instantly it was terrorism. We started to increase security around the plane—made it a tighter bubble.
Staff Sgt. Paul Germain, airborne communications system operator, Air Force One: We thought it was weird even just when the first plane hit. People who know airplanes, that’s some real stuff right there. Big airplanes just don’t hit little buildings. Then, as soon as that second plane hit, that switchboard lit up like a Christmas tree.
Col. Mark Tillman: Everything started coming alive. We were hooked into the PEOC [the White House bunker] and the JOC [Joint Operations Center], for the Secret Service. They’re all in the link now.
Andy Card: Another plane hit the other Tower. My mind flashed to three initials: UBL. Usama bin Laden. Then I was thinking that we had White House people there—my deputy, Joe Hagin, and a team were in New York preparing for the U.N. General Assembly. I was thinking that Joe was probably at the World Trade Center, that’s where the Secret Service office was, in the basement.
Mike Morell: I was really worried that someone was going to fly a plane into that school. This event had been on schedule for weeks, anyone could have known about it. Eddie [Marinzel, the lead Secret Service agent] wanted to get the hell out of there as fast as possible.
Rep. Adam Putnam: There’s some debate within the staff that I can hear about how the president needs to address the nation. They’re saying, “We can’t do it here. You can’t do it in front of fifth-graders.” The Secret Service is saying, “You’re doing it here or you’re not doing at all. We’re not taking the time to do it somewhere else. We need to get him secure.”
Dave Wilkinson: We’re talking to folks back at the White House, we’re beginning to get the motorcade up and running, getting the motorcycle cops back, we’re ready to evacuate at a moment’s notice. All of a sudden it hits me: The president’s the only one who doesn’t know that this plane has hit the second building. It was a discomfort to all of us that the president didn’t know. The event was dragging on, and that’s when Andy Card came out.
Andy Card: A thousand times a day, a chief of staff has to ask “Does the president need to know?” This was an easy test to pass. As strange as it sounds, as I was standing there waiting to talk to the president, I was reflecting on another time that I’d had to be the calm one: I’d been acting chief of staff to President George H.W. Bush when he threw up on the Japanese prime minister. I was all business in that moment. He’d refused to get in the ambulance—he didn’t want anyone to see the president get in the ambulance—and in the limo, he’s still sick and he’s getting sick on me. In the hotel, I take out my laminated “in case of emergency” card. I went down my checklist. I was telling people, “He’s not dying, he’s still the president.” My job that day was to be calm, cool, and collected. Not the same magnitude, of course, but I knew my job on 9/11 was to be calm, cool, and collected.
At left, George W. Bush calls New York Governor George Pataki, FBI Director Robert Mueller and Vice President Dick Cheney shortly after he learns of the September 11 attacks from Emma E. Booker Elementary School. White House Chief of Staff Andy Card talks on a cell phone. At right, Bush watches TV news coverage of New York. | George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Karl Rove: I remember [Andy Card] pausing at the door, before he went in, it seemed like forever, but it was probably just a couple heartbeats. I never understood why, but he told me, years later, that he needed to spend a moment formulating the words he wanted to use.
Andy Card: When I was standing at the classroom door, I knew I was delivering a message that no president would want to hear. I knew that my message would define the moment. I decided to pass on two facts and an editorial comment. I didn’t want to invite a conversation because the president was sitting in front of the classroom. I entered the room and Ann Compton, of ABC, in the press pool, gestured, “What’s up?” I gestured back to her, two planes crashing. She gestured “What?” Then the teacher asked the students to take out their books, so I took that opportunity to approach the president. I whispered in his ear, “A second plane hit the second Tower. America is under attack.” I took a couple steps back so he couldn’t ask any questions. The students were completely focused on their books. I remember thinking what a bizarre stage we’re standing on. I was pleased with how the president reacted—he didn’t do anything to create fear.
Ellen Eckert, stenographer, White House: There are six stenographers who work for the [White House] press office. One of us always travels with the president. I always said I typed fast for a living all over the world. [That morning] was uneventful until Andy walked in.
Ari Fleischer: For Andy to interrupt a presidential event, [we knew] it had to be of monumental consequence. You just didn’t do that.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: Everything started lighting up. We saw Andy Card whisper in the president’s ear. We still didn’t know what the hell was going on. We’re just monitoring the Secret Service and staff radio channels. It was chaos. What’s next? All of a sudden, other reports start coming in—explosion at the White House, car bomb at the State Department. We’re under attack. I was 35 years old. My military career and my perspective is, I’m thinking Cold War, the big bad Soviet bear. This was an extensive attack. Could this be a nation-state?
Gordon Johndroe: Having been in that room—and it wasn’t an issue until the Michael Moore documentary [Fahrenheit 9/11]—it would have been odd if he’d jumped up and ran from the room. It didn’t seem like an eternity in the room. He finished the book and went back into the hold room.
Karl Rove: When the president walked back into the staff hold, he said, “We’re at war—give me the FBI director and the vice president.”
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Ellen Eckert: As we’re walking out of the classroom, everyone’s pager started going off.
Rep. Adam Putnam: Matt Kirk, our White House liaison, says to [Rep. Dan Miller (R-Fla.), the other congressman traveling with the presidential party, and me], “We might be the only plane back to D.C. today.” He tells us that if we want a ride, we need to not have anyone notice us. If anyone notices us, they won’t let us back on board. We need to be inconspicuous quickly, so we went and just got in our vehicle in the motorcade. You could see the windows and hatches of the motorcade open up, the visible expression of the armaments that are always around the president.
Karl Rove: Eddie Marinzel [from the Secret Service] came up to the president, he was sitting in one of those tiny elementary school chairs, and Eddie said, “We need to get you to Air Force One and get you airborne.” They’d determined this might be an effort to decapitate the government.
Dave Wilkinson: We ended up with a compromise—Andy Card said we have a whole auditorium full, waiting for the next event. There was no imminent threat there in Sarasota, so we agreed [the president could give a statement before we left.]
Brian Montgomery: It was the fear of the unknown. We didn’t know if someone had put a biological agent or chemical agent at the school. He went to the auditorium. I remember looking at the students when he said, “America is under attack,” and these girls, their faces were saying, “What’s he’s telling us?”
Andy Card: He gave a very brief statement, he started off and I cringed right away. He said, “I’m going back to Washington, D.C.” And I thought, you don’t know that. We don’t know that. We don’t know where we’re going.
Gordon Johndroe: I told the press we’d be leaving right for the motorcade. We have this joke, mostly with the photographers—no running. No running to catch the president. This time, I told them, “Guys, we’re going to have to run. We’re going to have to run to the motorcade.” Going down the highway, our 15-passenger van was barely keeping up.
Dave Wilkinson: The motorcade left there and in a very aggressive fashion we got to the aircraft. Intelligence information is always sketchy. When we’re riding is the first time that we hear that’s there’s something vague about a threat to the president. That ratcheted things up.
Rep. Adam Putnam: On the motorcade back, there are all these protesters—it was still all about the recount—signs like, “Shrub stole the election.”
Andy Card: In the limo, we’re both on our cellphones—he’s frustrated because he can’t reach Don Rumsfeld. It was a very fast limo ride. We didn’t know that the Pentagon had just been attacked, so that’s why we couldn’t get Rumsfeld.
Dave Wilkinson: We asked for double-motorcade blocks at the intersection. Double and triple blocks. Not just motorcycle officers standing there with their arms up, but vehicles actually blocking the road. Now we’re worried about a car bomb. The whole way back, we were using the limos as a shell game, to keep the president safe. At the airport, we’re no longer worried about the president waving to people. No handshakes, no hugs goodbye, it’s out of the motorcade, up the stairs, we just don’t know what the hell is going on.
Mike Morell: When we got back to the plane, it was ringed by security and Secret Service with automatic weapons. I’d never seen anything like that before. They re-searched everyone before we could reboard, not just the press. They searched Andy Card’s briefcase, he was standing right in front of me in line. They went through my briefcase, which was filled with all these classified materials, but I wasn’t going to object that day.
Col. Mark Tillman: As the motorcade’s coming in, I’ve got the 3 and 4 engines were already running.
Andy Card: When the limo door opened, I was struck that the engines on Air Force One were running. That’s normally a protocol no-no.
Buzz Buzinski: You never lose the excitement of seeing the motorcade. I’m on the back stairs watching as they pull up. I was wondering, “What’s the president thinking? What’s Andy Card thinking? What are they doing to make it happen?” You could feel it. You could feel the tension. We’d been attacked on our soil. You could see it on their face—Andy Card, Ari Fleischer, the president.
Sonya Ross: They brought out the bomb-sniffing dogs. They were drooling all [over] the luggage. I had dog spittle all over my bags.
Buzz Buzinski: Everyone other than the president and his senior staff enter through the back stairs, so about 80 percent of the passengers came past us. You could see fear and shock. People couldn’t believe what they had just seen. They didn’t know what to do.
Sandy Kress: Getting on the plane was different than it ever had been. There was a lot of attention to our credentials, who we were. We had to show ID and our badge, not just the badge. And this even though the crew knew most of us.
Eric Draper, presidential photographer, White House: The Secret Service wanted to get him on the plane as quickly as possible. I figured that I’ve got to stick like glue to the president. Obviously, I know it’s going to be a big day. My goal was to find him as quickly as possible on board, but Andy Card said at the top of the stairs, “Take the batteries out of your cellphone. We don’t want to be tracked.” That brought me up. “Are we a target?” I wasn’t thinking of that.
Col. Mark Tillman: President Bush comes up the stairs in Sarasota, now you watch him come up the stairs every day, that famous Texas swagger. He was focused that day. No swagger. He was just trucking up the stairs. He was a man on a mission. As soon as the passengers are on board, I fire [engines] 1 and 2.
Andy Card: We’re starting to roll almost before the president gets into the suite.
Rep. Adam Putnam: There was one van, maybe a press van, that was parked too close to the plane’s wing. I remember a Secret Service agent running down the aisle; they opened the back stairs, he ran down to move the truck. He never made it back on board. They didn’t wait for him.
Gordon Johndroe: We took off and it was something out of [the movie] Independence Day. That thing took off like a rocket. The lamps are shaking they’d fired up the engines so much.
Karl Rove: [Col. Tillman] stood that thing on its tail—just nose up, tail down, like we were on a roller coaster.
Ellen Eckert: We were climbing so high and so fast I started to wonder if we’d need oxygen masks.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: It was the uncertainty. As we’re taking off, you’re still getting all this misinformation. Your head was spinning, trying to figure out what had actually happened. The only thing we knew for sure, because we’d seen it with our own eyes, was that the World Trade Center had been hit.
Aboard Air Force One, en route to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. Pictured from left are: Andy Card; Ari Fleischer, Press Secretary; Blake Gottesman, Personal Aide to the President; Karl Rove, Senior Adviser; Deborah Loewer, Director of White House Situation Room, and Dan Bartlett, Deputy Assistant to the President. | U.S. National Archives
Col. Dr. Richard Tubb, presidential physician, White House Medical Unit: The people who are the permanent, apolitical staff—the medical unit, the flight crew, the military aide—they were all well-versed in their emergency action plans, irrespective of who the president was, but they—we—didn’t have the relationship yet with the political staff. That trust was still coming. It’s a very different worldview for each side. It’s only time over time that you build those relationships, and there hadn’t been that much time. It’s hard enough for any administration—but that particular transition was so abbreviated and ugly as the 2000 campaign was—it was even harder. Those guys were still trying to put their government together. Everyone was excited because they were just coming back from the summer vacation and felt that they were going to hit their stride.
Andy Card: I really think President Bush—I know President Bush took office on January 20, 2001—but the responsibility of being president became a reality when I whispered in his ear. I honestly believe as he contemplated what I said, I took an oath. Preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution. It’s not cutting taxes, it’s not No Child Left Behind, it’s not immigration, it’s the oath. When you pick a president, you want to pick a president who can handle the unexpected. This was the unexpected. That’s what the president was wrestling with that day. He recognized the cold reality of his responsibilities.
Eric Draper: Soon after we got on board, I see [the president] pop out of the cabin, he’s heading down the aisle. He says, “OK boys, this is what they pay us for.” I’ll never forget that.
Andy Card: Even before we left the school, there was angst from the Secret Service that we don’t know what’s out there. As we were boarding the plane, someone had picked a reference to “Angel.” That’s the code name for Air Force One. Is someone sitting around with a Stinger missile? Was someone waiting for us at Andrews? Mark [Tillman] was reluctant to fly us back to Washington.
Karen Hughes, communications director, White House: September 10th was my anniversary, so I had stayed back in Washington. I was scheduled to do a Habitat for Humanity event with [Secretary of Housing and Urban Development] Mel Martinez that required us to wear blue jeans. President Bush didn’t allow blue jeans in the West Wing, so I’d just planned to spend the morning at home. When the attacks began, the vice president sent a military driver to pick me up and bring me to the White House, because D.C.’s streets were so clogged.
Maj. Scott Crogg, F-16 pilot, call-sign “Hooter,” 111th Fighter Squadron, Houston: I had just gotten off alert at Ellington Field [in Houston], normally we pull 24-hour alerts, mostly for drug interdiction. I’d just gotten back into bed and was watching TV and saw the reports of a plane hitting the tower. Being an airline pilot, an air defense pilot, and the operations officer for the 111th, this was something that intrigued me. I wanted to stay up to see what happened. Then when that second plane hit, it eliminated any doubt. I had to get back to work.
II. Airborne, Somewhere over the Gulf of Mexico
The president’s private cabin and office, the “airborne Oval Office,” sit at the front of Air Force One on the main deck; stairs lead up to the flight deck and communications suite. Other cabins house the White House Medical Unit, staff, guests, security, the press and crew.
Col. Mark Tillman: The initial conversation was that we’d take him to an Air Force base, no less than an hour away from Washington. Maybe let’s go ahead and try to get him to Camp David. That all changed when we heard there was a plane headed towards Camp David.
I made the takeoff, climbed out, probably 25,000 to 30,000—I gave it to the backup pilot. I had three pilots on board that day. I said just keep flying towards Washington.
Ari Fleischer: As we were flying out of Sarasota, we were able to get some TV reception. They broke for commercial. I couldn’t believe it. A hair-loss commercial comes on. I remember thinking, in the middle of all this, I’m watching this commercial for hair loss.
Col. Mark Tillman: Jacksonville Center [Air Traffic Control] was warning us about an unidentified plane in the area. I said let’s change direction and see if it follows. It didn’t.
Andy Card: Blake Gottesman was my personal aide, but he was filling in that day as the president’s aide. I said, “Blake, it’s your job to make sure that people don’t come up to the suite.” No one comes up unless the president calls for them.
Ari Fleischer: We got a report there are six aircraft still flying in the U.S. that aren’t responding and could still be hijacked. We’re thinking that there are still six missiles still in the sky. We’re getting a report that a plane “was down near Camp David.”
Karl Rove: Andy and I are there with the president. The president gets this call from Cheney—we didn’t know who it was at the time, we just knew the phone rang. He said “yes,” then there was a pause as he listened. Then another “yes.” You had an unreal sense of time that whole day. I don’t know whether it was 10 seconds or two minutes. Then he said, “You have my authorization.” Then he listens for a while longer. He closes off the conversation. He turns to us and says that he’s just authorized the shoot-down of hijacked airliners.
I’d never heard the word ‘decapitation attack’ before.”
Andy Card: The president is sitting at his desk, and I’m sitting directly in front of him. I witness the president authorize the Air National Guard to shoot down the hijacked airliners. The conversation was sobering to hear. What struck me was as soon as he hung up the phone, he said, “I was an Air National Guard pilot—I’d be one of the people getting this order. I can’t imagine getting this order.” There was a greater degree of reality than many other presidents would have experienced.
Karl Rove: He was so even-handed. He was just so naturally calm during the day.
Dave Wilkinson: We didn’t expect the breakdown of communications. Every kind of communication that day was challenged. Even the president talking to the Situation Room was challenged. The communications network did not hold up.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: All the comms that we would normally have, some of them are no longer available. We’ve got multiple systems—commercial and terrestrial systems—and they’re all jammed. I started to have tunnel vision: What the hell is going on? Did someone sabotage our comms? It wasn’t until later I realized all the commercial systems were all just saturated. It was all the same systems the airplane pilots were using at the same time, talking to their dispatchers. We as Air Force One didn’t have any higher priority than American This or United That.
Col. Mark Tillman: We started having to use the military satellites, which we would only use in time of war.
Ari Fleischer: I’d never heard the word "decapitation attack" before, but people like Andy, who had been there during the Cold War and had the training, he knew what was going on. The training and the thinking of the military and the Secret Service is just so profoundly different, but that was the psychology and mood that took hold aboard Air Force One. There are still missiles out there and the Secret Service says to the president, “We don’t think it’s safe for you to return to Washington.”
Maj. Scott Crogg: It was very somber [at the air base]. We got these cryptic messages from Southeast Air Defense Sector. We knew we’re on the hook now—it might not be for Air Force One, but for anything. Houston’s the fifth-largest metro region, it’s got all this oil and gas infrastructure. I asked maintenance to put live missiles and arm up the guns. Two heat-seeking missiles and rounds from a 20-mm gun isn’t a lot to take on a hijacked plane, but it was the best we could do.
Andy Card: Then we hear that Flight 93’s gone down. We’re all wondering, Did we do that? It wasn’t a big deal on the plane. It lingered deepest in the president’s conscience. Most people on the plane hadn’t been privy to that conversation.
Col. Mark Tillman: All of us thought, we assumed we shot it down.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: All the folks were coming up to the communications deck with various requests, a Secret Service agent comes up and says, “The president wants to know the status of the first family.” He had this look on his face. I have to tell him I don’t have a way to find out. I can’t fathom what that was like for the president.
Dave Wilkinson: Once we heard a plane had crashed into the Pentagon, that’s when we said, “Well, we’re not going to go back to Washington.” It’s all about that “direction of interest.” At the start, the threat’s right now in New York. Then the plane hit the Pentagon, and it was about our seats of government. Hearing all of this, we’re thinking that the further we’re away from Washington, the safer we are.
Col. Mark Tillman: We get this report that there’s a call saying “Angel was next.” No one really knows now where the comment came from—it got mistranslated or garbled amid the White House, the Situation Room, the radio operators. “Angel” was our code name. The fact that they knew about “angel,” well, you had to be in the inner circle. That was a big deal to me. It was time to hunker down and get some good weaponry.
Maj. Scott Crogg: We dispatched two fighters to go protect Air Force One.
Col. Mark Tillman: Now our security’s tremendous, but we had press on board, there were press that weren’t part of our regular traveling party. We put a cop at the base of the stairs. No one was allowed upstairs. That was something we’d never done before.
Buzz Buzinski: Will Chandler [the lead Air Force security officer] was summoned to the front. Then he stayed up there, providing security at the cockpit stairs. That got us thinking: Is there an insider threat? [Colonel Tillman’s] putting someone at the flight deck. You just don’t know who’s who.
Staff Sgt. Paul Germain: Colonel Tillman says at that point, “Let’s just go cruise around the Gulf for a little bit.” That was our Pearl Harbor. You train for nuclear war, then you get into something like that. All the money they pumped into us for training, that worked. We could read each other’s minds.
Buzz Buzinski: Will [Chandler] told us, “Guys, this is our time. 100 percent security, all of the time. We gotta get the president back.”
Dave Wilkinson: Colonel Tillman took us to a height where if an aircraft was coming towards us, we’d know it was no mistake. Talking to him, I was confident we were safer in the air than we were anywhere on the ground.
Col. Mark Tillman: I took us up to 45,000 feet. That’s about as high as a 747 can go. I figured I wanted to be above all the other air traffic, especially since everyone was descending to land.
Ann Compton, reporter, ABC News: We were standing in the press cabin. A lot of people were too nervous to sit down. A Secret Service agent was in the aisle and he pointed at the monitor and said, “Look down there, Ann, we’re at 45,000 feet and we have no place to go.”
Karl Rove: There was acrimony. President Bush doesn’t raise his voice. He doesn’t pound the desk. But as we made it across the Florida peninsula, they [Andy Card and Tom Gould] kept raising objections [about returning to Washington]. At one point, Cheney and Rumsfeld called [and advised against returning to Washington].
Ari Fleischer: Andy took the side of the Secret Service. Looking back, it’s pretty obvious that you don’t put Air Force One down at a known, predictable location when the attack’s still unfolding. You preserve the office of the president. It was pretty straightforward.
Dave Wilkinson: He fought with us tooth and nail all day to go back to Washington. We basically refused to take him back. The way we look at is that by federal law, the Secret Service has to protect the president. The wishes of that person that day are secondary to what the law expects of us. Theoretically it’s not his call, it’s our call.
Eric Draper: As a group, you had Tom Gould, Andy Card, and a couple Secret Service guys saying you couldn’t return to Washington. He was visibly frustrated and very angry. I was just a few feet away, and it felt like he was looking through me. It was really intense. He just turned away in anger.
Karl Rove: Gould came in and said, “Mr. President, we don’t have a full fuel load. We’ve got too many extraneous people on board. We can’t loiter over Washington if we need to.” He suggested, let’s get to a military base, drop off the unessential personnel, fill up with fuel, and reassess. The president got the argument, but he wasn’t happy about it.
Ari Fleischer: We didn’t have satellite TV on the plane. The news would frustratingly come in and go out. So I was not aware of the punishing coverage that the president was receiving for not returning to Washington. The anchors were all asking, “Where’s Bush?” They instantly criticized him.
Sonya Ross: We didn’t know where we were going, but they must’ve been circling, because we kept watching the local feed of a Florida station going in and out. That was our tiny window into the outside world.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: We had limited communications, that’s for sure, but the president and Air Force One were never without secure communications. We just had two lines—one for the president and one for the mil aide. We were never out of touch entirely. All the other staff or the other Secret Service agent, we just couldn’t provide them the calls they needed. There were a couple times when the vice president wasn’t available, but we never lost communications with the ground.
Andy Card: One of the president’s first thoughts, from Sarasota to Barksdale, was Vladimir Putin.
America could have had no better ally on 9/11 than Russia and Putin.”
Gordon Johndroe: [Putin] was important—all these military systems were all put in place for nuclear alerts. If we went on alert, we needed Putin to know that we weren’t readying an attack on Russia. He was great—he said immediately that Russia wouldn’t respond, Russia would stand down, that he understood we were under attack and needed to be on alert.
Ari Fleischer: Putin was fantastic that day. He was a different Vladimir Putin in 2001. America could have had no better ally on September 11th than Russia and Putin.
Ellen Eckert: We were watching that second plane hit on a replay. It wasn’t hitting me yet what had happened, until I saw that second plane hit. I remember thinking “Holy mother of God.” I was sitting back with the press corps and they said, “Go find out what’s happening.” I’m like, “Oh, right, they’re going to tell the steno what’s happening.” Ari came back to the press cabin, and said, “Please don’t call anybody, please don’t tell anyone where we are for national safety, keep our location secure.” Everyone said, “Absolutely, how’s the president?” Everyone was really obedient.
Sonya Ross: Khue Bui [one of the photographers] was crouched in front of me and we were talking about our families, people we knew in New York. Ann [Compton of ABC News] and I were trying to come up with timelines—what time was it when Andy Card came in and whispered to the president. Ann’s time and my time were about two minutes apart. We were listening through headsets to the television, but we weren’t really paying attention. Then I heard the reporter say, “The tower’s collapsing.” I looked at the TV and had a completely shocked reaction. I heard Khue’s camera snap.
Eric Draper: We were in the president’s office when the Towers fell. You knew that there’d be a loss of life in a catastrophic way. The room was really silent. Andy Card, Ari, and Dan Bartlett were there. There’s an image of the president, with his hands on his hips, just watching. Dan had a friend who worked in the Towers. He was very emotional. Everyone peeled off one by one and the president just stood there, alone, watching the cloud expand.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: There were times when the emotion would just well up. Just that sick feeling, that sorrow. It was the overwhelming stress, like when a friend or family member is dying. That’s the closest thing I can explain what it felt like that day.
Andy Card: I asked the military aides, “Where are we going?” I want options. I want a long runway, a secure place, good communications. They came back and said Barksdale AFB. I said, “Don’t tell anyone we’re coming.”
Dave Wilkinson: Colonel Tillman said, “What about Barksdale?” It was about 45 minutes away. We discussed it, it’s the perfect compromise—it’s close and it’s secure and we can let off a lot of passengers there. We needed somewhere that had armored vehicles.
Bush confers with, from left, Karl Rove, Andy Card, Dan Bartlett and Ari Fleischer, prior to delivering remarks at Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana. | U.S. National Archives
Andy Card: I went into the president’s cabin and told the president, “We’re going Barksdale.” And he said, “No, we’re going back to the White House.” He was pretty hot with me. “I’m making the decision, we’re going back to Washington, D.C.” He’s firm as can be. I just kept saying, “I don’t think you want to make that decision right now.” He went back and forth. It wasn’t one conversation, it was five, six, seven conversations. He was really frustrated with me.
Eric Draper: I remember following the president and Andy Card into the nose of the plane, the president’s cabin. They’re in a very heated discussion over returning to Washington. They’re arguing, but also having the president take telephone calls at the same time. They’re watching the live news coverage. It was controlled chaos.
Andy Card: We were all thinking about the very credible idea that there was more to come. Is there a plane heading to Los Angeles? A plane headed for Chicago? Something on the train? Is there a truck bomb heading across the George Washington Bridge? We had lots of angst over the White House itself. We even had the fog of war trying to figure what was going on in the White House. There’s a fire in the Eisenhower Office Building—well there was, but it was just in a garbage can.
Col. Mark Tillman: We asked for the fighter support. We heard, “You have fast movers at your 7 o’clock.” They were supersonic, F-16s from the president’s guard unit. They led us into Barksdale.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: We’re flying around, all we still have is local TV. The only benefit was that anything broadcasting was broadcasting the attack. Whatever I locked into, it’d only be good until we flew out of range. We were trying to understand from those pictures like anyone else. It was a whole paradigm shift from what I’d thought about conflict and war growing up. It was a new age.
Sandy Kress: There was a lot of discussion about who did it. There was nothing anybody knew. But it was lots of talk—and some fear. I remember the plane banking back across the Gulf. We knew there was a change of plans and direction, but something was diverting the plane.
Rep. Adam Putnam: [Rep. Dan Miller and I] went up to the president’s cabin and he gave us a briefing. He told us that “One way or another” all but a couple planes were accounted for. That was his phrase “one way or another.” He told us Air Force One was headed to Barksdale and was going to drop us off there. When we left the cabin, I turned to Dan and said, “Didn’t you think that was an odd phrase?” He didn’t notice it. I said “‘One way or another,’ that sounds like that there’s more to it than that.” I said, “Do you think there’s any way we shot them down?” We were left hanging.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck, commander, Barksdale Air Force Base, Shreveport, La.: I was the commander of the 8th Air Force. We were in the midst of this big annual exercise called GLOBAL GUARDIAN. They loaded all the bombers, put the submarines out to sea, put the ICBMs at nearly 100 percent. It was routine, you did it every year.
A captain tapped me on the shoulder and said, “Sir, we just had an aircraft hit the World Trade Center.” I started to correct him, saying, “When you have an exercise input you have to start by saying, ‘I have an exercise input.’ That way it doesn’t get confused with the real world.” Then he just pointed me to the TV screens in the command center. You could see smoke pouring out of the building. Like everyone else in aviation that day, I thought, “How in a clear-and-a-million day could someone hit the World Trade Center?”
Karen Hughes: Since I was home, I saw quite a bit of TV coverage just like the American people were seeing it, and I realized that it looked like the American government was faltering. I was on the phone with my chief of staff at the White House when she was told to evacuate. I could actually see the Pentagon burning. But I knew that lots of government was functioning—planes were being grounded, emergency plans were being implemented. I thought someone should be telling the American people that, so I wanted to talk to the president.
When I called the operator to try reach Air Force One, the operator came back on the line and said, “Ma’am, we can’t reach Air Force One.” Mary Matalin had passed along that there was a threat against the plane. It was just chilling. For a split second, I was so worried.
Gordon Johndroe: I was sitting across the table from Mike Morell in the staff cabin. I asked, “Mike, is something else going to happen?” And he said, “Yes.” That was a real gut punch. We were going to be attacked all day long. There were so many rumors—the State Department, the Mall, the White House.
Brian Montgomery: I asked [Mike Morell] who he thought this was. He said “UBL.” No hesitation. “Who’s UBL?” Those of us not up on the lingo of Langley, we had no idea.
Mike Morell: The president called me into his cabin. It was packed with people. The Democratic Front for Liberation of Palestine had issued a claim of responsibility for the attack. The president asked me, “What do you know about these guys?” I explained that they had a long history of terrorism, but this group doesn’t have the capability to do this. Guaranteed.
As I was leaving, he said to me, “Michael, one more thing. Call George Tenet and tell him that if he finds out anything about who did it, I want to be the first to know. Got that?” I said, “Yes sir.”
Sonya Ross: I got the first readout [report] from Ari. The answers we were getting there were pretty incomplete. Ari and his team were giving us the best answers they could. I was nervous. I was thinking—it seems really morbid—but I was thinking, “What if they come after the president? We all turn into ‘and 12 others.’ No one knows your name if you go down with the president. But Eric Washington, he was the CBS sound guy, he had his seat reclined, his feet up. He said, “What are you worried about? You’re on the safest plane in the world.”
Air Force One was the safest and most dangerous place in the world at the same exact time.”
Gordon Johndroe: [Air Force One] was the safest and most dangerous place in the world at the exact same time.
Karen Hughes: When I finally did reach Air Force One and spoke with the president, the first thing he said to me was “Don’t you think I need to come back?” He was just champing at the bit to come back. I told him, ‘Yes, as soon as you can.’ Everyone has different roles and I wasn’t thinking about the national security side—I was just thinking about it from a PR perspective.
Andy Card: Mark [Tillman] said, “I don’t care what he says, I’m in charge of the plane.”
Dave Wilkinson: The president once told me that the biggest piece of advice he’d gotten from his mother when he became president was always do what the Secret Service says. I reminded him of that several times that day. The president and I knew each other very well—we’d spent a lot of hours at his ranch—and kind of tongue-in-cheek several times that day, I said, “Remember what your mother said.”
Ari Fleischer: One of the recurring themes of September 11th is how much of the initial reporting was wrong. I keep that in mind every day now as I watch President Obama and world events. In normal situations, there are many ranks and many filters in government, so that only that which is proven and vital reaches the president. All of that broke down on 9/11. No one in the security apparatus wanted to be negligent in not passing things along. The media was part of that too. All those filters broke down.
Andy Card: The fog of war is real. You can be in a car accident and everyone in the car crash has a different perspective. Take that and multiple that a million times. The first estimates of the casualties were so way off. 10,000 people in New York, 1,000 people at the Pentagon.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: There were so many people coming up to the upper deck, because we weren’t picking up the phones downstairs. It got too crowded. Finally, someone came up and told everyone to get out. The only member of the staff that was up with us was Harriet Miers—she was sitting at one of the CSO seats, with a legal pad taking historical record.
Andy Card: The president’s wondering about his wife, his kids, his parents. Then he’s wondering, is there another city? What’s next? And we’re all thinking, we can’t do anything about it. We’re in a plane, eight miles high in the sky.
Dave Wilkinson: We called Mark Rosenker up to the front of the plane and told him to get us on the phone with the commander at Barksdale. He gave us full assurance that the base would be locked down.
Andy Card: I was comforted to find Barksdale was already on alert. It was going to be secure. No random terrorist would have mapped that Barksdale was where the president was going to go. We didn’t have to ring some bell and everyone would run out of the firehouse. Everyone was already out.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: We were already in a practice THREATCON Delta, the highest threat condition. I said lock her down for real. My deputy came in, Lt. Colonel Paul Tibbets—his grandfather was the pilot who flew the Enola Gay [which dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima]. He told me that at THREATCON Delta, general officers have to wear sidearms. I tried to refuse, but he insisted. So I was wearing my sidearm, which I never do.
We got this radio request—Code Alpha—a high priority incoming aircraft. It wanted 150,000 pounds of gas, 40 gallons of coffee, 70 box lunches, and 25 pounds of bananas. It wouldn’t identify itself. It was clearly a big plane. It didn’t take us long to figure out that the Code Alpha was Air Force One.
Ann Compton: We were landing going into Barksdale, Ari came back to the press cabin and said, “This is off the record, but the president is being evacuated.” I said, “You can’t put that off the record. That’s a historic and chilling fact. That has to be on the record.” It was a stunning statement, about the president trying to hold the country together but facing a mortal enemy. The president cannot be found because of his own safety. That sent chills down my spine.
III. Barksdale Air Force Base, Shreveport, La.
Col. Mark Tillman: Going into Barksdale, there’s this plane that appears. The initial fighters were with us. I still remember the F-16s starting in on this guy. Bearing, range, altitude, distance. You see the F-16 rolls off, they ask, “Hey, who has shoot-down authority?” I say, “You do.” That was a big moment. It turned out just to be a crop duster, some civilian flyer who didn’t get the word.
Gordon Johndroe: You cannot hide a blue-and-white 747 that says “United States of America” across the top. You can’t move it secretly through the daylight. Where does local TV go when there’s a national emergency? They go out to their local military base. We’re watching ourselves land on local television. The announcer’s saying, “It appears Air Force One is landing. We don’t have any specific information whether the president was on board, but Air Force One was last seen leaving Sarasota.” The pool is looking at me like, “We can’t report this?”
Brian Montgomery: As soon as we landed, Mark Rosenker [director of the White House Military Office] and I went off the back stairs. There’s this guy who looks like General Buck Turgidson from Dr. Strangelove, big guy, all decked out in a bomber jacket. He was straight out of central casting. We said, “What do you need?” He said, “See those planes? Every one is loaded with nukes—tell me where you want ’em.” We look over and there are just rows of B-52s, wingtip to wingtip. I joked, “Gosh, don’t tell [the president!].”
We got this radio request—Code Alpha—a high priority incoming aircraft. It wanted 150,000 pounds of gas, 40 gallons of coffee, 70 box lunches and 25 pounds of bananas. It wouldn’t identify itself.”
Buzz Buzinski: Barksdale was going through a nuclear surety inspection. They already had these cops in flak jackets and M-16s. They were all locked and loaded. It’s pretty no-joke when you’re assigned to a nuclear base already. But you still knew that this was going to be different. As soon as we landed, they surrounded the aircraft.
Capt. Cindy Wright, presidential nurse, White House Medical Unit: I remember just how different it was, landing at Barksdale. Everything just had changed in an instant. We’d got off the plane and we were at war.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: When we landed there, looking out towards the flight line, it looked like a war game. You had guys in flak jackets, weapons, heavy equipment and vehicles, guns mounted on top. All facing away from the aircraft.
Dave Wilkinson: My biggest concern was the Humvees. Would they be there? We had guys from our local field office rushing over, but they didn’t get there until after. When I saw the four or five Humvees pull up, I had a real sense of relief. One of the other agents raised the concern that the Air Force wanted to drive the president—we [the Secret Service] are normally the only people who drive the president. I said, “That’s the least of our concerns. If the general’s signing off on the guy driving, that’s fine with me. Let’s just let him drive the vehicle.”
Col. Mark Tillman: We let the president out through the bottom stairs, because you want that low vantage point in case there’s a sniper.
Ari Fleischer: Normally, there’s a whole infrastructure that flies ahead of the president. It’s an armed city, full of Secret Service agents and armored vehicles. But on that day, even the Secret Service is down to just the essential crew aboard the plane. All that was waiting for him in Barksdale was this uparmored Humvee, with room for a standing gunner. The regular Air Force driver, he was nervous and just driving as fast as could be. The president told him to slow down. The president said later he most felt in danger [on 9/11] right there on the runway.
Andy Card: The guy was driving really fast, and in a Humvee the center of gravity isn’t as low as you think. The president said, “Slow down, son, there are no terrorists on this base! You don’t have to kill me now!”
Col. Mark Tillman: I went down to the tarmac to see about having the plane refueled. We could carry 14 hours of fuel. I wanted 14 hours of fuel. I was worried that they weren’t going to have enough fuel trucks, but it turned out we’d happened to park over a hot refueling tank they used for bombers. This civilian is arguing with our crew, “The fuel pits are only authorized for use in time of war.” This Air Force master sergeant—God bless him—overhears this and roars, “We are at war!” He whips out his knife and starts cutting open the cover. That defines to me what the day was like.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: [The president] had landed already and I was on my way to meet him. He was on his way to the conference center. I gave a sharp salute, and his first words to me were, “I guess I put you on the map.” He was really disarming that way. He told me he needed a secure phone to call Governor Pataki, so I took him to my office. As he started making calls, he stopped for a second: “Tell me where I am?” I said, “You’re on the east side of the Red River in Bossier City, Barksdale Air Force base, near Shreveport, Louisiana.”
Brian Montgomery: Once the president got into that private office, Andy Card came out and said this is an opportunity to call your loved ones, but don’t tell them where you are.
Rep. Adam Putnam: We get to Barksdale, keep in mind that we haven’t really had good TV images. We were all overwhelmed with emotion, because we were all catching up to where everyone else had had a couple hours to process. I called my wife and said, “I’m safe. I can’t tell you where I am.” And she said, “Oh, I thought you were in Barksdale? That’s what I saw on TV.”
Maj. Scott Crogg: The horn went off again [at Ellington Field in Houston] and [F-16 pilot Shane Brotherton and I] launched. There was so little information, you had to do things on faith. When we launched, we didn’t even know what the mission was. We were told, "You need to intercept the Angel flight." Well, we had no idea what that meant. We’d never heard Air Force One called that before.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: Andy Card and Karl Rove came into my office with him.
Karl Rove: This is the first point where he gets fully briefed. All three strikes are over, so we know the extent of the damage. His first instinct was to bring together the leaders of government, but everyone had dispersed. It’s just amazing how technology has changed. At the time, the only way to get everyone together was to go to Offutt Air Force Base, the nearest facility that had multiple-site video teleconferencing. Now the president travels with a black Halliburton case that has a screen that can do it through any broadband outlet. It’s amazing.
Col. Mark Tillman: I went into the base situation room. I told them I needed to get this guy underground. Where were all the places that I could do that? Offutt was the best choice.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: People forget how much confusion there was that day about what was actually going on. We’d never been attacked like that before, at least since Pearl Harbor. Intel [officers] were coming in all the time. One said that there was a high-speed object moving towards his Texas ranch [in Crawford]. I saw him start thinking about who was at the ranch. It turned out to be a false report.
Maj. Scott Crogg: I was thinking—I’ve done these Combat Air Patrols over southern Iraq for hundreds of hours, enforcing the no-fly zone, and now I’m doing it over the United States. It was really strange. No one else was airborne. It just felt so serious. We had all this resolve that day.
Ellen Eckert: To wait for the president, they took us to the Officers’ Club. I was basically the only person on the trip who smoked cigarettes—or so I thought. While we’re standing there, all of a sudden everyone’s asking for a cigarette. “Wait, you don’t smoke?” Everyone was so whipped up.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: Everyone was busy doing their own thing. The president was looking over the remarks he wanted to give the country. He asked the room, “I use the word ‘resolve’ twice in here—do I want to do that?” No one was answering him, so I said, “I think Americans probably want to hear that.”
Brian Montgomery: We got with someone from the base, and found this rec room or something like that with a bunch of memorabilia on the walls. Gordon and I started rearranging everything—got some flags, found a podium. We knew this was important. Everyone wanted to see the president.
Gordon Johndroe: Barksdale was a blur. It was really chaotic. No one really remembers the president’s statement there. It was bad lighting, bad setting, but it was important to have him say something to the nation. That statement is lost to history.
Sonya Ross: I dictated a brief report to my colleague Sandra Sobieraj [back in Washington], and then I left my phone on, so she could hear the president’s brief statement. The statement was supposed to be embargoed until we left, so I was trying to curl the phone up under my notebook, so no one would notice it was still on. It gave us a brief head start, because the wire [services], we always need to be first. He said, “Our military at home and around the world is on high alert status. And we have taken the necessary security precautions to continue the functions of your government.” He reiterated that it was a terrorist attack and urged people to be calm. It was very general.
Ellen Eckert: I’d never seen the president look so stern. I was lying on the ground at the president’s feet. We didn’t know if the [TV news] feed was working, it was so iffy, so I was there lying down with my mic above my head in case no one else was recording his remarks.
Andy Card: We didn’t want attention to where we were until we left. We videotaped the statement, so that it went out as we left.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: After the press conference, he came back to my office. He hadn’t seen video of the Towers come down yet. He was sitting on my couch and watched the Towers fall. He turned to me, just because I was there, and said, “I don’t know who this is, but we’re gonna find out, and we’re going to go after them, we’re not just going to slap them on the wrist.” I said, “We’re with you.” I knew he meant every word.
Ari Fleischer: Andy Card made the decision to chop down the number of passengers. We didn’t know where we were going. We had no infrastructure. We had no motorcade. Anybody non-essential had to be left behind, that included all the congressmen, which they weren’t pleased with. Several White House staffers had to get off. Andy asked if we could take the press down to three. I thought five was the absolute minimum.
Sandy Kress: Most of us had stayed on the plane in Barksdale. We were sitting on the runway for a good bit. We were thinking, “Is this a broader attack? Was someone out there looking for us?” It was towards the end of the stop in Barksdale that Brian [Montgomery] came through and told us that we were all staying behind in Louisiana. We understood that the president was continuing on, but that he was not going back to D.C. Our role had been to help him with that trip, and that was over. It made sense.
Rep. Adam Putnam: As we’re just waiting on board, supply trucks come up and start unloading food—tray after tray of meat, loaf after loaf of bread, just hundreds of gallons of water. We realize they’re equipping that plane to be in the air for days. It was really unnerving.
Gordon Johndroe: We thought at that point that we were not going to Washington for several days. We needed to shrink down our footprint. We didn’t know how many people could be fed, watered, clothed, and supported wherever we were going. It was difficult telling half the press pool that they weren’t coming with us. It was half "We’re missing the story of our lifetimes," and then their personal reaction: "You’re leaving us in Louisiana and the airspace was shut down."
Sonya Ross: They herded us out to a blue school bus. Some of us had rumors that they’d shrink the pool. I was thinking I had to fight to get a spot. I didn’t want to have to explain to my boss that I got left behind. I was just going to do my best to get on the plane. Gordon came on the bus. He read off who was going to come with them: AP reporter, AP photographer, TV camera, TV sound, and radio. Everyone else, he said, was going to be left behind. At that point, Judy Keen, the newspaper reporter from USA Today, and Jay Carney, the magazine pooler, they raised a stink. I just scooped up my stuff and ran.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: In the conference room, waiting for the transportation to be squared away, we were sitting around the table, wondering what brought the Towers down. At that point, no one understood that steel melted at such-and-such a temperature. We just couldn’t believe the towers had come down. When it came time to take the president back [to Air Force One], they brought up this Humvee with a .50-cal machine gun mounted on top. I don’t know if he was fearing a Governor Dukakis moment in that tank, but he wanted to ride in a different vehicle. He pointed to our supervisor of flying vehicle. It was a white minivan, which we called “Soccer Mom,” so we drove him out in a minivan.
Karl Rove: As we’re driving back out, [the president] says to me something like, “I know this is a dodge, just they’re going to try to keep me away, but I’m going to let them have this one [and go to Offutt] and then we’re going home. “
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: [As the president’s heading up the stairs] I said to him, “These troops are trained, ready, and they’ll do whatever you want them to.” He said to me, “I know.” We traded salutes. He was on the ground an hour and 53 minutes.
Buzz Buzinski: I saw [the president] walk up the front stairs. You could see how mad he was. You could tell how much emotion he had, the anger inside. As soon as he got on board, it was all business.
Sandy Kress: They sent the vice president’s plane down for us, and we eventually boarded it to go back to D.C.
Sonya Ross: As we left, they didn’t know how long we’d be gone. They told us that they’d arrange accommodations if we had to be gone a day or two. I told my bureau chief, “I don’t know where we’re going and I don’t know how long I’ll be gone.”
Ellen Eckert: Ari told me I was off the plane. The press were not happy, but I was fine—I was thinking, I’m safe here in Louisiana. But then the plane’s fired up, it’s loud, we’re all standing nearby, and Gordon came back to the back stairs, he yells, “Ellen, Ari says get on the plane! He’s changed his mind!” That’s not what I want to do—but then I thought I’m ashamed of myself. Everyone else was getting on that plane. I was the last one on board.
IV. Airborne, Somewhere Over the Plains
Maj. Scott Crogg: We watched Air Force One come up, but we still don’t really know anything. It’s pretty impressive, seeing Air Force One come up in the air.
Lt. Gen. Tom Keck: As he takes off, two F-16s pulled up on his wing. That made me think that we were finally getting our act together. I forgot I ever said this, but Kurt Bedke, one of the other officers, told me later that as we watched them fly away I said to him, “Do you feel like you’re in a Tom Clancy novel?”
Maj. Scott Crogg: We just started following [Air Force One] north. At some point, I was expecting them to turn east and head to Washington. The longer we’re heading north, the more realize something’s still unsettled. They still don’t feel safe returning to Washington. We only had maps for Texas and Louisiana that day on board. There was no idea that we’d go any further than that. I asked for a tanker to come meet up, and after I hook up, I asked him for every radio channel between here and Canada.
Andy Card: We could finally get some television coverage. You could see the buildings on fire. You saw the replay of the collapse. There were lots of tears. There were lots of quiet moments staring at a TV screen. No conversation. There were prayers. And the fear. It wasn’t even a roller coaster, because we were just in the pits. Oh my god, that’s terrible. And that’s worse. And that’s even worse. All the time, we’re being handed notes, taking telephone calls, giving orders.
Maj. Scott Crogg: It was an eerie silence on the radio. There’s just no one in the air. We’re just talking among ourselves [the fighter pilots] on our radios. “I wonder if we’re going to Canada?” A lot of, “Man, this is fucked up.” I’m also talking the guys through what happens if we have to shoot someone down. The world’s watching, let’s be by the book and let’s do everything we can to protect the president. You’re going to do everything you can to avoid it, but, as a last resort, if a plane’s going to try to hit Air Force One, I need you guys to think about it. I’m saying, “We’re going to do our best to get them to say ‘you’re approved’ over the radio.”
You’re going to have think about how you’re saving lives by taking lives. You have to think through that the missiles might not do the job. You may have to employ the gun. Typically our gun sight doesn’t account for a plane that big. We know this would be a plum target, but we also figure no one would expect Air Force One right now to be flying north over Kansas.
Col. Mark Tillman: The whole day was eerie. There were no radio calls. Controllers were telling us about suspicious planes—I had no idea there were so many crop dusters in America.
Eric Draper: Everyone was starving for information. We couldn’t hear anything unless the plane was flying over a major city.
Ari Fleischer: There was no live television. It put us in a very different spot than most Americans that day. People around the world were just riveted to their television sets. We had it intermittently on Air Force One. We had it in Barksdale at the base commander’s office. But there’s no email on Air Force One back then. When you’re in the air, you’re cut off. It was absolutely stunning, standing next to the president as he was talking to the vice president then holding the phone off his ear because it cut off.
Ellen Eckert: The plane is like the Twilight Zone. It’s really eerie. There’s just no one on board anymore. The staff cabin is empty, the guest cabin is empty. That’s when it was really coming apart for me. I saw one of the agents was standing in the hallway, and I went up to him, "So this is the safest place to be? This is Air Force One, right?" He said, "Well, listen, don’t mention this, but we might as well have a big red X on the bottom of this plane. We’re the only plane in the sky." That was scary. I went into the bathroom and used one of those Air Force One notepads to write a letter to my family—six siblings and two parents. They’re never going to see this, it’s going to burn up in a fiery inferno. One of the flight attendants opened the door and comforted me and gave me a washcloth to wipe. “We’ve got this. We’re all together.”
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: [As we flew to Offutt] some of the commercial systems finally began to become available. One of the phones actually rang, I picked it up, it was my chief: “How are things going?” “Well, chief, we’re a little busy.” None of the crew were allowed to make calls to our families. Everyone was just locked in. It probably actually helped a lot of us get through the day.
Maj. Scott Crogg: Fifteen minutes after we tanked up, we saw Air Force One start to descend. I did the math and figured out they were probably headed to Offutt. Well, now we had a full tank of gas. You can’t land like that in a small plane, so we were doing afterburner 360s at 7,000-feet to burn off enough gas to land our planes.
Mike Morell: On the way from Barksdale to Offutt, the president asked to see me alone—it was just me, him, and Andy Card. He asked me, “Michael, who did this?” I explained that I didn’t have any actual intelligence, so what you’re going to get is my best guess. He was really focused and said, “I understand, get on with it.”
I said that there were two countries capable of carrying out an attack like this, Iran and Iraq. But I believed both would have everything to lose and nothing to gain from the attack. When all was said and done, the trail would lead to UBL. I told him “I’d bet my children’s future on that.”
He asked when we’d know. I walked him through recent cases—in the [1998] East Africa [Embassy] bombings, it had been a couple days, the [2001] USS Cole [bombing] had taken a couple months, the [1996] Khobar Towers [bombing] it had taken over a year. It may be quick or it may be a long while. The whole time, I didn’t realize the CIA had already figured it out.
When I finished, he didn’t say anything, we just sat there. It felt like three, four, five minutes. It was getting awkward. I finally said, “Is there anything else, Mr. President?” He said, “No, Michael, thank you.”
V. Offutt Air Force Base
Buzz Buzinski: Landing at Offutt was probably the one funny moment of the day. I’m a big guy—6-foot-4, 270—but Will [Chandler’s] also a huge guy, he’s a 6-3, 250. We always said he’s got hands the size of a TV screen. Well, we’re the first two off the plane. The rear stairs are always down first, you get off and guide the front stairs in. When we get off, underneath the jet are five or six maintainers, who were trying to plug the plane into ground power. No one told us they’d be there—all we see are this group of five guys. Chandler yells: “Clear the area!” He just let out this bellow. Well, it was like cats scattering—they dropped radios, dropped the cable. They’re panicked—there’s this big guy coming at them. It was hysterical. I just laughed.
Adm. Richard Mies, commander, U.S. Strategic Command (STRATCOM), Offut Air Force Base, Omaha, Nebraska: Without knowing whether he was coming to Omaha, we’d taken the initiative to start preparing, working with the 55th Wing, which runs Offutt. We’d started to evacuate the main quarters that could be used for VIPs, and install some of the protection there that’d be needed in case he needed to spend the night.
We didn’t know that he was coming to Offutt until about 15 minutes before. There wasn’t much communication with Air Force One at all. There wasn’t going to be any pomp and circumstance. I had my driver and a Secret Service agent who we had, and the three of us went out to the runway to greet Air Force One. It was just a plain Chrysler.
Dave Wilkinson: By the time we got to STRATCOM, there were like 15 to 20 planes still unaccounted for [nationwide]. People will say it was only six, but there were a lot more than that. For everything we knew, they were all hijacked. But, even as we landed, they started to kick them off quickly.
Adm. Richard Mies: I decided to bring the president down into the command center via the fire escape entrance. That was the most expedient option. I’d never used it before. It was there for emergencies. I had them open it from the inside.
Brian Montgomery: There were a lot of airmen in battle gear lining the route to the bunker. We pull up to this five-story office building, and instead of walking in the front door, the admiral says, “No, we’re going in there.” We head into this concrete building, just a door. We went down and down and down, pretty far underground.
At left, President George W. Bush arrives Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska. At right, Bush, Admiral Richard Mies, left, and White House Chief of Staff Andy Card conduct a video teleconference at the base. | Courtesy of the George W. Bush Presidential Library
Gordon Johndroe: The president went into the bunker. It was chilling. I’m watching [the president] with the press from the motorcade and they go into this building and they’re gone. When we got to Omaha, we were tired. Our energy, the stress had ebbed and flowed. A sadness kicked in when we got to Omaha. We didn’t really have time to reflect before then.
Ellen Eckert: When he went into the bunker, wow. That’s still a scene in the movie in my head all these years later. Clearly the only way to go was down. We just stood outside, waiting. We smoked a million cigarettes, all my new chain-smoking friends.
Eric Draper: I finally had a chance to call my wife, I said, “Honey, I’m going to be home a little late tonight.” I could hear her laugh through the phone, even as she was crying. She said, “I saw you with the president, so I knew you were OK.”
Adm. Richard Mies: We went directly into the command center. That really caught his attention. All these soldiers, they’re all in battle dress. CNN was prominently displayed—a lot of footage of the two towers. We had four to six TV screens, all energized. I sat him down where I normally sit, and walked him through what he was seeing, so he had an awareness.
Andy Card: It’s right out of a TV movie set—all these flat-screen TVs, all these military people, you can hear the fog of war, all these communications from the FAA and the military. But it’s tough for the military folks—they all want to stand and show respect to the commander in chief, but you can tell they want to sit and do their jobs. Everyone is schizophrenic, half-sitting and half standing, everyone’s moving around. After a few minutes, the president turned to me, “I want to get out of here, I’m making it hard for these people to do their job.”
Maj. Scott Crogg: All the rules that fighter pilots spend their lives living by were now out the window. When we landed [at Offut] we got more gas and picked up maps for the rest of the country. There are always maps and approaches for the country in base operations, but all the maps always say, "Do not remove from base operations." We just took all of them and stuffed them in our bag.
Colonel Tillman walked into base operations and we finally started to get some information. The president was actually an alumni of our unit in Houston. Colonel Tillman told us, “he feels comfortable with you guys and wants you to continue us.” We told him we’d sit back about five miles—you don’t get that close to something that valuable, for all sorts of reasons—but if something happened, we can eat up that range real quick.
Adm. Richard Mies: The VTC was just the three of us, the operator, and his military aide. There were just five of us at most. There was no real audience. We listened as everyone reported in. Richard Clarke [of the National Security Council], [Transportation Secretary] Norm Mineta, [Deputy Secretary of State] Richard Armitage, [National Security Adviser] Condi [Rice], [CIA Director] George Tenet. Most of the initial conversation in the VTC was focused on who did this. There was a lot of speculation. It was too early to make definitive. Then we were talking about: How do we restore some sense of normalcy quickly, both for New York and for the country? And then how does the president get back to Washington?
Mike Morell: When Tenet explained that he had evidence pointing to Al Qaeda, the president turned around and looked at me—his look clearly said, “What the fuck happened here?” You were supposed to tell me first. I tried to explain with my look that I was sorry—I didn’t know how my message had gotten lost. I went to a nearby office and called Tenet’s assistant, angry. I felt like I’d let the president down.
Andy Card: When George Tenet said it was Al Qaeda, it wasn’t like dawn breaking over Marblehead. We all suspected that it was Al Qaeda. I’d thought that since the classroom door. It wasn’t that dramatic of a moment actually. It was just a confirmation. Think of what it would’ve happened if he’d told us that it was Russia, China, or another nation-state? Or an American splinter group?
Dave Wilkinson: We felt like we were probably pretty safe and it could be prudent to go back. Everyone went around the room [on the video conference], the vice president kicked it off, and everyone said their piece. Finally, the president said to Brian [Stafford], my boss [the Secret Service director], “Brian, Dave and Eddie are just doing their job and telling me I can’t go back to D.C., but I think it’s time for me to come back.” Brian did a good job—he explained [to the president] that it was a heightened security environment, and we’re were going to relocate you and move you if the slightest thing comes up.
Brian Montgomery: Once we got to Offutt, you would have had to tie him down to keep there overnight.
Julie Ziegenhorn, public affairs officer, Offutt Air Force Base: We were working at our desks and all of a sudden, there was the President striding down the hallway. He walked right out the front door, waving to us. He shouted, “Thanks for all you’re doing!”
Gordon Johndroe: We’re there with the pool and our Secret Service agent says, “Oh my gosh, we’ve got to go right now. The president’s leaving.” Ann [Compton] was on with Peter Jennings. I didn’t want to panic her or the nation by making it seem like we were leaving abruptly, but we needed to leave. I mouthed, “We have to go.” She was on the radio and she said, “I’m told we’re leaving. I don’t know where we’re going.” Peter Jennings said, “Godspeed, Annie.”
Col. Mark Tillman: We thought he was going to be there for a while. I was in base operations and someone came in and said, “I think the president’s headed back to the plane.” I said, “Nah.” He said, “No, I’m pretty sure I just saw him drive by.” I started to race back to the plane. He’d already gotten there. He’s waiting at the top of the stairs and told me, “Tillman, we got to get back home. Let’s get back home.”
Maj. Scott Crogg: No one told us that Air Force One was leaving, so we’re like, “Oh shit, are they starting up?” We’re racing to get our planes in the air, but it takes some time. We met the minimum safety requirements and hit the air. A 747 configured like that, gosh, that’s a fast airplane. We didn’t want to go supersonic, it’d burn up too much fuel, so we talked to them, and we had to reel them in.
VI. Airborne, En route to Andrews Air Force Base, Washington, D.C.
Col. Mark Tillman: I’m doing .94 Mach. The fighters only have so much gas. We went as fast as we could across the United States. F-16s were coming out of D.C. to meet us, everyone was joining up with us. We had F-15s with us too.
Mike Morell: On the flight to Andrews, I finally got this packet full of all the intelligence CIA had. It included the talking points that George Tenet had used to brief the president, but there was still a lot he hadn’t been able to say. I shared all those details with the president. The second half of the packet was a set of intelligence passed to us by a European ally explaining that it had detected signs that Al Qaeda was planning a second wave. When I was showing that to the president, I could tell from his reaction, it struck him: “Gosh, this could happen again.” This isn’t over.
Andy Card: When he talked to his dad, his dad reinforced George W. Bush’s desire to get back to Washington. That made me feel a little guilty, but by then we were on our way back.
Eric Draper: I asked Andy Card at one point, “Who did this?” “Al Qaeda.” I’d never heard of Al Qaeda before.
Andy Card: By the time we’re coming from STRATCOM, it was kind of skeleton crew aboard. The closer we got to Washington, the more the president wandered.
Brian Montgomery: I found the president at the front of the staff cabin at one point. I just said, “We’re going to hit ’em hard, right, when this is all over?” He just said, “Yes, yes, we are.” I knew that look in his eyes. He was mad.
Ellen Eckert: The president came back to the press cabin, I asked him if he was doing OK, and he said yes. I asked, “Have you spoken to Mrs. Bush?” He said, “Yes, she’s fine.” He patted me on the back, twice. Then Doug Mills [the AP photographer] said, “Keep your spirits up.”
The president said, “We won’t let a thug bring this country down.”
Sonya Ross: I was typing away [in the press cabin], working on my notes [when the president came in], and I don’t think he saw me at first. I started typing that quote down, and he heard me typing and turned to me: “Hey, off the record!” He didn’t say anything else.
Ellen Eckert: He gave Sonya the stink eye.
Gordon Johndroe: There was one time when President Bush slipped back there—I was in the staff cabin with Andy Card and don’t know how he got back there—and he came in and said, “I just spoke with the press.” He saw my face and said quickly, “Don’t worry, it’s OK. It was off the record.” He was trying to be a very calm and comforting presence to everyone.
The president is consoled by presidential nurse Cindy Wright, of the White House Medical Unit, aboard Air Force One. | Eric Draper/George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum
Eric Draper: Everyone was trying to take it all in. I took this picture of Cindy Wright, a White House nurse, rubbing the president’s back. At another moment, the president had his arm around Harriet Miers as they walked down the plane.
Capt. Cindy Wright: What’s funny about that picture is I don’t really remember being compassionate or ministering to him—I do remember that he came in to check on me and the team. It was amazing to me that he was walking through the plane checking on us. I was in the medical compartment. It was still fairly new in the administration, so we knew each other from talking and being at the ranch, but that was the first time we hugged—I’m a big hugger, and he is too.
Ann Compton: We were finally able to say on the record—I called my bureau and told them—that the president was heading back to Washington and would address the nation from the Oval Office.
Sonya Ross: I had started on the White House beat on September 11th, six years earlier. I said to Ari at some point, “This is my White House anniversary.” He laughed, “Some anniversary party you threw.”
Col. Dr. Richard Tubb: The thing at that moment I was most worried about was a biologic [attack]. In the unlikely but high-risk scenario, I thought there was little harm to be prophylaxing the staff with antibiotics. It seemed like almost science fiction. I gave everyone on the plane a week of Cipro. I hoped by the time they ran out, we’d have figured out the fog of war and know whether we needed to continue measures.
Brian Montgomery: I noticed that Dr. Tubb was walking and talking to each person. He’d lean over and whisper to each person, pat them on the shoulder, and he’d hand over a little envelope, like what the military uses to put pills in. He got to me and said, “Monty”—that was my nickname—“how do you feel?” I said, “Other than the obvious, physically, I feel fine.” “You don’t feel disoriented?” “Nope.” Then he said, “Have you ever heard of Cipro? We don’t know what might’ve been in that school, so we’re just being careful.” I asked him, “What’s it used for?” He told me, “In case it’s anthrax.”
Col. Dr. Richard Tubb: It was scary later realizing later that fall anthrax wasn’t as unimaginable as we’d thought. That was a turning point for our society. I was suddenly real pleased with how we’d reacted on the plane.
At left, Marine One prepares to land on the South Lawn of the White House. At right, National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice waits at the South Portico for Bush to return. | U.S. National Archives
Mike Morell: It was about an hour from touching down, pretty late in the day, a lot of people were asleep, and the lights on Air Force One were turned down. The president came back into the staff compartment. I was the only one awake. I said, “How are you doing?” “I’m just fine, thanks for asking.” One of the things that struck me, he transformed right before my eyes from a president who was struggling a bit with the direction of his administration on September 10th, to a wartime president, just in a matter of hours. I could already see this new confidence and power in him.
Gordon Johndroe: I don’t really remember eating, but the stewards put out some sandwiches and chips. The Air Force bills you for your meals aboard Air Force One, through the White House Military Office. I remember a couple days later getting a bill for $9.18. The bill said for meals on September 11th between Sarasota-Barksdale, Barksdale-Offutt, Offutt-Washington.
Master Sgt. Dana Lark: I’ve never felt more fatigued. I can’t remember anything as physical as that day. It just sucked everything out of you.
Mike Morell: The president’s mil aide [Tom Gould] was looking out the window on the left side of the plane, he motioned me over. “Look.” There was a fighter jet on the wingtip. He told me there was another one on the other side of the plane. In the distance, you could see the still-burning Pentagon. Throughout the day, all this is happening and you don’t really have the chance to feel the emotion. But that got me. Tears filled my eyes for the first time that day.
Maj. Scott Crogg: It was really a shock, but I remember thinking that the hole in the building, relative to the whole size of the Pentagon, is relatively small. It was symbolic. It’s a painful wound, but we’re big enough to absorb it.
Andy Card : We kneeled on the benches to look outside, you could see the fighter jets came up pretty close to Air Force One. You just don’t see that on Air Force One.
Karl Rove: I watched the fighters and I realized this was no ceremonial escort—this was the last line of defense in case there was a MANPAD [surface-to-air missile] on the approach to Washington. They were going to put themselves between Air Force One and whatever the threat was.
Col. Dr. Richard Tubb: As we’re coming in on final [approach], Dan Bartlett comes into my office and says, “Thanks, I took all those pills. Anything else I need?” I said, “What?! Absolutely not! That was supposed to be a week’s worth!” I’m flipping through the Physician’s Desk Reference, that huge book, trying to figure out what the toxic level of Cipro is.
Brian Montgomery: [Dan] was real worried for a moment. After all that happened that day, Dan was going to die from Cipro poisoning.
Col. Dr. Richard Tubb: I looked into it and told him, “Listen, you’re going to be fine. You might want to take an antacid.”
Col. Mark Tillman: It was a long day. As we’re landing, I’m thinking, all I’ve got to do is get him on the ground, then I can hand him off to the Marines. I’m watching the fighters scream by underneath, doing suppression, trying to figure out if there was anything waiting for us. The landing itself, after everything, was entirely normal.
George W. Bush meets with his National Security Council in the Presidential Emergency Operations Center of the White House after addressing the nation. | U.S. National Archives
Maj. Scott Crogg: We’d landed right behind Air Force One, so we saluted as Marine One took off. We knew the president was heading to the White House.
Ari Fleischer: There are several different routes that Marine One can take back, we took the most scenic, directly over the Capitol, down the Mall, at the Washington Monument, you bank right.
Andy Card: We only flew at tree-top level, zig-zagging, to make it harder for a missile to hit us. We were really low to the water on the Potomac.
Ari Fleischer: Out of the front left of the chopper, the president had a clear view of the Pentagon. The president said to nobody and everybody, “The mightiest building in the world is on fire. This is the face of war in the 21st century.”
Mike Morell: [In 2011], the very first telephone call that President [Barack] Obama made after we were sure we’d killed Osama bin Laden was to President [George W.] Bush. President Obama knew that I’d been with him on 9/11, and so he asked me to fly down to Dallas after the raid to brief President Bush personally. I went down about two weeks later and walked President Bush through every aspect of the raid. I thought I could see in his face some sense of closure.
(Note: All titles and military ranks are presented as people were on September 11, 2001, and interviews have been condensed and edited for clarity.)
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AP Photo/Susan Walsh
The Ugly History of Stephen Miller’s ‘Cosmopolitan’ Epithet
Surprise, surprise—the insult has its roots in Soviet anti-Semitism.
By JEFF GREENFIELD
Jeff Greenfield is a five-time Emmy-winning network television analyst and author.
When TV news viewers saw Trump adviser Stephen Miller accuse Jim Acosta of harboring a “cosmopolitan bias” during Wednesday’s news conference, they might have wondered whether he was accusing the CNN White House reporter of an excessive fondness for the cocktail made famous on “Sex and the City.” It’s a term that’s seldom been heard in American political discourse. But to supporters of the Miller-Bannon worldview, it was a cause for celebration. Breitbart, where Steve Bannon reigned before becoming Trump’s chief political strategist, trumpeted Miller’s “evisceration” of Acosta and put the term in its headline. So did white nationalist Richard Spencer, who hailed Miller’s dust-up with Acosta as “a triumph.”
Why does it matter? Because it reflects a central premise of one key element of President Donald Trump’s constituency—a premise with a dark past and an unsettling present.
So what is a “cosmopolitan”? It’s a cousin to “elitist,” but with a more sinister undertone. It’s a way of branding people or movements that are unmoored to the traditions and beliefs of a nation, and identify more with like-minded people regardless of their nationality. (In this sense, the revolutionary pamphleteer Thomas Paine might have been an early American cosmopolitan, when he declared: “The world is my country; all mankind are my brethren, and to do good is my religion.”). In the eyes of their foes, “cosmopolitans” tend to cluster in the universities, the arts and in urban centers, where familiarity with diversity makes for a high comfort level with “untraditional” ideas and lives.
For a nationalist, these are fighting words. Your country is your country; your fellow citizens are your brethren; and your country’s traditions—religious and otherwise— should be yours. A nation whose people—especially influential people—develop other ties undermine national strength, and must be repudiated.
One reason why “cosmopolitan” is an unnerving term is that it was the key to an attempt by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin to purge the culture of dissident voices. In a 1946 speech, he deplored works in which “the positive Soviet hero is derided and inferior before all things foreign and cosmopolitanism that we all fought against from the time of Lenin, characteristic of the political leftovers, is many times applauded.” It was part of a yearslong campaigned aimed at writers, theater critics, scientists and others who were connected with “bourgeois Western influences.” Not so incidentally, many of these “cosmopolitans” were Jewish, and official Soviet propaganda for a time devoted significant energy into “unmasking” the Jewish identities of writers who published under pseudonyms.
What makes this history relevant is that, all across Europe, nationalist political figures are still making the same kinds of arguments—usually but not always stripped of blatant anti-Semitism—to constrict the flow of ideas and the boundaries of free political expression. Russian President Vladimir Putin, for example, has more and more embraced this idea that unpatriotic forces threaten the nation. As Foreign Policy put it in 2014:
“The new theme of Russian politics [is] the conflation of loyalty to the Kremlin with patriotism. It says much that dissidents at home, from journalists failing to toe the official line to protesters on the streets, are castigated either as outright ‘foreign agents’ (every movement, charity, or organization accepting foreign money must register itself as such) or else as unknowing victims and vectors of external contamination — contamination, that is, from the West, whose cosmopolitanism and immorality Putin has come to see as an increasing threat to Russia’s identity.”
That same notion has characterized the politics of the former Soviet bloc. In Hungary, the president of its Parliament has repeatedly denounced his political opponents as “people without a country,” loyal only to values like freedom, contemptuous of tradition and religion. Its prime minister, Viktor Orban, has openly advocated for “illiberal democracy” and launched a campaign against the Jewish financier and philanthropist George Soros. In Poland, the reigning Law and Justice Party sees the nation besieged by dangerous influences. An article last year in World Press succinctly summarized the situation:
“In the party’s propaganda the country is in ruins, its economy robbed blind by international capital, while the foreign ownership of some newspapers and other types of mass media outlets made Poland into a colony, infecting Poles’ minds with rootless cosmopolitanism. … What is at stake is Polish Christian national values that must be protected at all cost, namely the linguistic and religious homogeneity of the country. Only Poles should reside in Poland, and a proper Pole must be a Polish-speaking Catholic.”
In one form or another, such sentiments have been at play in the politics of the Netherlands, Germany, France, and (in less blatant form) in the Brexit vote in Great Britain last year.
And they undergirded much of Trump’s campaign. One of its central premises was that “globalists,” regardless of ideology or party, were undermining American interests—by bringing low-skilled workers to our shores, by building factories in other lands, by letting international financial institutions grow rich while hollowing out American cities and towns.
“We’ve made other countries rich while the wealth, strength and confidence of our country has disappeared over the horizon,” Trump said in his inaugural address. “From this day forward, a new vision will govern our land. From this day forward, it’s going to be—always—America First.”
To be clear: Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller would angrily wave away any suggestion that they are echoing the sentiments of anti-democratic political movements, much less anti-Semitic dog whistles. But there is no evading the unhappy reality that to label someone a “cosmopolitan” carries with it a clear implication that there is something less patriotic, less loyal … someone who is not a “real American.”
So maybe the next time Miller wants to duel with an obstreperous reporter, he might consider going back to “elitist”—that’s a real homegrown insult.
Stephen Bannon
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Legislating for Brexit: can the government get all the Statutory Instruments it needs through parliament by 29th March?
The short answer is yes, but at some cost to the already limited scrutiny that takes place
by Joel Blackwell and Ruth Fox / February 8, 2019 / Leave a comment
Photo: Claire Doherty/SIPA USA/PA Images
The cancellation of the mid-February House of Commons recess to provide more time for scrutiny of Brexit legislation has elided uncomfortably with the fact that business in the Chamber has been light in recent days, so much so that the House adjourned mid-afternoon on Wednesday.
But there is more to legislative life than what goes on in the Chamber, and Brexit requires a lot more legislation than bills. Between now and 29th March the wheels of parliamentary scrutiny will have to grind relentlessly if parliament is to pass all the Statutory Instruments (SIs) necessary to prepare the statute book for exit day.
Statutory Instruments are pieces of delegated or secondary legislation used by ministers (and sometimes public bodies) to make changes to the law under powers conferred on them by an Act of Parliament.
The government estimates that it needs up to 600 SIs by 29th March. Yesterday the government laid its 400th Brexit SI since the EU (Withdrawal) Act received Royal Assent last summer. So the government is two-thirds of the way towards its goal.
But with 80 per cent of the parliamentary time to lay the SIs before exit day having elapsed, can the government get up to 200 more SIs onto the statute book before it’s too late?
The answer is yes, but it may be at some cost to the limited scrutiny that already takes place for SIs, particularly in the House of Commons.
The government has been laying an average of just 11 Brexit SIs per week, and has laid 25 or more in a week on just six occasions. In the last week of January it laid 36 Brexit SIs, but 24 of these were laid on the final day of the month. This pattern suggests that it will be a tall order, though certainly not impossible, to lay up to 200, at an average of 29 per week, in each of the remaining seven weeks to exit day.
There is precedent for laying lots of SIs quickly. For example, the government laid 303 SIs in the last month before parliament was dissolved for the 2015 general election; 121 of these were laid in the final week.
However, the majority of these were subject to the “negative scrutiny procedure,” rather than the more demanding “affirmative scrutiny procedure.”
SIs subject…
18223987765d2e03e24c0fd1.03593224
A no-deal Brexit is more likely than you think, because of legislation you’ve never heard of
Paul Daly / February 6, 2019
The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill will never get through parliament by...
Is there time for another referendum before the new Brexit deadline?
Alan Renwick / April 18, 2019
MPs could force through a second vote but there is no sense in rushing the...
Joel Blackwell and Ruth Fox
Joel Blackwell and Ruth Fox, Hansard Society
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To Lose the Madness: Field Notes on Trauma, Loss, and Radical Authenticity
L.M. Browning. Homebound, $12 trade paper (84p) ISBN 978-1-947003-90-3
In this spellbinding book, poet and novelist Browning (The Castoff Children) spares no detail in telling the story of her descent into profound grief as one loss piled upon another. The breakdown of her eight-year romantic relationship on the heels of her miscarriage is compounded by a tangle of health complications (abdominal surgery, a severely fractured leg) and a web of psychological disorders she waited years to have properly treated. Browning likens her attempt to heal after these events to “a search for God—something elusive, divine, and that may or may not exist.” Her sometimes-depressing observations will ring true to anyone who has suffered a trauma. Though she never gives up hope, she takes a realistic approach to recovery, and her depiction of how she made her way through reveals all she suffered. Though small, this effective and plainspoken memoir is densely packed with tales of harrowing experiences (particularly her diagnosis with C-PTSD and treatment using eye-movement desensitization and reprocessing) that require emotional, intellectual, and spiritual investments on the part of the reader. Browning’s journey of recovery will be of help to anyone looking for courage in difficult times. (Apr.)
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Ashley M. Biggers
Illustration by Angelina Aragon
Arizona state trust land has long been sold to fund state institutions, but increasing sales directed to public schools raise sustainability questions.
In September 2018, Nationwide successfully bid $83 million for 134 acres of Arizona state trust land in north Scottsdale for regional headquarters. The company wasn’t the only winner – Arizona schools enjoyed a windfall, too.
The Arizona State Land Department sells and manages state trust land for 13 beneficiaries, K-12 public education chief among them (see sidebar). Propelled by regulatory changes enacted by controversial Proposition 123 three years ago, it had a record-setting year in 2018, selling $330.3 million in land, a huge bump from $44.4 million in 2017. “We’re following Governor Ducey’s leadership and approach of wanting Arizona government to perform more like a business,” says state land commissioner Lisa A. Atkins. Meanwhile, critics question whether state land trust sales are a sustainable way to fund education.
Historical context is crucial in understanding state trust land sales. When Western states received statehood, the federal government couldn’t fund amenities like schools and hospitals. State trust land – in Arizona’s case, 10.5 million acres – was set aside to benefit these institutions. These lands aren’t technically public lands, as parks or national forests are; they’re intended to generate funds for public institutions, not to be used for recreation.
The Arizona State Land Department still manages 9.2 million acres – 8.5 million through agriculture, grazing and mining leases – and sells land to private entities. Funds from leases go directly to the beneficiary for each plot. Funds from sales take a winding route through Office of the Arizona State Treasurer (for education, specifically through the Permanent State School Fund), where monies are invested and eventually distributed.
“We base our business decisions on the asset [e.g. the land]. We’re not manipulating our work based on the beneficiaries,” Atkins says. For the first time, Proposition 123 empowered the state to pay schools by drawing down the fund’s principal assets, rather than through interest and investments.
Last year’s sales were the fourth highest since the department started keeping track in the 1980s. Its highest was 2005, before the housing bubble popped. Atkins says 2018’s sales reflect the market’s health and the department’s new tactics. It has focused on identifying lucrative land parcels and making purchasing more attractive, working with local governments to create zoning banks for a variety of purposes, from apartments to office buildings. They entice potential buyers and drive up prices.
In a bullish real estate market, this tactic has worked, doubling the fund’s year-over-year land sales in 2018 to 1,092 acres. Of course, these were prime urban parcels – most of the fund’s 9.2 million acres are not so viable. So what happens if the department runs out of profitable land? An overblown fear, officials maintain. Desert Ridge, now the department’s most valuable parcel, was considered a rural parcel a few decades ago. Atkins says the state trust lands were distributed across the state so “beneficiaries could always take [advantage] of where the development was occurring.”
Atkins expects the upward sales trend to continue. The department already has a half-dozen auctions in the pipeline for 2019.
Arizona State Trust Land by Beneficiary – Fiscal Year 2018 (Acres)
state trust land
Readers’ Photo Contest
The Great 48
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HK: +852 9168 8209 AUS: +61 3 9620 4763 TW: +886 2 2758 8808
WA records surge in full-time jobs as unemployment rate hits year-low
WA’s unemployment rate has fallen to its lowest level in more than a year on the back of a surge in full-time employment.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics reported this morning that the WA jobless rate fell to 5.7 per cent in October, down from 6 per cent in September. It is the lowest unemployment rate for WA since September 2017.
The more stable trend measure also fell below 6 per cent, the first time this year it has been that low.
The result was driven by full-time employment which jumped by 10,700 through the month to reach its highest number since early 2015.
WA has added 44,700 full-time jobs since March.
Nationally, the country added 42,300 full-time jobs through October, which was partially offset by a 9500 drop in part-time employment.
The jobless rate held steady at 5 per cent after a slight increase in the number of unemployed Australians.
NSW’s unemployment rate was steady at 4.4 per cent while it edged down to 4.5 per cent in Victoria. Tasmania’s unemployment rate dropped to 5.3 per cent though it increased to 6.3 per cent in Queensland.
The lowest rate is in the ACT at 3.7 per cent.
Source: https://thewest.com.au/business/economy/wa-records-surge-in-full-time-jobs-as-unemployment-rate-hits-year-low-ng-b881022173
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>Seeking New Approaches to Old Problems
(Sun Herald - Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi)
Seeking New Approaches to Old Problems
by Melissa Flournoy
Gov. Haley Barbour and the legislature face tough financial choices this year, as Mississippi, along with the rest of the nation, continues to deal with the global economic crisis. But these tough times also present an opportunity for the state to do more than just cope with the immediate crisis: Mississippi also can work to find smart ways to address the chronic social and economic problems that have plagued the state for decades — now, not in some far-flung future.
Recently, the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute convened a forum at Jackson State University to discuss new strategies for tackling some of the systemic problems that have affected Mississippi for far too long: poverty and financial illiteracy, educational underachievement, poor health outcomes, and crime. The conference attendees were as diverse as the policy issues addressed and included more than 100 community advocates, business leaders, elected officials, and policy researchers.
While the issues discussed varied widely, consensus emerged on a number of common, interrelated themes:
Linking knowledge to action — To address difficult problems like underachievement in education, we do not need to reinvent the wheel. Effective research can use lessons learned from past experiences to craft solutions for problems here and now. We need to identify the programs that work and explore what it will take to expand their success and sustain their effectiveness. Research organizations such as universities, civic groups, and RAND Gulf States can be valuable resources in defining problems, measuring progress, and developing cost-effective solutions. For example, RAND applied its knowledge of recruitment and retention of military personnel to the challenges facing police departments post-Katrina.
Collaborating for solutions — Rarely can a governmental agency, a nonprofit organization, or a private company solve hard problems alone. Effective solutions are identified and implemented when organizations work collaboratively to share resources, knowledge, and capacity to address common problems collectively. To make research relevant to problems on the ground, partnerships need to be crafted between researchers, community organizations and government agencies, so that researchers address questions that matter and answers get to the right people. For example, RAND health researchers are working in partnership with community organizations and Jackson State University in Moss Point to explore how best to bring evidence-based treatments for pressing health and mental health issues to underserved communities.
Taking a regional approach to community problems — Systemic problems like poverty are not confined to city, county, and state lines. Too often, we have failed to see their interconnections and links. For our Gulf Coast communities to be competitive in the global marketplace, we need to look across political boundaries to embrace regional solutions for regional problems. RAND Gulf States is working with partners across Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and beyond to develop solutions that affect the region as a whole and to promote our common economic assets.
The RAND Corporation has a 60-year history of providing high quality-analysis to solve systemic problems, and the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute is prepared to work in partnership with communities across the region to make the Gulf Coast a better place to live, do business, and raise our children.
Melissa Flournoy is director of the RAND Gulf States Policy Institute. RAND is a nonprofit research organization.
This commentary originally appeared in Sun Herald - Biloxi-Gulfport, Mississippi on April 9, 2009. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
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in News, Politics
Predictions in Spain suggest a repeat of the recent Spanish General Elections results.
ReachExtra May 16, 2019, 11:00 157 Views
More than 500 million citizens will be called to vote at the European Parliamentary Elections taking place between the 23rd and 26th of May, in what without doubt, will be a fundamental plebiscite for the future of the European Union.
Great Britain and Holland will be the first to vote on the 23rd, followed the next day by Ireland and then countries like Lithuania and Malta, and finally the rest of the member states, including Spain, will go to the polls on Sunday the 26th.
The most recent predictions indicate a loss of seats by the European People’s Party Group, Social Democrats and Conservatives as well as a slight increase for Liberals. The current composition of the groups in the Parliament could change, and it is possible that other new parties will erupt into the scene, including some from the ‘far-right’ and Euro-sceptics.
Among these are the Italian League of Matteo Salvini, who is looking for an alliance with the French leader Marine Le Pen, the Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban and members of the Alternative for Germany, and the Danish Popular Party among others.
In Spain, the elections will be held on the 26th which is the same day on which there will be municipal and autonomic elections nearly a month after the national elections which were held on the 26th of April.
The principal Spanish parties have chosen their lists with a single candidate for the entire national territory. The tendency appears to be for a similar performance as was seen in the General Election with the CIS (Centre of Sociological Investigations), pointing out to a victory of the PSOE, followed by the Partido Popular, Ciudadanos and Podemos a short distance behind, and finally Vox, which would enter the European Parliament with minimal representation in contrast to their results for congressional and senate seats.
However, the great controversy revolves around the permission given by the Spanish courts for the ex-President of the Catalan Government Puigdemont and two of his ex-councillors who are also fugitives to present as candidates for “Lliures per Europa”.
Charles Puigdemont
The elections this month will show what concerns citizens of the European Union. According to recent data from ‘Eurobarometer’, those matters include immigration and terrorism, as well as the economy and unemployment which dominated the 2014 elections.
It is important to try to increase the level of participation and the European Parliament has launched the website www.thistimeimvoting.eu in 24 languages. The aim is to help the 150,000 volunteers in all member states who have agreed to do whatever is necessary to encourage citizens to vote.
Local Elections Are A Sea of Doubt
Also of importance are the local elections in Spain, which will determine local government issues which are more close to the average citizen.
Although the tendency is for the consolidation of the progressive vote, here the personality of the candidate for Mayor has a great deal of pull. For this reason it is not unusual to find a radical disparity between results in General and Local Elections.
In the Campo de Gibraltar it is expected that the PSOE will perform well, although it will be more difficult for it to do so in La Linea and Algeciras where Juan Franco and Jose Ignacio Landaluce (La Linea 100 x 100 and the PP) have a great deal of local support. However, it seems that in San Roque, Tarifa, Jimena, Los Barrios and Tesorillo a PSOE victory is almost a foregone conclusion, although it remains to be seen whether it will obtain a majority.
Finally, there is uncertainty in Los Barrios as to whether Los Barrios 100 x 100 or the PSOE will win.
437 Views7 Votes
in Features, Politics
Reach Alcance Edition 12: ‘EU Goes to the Polls’
Reach-Alcance
The European Union has a lot riding on the elections taking place on the 23rd and 26th of May. The results will map out the path.. More
Some might say that by rights there should be no European Elections in the UK which was due to leave the EU on Friday the 29th March… More
It took a complaint to the European Court of Human Rights in 1999 by a young Gibraltarian woman Denise Matthews to force the UK to enfranchise Gibraltarians More
Reach-Alcance Numero 12: ‘La unión europea en las urnas’
Aaron Seruya: El Mundo de la Ciencia Ficción
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Nicolas Vargas joins the Hype Energy lineup
The 23 year old surfer from Chile is the 2016 national surfing champion.
Nicolas Vargas Guajardo is the latest addition to Hype Energy’s growing team of global ambassadors. The surfer from Pichilemu, one of the best surfing spots in South America, is the 2016 Chilean National Champion and a prominent figure on the Latin Tour (ALAS) and the World Surf League (WSL), where he walked away with a 9th place in the Vans Pro Open in South Africa earlier this year.
Nicolas will become the biggest brand ambassador for Hype Energy in Chile. Hype brought its refreshing and powerful drinks line-up into the country just two years ago and is already one of the leading energy drinks companies amongst young people and sports stars in the market.
The Chilean surfer, one of the hottest surfing talents in the region, is a podium regular throughout the different national and international competitions that he participates in. Nicolas is also popular across social media, regularly publishing breathtaking photos and videos that he takes on his journeys around the globe.
“I’m very happy for the support I get from Hype Energy and to be part of their international family. It’s a very successful company and, after a little more than a year in Chile, is already a recognised name in the region. I believe that together, we’ll achieve great success” said Nicolas of the announcement.
You can keep up with Nicolas through Hype Energy’s social media accounts, as well as his personal accounts:
Instagram - @nicolasvargas._
Facebook - @nicovargassurf
Twitter - @nicovargassurf
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Belle Isle Inspires
Kemba Braynon, AIA
Kemba Braynon, AIA, began working on the Quinn Evans Architects assessment of 14 Historic Belle Isle structures in 2015.
Prior to joining QEA, Kemba served as a Project Manager responsible for the City of Detroit’s Certified Local Government Historic Preservation Grants. Assessments of the 14 structures on Belle Isle are now being put to use for repairs, including structures such as the Nancy Brown Peace Carillon, Aquarium, and Casino. Mrs. Braynon took a moment to reflect on her time on Belle Isle; from her first visit to the vast amount of work she contributes to today.
Notes from the Architect
We can all remember our first impression of Detroit’s Belle Isle Park; I was meeting with a few neighborhood residents in Lafayette Park, when I was approached by a fellow preservationist who needed help managing a grant to re-roof the 1904 Albert Khan-designed Belle Isle Aquarium. “We’ve been given the funding several years in a row, but we can’t find anyone who can coordinate between city and state agencies and manage the entire project from start to finish,” she said. “You’re an architect; surely you must have the knowhow.” I wasn’t sure that I did, but it was an opportunity to return to the fold of the work that I had been somewhat divorced from while working in the government sector during the Great Recession. It was also an opportunity to see the 982-acre Park I had only heard stories of. As the daughter of a Detroiter who grew up on the other side of the state, I knew of Belle Isle from my father’s stories of horse-drawn carriage rides and skating on the river, but I had yet to actually see the Frederick Law Olmstead-designed park for myself.
That first grant for the Belle Isle Aquarium opened the door to the vast possibilities of preserving Belle Isle’s historic resources, which are vast. The Belle Isle National Register of Historic Places Nomination lists over one-hundred contributing resources, many of which were designed by world-renowned architects, and all of which require periodic upkeep to ensure that they remain in use for future generations. The Belle Isle Aquarium received its new roof, and over the years I helped to shepherd additional grants that provided vital exterior envelope improvements to the building, including masonry tuck pointing and window repair.
As an architect with QEA, I’ve remained committed to helping preserve Belle Isle’s historic resources. Working alongside other dedicated preservation architects and landscape architects, we’ve completed numerous historic preservation projects on Belle Isle, including a Building Conditions Assessment which led to the restoration of 14 historic buildings on the island such as the Flynn Pavilion, Casino, and the Police Headquarters. But Belle Isle is so much more than just its buildings, and as such we are glad to be a part of the on-going Belle Isle Beachfront Revitalization Project which will help expand the recreational opportunities on the ½ mile long stretch of Belle Isle Beachfront.
QEA and Belle Isle
To date, QEA has completed numerous historic preservation projects on Belle Isle, including a Building Conditions Assessment which led to the restoration of 14 historic buildings on the island including the Flynn Pavilion, Casino and the Police Headquarters. To learn more reach out to us at qea-detroit@quinnevans.com
Posted by Kemba Braynon, AIA
Kemba’s strength lies in combining her skills as an architect and a writer to craft the stories of historic buildings and ensure...
Is Your Building Healthy?
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BUSINESS, SOCIAL, AND CHARITABLE ORGANIZATIONS
Section 317A.521
317A.505 317A.601
Nonprofit corporations
317A.521 INDEMNIFICATION.
Subdivision 1.Definitions.
(a) For purposes of this section, the terms defined in this subdivision have the meanings given them.
(b) "Corporation" includes a domestic or foreign corporation that was the predecessor of the corporation referred to in this section in a merger, consolidation, or other transaction in which the predecessor's existence ended upon completion of the transaction.
(c) "Official capacity" means:
(1) with respect to a director, the position of director in a corporation;
(2) with respect to a person other than a director, the elective or appointive office or position held by an officer, member of a committee of the board, or the employment relationship undertaken by an employee of the corporation; and
(3) with respect to a director, officer, or employee of the corporation who, while a director, officer, or employee of the corporation, is or was serving at the request of the corporation or whose duties in that position involve or involved service as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or agent of another organization or employee benefit plan, the position of that person as a director, officer, partner, trustee, employee, or agent, as the case may be, of the other organization or employee benefit plan.
(d) "Proceeding" means a threatened, pending, or completed civil, criminal, administrative, arbitration, or investigative proceeding, including a proceeding by or in the right of the corporation.
(e) "Special legal counsel" means counsel who has not represented the corporation or a related organization, or a director, officer, member of a committee of the board, or employee whose indemnification is in issue.
Subd. 2.Indemnification mandatory; standard.
(a) Subject to subdivision 4, a corporation shall indemnify a person made or threatened to be made a party to a proceeding by reason of the former or present official capacity of the person against judgments, penalties, fines, including, without limitation, excise taxes assessed against the person with respect to an employee benefit plan, settlements, and reasonable expenses, including attorneys fees and disbursements, incurred by the person in connection with the proceeding, if, with respect to the acts or omissions of the person complained of in the proceeding, the person:
(1) has not been indemnified by another organization or employee benefit plan for the same liability described in the preceding paragraph with respect to the same acts or omissions;
(2) acted in good faith;
(3) received no improper personal benefit and section 317A.255, if applicable, has been satisfied;
(4) in the case of a criminal proceeding, did not have reasonable cause to believe the conduct was unlawful; and
(5) in the case of acts or omissions occurring in the official capacity described in subdivision 1, paragraph (c), clause (1) or (2), reasonably believed that the conduct was in the best interests of the corporation, or in the case of acts or omissions occurring in the official capacity described in subdivision 1, paragraph (c), clause (3), reasonably believed that the conduct was not opposed to the best interests of the corporation. If the person's acts or omissions complained of in the proceeding relate to conduct as a director, officer, trustee, employee, or agent of an employee benefit plan, the conduct is not considered to be opposed to the best interests of the corporation if the person reasonably believed that the conduct was in the best interests of the participants or beneficiaries of the employee benefit plan.
(b) The termination of a proceeding by judgment, order, settlement, conviction, or upon a plea of nolo contendere or its equivalent does not, of itself, establish that the person did not meet the criteria in this subdivision.
Subd. 3.Advances.
Subject to subdivision 4, if a person is made or threatened to be made a party to a proceeding, the person is entitled, upon written request to the corporation, to payment or reimbursement by the corporation of reasonable expenses, including attorneys fees and disbursements, incurred by the person in advance of the final disposition of the proceeding:
(1) upon receipt by the corporation of a written affirmation by the person of a good faith belief that the criteria for indemnification in subdivision 2 have been satisfied and a written undertaking by the person to repay the amounts paid or reimbursed by the corporation, if it is determined that the criteria for indemnification have not been satisfied; and
(2) after a determination that the facts then known to those making the determination would not preclude indemnification under this section.
The written undertaking required by clause (1) is an unlimited general obligation of the person making it, but need not be secured and must be accepted without reference to financial ability to make the repayment.
Subd. 4.Prohibition or limit on indemnification or advances.
The articles or bylaws may prohibit indemnification or advances of expenses required by this section or may impose conditions on indemnification or advances of expenses in addition to the conditions contained in subdivisions 2 and 3 including, without limitation, monetary limits on indemnification or advances of expenses, if the conditions apply equally to all persons or to all persons within a given class. A prohibition or limit on indemnification or advances may not apply to or affect the right of a person to indemnification or advances of expenses with respect to acts or omissions of the person occurring before the effective date of a provision in the articles or the date of adoption of a provision in the bylaws establishing the prohibition or limit on indemnification or advances.
Subd. 5.Reimbursement to witnesses.
This section does not require, or limit the ability of, a corporation to reimburse expenses, including attorneys fees and disbursements, incurred by a person in connection with an appearance as a witness in a proceeding at a time when the person has not been made or threatened to be made a party to a proceeding.
Subd. 6.Determination of eligibility.
(a) Determinations as to whether indemnification of a person is required because the criteria set forth in subdivision 2 have been satisfied and whether a person is entitled to payment or reimbursement of expenses in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding under subdivision 3 must be made:
(1) by the board by a majority of a quorum; directors who are at the time parties to the proceeding are not counted for determining a majority or the presence of a quorum;
(2) if a quorum under clause (1) cannot be obtained, by a majority of a committee of the board, consisting solely of two or more directors not at the time parties to the proceeding, duly designated to act in the matter by a majority of the full board including directors who are parties;
(3) if a determination is not made under clause (1) or (2), by special legal counsel, selected either by a majority of the board or a committee by vote under clause (1) or (2) or, if the requisite quorum of the full board cannot be obtained and the committee cannot be established, by a majority of the full board including directors who are parties;
(4) if a determination is not made under clauses (1) to (3), by the members with voting rights, other than members who are parties to the proceeding; or
(5) if an adverse determination is made under clauses (1) to (4) or under paragraph (b), or if no determination is made under clauses (1) to (4) or under paragraph (b) within 60 days after the termination of a proceeding or after a request for an advance of expenses, by a court in this state, which may be the court in which the proceeding involving the person's liability took place, upon application of the person and notice the court requires.
(b) With respect to a person who is not, and was not at the time of the acts or omissions complained of in the proceedings, a director, officer, or person having, directly or indirectly, the power to direct or cause the direction of the management or policies of the corporation, the determination whether indemnification of this person is required because the criteria in subdivision 2 have been satisfied and whether this person is entitled to payment or reimbursement of expenses in advance of the final disposition of a proceeding under subdivision 3 may be made by an annually appointed committee of the board, having at least one member who is a director. The committee shall report at least annually to the board concerning its actions.
Subd. 7.Insurance.
A corporation may buy and maintain insurance on behalf of a person in that person's official capacity against liability asserted against and incurred by the person in or arising from that capacity, whether or not the corporation would have been required to indemnify the person against the liability under this section.
Subd. 8.Disclosure.
A corporation with members with voting rights that indemnifies or advances expenses to a person under this section in connection with a proceeding by or on behalf of the corporation shall report to the members in writing the amount of the indemnification or advance and to whom and on whose behalf it was paid not later than the next meeting of members.
Subd. 9.Indemnification of other persons.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the power of a corporation to indemnify persons other than a director, officer, employee, or member of a committee of the board of the corporation by contract or otherwise.
1989 c 304 s 83; 2010 c 250 art 1 s 35
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Flow at Work
Measurement and Implications, 1st Edition
Edited by Clive Fullagar, Antonella Delle Fave
Flow can be defined as the experience of being fully engaged with the task at hand, unburdened by outside concerns or worries. Flow is an enjoyable state of effortless attention, complete absorption, and focussed energy. The pivotal role of flow in fostering good performance and high productivity led psychologists to study the features and outcomes of this experience in the workplace, in order to ascertain the impact of flow on individual and organizational well-being, and to identify strategies to increase the workers’ opportunities for flow in job tasks.
This ground-breaking new collection is the first book to provide a comprehensive understanding of flow in the workplace that includes a contribution from the founding father of flow research, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi. On a conceptual level, this book clarifies the features and structure of flow experience; and provides research-based evidence of how flow can be measured in the workplace on an empirical level, as well as exploring how it impacts on motivation, productivity, and well-being. By virtue of its rigorous but also practical approach, the book represents a useful tool for both scientists and practitioners. The collection addresses a number of key issues, including:
Core components of how the idea of flow differs from experience in the work context
Organizational and task-related conditions fostering flow at work
How flow can be measured in the workplace
The organizational and personal implications of flow
The relationship between task features and flow opportunities at work
Featuring contributions from some of the most active researchers in the field, Flow at Work: Measurement and Implications is an important book in an emerging field of study. The concept of flow has enormous implications for organizations as well as the individual, and this volume will be of interest to all students and researchers in organizational/occupational psychology and positive psychology, as well as practitioners and consultants with an interest in employee motivation and well-being.
1. Flow at work: The evolution of a construct, Clive Fullagar, Arnold B. Bakker, & Steven Van Krevelen 2. Measuring flow at work, Stefan Engeser & Anja Schiepe 3. Capturing flow, Despoina Xanthopoulou 4. Finding flow at work, Evangelia Demerouti & Anne Mäkikangas 5. Redefining flow at work, Lucia Ceja 6. The consequences of flow, Susana Llorens and Marisa Salanova, (WANT Research Team, Universityat Jaume I) 7. Applications of flow to work, Giovanni Moneta 8. Flow and motivation, Patrick Knight & Chris Waples 9. Flow across cultures, Antonella Delle Fave 10. The future of flow in the workplace, Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi
Clive Fullagar is a professor at Kansas State University, USA. His research interests started out by developing a psychological model of commitment to, and participation in, labor organizations. More recently his research interests have broadened to the study of engagement in work, and specifically the phenomenon of "flow" in the workplace and its organizational and individual consequences.
Antonella Delle Fave is professor of psychology at the University of Milano, Italy. Her studies concern optimal experience and individual psychological selection, that is the lifelong process of differential replication and cultivation of activities and competencies. Her cross-cultural studies have produced the largest international data bank on these topics. On the basis of research findings, she has developed and supervised intervention projects in the domains of health and education, disability and social maladjustment.
Current Issues in Work and Organizational Psychology
Current Issues in Work and Organizational Psychology is a series of edited books that reflect the state-of-the-art areas of current and emerging interest in the psychological study of employees, workplaces and organizations.
Each volume is tightly focused on a particular topic and consists of seven to ten chapters contributed by international experts. The editors of individual volumes are leading figures in their areas and provide an introductory overview.
Example topics include: digital media at work, work and the family, workaholism, modern job design, positive occupational health and individualised deals.
Professor Sir Cary Cooper, CBE is the 50th Anniversary Professor of Organizational Psychology and Health at the ALLIANCE Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, President of the CIPD, President of the British Academy of Management, President of RELATE, and President of the Institute of Welfare. He is a Companion of the Chartered Management Institute and one of only a few UK Fellows of the (American) Academy of Management.
Work & Organizational Psychology
Stress and Emotion in the Workplace
Work Motivation
PSY000000
PSYCHOLOGY / Applied Psychology
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Physical Sciences Products
21st Century Nanoscience – A Handbook
Exotic Nanostructures and Quantum Systems (Volume Five), 1st Edition
Edited by Klaus D. Sattler
This 21st Century Nanoscience Handbook will be the most comprehensive, up-to-date large reference work for the field of nanoscience. Handbook of Nanophysics, by the same editor, published in the fall of 2010, embraced as the first comprehensive reference to consider both fundamental and applied…
21st Century Nanoscience
Handbook of Flexible and Stretchable Electronics
Edited by Muhammad M. Hussain, Nazek El-Atab
Flexibility and stretchability of electronics is crucial for next generation electronic devices that involve skin contact sensing and therapeutic actuation. This handbook provides a complete entrée to the field, from solid-state physics to materials chemistry, processing, devices, performance and…
Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition
Volume Three, Liquid Products, 3rd Edition
By Sarfaraz K. Niazi
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition: Volume Three, Liquid Products is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this third volume of a…
Volume Four, Semisolid Products, 3rd Edition
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition: Volume Four, Semisolid Products is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this fourth volume of a…
Volume Five, Over-the-Counter Products, 3rd Edition
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition: Volume Five, Over-the-Counter Products is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this fifth volume of…
Volume Six, Sterile Products, 3rd Edition
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition: Volume Six, Sterile Products is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this sixth volume of a six-volume…
21st Century Nanoscience - A Handbook
Advanced Analytic Methods and Instrumentation (Volume 3), 1st Edition
This up-to-date reference is the most comprehensive summary of the field of nanoscience and its applications. It begins with fundamental properties at the nanoscale and then goes well beyond into the practical aspects of the design, synthesis, and use of nanomaterials in various industries. It…
Volume One, Compressed Solid Products, 3rd Edition
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition: Volume One, Compressed Solid Products is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this first volume of a…
Volume Two, Uncompressed Solid Products, 3rd Edition
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition: Volume Two, Uncompressed Solid Products is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this second volume of a…
The Handbook of Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Formulations, Third Edition is an authoritative and practical guide to the art and science of formulating drugs for commercial manufacturing. With thoroughly revised and expanded content, this six-volume set compiles data from FDA new drug applications,…
Spintronics Handbook, Second Edition: Spin Transport and Magnetism
Three Volume Set, 2nd Edition
Edited by Evgeny Y. Tsymbal, Igor Žutić
The second edition offers an update on the single most comprehensive survey of the two intertwined fields of spintronics and magnetism, covering the diverse array of materials and structures, including silicon, organic semiconductors, carbon nanotubes, graphene, and engineered nanostructures.…
Handbook of Radiotherapy Physics
Theory and Practice, Second Edition, Two Volume Set, 2nd Edition
Edited by Philip Mayles, Alan E. Nahum, J.C. Rosenwald
From the essential background physics and radiobiology to the latest imaging and treatment modalities, the updated second edition of Handbook of Radiotherapy Physics: Theory and Practice covers all aspects of the subject. In Volume I, Part A includes the Interaction of Radiation with Matter –…
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Chapman makes Rovers return!
The 21-year-old fans favourite joins on a permanent deal from Middlesbrough
Rovers are delighted to announce the return of Harry Chapman from Middlesbrough on a permanent deal.
The 21-year-old has put pen-to-paper on a two-and-a-half-year contract through to June 2021.
Chapman spent last season on loan at Ewood Park and quickly became a firm favourite with the Rovers players, staff and supporters.
The exciting winger made 16 appearances, scoring one goal - in a 2-0 victory at home to Rotherham United - before his season was cruelly cut short by a hamstring injury.
He returned to Ewood Park in May for the final day fixture against Oxford United, as Rovers celebrated an immediate return to the Championship.
It was the third season in succession that Chapman had helped a side secure promotion from the third tier.
The highly-rated youngster spent the 2016-17 season on loan at Sheffield United, where he scored four goals in 14 appearances, as the Blades lifted the League One title.
The previous season, Chapman impressed on loan at Barnsley, netting once in 14 outings, as the Tykes secured promotion to the Championship via the play-offs, as well as winning the Football League Trophy at Wembley.
An England youth international, Chapman was part of the England Under-20 squad that lifted the 2017 FIFA World Cup in South Korea.
The skilful starlet becomes Rovers' third signing of the January window, following the arrivals of Ben Brereton from Nottingham Forest and Brad Lyons from Coleraine.
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March 23, 2011 Music » Music Etc.
Punk godmother Exene Cervenka releases a country album and predicts the return of “real” rebellion
By Enrique Lopetegui
In Los Angeles, everyone knows Exene Cervenka was always many things.
For the last 35 years, she’s done it all — music, poetry, art, film — but she’s best known as the co-singer of X, the seminal Los Angeles punk band formed in 1977. Yet, despite her six solo albums (not counting collaborations), all of which could not sound more unlike X, some might be surprised by the sound of her latest solo release.
The Excitement of Maybe, released March 8, is a jewel of alternative country, full of vocal harmonies and love songs of light and darkness, “just like love itself,” as she told the Current on the phone from L.A. It is the second album she has released since she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 2009.
“I’m doing really well, actually,” she said. “I don’t let that diagnosis … ” Then she stops, and it’s obvious she doesn’t want to talk about it. “Yes, I’ve been diagnosed with MS, but I’m doing really well.”
After performing in Austin with her band during South by Southwest, Cervenka will visit San Antonio March 26 for an intimate performance, just her and her guitar, at The Ten Eleven. “I’d like to play my songs and talk to the audience, tell stories, interact with them,” she said. Expect a conversation about the state of real punk, the one that’s coming back.
“Early L.A. punk was all about love, freedom of expression, individuality, loving each other, and helping each other survive outside of the corporate structure,” she said. “Now it’s 2011 and everyone in the country better learn how to do that, or they’re going to be screwed.”
Cervenka says the best of the musical and social scene from 1975 to 1982, unlike ’50s or ’60s music, was not allowed to be heard on the radio or seen on TV, and what you did see had nothing to do with punk.
“It all became a cartoon,” she said. “Fashion, fascism, redundancy, all your songs had to be played fast and had to be played by men, with the girls on the sidelines and the guys at the mosh pit. And that thing was exactly what real punk was against. That’s the punk I’m talking about, and that’s coming back out of necessity. And it doesn’t matter if you play bluegrass, or folk, or punk, or hippie music, or whatever music. If you got that same ideal, it is punk.”
X was — and still is — the embodiment of that punk spirit Cervenka talks about. Without a clear front person, it was the union of four talented people from different musical backgrounds who mixed punk sounds with anything from rockabilly to blues to folk. It was part of a scene that, unlike most of its English counterpart, was more than just attitude and DIY ethics — it was musically challenging, and X was among the most challenging of all. Los Angeles (1980) and Wild Gift (1981), both produced by the Doors’ Ray Manzarek, were chosen by Rolling Stone as two of the 500 greatest albums of all time, while Pitchfork chose Los Angeles as one of the top 100 albums of the ’80s (Wild Gift, by the way, was “Record of the Year” in everybody’s list).
“In 1978, in the USA you couldn’t find two punk bands who sounded alike,” she said. “`Austin’s` Big Boys didn’t sound like the Replacements, X didn’t sound like the Plugz, or the Weirdos, or the Cramps, or Blondie. All those bands were completely original. Everybody was scary and smart. That’s the way it should be, and that’s the way it’s going to be again.”
The Excitement of Maybe is mellow in nature, but all the songs carry a good punch and could be played by X or any band in punk format.
“Any of my songs could be played in X,” she clarifies. “I guarantee you any one of the songs on my solo albums could be X songs … but that’s a whole other subject of why X isn’t recording new material. I have song after song after song, so many songs X could do and that I haven’t recorded yet.”
When I ask her whether she would like to record them with X, she screams the answer.
“I would loooove to!”
“You know, it’s an internal problem within the band, let me just put it this way,” she said. “There’s no consensus that making a record is a good idea. I think it is, but the consensus is not there.”
But is it a disagreement about the sound, or is it about something else? Is the band afraid she will make X sound like one of her solo albums?
“No, I think if we went to the studio to record an album with X we would sound like X and make a kick-ass record,” she said. “I think X could make a great record right now. But not everybody is ready to make that move.
“I give up … I have no idea what will happen in the future, but nothing surprises me. But hey, I’m happy. The album came out today, I’m talking to you, you like it, I’m going on tour … What more could I ask for?” •
Exene Cervenka w. Kevin Seconds (from 7 Seconds)
8pm doors, show at 9pm, Sat, Mar 26
The Ten Eleven
1011 Avenue B
theteneleven.com
Tags: Music Etc., Music, Cover Story
« SXSW: Upon a Burning Body | Disappearing Edges, Pop Pistol’s new EP, is nothing but edge »
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King of Country George Strait Selling His Former Dominion Mansion, Let's Take a Tour
If you want a peek into the luxury that is George Strait's life, well, you can do one better with
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Between Bar Fights and Booty Shaking: Photographer Erik Jon Gustafson Captures a Saturday Night on the St. Mary's Strip
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All the Rad People We Saw at the New Kids on the Block Show at the AT&T Center
Teenage dreams of seeing New Kids on the Block live in concert came true last night for many San Antonio
Garbage Absolutely Rocked the Aztec Last Night
Fans were treated to a hell of a show on Sunday night. Here's a peek at what you missed.
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Andrew O'Hehir
Trump's vile outburst: Why be surprised?
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APNewsBreak: Taco Bell Enters Breakfast Arena
Check out this article! https://www.salon.com/2012/01/26/apnewsbreak_taco_bell_enters_breakfast_arena/
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) — Taco Bell, the fast-food chain that caters to late-night snacking, is making a play for the breakfast crowd.
The Mexican-style restaurant chain introduced a breakfast menu Thursday at almost 800 restaurants, mostly in nearly a dozen Western states. The rollout adds to the scramble among fast-food heavyweights competing for the morning allegiance of on-the-go consumers.
If the launch goes as expected, the chain hopes its breakfast burritos will be displayed on store menu boards nationwide along with its regular line of tacos, chalupas and gorditas by the start of 2014, said Taco Bell Chief Marketing and Innovation Officer Brian Niccol.
"This is a very important launch for our brand," Niccol said.
The chain's breakfast staples include burritos stuffed with eggs and either sausage, bacon or steak; sausage and egg wraps; hash browns; hot or iced coffee; and orange juice. Taco Bell is teaming with such recognizable brands as Johnsonville, Cinnabon, Tropicana and Seattle's Best. Menu items range from 99 cents to $2.79.
Taco Bell is a subsidiary of Louisville, Ky.-based Yum Brands Inc., whose chains also include KFC and Pizza Hut. California-based Taco Bell says it serves more than 36.8 million customers a week in nearly 5,600 U.S. restaurants.
Taco Bell's foray into breakfast comes as restaurants are in stiff competition as recession-weary customers think twice about spending on dining out. And the industry knows that the morning meal is keenly important.
In the past five years, breakfast and snacks accounted for virtually all of the industry's growth, according to research firm NPD Group.
"Right now we're not getting our fair share of that," Niccol said. "We want to get our fair share and then some."
The breakfast menu comes a year after Taco Bell was knocked on its heels by a short-lived lawsuit claiming that its seasoned beef filling did not have enough beef to be billed as such. Taco Bell denounced the claim as false and spent millions in advertising to defend its taco filling and shore up its image. The suit was dropped about three months after it was filed by an Alabama-based law firm.
But Taco Bell has struggled to regain momentum since the publicity generated by the suit. Taco Bell accounts for about 60 percent of U.S. profit for Yum, but revenue at Taco Bell restaurants in the U.S. open at least a year have fallen in each quarter since the suit was filed.
Yum reports its fourth-quarter earnings on Feb. 6.
The breakfast rollout is in company-owned stores as well as restaurants owned by franchisees.
Some Taco Bell restaurants in the West already are open around the clock, Niccol said. Other stores will open their doors and drive-thrus at least one hour earlier to serve breakfast. For most, that means an 8 or 9 a.m. opening, with breakfast ending at 11 a.m. local time.
That's later than the start time for most other fast-food chains offering breakfast.
It's a reflection of Taco Bell's core customers — the 18- to-20-something crowd that's generally not up at the crack of dawn.
"What we found is, they're not the customer that shows up at 6 a.m. for breakfast," Niccol said. "We can get those guys on board, they become the evangelists, and then we can start adding additional hours for people that want breakfast at 6 a.m. or 7 a.m."
The rollout is taking place in Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, Utah, New Mexico, Nevada and Colorado, and there are a limited number of participating stores in Texas, Ohio and Oklahoma.
Breakfast has become a popular addition to fast-food chains in recent years as companies compete for diners.
Eating out for breakfast is often cheaper than eating out for lunch or dinner. Lunch sales also tend to track the employment rate, because people who aren't working generally aren't buying lunch.
Subway started offering breakfast in 2010, Wendy's is in the midst of trying to follow suit and McDonald's is expanding its menu.
Taco Bell tested its breakfast offerings in Bakersfield, Calif.; Oklahoma City; Tucson, Ariz.; and Dayton, Ohio.
Associated Press business writer Christina Rexrode in New York contributed to this report.
Why won't Mitch protect the election?
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Carrie Underwood talks music, sports and ‘Idol’
Country-music singer Carrie Underwood has won seven Grammy Awards.
(Randee St. Nicholas)
The country vocal star, and avowed hard-rock and metal fan, performs Friday at Valley View Casino Center
By George Varga
Exactly how ready is Carrie Underwood for some football?
“I’m very ready!” said the country music vocal star, seven-time Grammy Award recipient and 2005 “American Idol” winner, who performs Friday night at Valley View Casino Center.
Carrie Underwood, “The Storyteller Tour: Stories in the Round,” with Easton Corbin and The Swon Brothers
When: 7 p.m. Friday
Where: Valley View Casino Center, 3500 Sports Arena Blvd., Midway District
Tickets: $49.50-$79.50
Online: axs.com
She’s also very involved.
The National Football League’s new “Sunday Night Football” theme song features Underwood belting out a revamped version of “Somethin’ Bad,” her chart-topping 2014 hit with Miranda Lambert. It replaces “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” the Underwood-sung theme the NFL had used since 2013.
To kick off last weekend’s debut of the new theme song, Underwood filmed a playful video that teams her with such gridiron stars as Russell Wilson, Eli Manning, Von Miller and Clay Matthews.
“It’s been so cool, just to be a part of the NFL, getting to know some people behind the scenes and hanging out with some of the players,” said Underwood, who met San Diego Chargers quarterback Philip Rivers in 2014 when both were filming at NFL headquarters in New York.
Underwood, 33, spoke by phone from a tour stop in Seattle. Here are excerpts from that conversation.
Q: How involved with athletics were you growing up, and how much did that inspire your decision for your CALIA fitness brand and the Dick’s Sporting Goods Foundation to give $500,000 to the Sports Matter initiative, which supports girls’ youth sports teams across the country?
A: I grew up playing softball and basketball and was a cheerleader briefly. But softball was the longest-running sport in my youth. We played from T-ball onward, and I grew up loving the whole team aspect. There’s so many life lessons that can be learned through sports.
Q: What position did you play?
A: Catcher.
Q: Oklahoma doesn’t have an NFL team, so what NFL team did you grow up rooting for?
A: We basically got two teams (on TV). We didn’t have cable or satellite, so on local channels we’d get one of two games, either Kansas City of Dallas, because they were closest to us. I definitely grew up a Dallas fan.
Q: You are up a 2016 Country Music Association nomination as Entertainer of the Year. I ask this question with my tongue partly in my cheek, but haven’t you been pretty entertaining prior to this year?
A: (laughs) I hope so! I definitely hope so. But it’s been really great to be nominated, for sure.
Q: You’ll be co-hosting the CMA’s on Nov. 2 for the ninth consecutive year with Brad Paisley. After nearly a decade, how hard is it for you and Brad to surprise each other on stage or, for that matter, to crack each other up?
A: Hopefully, there’s no surprises. We don’t want surprised; we want thing s to go really smoothly. And, hopefully, we’ll be able to run through our script many, many times and feel comfortable. We have a lot of fun and a lot of meetings to prepare for everything. We crack each other up and stress each other out, and everything in between, because a lot of time goes into planning.
Q: Your son, Isaiah, is 19 months old. Do you sing to him?
A: Inadvertently. I don’t feel like I try to do it on purpose. But I kind of sing all the time and I don’t even realize I’m doing it. He’s definitely been exposed!
Q: How did the idea for your “Storytellers” tour-in-the-round originate?
A: When we were working on the (2015) “Stoytellers” album, we started thinking: ‘What can we do with these songs?’ We thought of doing something in the round, and worked it out from there.
Q: Some of your “Storytellers” concerts include your versions of Alabama’s “Mountain Music,” the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s “Fishin’ in the Dark” and Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You.” Did you hear those songs growing up?
A: Oh, yeah, I definitely heard all those growing up, and many, many more. I think it’s important to sometimes pay homage to the incredible artists and storytellers who have come before and contributed so much. That’s one thing country music has always done so well.
Q: Have there been any unexpected things for you doing concerts in the round?
A: I don’t think so. The biggest surprise is just how easy this show is on my end. There’s a lot of moving parts, production-wise, and I do a lot of wardrobe changes, but the show flies by every night. This is the funnest tour — sorry, that’s not even a word! — the most fun tour I’ve ever done.
Q: “American Idol” is now history. Are you surprised the show is gone, or do you think it ran its course?
A: It was on for 15 years and I feel like that’s incredible in today’s world, or in any decade of television. Fifteen years is a long time to be on TV. It was definitely bitter-sweet to see it go. But I understand why; there are so many different kinds of talent shows on TV now.
Q: Watching your rise on “American Idol” was like watching a Cinderella story. How did it feel to you?
A: Like a Cinderella story! I mean, I grew up in an Oklahoma town of 3,500 people. I’d never been on a plane before and was flying to L.A. by myself! I thought I had no chance of winning. I still don’t know why, but people — for some reason — voted for me, and it’s been crazy. It was like, in one day, my life completely changed.
george.varga@sduniontribune
George Varga
KAABOO Del Mar announces daily schedule and single-day tickets
The festival, featuring Dave Matthews Band and Mumford & Sons, will celebrate its fifth year with debut of USAA ticket discounts for U.S. military members
Woodstock, 50 years later, a landmark festival and a cautionary tale
The template for Coachella, Lollapalooza, Bonnaroo and many other festivals, the 1969 Woodstock festival was a golden moment for youth culture and the beginning of corporate rock.
Woodstock: Keith Richards, Melissa Etheridge, Wynton Marsalis, Mastadon and more assess festival’s legacy
The 1969 music marathon was the mother of all rock festivals. We asked Billy Joel, Pete Townshend, Joan Baez, Jason Mraz and others to weigh in.
Natalia Lafourcade, a 12-time Grammy Award-winner, set for Escondido return
The Mexican singer-songwriter, who headlines the nearly 18,000-capacity Hollywood Bowl on July 21, will first play a more intimate concert at California Center for the Arts, Escondido, on July 18.
What a Beatle wants, a Beatle generally gets, even when it may require a bit of harmless subterfuge, as proved to be the case Saturday during Paul McCartney’s sold-out final U.S. stop on his 2019 Freshen Up tour.
Singer R. Kelly has been arrested on federal charges accusing him of recruiting women and girls to engage in illegal sexual activity.
Dylan LeBlanc, at 29, steeped in ‘70s singer-songwriter traditions
The son of a veteran country-music songwriter, Dylan LeBlanc takes his cues from Neil Young, Tom Petty and other classic-rock greats.
Melissa Etheridge takes great pride in her music and in speaking (and being) out
The Grammy Award-winning singer, songwriter and LGBTQ icon speaks candidly about her music, her career, coming out and her devotion to social causes
Trio Zadig to add to global flavor to 22nd annual iPalpiti Festival
France’s Trio Zadig will be in residence in Encinitas at the iPalpiti Festival classical-music festival, which will also feature young performers from 22 countries
Music therapy brings unity, hope to family with child on hospice
Ari Zaragoza wasn’t expected to survive the day she was born. Now at nine months, the Chula Vista baby is defying doctors’ expectations
That time Frank Zappa considered running for president with H. Ross Perot as his veep
Mother of invention: In 1991, music legend Frank Zappa was mulling an independent bid for the White House — and he wanted Texas billionaire H. Ross Perot to be his running mate.
Music innovator George Lewis and playwright Lauren Yee receive $275,000 Doris Duke Foundation Artists Awards
The award is one of the most prestigious arts honors in the United States. This year’s other winners include choreographers Donald Byrd and Michelle Ellsworth, playwright Marcus Gardley and Grammy Award-winning jazz drummer and composer Teri Lynne Carrington.
Stevie Wonder tells London audience he’ll receive a kidney transplant
Stevie Wonder says he has a kidney donor and will take a break from performing before having the transplant in late September.
La Jolla Music Society will celebrate 51st year with biggest season ever
Now ensconced in its $82 million Conrad Prebys Performing Arts Center, the La Jolla Music Society’s 2019-20 season will feature top classical, jazz, dance, World Music artists and more
Singer Joss Stone says she was deported from Iran
Joss Stone says she was deported from Iran, causing her to fall short on her goal to perform in every country around the world.
Shawn Mendes headed to San Diego for sold-out concert
On Monday, he brings his sold-out Shawn Mendes: The Tour to Pechanga Arena San Diego, with fellow Canadian Alessia Cara
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Giants kicker says arrest led to suspension
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Giants kicker Josh Brown says an arrest on a domestic violence charge in May 2015 led to his one-game suspension by the NFL for violating the league's personal conduct policy.
Speaking after practice on Thursday, the 37-year-old Brown said the woman whose wrist he grabbed in Woodinville, Wash. during a disagreement was his wife. He said the couple has since divorced.
Brown said the case was dismissed by the King County Prosecutor's office five days after his arrest for fourth-degree domestic violence.
A spokesman for the prosecutor said in an email to The Associated Press that no charge was filed because of insufficient evidence.
"It's not something that you want, and like I said, my main concern is my kids," Brown said. "That's the last thing you ever want to be on the internet, that they would read or their friends would read and the way that they would be approached at school and how they're looked upon. Is it good? No, it's not."
Brown said he told the Giants immediately after his arrest, and the team informed the league.
He was notified of his suspension in June. He appealed because he was not charged, but it was rejected. The league announced the suspension Wednesday.
"We've exhausted everything that the NFL allows," said Brown, who didn't know why the league took so long to make its decision. "We're not going to do anything else, we'll take it for what it is, take the one game and move on."
Still, Brown didn't agree with either the suspension or the power of Commissioner Roger Goodell.
"I'm uncomfortable with it, but I just want to kick field goals," said the 14-year veteran who scored a career-high 134 points last season. "That's really what it comes down to. I'm not the power, I'm just here to do this job and help this team in every way that I can and that's what I've done since I've been here for four years."
Ben McAdoo said he was informed about Brown's arrest after being named coach in January. The two have spoken about it.
"We support the league office in their decision and their stance on personal conduct," McAdoo said. "I do support Josh as a man, a father, and a player. We treat these situations on a case by case basis."
Brown said the incident with his former wife was a momentary thing.
"A charge was not filed in the case," Dan Donohoe, a spokesman for the Kings County prosecutor's office said in an email. "There was a thorough investigation and review of the case, but there was insufficient evidence to prove a case beyond a reasonable doubt."
Brown will miss the Giants' season opener at Dallas.
"I'm going to spend it with my daughter," he said. "I'm going to go home and take her to school and be a dad and do the things that I need to do, that I get the opportunity to do because of this. Take that as an opportunity I've never had as a player, to take my daughter to school on the first day. I'm looking forward to that."
Free agent kicker Tom Obarski was signed by the Giants in January and has been in training camp. McAdoo said he will get most of the work when the Giants face the Bills in Buffalo on Saturday.
"He seemed steady," McAdoo said. "I like the fact that he is going to have an opportunity, a golden opportunity, to make an impact for himself and this organization."
Quarterback Eli Manning hopes the Giants can get along for a week without Brown, who was 32 of 34 on field goals last season.
"Hopefully we don't have to settle for field goals and we can score touchdowns," he said.
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Rediff.com » Sports » Azlan Hockey: Final berth assured, India look to test attacking prowess
Azlan Hockey: Final berth assured, India look to test attacking prowess
India look to test attacking prowess against lowly Poland in Azlan Shah Cup
IMAGE: Mandeep Singh, right, celebrates after scoring. Photograph: Hockey India/Twitter
Their final berth already sealed, favourites India will look to test their attacking prowess and aim for a big win when they take on lower-ranked Poland in their final league match of the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup hockey tournament, in Ipoh, Malaysia, on Friday.
With three wins and a draw, India currently lead the six-team league table with 10 points and a goal difference of eight.
Just like five-time champions India, Korea too have secured their place in Saturday's summit clash with 10 points, but have an inferior goal difference -- five -- than the Indians.
The last round league matches, thus, have become inconsequential for all the teams, but both India and Korea would look to keep their winning momentum intact.
Against Poland, ranked 21st in the world, it should be an easy match for world number 5 India.
The Indians had a pretty good outing in the tournament so far, barring one match -- against Saturday's summit clash opponents Korea.
India defeated Asian Games gold medallists Japan 2-0 before getting the better of hosts Malaysia 4-2 and Canada 7-3. The only blip for the Manpreet Singh-led side was the 1-1 draw against Korea.
Come Friday, the Indians will be looking to test their attacking combinations ahead of the big final against Korea.
Mandeep Singh has been a live wire upfront, scoring a hat-trick against Canada, but he needs more support from other strikers and that is precisely what the Indian think-tank would be hoping to achieve against Poland.
Besides Mandeep, Varun Kumar was impressive with penalty-corner conversions and would like to continue in the same vein in the remainder of the matches.
"We are not going to take it lightly against Poland. We are determined to keep performing to the best of our abilities, and to win our remaining two matches based on good performances," Mandeep said.
"I feel tomorrow's match against Poland will also give us a chance to prepare well for the final against Korea," said the 24-year-old striker.
After a slow start, the Indians showed progress in every match of the tournament with improved structure and discipline.
Poland, on the other hand, are still win-less in the tournament and would at least look for a consolation point.
But it will be a herculean task to achieve that against a world-class side like India.
Poland were hammered 1-5 by Malaysia, 0-4 by Canada and 0-3 by Japan. Korea is the only team which had to fight tooth and nail to get the better of Poland 3-2.
With five titles under their belt, India are the second-most successful team in the Azlan Shah Cup, behind Australia (10).
India's last triumph in the tournament was way back in 2010 when they shared the title with Korea after the match was abandoned due to rain.
Despite coming to Ipoh with a mix of senior and junior players, India will be hoping to end the eight-year title jinx.
Ex-striker Shivendra Singh to be appointed assistant coach of Indian men's hockey team
Former India centre-forward Shivendra Singh is set to be appointed assistant coach of the national men's hockey team and will start working with the side next month.
A livewire during his playing days, Shivendra will exclusively work with the strikers and form an integral part of the Indian coaching staff, set to be headed by Australian Graham Reid.
Reid's appointment is just a formality now after Hockey India and the Sports Authority of India recommended his name to the Sports Ministry earlier this week.
Besides Shivendra, former Australia drag-flicker Chris Ciriello, who is the current analytical coach, will be the other assistant coach in the new set-up.
"Shivendra Singh will join the Indian team soon as an assistant coach. He will work with the forwards under the new chief coach," a source close to the development said.
Shivendra was part of the Indian team that won a silver medal in the 2010 Delhi Commonwealth Games, besides being a member of the bronze medal-winning side of 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games.
He also won a gold with the Indian team in 2007 Asia Cup and 2010 Sultan Azlan Shah Cup.
The coaching set-up will also have SAI coach Piyush Kumar Dubey, who is already with the team at the ongoing Azlan Shah Cup in Ipoh, Malaysia. He will exclusively work with the goalkeepers.
Meanwhile, the source also said that Reid was selected after he committed himself to Indian hockey and agreed to relocate to India with his family.
"The new coach has committed to India. He will be shifting base to India with his family and will be based in Bengaluru," the source said.
He also said the new chief coach's tenure will be till 2020, extendable till 2022 World Cup depending upon his performance.
"The chief coach's tenure will be till the end of next year. As per world hockey standards every international coach's contract is supposed to be for an Olympic cycle."
"But his contract will have a provision of extension till 2022. Everything will depend on India's performances leading up to the Tokyo Olympics," the official said.
The Indian chief coach's position has been lying vacant after the unceremonious sacking of Harendra Singh in January following a less-than-impressive quarter-final exit at the World Cup in Bhubaneswar last year.
Incidentally, Reid, a former Australia coach, is currently the assistant coach of the Netherlands hockey team.
Besides the Netherlands job, Reid was also the coach of his former club Amsterdam since 2017, a position from which he was dismissed earlier this month.
As soon as that development took place, speculation started that he is interested in taking up the India job, a claim which he neither rejected nor accepted.
Related News: Hockey India and Sports Authority of India, Shivendra Singh, Poland, Graham Reid, Korea
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https://www.registercitizen.com/news/article/Developer-sees-dining-retail-in-old-Litchfield-11975499.php
Developer sees dining, retail in old Litchfield jail
Russell Barton, Susi Stone see dining, retail in old jail
By Joseph Montebello
Published 1:20 pm EDT, Friday, September 4, 2015
Russell Barton and Susi Stone at their White Bridge Farm in Litchfield.
Photo: Photo By Walter Kidd
LITCHFIELD >> From the time he was a child, Russell Barton has dreamed about owning land and renovating buildings.
“Popular Mechanics was always my favorite magazine, that and the United Farm catalog,” said Barton. “I couldn’t swing a hammer and I couldn’t build anything on my own, but that didn’t stop me from being interested in properties. I bought my first house in Southport when I was 16.”
Barton hasn’t stopped since then. He loves buying and is always surfing the Internet looking for interesting things to buy. Not just land or houses.
“He once bought a Bentley online at three in the morning,” said his fiancée Susi Stone. “Unfortunately it rolled off a flatbed as it was being shipped and he never got it. But that didn’t deter him.”
Barton has been purchasing and developing properties in this area for several years now, everything from restaurants to condominiums to shopping centers to houses, including one of the period houses on North Street in Litchfield. He is passionate about what he does and seldom takes a misstep. He has a capacity to see both the visual aspect as well as the financial aspect of any project he approaches.
“I’m not a visionary,” he said, “but where others may see a potential risk, I see a possibility. Most people buy for the aesthetic value, I see the financial pitfalls as well. If the property doesn’t have a combination of both it’s not going to work.”
Barton, a tall, robust man who is always smiling, knows the ins and outs of buying and selling real estate. He always does his homework and knows what he is getting into. And while he loves what he buys, restores it and stays with it for a while, he is not inclined to hold on to everything. At one point, he owned The Rocks, designed by American architect Eric Rossiter, which had been owned by theatrical producer Scott Rudin. Barton lived in the guesthouse, overwhelmed by the size and number of rooms in the main house. The Rocks has had several owners since then and Barton has gone on to own many other houses—but none quite so impressive or imposing.
One property that Barton seems intent on keeping is White Bridge Farm in Litchfield. It was originally known at Thunder Ridge Farm and owned by James B. Irwin Sr., who committed suicide in 2009.
“I’ve always loved this farm,” Barton said. “I had made several offers to Irwin before he died, but he always turned me down. I wound up buying it for much less than my original offers. It is a spectacular spread and I knew I had to have it.”
Stone wasn’t so sure. A horse farm? Not an easy task to maintain. But, as a horse person herself, it was hard to resist. Stone and Barton, who have been together seven years, met over a piece of property he was trying to buy in Woodbury.
“I had made a deal to buy this restaurant and the owner and I had come to terms. One evening she introduced me to her friend Susi Stone. The deal eventually fell through, but by then Susi and I were together,” recalled Barton.
Prior to meeting Barton and becoming involved in his work, Stone spent time as head chef for Ina Garten at The Barefoot Contessa, thanks to her education at the Culinary Institute of America. She also worked with the Olympic Torch organizers for the 1980 Winter Olympics at Lake Placid. From those media contacts Stone found her way to the National Equestrian Federation, where she became Director of Marketing. Since horses and riding had been the backdrop of her life, this was an ideal place for her to be. She now works for The Reputation Institute, the world’s leading research and advisory firm for reputation, a job she can do from home.
She is the perfect balance for Barton. While he is on the go from the minute he wakes up and is constantly working on a deal, an idea, or a problem, Stone is the calming force; she is easy-going and manages to maintain a certain degree of serenity.
“We have a wonderful relationship,” said Stone. “Keeping him grounded is something I work on everyday. Russ couldn’t do all of this at the same pace if he didn’t have a soft place to land.”
That place includes the renovated farmhouse in which they live, just down the road from the stables and horse stalls. In addition to the horse paddocks, various outbuildings, and the house, the property includes 68 acres on one side of Beach Street and some 36 acres across the street. That acreage has been gifted so it will never be developed. It is a picturesque setting, the vistas extraordinary, the atmosphere idyllic.
“People are always worried; a developer buys a big piece of property and they expect there will be dozens of new houses built. But that’s not going to happen here,” Barton said. “I love this land too much to ever do that.”
White Bridge Farm has been up and running for a few years is now a thriving enterprise.
“The first two years were really hard,” Stone said. “The place was terribly rundown and it took some time to understand what motivates horse people and to build the right facility. We’ve now created a place where a 2-year-old can learn to ride and so can a 70-year-old.”
In addition to riding lessons, the farm boards about 50 horses; they also buy and sell horses that they import from northern Germany. White Bridge Farm also has expert trainers and instructors in multiple disciplines including dressage, hunters, hunter/jumper, and equitation. The grounds are also available to rent for special occasions.
“We’re trying to brand the farm so that everyone will learn how much goes on here,” said Stone.
Meanwhile, Barton is far from idle. Everyday he is bombarded with calls from people looking for investors or trying to sell properties. He has become his own real estate agent. He is negotiating to purchase retail spaces in Washington Depot. Like several local towns, the Depot has recently been suffering due to the demise of a spate of stores. Recently Barton has also purchased shops in Woodbury, one of which has been rented to a purveyor of high-end antiques.
Meanwhile, there are so many other things to pursue, including a new horse farm in Wellington, Florida.
With so many opportunities coming his way, Barton is a happy man.
the old jail
Among Russell Barton’s projects is the former Litchfield County Jail in the center of Litchfield. He bought the property last year for $130,000 and has submitted renovations plans to the Historic District Commission. They include developing sites for a restaurant, coffee shop, small retail shops, office space and three loft apartments on the top floor. But it has not been a smooth ride.
“Quite honestly I’m surprised I’ve gotten as much resistance as I have,” said Barton. “Litchfield has been wonderful to me and I am trying to give back by transforming the jail into usable space. There is a need for some smaller retail spaces; everyone can’t afford the rents on the Green. I think the town could use some energy, some gasoline to get things going again. It’s a beautiful town but things could be better.”
Whatever the outcome Barton doesn’t give up easily. He has a vision and he will do everything he can to see it through.
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Palkinnot ja kunniamaininnat
Tutkimuslaitosten arvioita
Reflection Magazine
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Tekniikantie 14, Espoo
Puhelin: +358 9 525571
Turning Solvency II regulations into strategy
UNIQA finds opportunity to industrialize data governance, support management’s decisions
In the Q&A below, UNIQA’s Emanuela Saccon, Risk Manager, and Sergio Miedico, Chief Information Officer, discuss the company’s path to Solvency II compliance and the additional benefits it’s reaped.
The criterion that guided us to select SAS was the need to adopt a solution that would be capable of optimizing the governance of all data in the company, not just the data related to the issues of Solvency II.
Sergio Miedico
Q: How is UNIQA launching the Solvency II adaptation process?
Saccon: The adaptation activities are underway, and they accelerated following the development of the regulatory framework in terms of timing and processes. In the initial phase, we focused our efforts on the issues of the first pillar, relating to the calculation of the capital requirement. We then addressed issues related to governance and reporting.
Q: What are the areas of greatest commitment?
Saccon: One of the key themes of the Solvency II legislation is data governance. This is a crucial requirement because it affects the activities of all three pillars in the Solvency II Directive. The calculation of the capital requirement assumes accurate and timely input data to produce reliable results and to define the risk profile on the basis of which management can develop strategies with certainty in terms of investment or new products.
To achieve this goal, we had to integrate and standardize a range of heterogeneous information flows that are not only generated by different areas of the business but also come from various companies in the UNIQA group. UNIQA made a major investment to ensure the consistency and traceability of data and the completeness of the information required by Pillar III.
Q: On closer inspection, the traceability requirement, by its very nature, imposes a cross-sectional view. What does this mean to UNIQA?
Miedico: In a nutshell, Solvency II requires that all processes be tracked, documented and formalized. In technological terms, this means collecting, assessing, streamlining, standardizing and industrializing an abundance of information flows produced by the four companies of the group. This is done with the aim of designing a single, coherent and controllable flow.
Q: Was this the biggest problem you faced?
Miedico: Undoubtedly, one of the critical factors was the need to build a common language and a shared data dictionary - supplied by sources located in different areas of the company - in various places and often in multiple formats. On this front, however, we didn't start from scratch. Before the issues of Solvency II came to our attention, we had already embarked on a path of data consolidation and rationalization that resulted in the creation of a commercial data warehouse intended to monitor our business processes. Onto this existing core, we grafted the Solvency II adaptation activities, from the integration of legacy systems to data certification, and from governance processes to data presentation for reporting.
Q: And in terms of risk management?
Saccon: On the one hand, the plurality of information sources made it extremely complicated to map all the necessary information and organize it into a single flow. However, not all of the data was available in the management systems; some of it was the result of queries or came from manual processing or tables generated by spreadsheets. On the other hand, the standardization and consolidation processes were generally performed manually - an obvious waste of time and resources - and had an increased probability of error. We needed a technology-based solution that could replace these manual steps with automated tools to ensure data quality and process traceability.
Q: What value did SAS® provide?
Miedico: I must say that choosing SAS, in close collaboration with the risk management division, proved very rewarding. The criterion that guided us was the need to adopt a solution that would be capable of optimizing the governance of all data in the company, not just the data related to the issues of Solvency II. That said, after a careful analysis of the market, our preference was SAS because of the flexibility of its solutions, particularly the capability not only to ensure Solvency II compliance in terms of certification and traceability, but also to industrialize the processes involved in integrating legacy systems into the data warehouse.
Q: The concept of ‘industrialization’ seems to be a major theme in UNIQA’s journey to compliance. Can you elaborate?
Miedico: Going beyond the obligations and compliance requirements, Solvency II offered an opportunity to streamline and automate a set of operations that are extremely costly in terms of time and labor resources, from loadings to reconciliations, and re-checks to settlements. The industrialization of information processes accelerates the processing time, allows continuous monitoring of risk parameters, improves the timeliness and frequency of queries, and increases the granularity of the analyses. This is ideal for the decision-making process.
Saccon: In today’s world - where capital is a scarce resource and market conditions change very rapidly - management must be able to base its decisions on certified and reliable information that becomes available as soon as possible. What we're trying to accomplish with SAS, beyond compliance with regulations, is an executive dashboard that has the appropriate KPIs to support management in making investment decisions and defining product offerings. It achieves governance optimization and legislative compliance, and it ensures the accuracy and timeliness of the information underlying our decisions.
Q: Pillar II, in particular the Own Risk and Solvency Assessment report, presupposes the creation of a framework capable of supporting strategic decisions with future projections. What does this mean to UNIQA?
Saccon: The long-term vision and the ability to understand "emerging risks" are crucial to defining the strategy. The business plan must be enriched with new metrics and consider both possible adverse scenarios in achieving the objectives and also the resources available to address them. From this point of view, Pillar II marks a turning point, because it moves the emphasis to the need for a holistic and integrated risk profile obtained through the contributions of all divisions of the company (e.g., a future projection of capital and risk factors).
Q: So this integrated view of risk not only deals with risk management?
Saccon: It seems to me that one of the great innovations of Solvency II is that it strongly links numerous business areas, from actuarial services to IT, up to planning and control. In this sense, risk management becomes a transverse role, a kind of network that stimulates all business areas to advance toward a shared goal.
Meet Solvency II compliance requirements while industrializing data governance and supporting management’s strategic decisions.
Reduce error-prone, manual processes for collecting data across disparate sources.
SAS® Data Management
Achieve Solvency II compliance.
Better understand emerging risks.
Support management in making investment decisions and defining product offerings.
Proactively monitor data quality metrics.
About UNIQA
UNIQA is a European insurance group of Austrian origin which, with its four companies - Insurance, Protection, Pensions and Life - is active in all segments of the life and non-life insurance markets, from health care to savings, complementary pension funds to car insurance, family insurance to professional insurance.
Ollaan yhteydessä
Tapahtumat ja webinaarit
Yhteisöt
Miten hankin SAS-ratkaisun
SAS-julkaisut (amazon.com)
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Griffin out for rest of playoffs, Paul has hand surgery
PORTLAND, OR - APRIL 25: Blake Griffin #32 of the Los Angeles Clippers sits on the bench as time winds down in the fourth quarter of Game Four of the Western Conference Quarterfinals against the Portland Trail Blazers during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at the M
LOS ANGELES (AP) Blake Griffin is out for the rest of the playoffs after aggravating his left quadriceps tendon and Chris Paul had right hand surgery Tuesday, leaving the stunned Los Angeles Clippers without their top two players for the remainder of their first-round series against Portland.
The team said Griffin had an MRI that revealed no further structural damage to the quad that he originally injured in a game on Dec. 25. He missed 41 games and an additional four as punishment for punching the team's assistant equipment manager, returning on April 3. He's expected to be ready for training camp in September. Griffin wasn't made available to reporters.
''You feel bad for Chris, you feel bad for Blake,'' said guard J.J. Redick, who is dealing with his own nagging left heel injury.
Paul had surgery to repair a hand fracture sustained in the third quarter of Monday night's 98-84 loss in Game 4 that allowed Portland to tie the best-of-seven series 2-2. He appeared to catch his hand on Gerald Henderson's jersey.
''C.P. is a reacher. He probably has the best hands in the league. At that time it got caught in the wrong place,'' coach Doc Rivers said. ''It's amazing how things change for you.''
Griffin averaged 15.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists, while Paul averaged 23.8 points, 7.3 assists and 4.0 rebounds in the series.
Game 5 is Wednesday at Staples Center.
''We still have home court. No one has won a road game yet in this series,'' Rivers said. ''Now we have to find a way of winning tomorrow and that's as far as we can think right now. My job with the guys is to make sure that they're ready and focused. It's easy when you have the injuries we have to think all kinds of other stuff.''
Rivers had not yet decided who will start in place of Griffin and Paul.
''We've had 10 different lineups on the board,'' he said. ''Most likely it will be a pretty big lineup.''
The Clippers are 25-21 in regular-season games and 1-1 in the playoffs without Paul, who missed two games against Houston in last year's Western Conference semifinals.
''We have a very competitive basketball team and they have proven that all year,'' Rivers said. ''We have won games before without key guys and we can win games in the future without key guys.''
In the final two weeks of the regular season, the Clippers won by two points at Oklahoma City and by three points in overtime at Utah without Griffin and Paul.
Now in his 10th season, Paul has yet to win a championship.
''Chris is one of the great competitors that the league has ever seen,'' Golden State coach Steve Kerr said. ''For him to go down right now it's brutal. He's worked his whole life to get here.''
Paul controls the Clippers' offense like few others in the NBA. However, they installed a motion offense for when Paul wasn't on the floor this season, freeing up scoring guards Jamal Crawford and Austin Rivers while letting anyone else get the ball moving.
''We were very effective at it,'' Doc Rivers said. ''Thank God we did that because now playing without him we'll be in motion for 48 minutes.''
For the third straight year in the playoffs - all under Rivers - the Clippers have been plagued by bad luck. The franchise that began in Buffalo, moved to San Diego and then Los Angeles has never advanced past the second round.
''Winning in the playoffs is tough and more so than anyone else, we've really proven that over the last three years,'' Redick said.
In 2014, voice recordings of then-owner Donald Sterling surfaced during the playoffs in which he made racist comments, leading to him being banned by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver, who forced the sale of the team.
Last year, the Clippers were within a game of reaching the conference finals for the first time in franchise history, only to blow a 3-1 lead and lose the last three games by a combined 46 points to the Rockets.
Now, they've lost their two All-Stars.
''It's bum's luck three years in a row,'' Rivers said. ''You just got to keep going. You wake up in the morning and you feel like we're going to find a way.''
AP Sports Writer Janie McCauley in Oakland, Calif., contributed to this report.
More NBA
Jamal Crawford
Austin Rivers
J.J. Redick
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News Archive / 2014 / August
Mexican Premiere: Double Concerto “Why?” by Sofia Gubaidulina
After an amazing world premiere in Italy on 22 July 2014 (Abbey of San Mercuriale in Forlì), a further Italian performance in Cividale del Friuli on 23 July 2014 and the Slovenian premiere in Ljubljana on 24 July 2014, the Mexican premiere of Sofia Gubaidulina’s “Why?” for flute, clarinet and string orchestra will be given on 6 September 2014 in Mexico City. Under the direction of the British conductor Jan Latham-Koenig the flutist Massimo Mercelli and Manuel Hernández (clarinet) will perform the work together with the Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM. On 20 September 2014 the conductor and the orchestra will give a guest performance with Gubaidulina’s “Why?” at the Ravello Festival in Italy. Next to the flutist Massimo Mercelli, Darko Brlek will be the clarinetist for the first time here.
“Why?” is a commissioned work by the music festivals of Emilia Romagna, Ljubljana, Ravello and the Canary Islands, by Festival Pianistico di Brescia e Bergamo, Fondazione Arena di Verona, Staatskapelle Dresden and the Amsterdam Sinfonietta supported by The Eduard van Beinum Foundation.
A further concert with the same performers at the Sala Nezahualcóyotl takes place on the following day, 7 September 2014 (12 AM).
Sala Nezahualcóyotl, 8 PM
Mexican premiere: Sofia Gubaidulina
“Why?”. Concerto for flute, clarinet and string orchestra
Massimo Mercelli (flute)
Manuel Hernández (clarinet)
Orquesta Filarmónica de la UNAM
Jan Latham-Koenig (direction)
» Show all news
Chatschaturjan, Aram
SPARTACUS. Suite No. 2 for orchestra
HUMORESKE NR. 3 für Violine und Orchester
Prokofjew, Sergej
PETER AND THE WOLF. Symphonic poem for children
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Diane Wilsey President and Thomas Campbell CEO of Fine Arts Museum - Photo courtesy of Chris Knight with LeftCoastScenes.com
Calling it a “gift of love to the city” the curators of Monet - The Late Years introduced the new exhibit at the De Young Fine Arts museum in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco — on the eve of Valentine’s Day.
It’s a fabulous collection of Claude Monet’s later works from 1909 to 1926 in collaboration with the Kimbell Art Museum in Fort Worth, Texas. By tyhis stage in his life Monet was wealthy enough not to have to paint and sell art works —which he found very liberating. He used his money to buy a country house and remodel its gardens and ponds.
“When I have no longer need to sell, I have managed to work; now, I think I am as hard on myself as it’s possible to be.”
Over this period he suffered several personal tragedies such as the death of his wife and oldest son plus the constant reminder of the horrors of the first World War that were everywhere in France.
He shut himself off in his ideal gardens and shut himself off from the need to sell paintings. Instead, he found an endless exploration in his water lilies (and weeping willows).
Monet shut the world out — and the world shut him out. There was little interest in his later works even though his earlier paintings remained popular. When he died in 1926 there were more than two dozen unsold paintings.
His later paintings seem like scribbles of familiar shapes — they either reflect what he was seeing because of his failing eyesight or perhaps they reflect a fundamental insight from decades of artistic discipline.
The violet colors of his water lilies are said to reflect a condition of Monet’s failing eyesight which allowed him to see into the ultraviolet spectrum and see colors that would normally be filtered out by normal eyes.
Close-up — you can see the energy of his brushwork and you can easily imagine his hand moving and dabbing across the canvas right there in front of you.
It’s a great exhibition that brings together the best of Texas and California art lovers— and the wealthy private owners that loaned their Monets to the exhibit. It’s at the De Young for the next three months till May 27.
https://deyoung.famsf.org/
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There's No Exorcism For The Ghost In Google's Boardroom
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43 COUSINS DR, Aurora, Canada
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The Board of the Sleep Health Foundation (the "Foundation") is committed to high standards of ethical conduct and accordingly places great importance on its Board and membership making clear any existing or potential conflict of interest.
This policy has been developed to provide a guideline for all Board Members and Foundation spokespeople regarding declaration of potential or actual conflicts of interest.
A potential conflict of interest arises where a Board Member has a direct or indirect financial interest, through business, investment or family, in an entity that transacts with the Foundation for direct or indirect remuneration, including gifts or favours that are not insubstantial. A potential conflict of interest also arises where a spokesperson provides advice to the public on behalf of the Foundation (e.g. written material or media interview) and that person has a direct or indirect financial interest, through business, investment or family, in an entity that may stand to be advantaged by the nature of the advice given.
The Board places great importance on making clear any existing or potential conflicts of interest.
All such potential conflicts of interest shall be declared by the member or spokesperson concerned and documented in the Board's Conflicts of Interest Register, which will be circulated to all Board members, and available on request to members of the public.
A Board member who believes another Board member or spokesperson has an undeclared conflict of interest should specify in writing the basis of this potential conflict.
Where a Board member has a conflict of interest, as defined by statute, that Board member shall not initiate or take part in any Board discussion on that topic (either in the meeting or with other Board members before or after the Board meetings), unless expressly invited to do so by unanimous agreement by all other members present.
Where a Board member has a conflict of interest related to a matter before the Board, that Board member shall not vote on that matter. The Board may supplement the statutory definition of conflict of interest if it so wishes, in which case the same procedures shall apply.
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Co-creating the future: an interview with Marek Vogt of WeLoveTheCity
|In Live Case Study HAMBURG, Live Case Study LONDON, Live Case Study ROME, News, Partner reflections
Marek Vogt, a citizen participation expert with Rotterdam-based urban planning company WeLoveTheCity, joined smarticipate with the experience that every city-level project is made better by listening to different voices: the greater the diversity, the greater the positive impact.
“WeLoveTheCity was interested in smarticipate because our focus is talking with diverse groups of stakeholders, including citizens – hearing their visions and developing their ideas into concrete proposals. Our urban planning work in the Netherlands has shown us that projects are improved by collecting ideas from a lot of different stakeholders,” says Marek. “You need to find the right stakeholders, not just the usual stakeholders. You want to collect different knowledge and different views, which you don’t get if you always have the same type of people involved. You want to have a diverse discussion from the very start.”
WeLoveTheCity acted as the link between the partner cities and the technical team, ensuring that the cities’ (and citizens’) requirements were reflected in the final platform.
“We said from the beginning that we will start with the cities and then depending on the requirements of the city administration and its citizens, the technology will be developed to support. We wanted to put citizens first,” says Marek.
Each of the three partner cities – Rome, Hamburg, and the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) in London – had a different starting point in terms of issues to be tackled and experience with open data. “Despite their diversity, we quickly realized that there were quite a lot of overlaps between the cities – things that they were all struggling with,” says Marek.
“It was clear that the cities were dealing with open data very differently. In Rome, their open data was really an issue, while in Hamburg they have a law that mandates data to be made public.
“In London, the primary concern of the citizens was that they really wanted to see the impact that their proposals would have on policymaking. They were afraid that there would be a digital iron curtain, where a platform like smarticipate would block the citizens from accessing politicians. They said this absolutely should not happen! When they submit an idea, it should be very transparent and clear in terms of what is happening with it.”
“Open data wasn’t an issue in Hamburg, but the citizens had a particular request (which is perhaps more German!) – they wanted to know what the rules are in the system. Smarticipate, in the end, is about combining open data with rules, including defining the automatic feedback. Writing down the rules basically defines the outcome of the proposal. They were worried about a situation where the rules would block innovative solutions. Even when the system says it’s not possible, there should be a way to propose it to the city directly.”
Marek’s enthusiasm to involve a wide-breadth of people in co-creation was not immediately shared by the city partners, with some worried about the impact it would have on their ‘Smartathon’, an event to discuss the features of the platform. “We saw in all three cities that officials weren’t sure if it was such a good idea to involve citizens from the beginning in the co-creation of smarticipate. Their experience was that they get people who are very critical and not really looking to co-create. But if you really have an interesting, exciting, catchy topic, then you usually get other people that normally wouldn’t join public meetings. These people really make time and invest, as they feel that it’s relevant for them to contribute to the project,” explains Marek. “In the end, each city saw that it was a successful approach, and that citizens like to be involved from the beginning.”
One of the primary outcomes of the project is convincing the partner cities to think differently about open data. “If you don’t have open data and you’re not willing to share your knowledge, then it doesn’t work,” says Marek. “At the start it was a challenge to involve the other city departments – we had to convince each city department that smarticipate means less work, as the automatic feedback will take over some of their daily work. It took a lot of one-on-one discussions to convince some people within the cities that smarticipate won’t just result in more angry comments from citizens!”
Speaking about what would define success for the platform, Marek’s primary question is ‘Are the citizens ready for it?’ In other words, does the platform ask too much of people? “At the start of the project we asked ourselves: is the platform more for doers or more for receivers? It seems that there are not as many doers as I personally expected, because I realized in the last year that people don’t just quickly embrace the possibility to create an app them self. Citizens are looking for the cities to solve issues for them, rather than saying that they will take it over from the city. That’s interesting to see – the smarticipate platform is offering a lot, but maybe the citizens aren’t ready for it, they’re not ready to get that involved in public services to this level. I think it’s a learning curve for citizens and cities!” says Marek. “And those who are getting involved are volunteers who do it in their own time, and that’s a challenge for them and for the city. I think cities have to support these volunteers.”
In light of this, it was concluded that another step was needed to highlight the potential of smarticipate.
“Together with the technical team, we simulated the process of using the smarticipate platform to address a particular issue in an App Making Session for the city partners. It was a great success. By simulating the step-by-step process together, the cities really got the hang of it. City representatives were enthusiastic about how easy it was to configure a new topic. The joint conclusion is that the App Making Session should have happened earlier in the process. Co-creation should not only take place between the technical team and the end users – as happened in the Smartathons – but also between the technical team and the cities,” says Marek.
“This prevents cities from behaving like a customer despite being a partner in the development process, and it stops the technical team from withdrawing into their shell. The enthusiasm witnessed in the App Making Session made the consortium decide to package that process in the manual ‘How to create a new app’.
For Marek, the lesson learned is that explaining the smarticipate concept is all very well, but potential users only really become enthusiastic when they have access to the actual platform, along with a clear manual.
Looking to the future, Marek says the next steps are the further integration of smarticipate in already existing platforms like DIPAS (a digital participation system) in Hamburg, and the upscaling of smarticipate to all boroughs of the Greater London Authority. “The key word is integration, that smarticipate is integrated into existing city platforms, which people are using. The Hague (where WeLoveTheCity is the leading planning agency) is interested, together with a large Dutch developer (BPD), to adopt the smarticipate platform to make a planned transformation more accessible for residents, entrepreneurs and developers.”
“A follow-up session with cycling organisation ADFC Hamburg is also planned, as they would like to develop applications to advance cycling in the city,” adds Marek. “Helsinki, Oslo and Ghent have also expressed interest in adopting the smarticipate platform.”
With the end of the smarticipate project in sight, and the platform being trialled in each of the three partner cities, Marek believes that it is impressive what has been achieved in only three years: “It was very good what we managed. It showed that it’s possible to start the co-creation process with citizens and to bring open data further by combining it with rules.”
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https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/ON-THE-WATCH-LIST-DAY-1-288-Results-2502307.php
ON THE WATCH LIST - DAY 1,288 / Results: Children's Wonderland
CHRONICLEWATCH / Working for a better Bay Area
Jim Herron Zamora, Chronicle Staff Writer
Published 4:00 am PDT, Saturday, September 22, 2007
CHRONWATCH2266716.JPG Bill Bloom from InterPlay designs in Vallejo put the finishing touches on Dino Land. After years of planning and construction Children's Wonderland Park in Vallejo is scheduled to reopen to the public this Saturday. This kid's park was built in the 1920s but has been closed for more than 10 years. It was completely renovated. SEPTEMBER 20, 2007. Lance Iversen/The Chronicle (cq) SUBJECT 9/20/07,in Vallejo. CA. MANDATORY CREDIT PHOTOG AND SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE/NO SALES MAGS OUT less
CHRONWATCH2266716.JPG Bill Bloom from InterPlay designs in Vallejo put the finishing touches on Dino Land. After years of planning and construction Children's Wonderland Park in Vallejo is scheduled to reopen ... more
Photo: By Lance Iversen
In 1962, Jim Millholland was among a group of Vallejo volunteers that helped construct the fanciful rides and statues, drawn from fairy tales and Lewis Carroll stories, at Children's Wonderland.
So it's only fitting that 45 years later his daughter Toni Millholland-DeHaven is overseeing restoration of the Vallejo park, which reopens today eight years after it closed because of neglect and deterioration.
"I pretty much grew up in this park so it's special for me to help bring this back to the people," said Millholland-DeHaven, a project manager with the Greater Vallejo Recreation District. "I remember how much fun I had when I was little girl and that makes it really rewarding to make this available for a new generation of kids."
ChronicleWatch first reported on the problems at Children's Wonderland on March 14, 2004. The park was similar to the larger and better-known Children's Fairyland in Oakland with its whimsical fairy-tale statues and rides. But it had been in decline for years, with many of its rides deemed unsafe long before the park was closed in 1999.
Some of the park's original attractions, including some spinning teacups and a smiling Cheshire cat sculpture drawn from "Alice In Wonderland," have been restored and will be included among the new park's features. But some features, such as a pirate ship that graced the old park, will be missing. They have been replaced by new attractions.
One of them is Dinoland, a section of the park where kids can climb on a replica of a brontosaurus or hunt for fossils etched in faux sandstone rocks.
On Thursday, 21/2-year-old Bennie Dyer and his grandfather John Dyer circled the perimeter fence, admiring the various attractions inside the closed park.
Bennie showed little interest in the fairy tale statues. "Fire truck! Fire truck!" he shouted, gesturing at the freshly painted replica of a truck.
"He's big on fire trucks and dinosaurs," said his grandfather, who used to spend time there with Bennie's father decades ago. "It's such a great park. I'm so glad it's open again."
The park originally opened in 1962 after a campaign to raise private donations, and dozens of volunteers pitched in to help build it. Many of those efforts were captured in photographs now on display at the renovated park.
In one of the photos, Millholland-DeHaven's father is shown with the Greater Vallejo Kiwanis Club team that built a track around the park. In keeping with the park's quirky nature, the track was called "The Crooked Mile." The Vallejo High School sheet metal class is posed around Cinderella's Pumpkin Carriage. The carriage was the students' class project for the 1961-62 school year.
The park's history can also be found in another display that includes photos of family outings there over the years and was donated by local residents. The photos range from pictures of little boys in 1960s-era Henley shirts to girls wearing Little Mermaid apparel from the early 1990s.
Two generations of Hubbards are included in the photo exhibit. One picture shows Debbie Hubbard as a smiling little girl in the park just after it opened in 1962. Then there are photos of Debbie's son Andrew Hubbard in a teacup in 1988.
The words of Rebecca Lantrip, one of the first kids to enter the park in 1962, are used in a brochure for the reopening to capture what it was like for youngsters back then.
"Everything in the park allowed imaginations to run wild," she said. "As a child, the teapot looked so big you could play there for hours and imagine anything."
The $2.5 million restoration that culminates with the official opening today began in 2005 with the renovation of the western end of the park, which includes an amphitheater, jungle gyms and large grass fields. But restoring the storybook features was much more complicated.
The company that restored them, Interplay Design of Vallejo, specializes in building "creative recreational spaces" and designed and constructed everything from skate parks in Alameda to statues of flying dolphins in Davis.
"In terms of complexity, this is the most intricate project we've ever done," said company principal Tom Arie-Donch, as he put the finishing touches on the brontosaurus. "It's great. We've had a lot of fun doing this. ... I look forward to seeing this place filled with children."
Who got it done: Shane McAffee, Greater Vallejo Recreation District manager, (707) 648-4603; smcaffee@gvrd.org
Is something broken in your neighborhood? Call us at (415) 777-7170, or e-mail us at chroniclewatch@sfchronicle.com.
Children's Wonderland's grand reopening
When: 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. today and Sunday
Where: 360 Glenn St., Vallejo
Admission: Free this weekend but $2 per person in the future.
For more information: www.gvrd.org/childrenswonderland.html
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YOU’RE GETTING ON MY NERVES: A CASE OF EOSINOPHILIC GRANULOMATOSIS WITH POLYANGIITIS
Phuong Nguyen, DO1, Hani Rashid, DO2, Tony Lai, Medical Student3, Hytham Rashid, BS4, Donna Cota, DO5, 1Department of Internal Medicine, Medical City Hospital of Fort Worth, Euless, TX; 2Department of Internal Medicine, Methodist Dallas Medical Center, Euless, TX; 3University of North Texas Health Science Center; 4Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine; 5Department of Internal Medicine, Medical City Hospital of Fort Worth
Meeting: Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Categories: Adult, Clinical Vignettes, Uncategorized
Keywords: Asthma, Eosinophilia, Eosinophilic Granulomatosis with Polyangiitis, Neuropathy, Vasculitis
Case Presentation: A 27-year-old white male with adult-onset asthma and recurrent pneumonia presented to a rural hospital with a one month history of ascending lower extremity numbness. He also reported fever, fatigue, night sweats, and a twenty-pound weight loss over three weeks. Initial workup revealed leukocytosis and eosinophilia, prompting transfer to our facility for further evaluation by hematology and infectious disease services.
Physical examination was significant for fever of 101.5°F, diffuse expiratory wheezing, and diminished sensation in the lower extremities. Laboratory analysis showed elevations in white blood cell count (22,000/μL), absolute eosinophil count (13,500/μL), inflammatory markers (ESR of 36 mm/hr, CRP of 9.25 mg/dL), and IgE (224 mg/dL). Serological analysis revealed an elevated rheumatoid factor (22.4 IU/mL) as well as a positive antinuclear antibody. While p-ANCA was found to be positive (1:40), c-ANCA was negative. Leukemia/lymphoma immunophenotyping by flow cytometry was negative. The patient’s blood, sputum, and urine cultures had no growth. His respiratory viral panel and QuantiFERON®-TB Gold were negative. Chest CT exhibited bilateral scattered ground-glass opacities. MRI of the brain showed diffuse inflammation of the sinuses. Transthoracic echocardiogram was normal. The patient reported worsening paresthesias, prompting right sural nerve biopsy which showed severe neuropathy with primary axonal degeneration.
The patient met five out of the six criteria for the classification of eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA) established by the American College of Rheumatology: asthma, >10% eosinophilia, polyneuropathy, transient pulmonary opacities on radiographs, and paranasal sinus abnormality. Meeting at least four of the six criteria provides a sensitivity of 85% and specificity of 99.7% for the diagnosis of EGPA. Treatment was initiated with prednisone, which was later tapered with the addition of azathioprine. At six-month follow up, he had downtrending eosinophilia as well as improvement of cough, dyspnea, and paresthesias.
Discussion: EGPA is a rare form of autoimmune vasculitis, with a reported annual incidence of 0.5-6.8 new cases per million. The prodromal phase is an allergic phase where patients develop adult-onset asthma or allergic rhinitis. The eosinophilic phase involves peripheral eosinophilia and involvement of multiple organ systems, such as the migratory pulmonary infiltrates in our patient. The vasculitic phase consists of constitutional symptoms (such as the fever, fatigue, and weight loss our patient exhibited) and peripheral neuropathy. Prompt recognition of this disease process, in the pre-vasculitic phase, can result in earlier treatment thus reducing morbidity for our patients.
Conclusions: EGPA is among the most rare of vasculitides and can present with a wide array of presenting signs and symptoms, making this disease a diagnostic puzzle. As demonstrated in this case, diagnosis often requires the involvement of multiple specialists in the inpatient setting. Hospitalists should maintain a high degree of suspicion for EGPA when patients present with adult-onset asthma, particularly in the setting of eosinophilia and polyneuropathy.
Nguyen, P; Rashid, H; Lai, T; Rashid, H; Cota, D. YOU’RE GETTING ON MY NERVES: A CASE OF EOSINOPHILIC GRANULOMATOSIS WITH POLYANGIITIS. Abstract published at Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla. Abstract 752. https://www.shmabstracts.com/abstract/youre-getting-on-my-nerves-a-case-of-eosinophilic-granulomatosis-with-polyangiitis/. Accessed July 16, 2019.
« Back to Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
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Doomed Space Cloud Hints at Planet Formation in Milky Way's Core
By Charles Q. Choi 2012-09-11T20:54:28Z Science & Astronomy
In this artist's conception, a protoplanetary disk of gas and dust (red) is being shredded by the powerful gravitational tides of our galaxy's central black hole. Image released September 11, 2012.
(Image: © David A. Aguilar (CfA))
Astronomers have found a cloud of gas and dust around a young star being devoured by the giant black hole at the heart of our Milky Way galaxy, a find that, scientists say, suggests planets can form in galactic cores, scientists say.
The supermassive black hole thought to lurk at the center of the Milky Way is named Sagittarius A*. Scientists estimate it is about 4.3 million times the mass of the sun.
For the most part, very little light is seen emerging from near Sagittarius A*, aside from radio waves and some modest X-ray or infrared flares, suggesting not much matter is currently getting fed into it. This absence of data limits what investigators can deduce about the black hole's properties and behavior, as well as those of the other supermassive black holes believed to be at the centers of all large galaxies.
Recently, astronomers gazing at Sagittarius A* through the Very Large Telescope in Chile spotteda dusty gas cloud three times the mass of Earth hurtling toward the center of the galaxy at more than 5.2 million mph (8.4 million kph).
The cloud is putting out five times as much light as the sun as it zips along. The cloud should achieve its closest approach to the black hole in June 2013, reaching a distance of 270 times that of Earth from the sun. [Milky Way Black Hole Eats Space Cloud in 2013 (Video)]
Scientists are monitoring this mysterious cloud's behavior as it moves closer toward the black hole's accretion zone — the region where matter begins its death spiral into the black hole. A new theoretical model now suggests the cloud is probably the shredded remains of a protoplanetary disk surrounding a young, low-mass star — the kind of structures that worlds eventually develop from.
The star apparently came from the inner edge of a ring of stars 4 million to 8 million years old circling Sagittarius A* from a distance of about one-tenth of a light-year. Interactions within this ring could have flung this star, which by itself is too small for astronomers to see directly, toward the black hole on an elliptical, oval-shaped orbit.
The center of the Milky Way might ordinarily seem like an inhospitable place to try to form a planet, since the young, massive, super-hot stars that often dwell there typically explode as supernovas, blasting out shock waves and bathing the region with intense radiation.
"The galactic center is one of the most extreme environments in the galaxy," said lead study author Ruth Murray-Clay, a theoretical astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass.
Nevertheless, the existence of protoplanetary disks near the center of the galaxy suggests that worlds can form in this cosmic maelstrom, as well as comets and asteroids.
"If our explanation for the gas cloud we see is shown to be true, that means protoplanetary disks — and by extension, planets — can be found everywhere," Murray-Clay told SPACE.com.
"It's fascinating to think about planets forming so close to a black hole," study author Abraham Loeb, a theoretical astrophysicist at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Mass., told SPACE.com. "If our civilization inhabited such a planet, we could have tested Einstein's theory of gravity much better, and we could have harvested clean energy from throwing our waste into the black hole."
Future research might look for evidence of planets, comets and asteroids falling into supermassive black holes in other galaxies, such as the bright flares dying worlds would release as they get ripped apart. The glowing remains of protoplanetary disks getting sucked into black holes could shed light on low-mass stars near galactic cores that are otherwise too faint to be detected.
As the star continues its plunge over the next year, more and more of the disk's outer material will get torn away. The stripped gas will swirl into the maw of the black hole, and friction will heat it to incandescence, causing it to glow in X-rays.
"We're really looking forward to next summer," Loeb said.
Murray-Clay and Loeb detailed their findings online today (Sept. 11) in the journal Nature Communications.
You can follow SPACE.com on Twitter @Spacedotcom. We're also on Facebook & Google+.
Live Now! Meet the Space Station's Expedition 61 Crew
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My SPIEGEL
date... any time last week last month last year headline and teaser full text author
SPIEGEL Magazine
For Richer, For Poorer: Europe on the Verge of Becoming a Transfer Union
For Richer, For Poorer Europe on the Verge of Becoming a Transfer Union
The euro zone looks set to evolve into a transfer union as it struggles to overcome the debt crisis. There are a number of options for the institutionalized shift of resources from richer to poorer member states -- and Germany would end up as the biggest net contributor in every scenario.
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The 19th century statue of the ancient goddess Athena in Athens. The emergency EU summit on Greece last month pushed Europe closer to a transfer union.
By Christian Reiermann
Christian Reiermann
(Jahrgang 1962) betreibt seit 1990 Hauptstadtjournalismus, zuerst in Bonn, dann in Berlin, die meiste Zeit davon beim SPIEGEL. Er schreibt über Staatsfinanzen, Steuern, Konjunktur, den Euro und die Weltwirtschaft. Vorherige Stationen des studierten Ökonomen waren "Handelsblatt", "Focus", "Berliner Zeitung", "Welt am Sonntag".
E-Mail: Christian.Reiermann@spiegel.de
Mehr Artikel von Christian Reiermann
As a practicing Catholic, Philipp Rösler knows that remaining true to your beliefs sometimes requires you to resist reality. The head of Germany's business-friendly Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the country's economics minister provided a hint of his unshakable conviction two weeks ago when the heads of state and government of euro-zone countries met in Brussels for an emergency summit to hammer out a second bailout package for Greece. "The summit showed that we are not headed toward becoming a transfer union," Rösler claimed.
In reality, the summit actually did push the European Union a good bit closer to becoming a transfer union -- with the forceful assistance of Rösler's boss, German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Already decades ago, the European Union started providing financial assistance for building roads, setting up telecommunications systems and assisting underdeveloped regions. In 2009, Germany transferred 6.4 billion ($9.22 billion) more to Brussels than it received from it. France and Italy are net contributors as well, as opposed to Poland, Portugal and Hungary (see graphic). But whereas these sums are limited and earmarked for specific purposes, the measures tied to the euro bailout involve unprecedented payments -- especially after the meeting in Brussels.
If It Walks Like a Duck
Merkel and her colleagues have now pushed the doors wide open for a European community based on shared liability. As a result of their decisions, euro-zone member countries will have to provide much greater guarantees for the solvency of countries that have run into financial trouble. In other words, there will now be an even greater redistribution of wealth between the richer and the poorer states.
Past assurances have been forgotten. Just last March, Merkel promised, "I won't allow there to be a transfer union," and stressed that each country had to be able to pay its own debts. But, when it comes to the most recent bailout package, Merkel is only opposed to a transfer union that functions as an "automatic financial equalization scheme in Europe."
Experts see things differently. They refer to a transfer union as one in which collateral or loans can be transferred from one country to another whenever necessary.
One of these experts is Jens Weidmann, the former economic adviser to Merkel who has now become the president of the Bundesbank, Germany's central bank. Weidmann sharply criticizes his former boss, but he couches his words in economic jargon, saying: "By shifting extensive additional risks onto the countries providing help and their taxpayers, the euro area has taken a major step toward a pooling of risk."
But others pronounce their judgment much more clearly. As Clemens Fuest, an economist at the University of Oxford, puts it: "Brussels was a considerable leap in the direction of a transfer union."
The heads of government decided that Greece, Portugal and Ireland would only have to pay approximately 3.5 percent rather than 4.5 percent interest on their emergency loans. At the same time, countries like Italy, Cyprus and Belgium will have to pay much higher interest rates on the money they have borrowed to help bail out these countries. "Taking out expensive loans and extending cheap ones -- that's a clear sign of a transfer union," Fuest says.
But that isn't the only feature. As part of the euro-zone bailout package, member states are putting their own good reputation and creditworthiness on the line in order to raise the money needed to help countries with teetering economies. In this case, there hasn't been any direct transfer of funds yet because the countries contributing them have so far only extended guarantees. But, in doing so, they have been freeing their cash-strapped partner countries from a major part of the risk.
The way that funds will be redistributed between donor and recipient countries will be similar if the Luxembourg-based European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) extends bridging loans to Italy or Spain or if it takes the sovereign bonds of crisis-hit countries off the market by replacing them with its own. Doing so would bring relief to troubled states. But it would also make all of the other euro-zone countries accountable to investors for the debts of these troubled states.
Estimating the Costs
The measures that the European Central Bank (ECB) has been using to assist the euro bailout work according to the same principle. The bank also buys up the sovereign bonds of debt-stricken states or accepts them as collateral for fresh loans. This has meant that several billion euros are now idling away on the ECB's balance sheets as risks that might costs member countries several more billion euros.
Admittedly, that would only happen if there were an emergency, such as if Greece, Portugal, Ireland or another member country announced it could no longer fully repay its debts. For this reason, the earmarked loans and guarantees have thus far represented only potential transfers.
Nevertheless, it is still possible to put a number on the figures involved. Deutsche Bank Research calculates that Germany bears a share of 144 billion for the bailout plans already decided upon, and that Germany could also be liable for an additional 110 billion as part of help provided by the ECB. Added to that are the at least 20 billion making up Germany's share of the second bailout package for Greece.
Skeptics are expecting even higher figures. They calculate that the EFSF bailout fund needs to be bolstered because it has taken on additional functions. Indeed, Fuest, the Oxford economist, assumes that it will have to be double or tripled -- or possibly even more. "If Italy gets into a crisis of confidence, even that won't be enough," he says. In that case, he believes that other euro-zone countries would have no other choice but to guarantee all of Italy's 1.8 trillion in debt.
Granted, since none of these countries would become completely insolvent, no one seriously believes that these amounts will actually become due. But many of them are still asking whether donor countries might be better served if all of the euro-zone countries shared a common economic government that paid attention to how they financed their national budgets. This move could come in two possible forms.
The Euro Bond Option
According to the first, countries in the currency union could set up common bonds known as "euro bonds." In this case, participating countries would come under scrutiny on the financial markets collectively rather than individually. What's more, using this common financial vehicle would lower the risk of having a member state slide into national bankruptcy.
Unlike today, all of the participating countries would be required to pay the same interest rate. This would mean a significant reduction in financing costs for troubled states because creditors would know that all of the countries in this group were obliged to pay back the debts of any one of its members.
Backers of the euro bond option are also betting that there would be an increase in global demand for this new financial product. As they see it, it would be more attractive than the fragmented range of sovereign bonds currently on offer in the euro zone. Their attractiveness would then hopefully trigger a run on the common bonds that would increase their market value and thereby lower their interest rate.
Still, euro bonds would also have certain drawbacks, particularly for countries enjoying the top AAA rating of the rating agencies, such as Germany, France and Austria. The reason for this is that the common bonds would have a lower creditworthiness because they would also involve countries with lower ratings. In real terms, having their ratings lowered would force the more exemplary countries to pay higher interest rates than they have been.
Ansgar Belke, an economics professor at the University of Duisburg-Essen and a research director at the Berlin-based German Institute for Economic Research (DIW), estimates that it would burden Germany with up to 15 billion in additional costs each year. Other experts have put this figure at up to 25 billion.
Calculated over a 10-year period, these new bonds would probably cost the Germans much more than what they might have to pitch in for the bailout packages. Likewise, this also completely leaves aside the possibility of additional risks and knock-on effects. "Euro bonds could bring short-term relief to some countries," Belke says "But, over the long term, they would lead to disaster because they open the door to even more indebtedness." That is especially true for countries that are already heavily indebted: They could afford to borrow more money because their interest payments on the euro bonds would be lower.
The Equalization Option
The second option would involve organizing a financial equalization scheme in the euro zone -- similar to the one used between German states -- that would see money flow steadily from stronger into weaker countries. Studies on this issue show that hundreds of billions of euros would have to be redistributed among the euro zone's poorer and richer countries in order to balance out the varying strengths of their economies.
For example, a study by the Freiburg-based Center for European Policy (CEP) assumes that prosperous countries would have to transfer 108 billion to their poorer partner countries in order to restore their creditworthiness. Deutsche Bank Research uses different levels of government income per capita as its basis, and says Germany would need to pay in 12 billion per year to balance out the differences.
Kai Konrad, the managing director of the Max Planck Institute for Tax Law and Public Finance, and Holger Zschäpitz, a senior writer at the conservative daily Die Welt, arrive at a much larger figure. According to their calculations, the figure would reach the horrendous annual amount of roughly 74 billion. This kind of transfer union, they write, would be "neither economically nor politically feasible, nor a desirable prospect."
Known Unknowns
No matter which of these options were employed to level the playing field via a financial equalization scheme, two things are already certain: It would be expensive, and Germany would be one of the major financial contributors.
Of course, this is already the case with the bailout mechanisms currently in place. But there would be one critical difference: Under the current schemes, there is still a chance that the bailouts would finally end and that Germany would at least get part of its money back. But, under a permanent financial equalization scheme, neither of these would be possible.
Translated from the German by Josh Ward
Article...
Related SPIEGEL ONLINE links
The World from Berlin: 'A New Epoch Has Begun in the History of the Euro' (07/22/2011)
After the Summit: Starting Fresh in Euroland (07/22/2011)
Saving the Common Currency: What Was Decided at the Euro-Zone Crisis Summit (07/25/2011)
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Paul McCartney becomes a Packers shareholder during 'just a perfect night' at Lambeau
The Packers made Paul McCartney a shareholder before his Lambeau show. "It was just a perfect night," said Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy.
Paul McCartney becomes a Packers shareholder during 'just a perfect night' at Lambeau The Packers made Paul McCartney a shareholder before his Lambeau show. "It was just a perfect night," said Packers President and CEO Mark Murphy. Check out this story on stevenspointjournal.com: https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/06/14/paul-mccartney-now-packers-shareholder-after-perfect-night-lambeau/1409425001/
Kendra Meinert, Green Bay Press-Gazette Published 7:47 a.m. CT June 14, 2019
Paul McCartney performs at Lambeau
Paul McCartney greets a sold-out crowd Saturday at Lambeau Field for a stop on his Freshen Up Tour. It was the 76-year-old music legend's first performance in Green Bay. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Paul McCartney performs June 8, 2019 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Paul McCartney walks out to a sold-out crowd at Lambeau Field on June 8 for a stop on his Freshen Up Tour. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Lambeau Field is full of fans before the start of Paul McCartney's performance June 8, 2019 in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Paul McCartney performs to a sold-out crowd Saturday night at Lambeau Field. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Paul McCartney opens the Green Bay stop of his Freshen Up Tour Saturday at Lambeau Field. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Lambeau Field is full of fans before the start of Paul McCartney's performance on Saturday night. The capacity crowd was estimated to be near 50,000. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Fans take a selfie inside a British phone booth in the Green Bay Packers' Titletown District ahead of Paul McCartney's show on June 8, 2019 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
A fan poses with a British Queen's Guard statue in the Green Bay Packers' Titletown District ahead of Paul McCartney's show on June 8, 2019 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
Fans walk past a mural of London in the Green Bay Packers' Titletown District ahead of Paul McCartney's show on June 8, 2019 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin
A British flag decorates the Green Bay Packers' Titletown District ahead of Paul McCartney's show on June 8, 2019 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
A British Queen's Guard statue is stationed in the Green Bay Packers' Titletown District ahead of Paul McCartney's show on June 8, 2019 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Wis. Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.
GREEN BAY - He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1997, and now Sir Paul McCartney can say he's a Green Bay Packers shareholder, too.
The Packers bestowed the title on the former Beatle by presenting him with a stock certificate with his name on it before he took the stage Saturday night at Lambeau Field. He also received a game ball to commemorate the date of the sold-out stop on the Freshen Up Tour — his first time in Green Bay in a career that spans the planet and more than 60 years.
“I didn’t realize he was left-handed,” said Packers president and CEO Mark Murphy, who made the presentation backstage. “He threw a pass with his left hand, and (Packers vice president of marketing and fan engagement) Gabrielle Valdez Dow made a perfect catch.”
Everything about Green Bay’s first date with McCartney felt like a touchdown. The incredible performance. The made-to-order weather. The nearly 50,000 happy people having the time of their lives. The flawless start to finish of only the fourth major concert in Lambeau’s history.
The scenario must be similar wherever McCartney goes — utter joy from crowds in awe of his songs (and his stamina) and eternally grateful for an indescribable connection to an era that is long since gone. When he played the Kohl Center in Madison two nights earlier, members of rock band Greta Van Fleet were in the audience as fans.
What it must feel like to travel the world giving that gift to people night after night, and yet still somehow come off on onstage like an unassuming Brit just sharing stories about John and “Georgie,” singing a love song for his wife “Nance” and reflecting as a grandfather on how his grown-up baby now has four babies of her own.
“Time flies when you’re having fun,” he told the crowd.
It sure did on Saturday night. It was a marvel that McCartney, at 76, could perform for just shy of three hours without ever leaving the stage, and yet, it still seemed like it was over in the blink of an eye. The 38 songs only a sampling from McCartney’s career, but so meaningful to people, they didn’t want to miss a one.
“It hurt our concession sales,” Murphy joked. “Nobody wanted to leave their seats.”
Paul McCartney looks out at a sold-out crowd at Lambeau Field from atop a raised platform on the stage of his Freshen Up Tour on June 8. (Photo: Courtesy of MPL Communications /MJ Kim.)
RELATED: Paul McCartney as good as it gets during unforgettable night at Lambeau
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Fans like Mike Fameree, of De Pere, who splurged on the VIP experience, actually got a total of 51 songs from McCartney that day. He and his band performed 13 songs they don't play in concert during a soundcheck show at 5 p.m.
It was Fameree’s 13th McCartney concert, and it ranks in his top two, just behind the one in 2014 in Fargo, North Dakota, when someone with the tour upgraded his seats from the nosebleeds to the front row.
He had to settle for Row 4 in Green Bay.
'It was just a perfect night'
The Packers and Live Nation had been working on the concert for years, Murphy said. McCartney doesn’t play many football stadiums anymore, and Lambeau is believed to be the largest venue on the tour, he said.
“It was just a perfect night. Beautiful weather. Part of it was just his personality. He was engaging, and I think everybody really felt good,” Murphy said. “A lot of people here put a lot of time and effort into it, and it’s great to see everything come off the way it did.
“A number of people told me it was the best concert they’ve ever been to. I would be included among that,” said Murphy, who had not seen McCartney live prior to the Lambeau show. “That was pretty special. He’s legendary. I’m showing my age, but I knew every single song except for some of the new ones he played.”
Paul McCartney walks out to a sold-out crowd at Lambeau Field on June 8 for a stop on his Freshen Up Tour. (Photo: Sarah Kloepping/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wis.)
When McCartney asked during the show who was from Green Bay, who came from elsewhere in the state and who came from points farther away, the crowd response indicated a fairly even split among the groups. For many, it was likely their first time to Lambeau.
“There were a lot of people there who probably aren’t football fans but now they have a flavor of what Lambeau Field is like,” Murphy said.
For those Beatles fan who also also know their Packers history, it was extra special. One fan wrote on Twitter: “Greatest moments in Lambeau Field history: 1. Bart Starr crosses the goal line in the 1967 Ice Bowl. 2. ‘Live and Let Die’ on June 8, 2019.”
Dave Lowy, a 67-year-old fan from Iowa, followed the Freshen Up Tour from Madison to Green Bay to Moline, Illinois, to see three Macca shows in six days. His right leg and his sing-along voice were both a little wobbly by the end, but no regrets.
So how did the Lambeau show stack up with the other two?
“I felt the sound was superb, especially considering the crowd in Lambeau was about four times larger than the other two,” he said. “Also, it seemed the interaction between Paul and the crowd was smoother. You could really tell that he had never been there before and felt the awe and love from the fans.”
Murphy too got the feeling when he met McCartney, whom he described as down to earth, humble and “a very nice man,” that the significance of the venue was not lost on him.
“He seemed to have an appreciation for the Packers and how different our organization is, and I think particularly Lambeau Field,” Murphy said.
Hey Lambeau, let’s go! Ready to rock this iconic American football field! #freshenuptour
A post shared by Paul McCartney (@paulmccartney) on Jun 8, 2019 at 5:05pm PDT
McCartney shared a photo on Instagram on concert day that showed him onstage in an empty Lambeau with the caption: “Hey Lambeau, let’s go! Ready to rock this iconic American football field!”
A birthday wish come true after the show
Speaking of the field, Murphy said it looks “very good” after the staging was loaded out. It will be back in tiptop form in time for Family Night on Aug. 2, the next big event at the stadium.
The Packers remain committed to hosting one major non-Packers event a year. The Notre Dame vs. Wisconsin football game is already on the calendar for Oct. 3, 2020.
That means the memories of this concert will have to hold music fans over for the next two years — or a lifetime.
The latter won’t be a problem for Beth Jean, an Eau Claire fan whose flowery neon “It’s My Birthday” sign caught the eye of McCartney, not during the concert when he sang The Beatles’ “Birthday,” but after the show.
Beth Jean, Eau Claire, caught the attention of Paul McCartney as he was leaving Lambeau Field and got her own "Happy Birthday" from him. (Photo: Kendra Meinert/USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin)
Jean slipped out of the concert before it was over in hopes of getting a glimpse of him as he pulled out of Lambeau. As he stood in the front of the bus, the small crowd cheered, and that's when it happened.
“He spotted my sign, waved, pointed and mouthed 'Happy Birthday,' saying it slowly enough to make sure I got the message. In true Paul fashion, I also got a thumbs up,” she said.
It was enough to make a birthday girl cry, and this one did.
“Thank you, Lambeau. Thank you, Green Bay. Thank you, Wisconsin. Thank you, cheeseheads,” McCartney said as he left the stage on Saturday night.
Right back at you, Sir Paul.
Contact Kendra Meinert at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.
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Read or Share this story: https://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/story/entertainment/music/2019/06/14/paul-mccartney-now-packers-shareholder-after-perfect-night-lambeau/1409425001/
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St Paul’s Collegiate School
Why St Paul’s?
History of St Paul’s
Tihoi
Vertical house system
Starting at St Paul’s
St Paul’s Foundation
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Returning to his Sargood roots
Wired for beer
On the farm start-up for school friends
Life’s work on the ice
Professor Gary Wilson in the dry valleys in Antarctica.
Professor Gary Wilson (Hamilton 1980-1984) has studied and worked at some of the world’s top universities, and last year returned to Hamilton for a three-month sabbatical at Waikato University.
Gary, a professor in Marine Science at Otago University, is one of the world’s leading experts on Antarctica. In a career spanning 30 years, he was one of the early specialists in climate change science. Along the way, he has been awarded some of the world’s top academic scholarships.
“If you warm the planet and melt the ice, then it goes into the ocean and sea level rises. So, I really got interested in trying to understand what makes that happen.”
He spoke to Network before embarking on yet another research trip to Antarctica – his 30th. More than four years of his life have been spent on the ice continent.
He will be leading the mission, sleeping in a tent, on the edge of the Ross Ice shelf in West Antarctica, 800km from Scott Base.
While in Hamilton for three months, Gary’s youngest son Adam, 12, attended Southwell and Jacob, 14, is enrolled at St Paul’s.
After leaving St Paul’s in the mid-1980s Gary, now 51, went to Wellington’s Victoria University, to complete his undergraduate study.
It was the beginning of academic life, which has seen him study and teach at leading universities in New Zealand, the United States and England.
As a school leaver, he enrolled in a science degree, majoring in maths and physics. But he didn’t enjoy the physics, so dropped science after the first year and instead enrolled in a music degree, building on his interest from St Paul’s where he was a top clarinet player.
In those days, students had to enrol in four science subjects for that degree, “so I enrolled in maths, physics and chemistry, and the only other thing that fitted my timetable was geology. I enjoyed the geology and kept it going and ended up completing both degrees – a Bachelor of Science in Geology; and a Bachelor of Music.”
It was geology that came out tops in terms of career choice. “There came a point where I had to actually choose something that would pay a wage – and music is not one of them!”
He was invited to do honours in geology, which he did and was then offered a scholarship to Cambridge University, although he soon changed direction. “I was pretty clear about what I wanted, which was to work on the Antarctic and the problem of melting ice and rising sea levels, and they weren’t really familiar with it.”
Instead, after a few months in the UK, he took up another scholarship opportunity, through the New Zealand University Grants Committee, to return to Victoria University in 1990.
In what was to be a long stint in the United States, Gary took up a Fulbright scholarship at the University of Nebraska, where he undertook both research and teaching. That was followed by a stint at The Ohio State University on a Byrd Fellowship (named after the famous Antarctic explorer Admiral Byrd) at the Byrd Polar Research Centre, considered the home of polar science in the US.
He then got a Foundation for Research, Science and Technology Fellowship (equivalent these days to the country’s top early career science award, the Rutherford Fellowship) which took him to GNS Science in Wellington researching what drives ice to melt and sea levels to rise, and vise versa.
Then came a call from the University of Oxford. He flew over for an interview a week later and got offered a lectureship in Earth Sciences at Oxford where he worked for four years. It was at Oxford where he met his wife, Kate.
Next was a move to Otago University partly because it gave him the opportunity to get his ‘hands dirty’ with research, which was harder to do from the UK.
He started as a lecturer in Geology, then took up a professorship in Marine Science. He has been in that role since, aside from a five-year secondment, at the New Zealand Antarctic Research Institute; and to be the Chief Science Advisor at Antarctica New Zealand in Christchurch.
During his sabbatical at Waikato University, Gary has worked with fellow “Antarcticans” developing a paleothermometer, to measure past temperature.
“If you are trying to build a sophisticated climate model to work out what causes Antarctica to melt you need temperature. So, what we are trying to do, is develop that ability to work out the temperature using the different assemblages of ancient bacteria frozen into the ground.”
He says the scale of the impact of global warming is enormous. “If you were to melt all of the ice in Antarctica, you are looking at global sea levels rising by about 60 metres.”
Gary firmly believes individuals can do their bit, to reduce carbon emissions, which he says we “absolutely need to do” to tackle global warming.
“When you look at your own carbon footprint, the majority of it is split three ways – a third of it comes from the food we eat, a third of it is transport, and a third of it is heating and running your home.”
“If we each reduce carbon emissions by 2% per year then it becomes a tractable problem.”
Gary is a trustee of the Sir Peter Blake Trust, and this year was appointed Vice President of the global organisation, the Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
The family, who live in Dunedin, enjoy spending time at their crib in Naseby in Central Otago and all that is on offer in the outdoors there – mountain biking, hiking, and winter sports. They are also setting out to complete the great New Zealand walks.
Gary’s father Albert lives in Waingaro, near Ngaruawahia, and the time in the Waikato this year allowed the family to spend more time with him.
Written by Monica Holt
(Source: Network Issue 97)
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It is always important to remember that the Episcopal Church is composed of people from a great variety of religious customs and traditions. Many have come to the Episcopal Church from the Catholic tradition while others come from a more evangelical and Protestant tradition. We are many strands of a single rope.
On entering the Church:
Many people before entering the pew either bow or genuflect to the Altar. Such devotional acts, while a part of our heritage, are optional, and each person should decide as an individual whether or not to incorporate these personal devotional acts into his or her prayer and worship life.
After entering the pew, consider kneeling and offering a prayer, thanking God for His love and for the freedom to worship Him according to our individual choice, for the mission of the Church throughout the world, for our parish and those who share worship with us, for our families, for the bishops and priests, for the service that is to follow, and for ourselves. It is an act that reminds us that we are in God's presence and in His holy house. In this period before the service begins, we have an opportunity to prepare ourselves and our lives as an offering in this service.
The Prayer Book services are services of both common and private prayer, written so that everyone can join in the acts of corporate worship. Every worshipper should lift his or her heart and voice and share in the responses, the Creed, the hymns, and the "amens." By saying "amen" (which means "so be it"), you are affirming that the prayer is yours.
Rules for Posture During the Service:
Visitors and newcomers often remark that we are always getting up and down. Actually, the principal is a very simple one. We kneel for prayer (prayers, the confession and absolution, and the blessing), stand for praise (hymns, psalms, canticles, the creeds, presentation of our offerings, and as a special mark of respect for the holy Gospel in Holy Communion), and sit for instruction (the lessons, sermon, epistle and announcements).
Some additional customs you will note that are optional personal acts of devotion:
· Bowing the head toward the altar or genuflecting when entering or leaving the church
· Bowing the head when the processional cross passes
· Bowing the head at the name of Jesus Christ, especially in the creeds or at any ascription to the Trinity.
On Leaving the Church:
The service ends with the blessing. This is usually followed by a recessional hymn during which the choir and the clergy exit. After the recessional hymn, the acolytes will extinguish the candles. It is not necessary to remain kneeling while the candles are being extinguished, although many people choose to do so. You may offer a prayer that we be enabled to carry out in our daily lives what we have professed in the service. After the service you may meet and greet fellow worshippers, both friends and strangers. (You may also greet fellow worshipers during the service at the passing of the peace.)
At Baptisms and Weddings:
The congregation has an important part in these services, because they are acting as witnesses to what is taking place. As the Church, they accept the newly baptized child or adult into the congregation of Christ's flock and witness a couple's wedding vows. At many weddings, the marriage is followed by Holy Communion, called a Nuptial Eucharist.
At Burials:
The congregation should participate by sharing the Lord's Prayer, the Psalms, and all "amens." All active communicants should consider burial from the church. The Burial Office is often followed by Holy Communion. This is called a "Requiem Eucharist."
Vestments:
Our white albs or surplices reveal that it is always a joyful thing to come into the house of the Lord and that we enter prayerfully and humbly. The stole worn around the neck of the clergy in Holy Communion is in the color of the season or is in an all-season tapestry. The black stole sometimes worn in morning and evening prayer services is a preaching stole.
Seasons of the Church:
The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ, or Christmas Day (December 25)
The First Sunday after Christmas
The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ (January 1)
The Second Sunday after Christmas
Epiphany:
The Epiphany, or the Manifestation of Christ to the Gentiles (January 6)
The First Sunday after the Epiphany, the Baptism of Our Lord Jesus Christ
The Second through the Eighth Sundays after the Epiphany
The Last Sunday after the Epiphany
Lent:
The First Day of Lent, or Ash Wednesday
The First through the Fifth Sundays in Lent
Holy Week:
The Sunday of the Passion, or Palm Sunday
Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday in Holy Week
Maundy Thursday, or the Last Supper
The Sunday of the Resurrection, or Easter Day
Monday through Saturday in Easter Week
The Second through the Sixth Sundays in Easter
Ascension Day, when Christ ascended into Heaven
The Seventh Sunday of Easter
The Day of Pentecost, or Whitsunday. The Birthday of the Christian Church, when the Holy Spirit entered the disciples.
Pentecost:
The First Sunday after Pentecost, or Trinity Sunday
The Second through the Twenty-Seventh Sundays after Pentecost
The Last Sunday after Pentecost, or the Sunday before Advent
Colors of the Church Seasons:
Each Church season has its own color.
White or Gold:
Used for Christmas, Easter, Ascension, Transfiguration, Weddings, Baptisms and Burials. These colors symbolize joy.
Used during Pentecost and on martyred saints' days. Red is also used for confirmations and ordinations. It symbolizes the power and fire of the Holy Spirit as well as the blood of martyrs.
Purple:
Used during Advent and Lent as well as on Ember Days (a Wednesday, Friday, or Saturday following the First Sunday in Lent, Whitsunday, September 14th, or December 13th, and set apart for prayer and fasting), and Rogation Days (the three days before Ascension Day, when prayers are offered for the harvest). Purple is a penitential color as well as a sign of Christ's royalty.
Green:
Used during the seasons of Epiphany and Pentecost. It is a universal color and symbolizes creation, nature, and hope.
Used only on Good Friday. It denotes grief.
Holy Days:
Nov. 30: St. Andrew the Apostle
Dec. 21: St. Thomas the Apostle
Dec. 25: The Nativity of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Dec. 26: St. Stephen, Deacon and Martyr
Dec. 27: St. John, Apostle and Evangelist
Dec. 28: The Holy Innocents
Jan. 1: The Holy Name of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Jan. 6: The Epiphany of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Jan. 18: The Confession of St. Peter the Apostle
Jan. 25: The Conversion of St. Paul the Apostle
Feb. 2: The Presentation of Our Lord Jesus Christ in the Temple
Feb. 24: St. Matthias the Apostle
Mar. 19: St. Joseph
Mar. 25: The Annunciation of Our Lord Jesus Christ to the Blessed Virgin Mary
Apr. 25: St. Mark the Evangelist
May 1: St. Philip and St. James, Apostles
May 31: The Visitation of the Blessed Virgin Mary
June 11: St. Barnabas the Apostle
June 24: The Nativity of St. John the Baptist
June 29: St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles
July 4: Independence Day
July 22: St. Mary Magdalene
July 25: St. James the Apostle
Aug. 6: The Transfiguration of Our Lord Jesus Christ
Aug: 15: St. Mary the Virgin, Mother of Jesus
Aug. 24: St. Bartholomew the Apostle
Sept. 14: Holy Cross Day
Sept. 21: St. Matthew, Apostle and Evangelist
Sept. 29: St. Michael and All Angels
Oct. 18: St. Luke the Evangelist
Oct. 23: St. James of Jerusalem, the Brother of Jesus, and Martyr
Oct. 28: St. Simon and St. Jude, Apostles
Nov. 1: All Saints
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Best Business Books 2011
November 22, 2011 / Winter 2011 / Issue 65 (originally published by Booz & Company)
Best Business Books 2011: Strategy
by Phil Rosenzweig
Illustration by Peter Hoey
Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi
The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy
(Harvard Business Review Press, 2011)
Michael A. Cusumano
Staying Power: Six Enduring Principles for Managing Strategy and Innovation in an Uncertain World
(Oxford University Press, 2010)
Richard P. Rumelt
Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters
(Crown Business, 2011)
This year’s best business books on strategy are notable primarily for what they’re not. They’re not one more treatment of global strategy, with particular attention to the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). They’re not about finding the next new thing, thriving in turbulent times, or some new technological frontier, like social media. Nor do they claim to reveal the secret of corporate success, guaranteeing breakthrough performance or market leadership if we follow this or that formula.
Instead, the best strategy books of the year emphasize basic principles that should never be far from the mind of the practitioner. Although they differ in scope and tone as well as perspective — two are written by academics and one by consultants — they converge on a handful of timeless themes. If each is a valuable addition to the strategy bookshelf, in combination they offer even more, helping to remind us of the most important questions in the discipline.
Premium on Coherence
The Essential Advantage: How to Win with a Capabilities-Driven Strategy, by Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi, partners at Booz & Company (the publisher of this magazine), provides a solid overview of current strategic thinking. The two consultants open the book by introducing the intriguing concept of “the right to win.” (See “The Right to Win,” by Cesare Mainardi with Art Kleiner, s+b, Winter 2010.) At first glance, the phrase makes no sense: A company may have a right to compete, yes, but surely not a right to win. Success is earned; it’s not an entitlement. But that’s the point. The phrase forces us to ask: Does our strategy, along with the resources and capabilities that back it up, give us a reasonable chance of success? Are we just playing the game, or do we have what it takes to win?
When Leinwand and Mainardi write, “The essential advantage in business is coherence. Our insight is that simple,” they take their place in the line of strategic thought that stresses not a single part of the organization, but how all the parts work together — a notion sometimes called fit or alignment. Coherence, they say, means that a company must be focused and clear-minded about three elements: its market positioning (or “way to play”), its most distinctive capabilities, and its product and service portfolio. “In a coherent company,” they argue, “the right lineup of products and services naturally results from conscious choices about the capabilities needed for a deliberate way to play.”
The authors ground their argument by showing a correlation between recent financial performance and coherence in the consumer packaged goods industry, and claim that the same relationship holds true across industries, whether financial services, telecommunications, healthcare, or something else. They contend that a premium “accrues to any company that moves along the continuum to align its way to play, capabilities system, and product and service fit.” Perhaps so, yet even if there is a correlation, the direction of causality isn’t clear. Are coherent firms more successful than others, or do successful firms remain coherent? (One of the books the authors cite, Profit from the Core [Harvard Business School Press, 2001] by Chris Zook, a partner at Bain & Company, has the same problem: Are focused companies the most profitable, or do profitable firms remain focused while less-profitable ones feel compelled to diversify?) These questions, although fundamental in any empirical examination of company performance, remain unanswered.
To capture the benefits of coherence, the authors advise the reader to take a series of deliberate steps “to reconsider your current strategy, overcome the conventional separation between outward-facing and inward-facing activities, and bring your organization into focus.” The Essential Advantage goes on to examine each of these steps in some depth, beginning with an exploration of external forces, and then shifting toward a consideration of internal resources and capabilities. Along the way, the authors set forth the notion of the “capabilities-driven portfolio,” which is evaluated on two dimensions, financial value (from attractive to unattractive) and strategic value (which considers the portfolio’s alignment with the organization’s capabilities system). The implication is that we should think of a portfolio of activities not merely in terms of growth and profit, but in terms of how they fit together and contribute to the overall performance of the company. The final section addresses the process of developing a strategy that is based on “what you do, not what you have,” and the organization design and people issues that accompany it.
For the practitioner who wishes to take concrete steps toward sound strategic decisions and ensure that they are aligned with the necessary resources, The Essential Advantage is a solid and practical book. It provides managers with a framework to follow, while always keeping in mind the question, Do we have the right to win?
Patterns of Success
Michael A. Cusumano, a veteran researcher at MIT, looks for patterns of lasting success in his latest book, Staying Power: Six Enduring Principles for Managing Strategy and Innovation in an Uncertain World. In it, he reviews the companies he has studied in depth during his career — first, Toyota and the broader Japanese auto industry in the late 1980s, and then Microsoft, Intel, and other information technology companies in the 1990s — to identify “the big ideas that create staying power and superior performance.” These are the principles that should have enormous value for managers in all industries. (See “The Enduring Principles of High-Tech Success,” by David K. Hurst, s+b, Autumn 2011.)
As the book’s title indicates, Cusumano is concerned with success over the long term. He writes, “I concluded that a handful of principles — I have chosen six — appear to have been essential to the effective management of strategy and innovation over long periods of time.” It’s worth noting his use of words like appear and I concluded, which admit subjective judgment, rather than claiming a measure of truth or scientific precision. Indeed, there’s no pretense of conducting quantitative analysis in this book; rather, it represents an effort to seek patterns from in-depth case studies.
The first two principles describe fundamentally different ways of thinking about strategy and business models. Platforms, not just products draws on the successes of Toyota and Microsoft to illustrate the power of a strategy that generates complementary products, builds positive feedback, and makes incumbents harder to dislodge. In both companies, global leadership was based on the ability to create platforms, not just stand-alone products. Services, not just products (or platforms), the second principle, stresses the importance of offering services as an effective way to avoid the commoditization of products. Not only do services add revenue, often at a higher profit margin, but they are also harder to replace.
The next four principles are all related to agility — to sensing and responding quickly and flexibly. Capabilities, not just strategy stresses the need to develop capabilities over time, rather than rely on any single strategic decision. Pull, not just push is associated with Japanese manufacturing methods, but, according to Cusumano, it goes far beyond that application. It pertains to product design, for example, because the ability to draw on customer preferences and ideas early in the process can confer an advantage. Scope, not just scale reminds us that in addition to the benefits of scale, which can lead to lower per-unit cost, successful companies seek out economies across activities such as research, product development, engineering, and more, sharing ideas and applying novel insights from one part of the company to others, allowing the whole to be greater than the sum of its parts and often more robust and better able to withstand downturns. Finally, flexibility, not just efficiency stresses the importance of pursuing efficiency while also remaining able to adapt to changes in the marketplace as well as seeking advantages of innovation.
These six principles represent a set of guidelines that executives in any company or industry should consider in order to achieve high performance over the long term. Take them together, and instead of a conventional strategy aimed at pushing scale-efficient products, for example, we would think of developing capabilities that enable us to offer flexible platforms of services and products. For Cusumano, staying power comes not just from discrete strategic moves but ultimately from a mind-set of agility and responsiveness.
Strategy Plain and Simple
The year’s best and most original addition to the strategy bookshelf is Richard P. Rumelt’s Good Strategy, Bad Strategy: The Difference and Why It Matters. Rumelt is a longtime strategy professor at UCLA, and before that at Harvard Business School, where he wrote a landmark work of scholarship and empirical rigor, Strategy, Structure, and Economic Performance (Harvard University Press, 1974), which was based on his prize-winning doctoral dissertation.
This book, however, takes a decidedly different tone. It is informal and personal, sprinkled with anecdotes and opinions, which are often contrarian. It is as if Rumelt decided, after years of scholarly restraint, to write a book that laid out exactly what he has learned and observed over the last four decades. It is also a wide-ranging exploration, moving from business to politics to aerospace to the military, from the ancient to the modern, from diversified public corporations to family businesses, that places strategy in a broad context.
Unlike the many authors of business books and articles who use elaborate phrases and neologisms, Rumelt prefers candor and simplicity at every turn — beginning with the title. Duke Ellington was once asked to define jazz, and he famously replied: “There are only two kinds of music. Good music, and the other kind.” He felt no need to complicate matters with lots of theory and abstract concepts, and Rumelt clearly feels the same way about corporate strategy. Rumelt urges us to set aside fine-grained distinctions and unnecessary complications, in order to focus on the simplest distinction of all — good and bad. He has seen so much bad thinking about strategy that this basic dichotomy is important. It’s a way to remind us that for all the efforts we make to complicate things, good strategy is not all that complicated. If we can just avoid bad thinking and foolishness, we’re much of the way there.
What are the elements of bad strategy? Rumelt points to four: the failure to face the challenge, mistaking goals for strategy, bad strategic objectives, and “fluff.” At its root, bad strategy reflects an inability to think clearly and to make sound choices based on analysis. The author dismisses those who would substitute wishful thinking for careful analysis, epitomized in his opinion of the New Thought movement, which goes back to the 1800s, but more recently has surfaced as the power of positive thinking and banishing negative thoughts. Shared visions of success cannot be the basis of strategy, says Rumelt, because “all analysis starts with the consideration of what may happen, including unwelcome events. I would not care to fly in an airplane designed by people who focused only on an image of a flying airplane and never considered models of failure.” Regarding vision and mission statements, Rumelt finds that they represent a “class of verbiage [that] is the mutant offspring of charismatic, then transformational, leadership. In reality, these are the flat-footed attempts of organization men to turn the magic of personal charisma into a bureaucratic concept —charisma-in-a-can.”
So what is good strategy? It requires three things: a diagnosis that defines the challenge; a guiding policy for dealing with the challenge, and a set of coherent actions designed to carry out that policy. To help navigate the way forward, Rumelt offers numerous “guideposts”: vigilance about escalating fixed costs, awareness of transitions caused by deregulation, predictable biases in forecasting that draw on behavioral economics, and anticipation of incumbent responses. Sound strategic decisions are not enough, however; execution is essential, too. “Strategy is about action, about doing something. The kernel of a strategy must contain action,” writes Rumelt. “To have punch, actions should coordinate and build upon one another, focusing organizational energy.”
Good strategy calls for effective management and concerted efforts to combat entropy. It calls for the discipline needed to identify low performers and raise the level of overall performance. One “cannot fully understand the value of the daily work of managers unless one accepts the general tendency of unmanaged human structures to become less ordered, less focused, and more blurred around the edges,” writes Rumelt. He admires Alfred P. Sloan of General Motors Company, who insisted on a rigorous review to analyze performance and take action, writing, “Sloan’s product policy is an example of design, of order imposed on chaos. Making such a policy work takes more than a plan on a piece of paper. Each quarter, each year, each decade, corporate leadership must work to maintain the coherence of the design.”
Anyone hoping for a simple formula for strategic success will be disappointed. But in fact the message of Good Strategy, Bad Strategy is liberating. It reminds us that strategy need not be complicated. It’s not rocket science. And furthermore, you can spot the nonsense, simplify, and clarify. “A good strategy is, in the end, a hypothesis about what will work. Not a wild theory, but an educated judgment,” concludes Rumelt. “Good strategy grows out of an independent and careful assessment of the situation, harnessing individual insight to carefully crafted purpose. Bad strategy follows the crowd, substituting popular slogans for insights.”
Many of the ideas in Rumelt’s book reinforce key points in The Essential Advantage and Staying Power. Like Paul Leinwand and Cesare Mainardi, he stresses the need for coherence. Like Michael Cusumano, he emphasizes strategic thinking as a process — a hypothesis to be answered with openness to new ideas. Each of these books reminds us of the basic elements of strategy: the need for clear-eyed analysis, courage to make specific choices, action in support of those decisions, and alignment throughout the organization. They are all about coherence, about developing capabilities not once but in a dynamic manner, and ultimately, about the agility needed to succeed over time.
None of these books guarantee success — not Rumelt’s good strategy, not Cusumano’s six principles, not Leinwand and Mainardi’s essential advantage. In an uncertain and intensely competitive business world, even the best of actions don’t lead predictably to desired outcomes. Strategy is necessarily about competition, where performance is inherently relative, not absolute — a message driven home by the cover of The Essential Advantage, which shows a race among five runners, suggesting that success isn’t about being fast but about being faster than your competitors. Each of these authors knows that fundamental truth and doesn’t try to tell readers otherwise. Their books do an important service by keeping us focused on the most important questions about strategy.
Phil Rosenzweig is a professor at IMD in Lausanne, Switzerland, where he works with leading companies on questions of strategy and organization. He is the author of The Halo Effect...and the Eight Other Business Delusions That Deceive Managers (Free Press, 2007).
CLICK HERE to return to Best Business Books 2011.
Topics: success, economics, research, design, authors
A winning effort
2019 summer reading: 10 business books
Get ready for the “you’re it” moment
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Chinese Students from the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade Visit Suffolk
Chutze Chou
In stride with the great interest in China seen throughout the world, Suffolk University is also strengthening its exchanges with China. In addition to the two week training program in culture and academics for the students from Shanghai, Suffolk recently appointed Dr. Ronald Suleski (Chinese name Xue Long), former Assistant Director of the Fairbank Center for Chinese Studies at Harvard to be Director of Suffolk’s Rosenberg Institute for East Asian studies.
Dr. Suleski said, “In the current international situation, one cannot consider themselves an educated person if they have no understanding of Asia. Many Suffolk Law School graduates, for example, hold important positions in the state and regional governments where they influence public policy. So last year Suffolk established the Rosenberg Institute in order to offer lectures about Asia.” It also invited Dr. Suleski, a specialist in modern Chinese history who is well-acquainted with all aspects of Asia, to head the Institute, and to increase contacts with specialists from China and other Asian countries.
Over the past several years, Suffolk has become more of an international university, and has given opportunities for students from East Asia to come to America for study. Dan Wu from the University’s Center for International Education said that in the past year alone he has visited Asia three times to discuss cooperative educational programs. Besides the agreement with Shanghai Lixin University of Commerce, Suffolk recently hosted the Shanghai Institute of Foreign Trade for two weeks of study in the United States.
Dean Qiu Guixi and Professor Chao Tan from the Shanghai Institute spoke with this reporter yesterday on 4 August 2009, to explain that in China there are three specialized institutes to study foreign trade. They are located in Beijing, Guangzhou and Shanghai. They were originally set up through the cooperation of the Ministry of International Trade and Economics as high schools, but the one in Shanghai was designated a university-level institute. Since 1994 the Shanghai Institute has been under the direction of the Shanghai Municipal Government.
Dean Qiu said, “Since we are an institute to study foreign trade and economics, our students naturally study international economics, but they also want to understand the culture, economics and society of foreign nations. We have this study tour which costs 30,000 RMB for each participant. Not all students can go on the international study tours, but during their four years of education at our school, we’d like to see an increasing number of students travel abroad, and we have increased the number of those who participate from 10% of the student body to 25%.”
Students from the Shanghai Institute have traveled to the United States, France, Australia, Japan and England, where they visited Oxford University. During the three week experience of this group in the US, their itinerary included Washington, DC and New York City. Some students were impressed by how different American culture was from their own, and of course many suffered from jet lag. Students felt America is very beautiful. Some students are interested in US-China relations, in learning about famous Chinese people who have lived in North America, in the attitude of the US Government and American businesses towards China, etc. Based at Suffolk University while in Boston, the students have also visited Harvard, MIT, and Boston University. They also saw some of the museums, Quincy Market, and other places in the city. Through those visits they are learning about American history and culture.
Professor Chao said, “While the students from our Institute were traveling from Washington DC, through New York State and on toward Boston, they were impressed to see the fields and trees of green along both sides of the highway. They saw the environmental planning in the cities, and they saw that so many Americans seem to be often smiling and happy with their lives.”
Professor Chao also said she noticed in the United States that one can see many workers who are older adults. She saw this among the pilots and cabin crew on the airplanes, she saw it among the TV news reporters. They exuded a sort of confidence. This is a very different situation from that in China, she said, where one seems to find only younger people being so active in society.
Appeared in the 5 August 2009 edition of the Xingdao Ribao (Sing Tao Daily News) and reprinted with permission.
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Interview with Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Tracey Ullman discussing being moms and Disney's Into the Woods in theaters 12/25/14! #intothewoodsevent
Labels: #intothewoodsevent, disney, interview, movie
Have you ever dreamed of interviewing talented award winning actors? So have I, as a little girl, I would pretend that my stuffed animals were huge celebrities and I would set them up for roundtable interviews. That was a lot of fun, but I was just a child with a wild imagination. I only dreamed about this one day being real. Could I ever really interview the big stars like I dreamed? The answer is yes! One of my dreams came true this past week, I was able to interview not one but multiple award winning actresses! Into the Woods stars, Oscar winner Meryl Streep, Screen Actors Guild Award and Emmy Award winner Christine Baranski, Golden Globe and Emmy Award winning Tracey Ullman.
With huge stars like these I did not know what to expect during this interview. We were all a little nervous, how would they really be in person? Well I have to say these ladies were each genuine, funny and real. Each were friends in real life, and they seem to genuinely enjoy chatting and talking with us moms. Just real people talking mom to mom.
This interview was such a relaxed atmosphere. Instantly as soon as they arrived and started chatting with us, the butterflies in my stomach disappeared, it was like talking with friends. Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Tracey Ullman were ready for questions about their roles as mothers and their roles in Into the Woods.
This amazing trio have been friends for a while and it showed, the friends chatted about a scene they worked on in In the movie Into the Woods, they all got to work together in a scene for three days, and according to Tracy, they all "got really silly, and we were talking a lot". They spoke of how Meryl Streep met, Tracey Ullman when they worked on a movie called “Plenty” together when Tracy was 21 and Meryl was 31. Tracy was a pop star at the time, and an MTV vee-jay. They bonded over a near accident on a plane ride flying from Tunisia. Meryl and Christine met later in life when they worked together in Greece, on Mama Mia. They each had kids around the same ages and stuck together. Meryl Streep remarked “we'd known each other a hundred years”. This is exactly how I feel like with my best friends, we have known each other forever, well it seems.
Here are some of my favorite questions from Into the Woods Interview with Meryl Streep, Christine Baranski and Tracey Ullman.
Your characters are all like exaggerated versions of parenting methods gone wrong. Did any of you feel or, even more interesting, did any of your kids feel or see some similarities?
Meryl Streep: Yeah.
Christine Baranski: I hold the girls a little too closely. Yes, perhaps.
Tracey Ullman: [SINGS] Stay with me...
You all mentioned motherhood. What advice do you guys have for us young mothers? What do you do to survive the life?
Meryl Streep: Well, I really feel -- I mean, just speaking for the group, I feel like so much has changed. Raising little kids now is so different from when our children were little kids. I mean just that -- and I think that's part of why this film and its warnings and its, you know, overweening care of the mothers and -- it speaks to this time when children are, it's harder and harder to keep the world out.
The worst parts of them out. To keep them in the little tower's impossible. And all of the bad stuff comes in, and people worried about this film, that it maybe is too dark for kids. Kids know so much now. And they're aware of so much, and yet they're so resilient, and innately hopeful. So that’s -- and that's sort of what the film is.
Tracey Ullman: Would we have taken Mabel and Grace to see this? When they were like, six? They would have handled this.
Meryl Streep: They would've loved it.
Tracey Ullman: You're right
Meryl Streep: Would have taken the kids at, well, I would say, seven, eight -- wouldn't you?
Christine Baranski: Maybe. Maybe seven, eight. But kids are really like, visuals can really affect, and you can explain it away, but be careful what -- what you give them visually. I mean, I remember seeing a documentary on an African tribe. There was this leopard man with long fingernails, and a mask, and I mean, it just had such an impression on me, and it just happened to be on the television set, so you never know what image will really get to them.
Tracey Ullman: But it goes back to these Grimm's Fairy Tales, and we all portray them as they were written. You know. I do smack the kid 'round the head, and I was always loving him afterwards, but, you know, when you would cut your child's foot off to marry a prince.
Meryl Streep: Bluebeard. Remember Bluebeard? Ooh.
Tracey Ullman: Yeah. They were for children to be scared of. They did get sort of sanitized a bit, fairy tales, the last 20 years. And -- and all of that.
Which fairy tales did you love when you were children and wanted to share to your kids when they were little? Which ones stayed with you the most?
Meryl Streep: Well for me, what stayed with me the most is what I wanted to share with my children necessarily, but I remember being really marked by Bluebeard, by this idea of a -- a man who would take serial wives, one after another, and kill them in the castle. And I was terrified by that. It's probably why I just stayed married ….. But, no.
And kids want to get ready for trouble. They -- it's why my son used to draw lots of monsters. Boys draw lots of scary things, because they want to get ready. You know, they want to get ready.
Christine Baranski: I was always telling my kids, as read to them, that -- that there was such a thing as the world of the imagination. I said, "You're safe. If you're in the world of the imagination, you can go anywhere, and you all come back from that, so you're safe.
You've played a variety of drama, comedy. What is your favorite role to play?
Meryl Streep: I don't know if I think about it that way. I think each, each particular person you play deserves their own voice, and deserves their own place in the world, and they're all about 5'6" and a half, and they're all about, you know, my weight and age that I play. But that's that's the through-line, but I feel like there are so many different women. So many different stories.
And they each deserve their voice, you know, and their particular neuroses and needs and passions. So, I don't -- I don't make a distinction -- I mean, there are -- you know, stupid stuff I've done that I won't say what. But, you know, and more cartoony sort of things.
Tracey Ullman: Your empathy for Margaret Thatcher for extraordinary for me. Because, when you first said you were going to be Margaret Thatcher, and I'd grown up, you know, in the Eighties.
And everyone was like me, you -- it's like, a real difficult, it's like, "Oh. Not her!" But you saw her in a way, as a woman, and how she faced the world, and in a way that you -- it was amazing to me.
Meryl Streep: Well, I was just interesting in an old lady. I like old ladies.
Tracey Ullman: Yes. And that vulnerability. And that's what it became -- it was amazing, her vulnerability, and how we have our time. And that, you know, my initial reaction was "Margaret Thatcher! Ughhh!" You know?
Meryl Streep: Yeah, but, you know, you've played evil people, but they're fun.
Christine Baranski: Yeah. No, they are fun, but I think more to the point is the project that you're in if you feel like it's contributing, especially being, actresses who have an opportunity in our work to maybe move the culture forward, and show women in a deeper, more complicated way. I love that I'm playing somebody on television who is well-educated, she runs a law firm, she actually has a relationship. She's not the butt of a joke. She's not an old crone.
She's a woman who is in the world, dealing with a complicated moral topography in her personal and professional life. So being part of anything like that and I think that this movie is transformative, and contributes good to the world, so I think that's what would we look for.
Meryl Streep: Increasingly, that's what I think about. I mean, I'm -- I have, I guess, for a long time, thought, each thing, is this helping? Or this hurting? What's this doing? Because everything makes a mark on the culture. Everything you do, everything you do, every actress has a choice, you know? Even if you're supporting a lot of kids, by yourself, you still have a choice, what you're putting out into the world, and I think it matters.
What helps you develop that character into your own, instead of being that exact character that was on Broadway or just to kind of create it as "you"?
Meryl Streep: Well, for me, I feel like it -- the part I played was so indelibly done on Broadway by Bernadette Peters. But it's also been indelibly done by many, many kids, throughout the country, in their high schools, and in colleges. And it's like any really good play, the part can morph to the shape of the person who is, you know, in there. And, so, I felt completely free, and also a failing memory helps me in this. In this place, because I couldn't have remembered.
I would've stolen from Bernadette more, if I could remember the thing. So I felt free, too, and he made us feel that way, Rob Marshall, and certainly Sondheim said "Do what you want." He also wrote me a song for this, and, um, that isn't in the film, because it sort of halted the action, but it'll be in the DVD extras. But when he sang this for me in a private session, and I was so thrilled, and he gave me the sheet music at the end.
How long was the makeup and hair process, and what was your favorite design?
Christine Baranski: You know, I was just thinking about this in getting -- getting ready today, about how the look of the step-family, and I will never forget, my first day on the set was a huge, huge scene at Dover Castle, with the arrival of Cinderella. And I had been going back and forth, doing Good Wife, so I didn't have a whole lot of time for hair and, um, makeup tests and all. And this marvelous man, Peter King, he put on my blonde wig, and it was really big, because we originally conceived of them as a truly over-the-top, larger-than-life, trying-too-hard kind of family.
And I showed up and Rob took one look at me, and went..."too big." And I had to go all of the way... and I see my various hairstyles in there, they're a little bit, and then a little off, I think, but that's exactly right. That's exactly right. These women, they are trying so hard. You know. You look in the mirror and go, "Mmm, no, that's not enough, I need more hairspray. More, more, more."
Meryl Streep: They're defined by their looks.
Christine Baranski: Yes. And they don't get it exactly right. And so it's -- it's funny. Little accidents can be very helpful and very human, and exactly right for the character.
Tracey Ullman: I loved my approach. Peter King said to me on the first day, "I'm going to make you a gray wig." And most people would be like, "I don't want to go gray." I was like, "Great." Made me go gray, having this wig, and I put it up in this topknot, and I had this beautiful, simple, Colleen Atwood outfit, that reminded me of a sort of Dries van Noten peasant look, and I could roll around in the leaves, and there was just no vanity, and I -- I just loved it.
I could see, you know, it's -- I loved -- because I'd done so many things where I'd wear these extravagant make-ups. And just to come in and just smudge my cheeks with mud and become a peasant girl, I found it just wonderful. And it's feeling comfortable in who you are, and getting older, and not worrying about it. It's just such a relief. And there is so much pressure on how we all look, and it's just exhausting. Dignity, girls! Aging with dignity.
Meryl Streep: Well, that was a joke, because Roy decided early on that we would have a joke on blue-haired ladies. Making fun of old ladies, because they put the blue rinse, so you don't have yellow in the white hair, and so he thought (Meryl’s hair and makeup artist, Roy Helland said), "Well, we're gonna have blue hair!" And it was so fabulous. And then I -- we came out to LA and I see all of these young girls with blue hair, and I think: "I am on trend!"
Check out the group picture above, I am to the right in the middle just above Meryl Streep! It was amazing! What was it like getting to spend some time with these outstanding award winning actresses? It was a wonderful experience that I will never forget. The interview was so much fun, filled with great questions and laughter we were relaxed… just some friends talking about life. It is nice to see that such amazing talent are not stuck up and aloof. These were real people just like you and me, and that has made me even a bigger fan of each of these ladies.
What do you think of the interview? Is there anything you would have asked these ladies?
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Visit the official Into the Woods website.
INTO THE WOODS is rated PG and opens in theaters everywhere on December 25th!
Photos courtesy of Louise from Mom Start
***Disney provided me with an all-expense paid trip for me to cover this event***
That is a great interview. I am really looking forward to seeing this movie!
What a great experience for you! I would love to interview these great actresses.
I'm super excited for this movie. I love all of these actresses, but Meryl Streep is my absolute favorite!
Kelly Hutchinson said...
What a tremendous opportunity for you! I would love to have been in the presence of such Hollywood elite!
Laura O in AK said...
Love the interview! And, I totally agree that parenting changes through the years, too.
Oh my gosh, i didnt even recognize her in the movie! I love her so much
AMBER EDWARDS said...
Oh my goodness, what an awesome event! To meet those ladies in person and to converse with them! So cool!
Andrea Hatfield said...
What an amazing opportunity you had to meet some wonderful (and famous) women! I would love to meet any of them but especially Meryl Streep.
Liz Mays said...
I can't believe you got to interview Meryl Streep! I can't wait to see her in this film.
Cheap Is The *New* Classy said...
I love Meryl Streep. She is such an amazing actress!
Stacey- Travel Blogger said...
I can't wait to see into the woods! It's going to be such a great movie!
Shelley Zurek -- Still Blonde after all these YEARS said...
Just to have a picture with these ladies..wow what an honor! And all of them are women over 45 so their words mean so much to me. Thanks for the revealing interview!
Gabriel Bregg said...
Looks like a fun movie. I've been surprised at how well short fairly tale stories have translated into feature length live action movies.
Candice Moretti said...
what an awesome interview. i can't wait to see this film. an amazing cast.
Marina@EBMR said...
That's a great interview. I love how she says imagination is a place where you're safe and where you can come back from. Such great actors!
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US 'concerned' over misused funds allegations at UNAIDS
FILE - In this file photo dated Monday, April 8, 2019, shows the headquarters building of UNAIDS in Geneva, Switzerland. In a statement issued late T
LONDON (AP) — The U.S. government says it is "concerned" about allegations of misused funds at the U.N.'s AIDS agency after a report by The Associated Press this week revealed ongoing financial and sexual misconduct problems at the agency.
In a statement late Tuesday, the U.S. State Department said the government remains "committed to ensuring that UNAIDS has a clear and robust approach to eliminating all forms of harassment" within the organization.
Earlier this week, the AP reported the U.N. AIDS agency remains embroiled in unfinished misconduct investigations involving a whistleblower who went public last year with claims she was sexually assaulted by a top deputy.
"We are concerned any time that there are potential allegations of fraud or misuse of funds," the U.S. spokesperson said. The U.S. is UNAIDS' biggest donor.
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Diners ill after meal at Union Station
By Aaron Nicodemus TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF
City health inspectors are investigating an outbreak of illnesses in patrons who ate Easter brunch at Luciano’s Cotton Club restaurant at Union Station.
Eight people have reported becoming ill to the city’s Health Department, according to Amanda Wilson, the city’s director of housing and health inspections. One person was admitted to the hospital. As many as 35 may have been sickened, she said.
“At this point, there is no confirmed case that shows this is a food-borne illness,” Ms. Wilson said yesterday. “We are treating it as some kind of communicable disease. We have not confirmed the source.”
She said that none of the people who reported being ill have submitted to tests that might help narrow down the cause of their illness. Inspectors are in contact with the medical staff who treated the woman admitted to the hospital, she said.
The Health Department started receiving calls from Luciano’s patrons on Tuesday, and immediately sent inspectors to the restaurant, she said. The inspectors found two violations of the city’s food handling regulations. There was evidence of rodents on the premises, she said, and two reach-in coolers were not set at the correct temperature for the food they were storing.
The restaurant immediately took steps to correct the problems, and a follow-up inspection the next day found the restaurant to be in compliance, she said. The restaurant has been given full inspections three times in three days, she said.
Inspectors are also interviewing all the staff at Luciano’s, she said. She said that one Luciano’s staff member was apparently sick with a stomach illness in the days before the brunch. Another staff member has been sick since the brunch, according to Alex Barbosa, the restaurant’s general manager.
The restaurant has been allowed to remain open during the investigation, she said.
Gus Giordano, owner of Luciano’s Cotton Club at Union Station as well as Maxwell Silverman’s, said the restaurant is fully complying with city health inspectors. He took a reporter on a tour of the restaurant’s kitchen to show off its cleanliness. As he spoke, city inspectors were interviewing the restaurant’s staff.
“We’re assuming it’s something airborne. This is the train station, it could have been anything,” he said. “I have a reputation in this business, it’s on the line. I would put my life on it that it wasn’t food poisoning.”
Mr. Giordano said the restaurant has offered anyone who reported being sick a full refund, and has invited them to come back for brunch on Mother’s Day.
Mr. Barbosa said that about 580 people were served a buffet-style brunch on Easter at Luciano’s. Another 700 people were served at Maxwell Silverman’s. No one has reported being ill from eating at Silverman’s, according to Ms. Wilson.
Mr. Barbosa said people who have called have told the restaurant that they became ill between six and 15 hours after eating, which he said is not consistent with food poisoning.
He said that several parking valets working outside the restaurant were ill, but still working, on Easter. One table at Luciano’s had children who did not eat the food because they were showing signs of illness, he said.
“We’re working hand-in-hand with the city of Worcester,” he said. “We don’t want to speculate about what happened.”
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Farm zoning proposed for Worcester neighborhoods
Nick Kotsopoulos Telegram & Gazette Staff @NCKotsopoulos
Apr 2, 2017 at 6:45 PM Apr 2, 2017 at 10:48 PM
WORCESTER - The city administration is making proposals to encourage urban agriculture and improve access to fresh, locally grown produce, while establishing controls to make sure land use is in keeping with neighborhoods.
City Manager Edward M. Augustus Jr. is recommending to the City Council an amendment to the city's zoning ordinance that would allow farming in some residential areas by-right, and in all other residential zoning districts by a special permit.
Currently, agriculture is only allowed in non-residential zoning districts.
Under the manager's proposed zoning amendment, farming would also be allowed by-right in so-called RG-5 (residential-general) zoning districts, which feature a mix of higher density residential and commercial uses.
Meanwhile, in all other residential zones - those that predominantly feature single- and two-family homes - farming would be allowed under a special permit granted by the Zoning Board of Appeals.
Mr. Augustus said the special permit process would allow for careful vetting of a proposed agricultural use in a residential district, as well as the establishment of conditions governing layout, operation and maintenance of the farm.
As part of the manager's proposal, farmers would also be allowed to sell produce they grow on-site with a farm stand permit.
In addition, the zoning amendment includes provisions for yard gardens that are accessory to residential uses, community gardens, farmers' markets and beekeeping.
Mr. Augustus said the proposed zoning amendment does not pertain to livestock, chickens and other farm animals. Those remain uses that are not allowed under the city's zoning ordinance, he said.
"Cities in Massachusetts and across the country are recognizing that agriculture has an important place in our communities, even in our larger cities," Mr. Augustus wrote in his recommendation that goes before the City Council Tuesday night.
"Urban agriculture can improve access to fresh, locally grown foods, put vacant or underutilized land to productive use, and has the potential to create economic and entrepreneurial opportunities," he wrote.
Three years ago, Mayor Joseph M. Petty first broached the idea of allowing farming in Worcester, after a group of Worcester Polytechnic Institute students did an Interdisciplinary Qualifying Project that looked at the potential for urban agriculture in the city.
Their study concluded that the lack of agricultural zoning in Worcester serves as a barrier to the development of urban agriculture. They said that while urban farms are not expected to generate enough food to support an entire city, they can help by providing access to affordable healthy food.
As part of their project, the WPI students identified 337 vacant parcels, totaling more than 2,500 acres, that have a potential agricultural use.
Michael E. Traynor, the city's chief development officer, said his office has been working with the Department of Inspectional Services, Department of Health and Human Services, and the Law Department on developing a comprehensive zoning ordinance amendment concerning agricultural uses in the city.
He said the proposal further establishes two additional small-scale, by-right agricultural uses - yard gardens and community gardens.
While both of those activities already occur throughout the city, Mr. Traynor said the zoning ordinance does not specifically recognize them. To safeguard against potential nuisances, the proposed zoning amendment would place restrictions on those uses.
For example, backyard gardens in residential zones would be limited to 2,500 square feet, to ensure that the residential use remains the predominant feature in neighborhoods. The size limit would only apply to land actively used to grow and harvest crops and not to landscaping.
Meanwhile, community gardens - lots where a group of individuals grow food crops, flowers or other plants primarily for personal use or consumption - could be no larger than 5,000 square feet. Larger community gardens would be considered an urban farm and would have to be permitted accordingly, Mr. Traynor said.
The amendment also establishes a farmers market use category that allows the collective sale of produce on a recurring basis in all non-residential zoning districts.
Another provision would allow for the on-site sale from one’s personal crop, regardless of location, by a farm stand permit. Farm stands would be limited to the sale of produce grown on site only, may not exceed 150 square feet and would not be permitted to sell more than three days per week, between the hours of 8 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Mr. Traynor said the farm stand regulations would also establish a permit process that incorporates soil safety requirements, including a requirement that soils used to grow food for sale be tested and the results of those tests posted at the point of sale.
He said all the proposed regulations are intended to support urban-scale farming while also establishing land use regulations to avoid potential nuisances related to agricultural activities.
"By enacting these regulations, Worcester will join Boston, Somerville and a growing number of other communities regionally and nationwide in recognizing agriculture as a beneficial component in cities when properly planned for and managed," Mr. Traynor said.
Mr. Augustus is also recommending a zoning amendment concerning honeybee keeping. Honeybees are considered a necessary element in pollination of crops that make up a healthful food supply.
The proposed regulation is intended to protect residents by regulating the placement of honeybees and the number of colonies one can have on one's property, to ensure that honeybees are being kept in a safe and responsible manner.
“While the intent of the regulation is to promote urban agriculture as well as the well-being of residents, the safety of residents is not lost,” Mr. Augustus said.
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160 Years of Atlantic Stories
One Woman's Abortion
In 1965, an anonymous woman described the steps she took to terminate an unwanted pregnancy.
Mrs. X
August 1965 Issue
Chick Harrity / Library of Congress
Nearly everywhere in the world families now have the right to limit the number of children they will conceive, according to their ability to love and cherish, feed, house, clothe, and educate them. The need for similar adult freedom of action to terminate accidental and unwanted pregnancies, for personal and social reasons as well as therapeutic ones, is being discussed covertly and sometimes openly by church, lay, and medical groups.
What are the facts about abortion in the United States today? How widely is it resorted to and by whom? What percentage is legal (therapeutic) and what illegal? Are its illegal practitioners sinister moneygrubbers without skill, knowledge, or proper instruments, or are they licensed physicians? Is the operation as potentially dangerous as generations of women have been led to believe?
Reliable statistics are, naturally enough, hard to get in the United States, though they are readily available from such countries as Sweden, Denmark, Russia, and Japan, where abortion is, in varying cases, legal. Nobody who places a bet with a bookmaker has any particular hesitation about admitting it, but few women, gossips or not, discuss their abortions at the bridge table. Lack of discussion probably has nothing to do with shame or reticence but is simply a loyal conspiracy of silence on the part of women to protect abortionists. Any woman of childbearing age who knows a reliable man in this field has a stake in keeping him in business. She may need him herself, or have a close friend who will.
I set out recently to find an abortionist in the large Eastern city where I live. My husband and I are in our mid-forties and have three children. When I discovered that I was pregnant for the fourth time, my husband and I considered the situation as honestly as we could. We both admitted that we lacked the physical resources to face 2 A.M. feedings, diapers, and the seemingly endless cycle of measles, mumps, and concussions of another child. Years of keeping a wary eye on expenditures (a new suit for my husband every two years and one for me every five) had allowed us to set up a fund which we felt would enable the children to attend reasonably good colleges away from home if some financial assistance in the form of grants or scholarships could be obtained. Since my husband's income has reached its zenith, it was plain that one of the four would have to forgo all or part of a chance at higher education. The part-time secretarial work which I had been doing for some years to augment our income would have to stop since the revenue it produces would not cover baby-sitting fees. We have no rich uncles likely to make our children their beneficiaries. We have also had sufficient experience living to acknowledge that while the Lord will sometimes provide, He may be busy looking after somebody else when you need Him most.
A brief foray for information in medical circles indicated that in the state where we live, legal grounds for abortion are limited to patients known to have cancer, ectopic (tubal or peritoneal) pregnancies, and in some rare instances, acute heart conditions or advanced psychoses.
I spent a brief moment of reflective gratitude for a clean bill of health on these counts, and then pushed my glasses up on my nose to read a book called Pregnancy, Birth and Abortion, written by four members of the Institute for Sex Research, founded by the late renowned Dr. Kinsey. It turned out to be most reassuring, though it probably wasn't intended to be. I discovered that abortion is an operation that all med students learn, even if they don't get much chance to perfect techniques; that of the institute's sample, only a minute percentage of women had suffered either physical or psychic aftereffects; and that while the authors made no attempt to estimate the number of abortions performed every year in the United States, it was plain that even without the Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval, I had lots of company.
Calmed by authoritative word and two tranquilizers, I settled down to see what could be done. First step was a visit to my obstetrician. (The boys from the institute indicated that probably every doctor in the country had been asked at least once to perform an abortion, and there was some evidence that out of compassion many had obliged.) Mine had run out of compassion by the time I saw him at 6 P.M. or else was too worried about getting his snowbound car out of the parking lot to pay much attention to me. He verified by pelvic examination the positive rabbit-test result which had previously very nearly guaranteed that I was pregnant, and refused to interfere with nature. When I asked him whether he would perform an abortion on me, he said, "No, thanks," in an absent way, as if I had offered him a cigarette he didn't want, and I left.
With the only legal avenue I knew closed, I began my search for illegal ones. I started out by going through my personal address and telephone book and selecting from it five close friends who had the following in common: all were intelligent, well educated, sympathetic, and discreet. Otherwise, they were a mixed lot. Some were married, some divorced or widowed; some were young, some middle-aged; two were Protestant, one was Jewish, one Catholic, and the fifth a scoffer. Of the five, one had, to my knowledge, herself had an abortion, but that was too long ago to lead me to suppose her operator was still at the same old stand.
I called each and stated bluntly that I needed an abortion and asked whether she knew anybody reasonably reliable who might do the job. Two (in addition to the one I have already mentioned) said that they themselves had obtained abortions within the last two years. Each gave me without hesitation the name, address, and telephone number of her physician. The fourth friend did a little detective work and in twenty-four hours came up with another physician, chiefly remarkable for the fact that his office was directly across the street from one of the city's police precinct stations. Fees, I was told, ranged from $300 to $750. My fifth contact got A for effort but was able to glean information only on a sort of disassembly-line procedure in a neighboring state, reputed to be supervised by a doctor. I discarded this as too shady for a middle-aged woman with obligations to a family and sat down to call the physicians.
My first call was made to the doctor whose credentials seemed to me best. When I asked for an appointment at his early convenience, he replied—somewhat nervously, I thought—that he was considering taking a trip and asked that I call back next week. Number two on my list proved able to see me the following day. My visit did a good deal to quell the panic which had been building steadily in spite of my efforts at self-control. The office seemed orderly, the tools of the trade were neatly arrayed in the glass cases dear to the hearts of the medical fraternity; the doctor's examination was brief and businesslike, and as far as I could tell identical with those performed on me over the years by obstetricians and gynecologists under different circumstances. He explained in simple and understandable terms exactly how he would perform the operation, how long it would take, that it would be painful, but not intolerably so, for a few minutes. (I gather that except for abortions done in hospitals, anesthetics are almost never used. For obvious reasons, these physicians work without assistance of any kind. They are thus not equipped to deal with the possible ill effects of anesthesia; nor can they keep patients in their offices for any great length of time without arousing suspicion about their practices.) The doctor I was consulting described precisely the minimal aftereffects I might expect. We fixed a date at mutual convenience a couple of days off for the operation.
This particular M.D. was able to strike a nice balance between willingness to help and lack of overeagerness to collect his $500, payable in advance. He stated frankly that he felt the element of physical risk was negligible but that the myths and exaggerations about abortion and the hard fact that it was an illegal procedure created prior apprehensions of sometimes damaging proportions. He urged me to call him and cancel the appointment if my husband and I felt there was any reason to reconsider our decision. Short of physical and fiscal miracles we had no right to expect, I didn't see what could alter our circumstances and told him so, but I agreed wholeheartedly about the apprehensions.
The operation was successfully concluded as scheduled. Forty-five minutes after I entered the doctor's office for the second time, I walked out, flagged a passing cab, and went home. Admirably relaxed for the first time in two weeks, I dozed over dinner, left the children to wash the dishes, and dove into bed to sleep for twelve hours. The operation and its aftereffects were exactly as described by the physician. For some five minutes I suffered "discomfort" closely approximating the contractions of advanced labor. Within ten minutes this pain subsided, and returned in the next four or five days only as the sort of mild twinge which sometimes accompanies a normal menstrual period. Bleeding was minimal.
Post hoc, my conclusions are these:
1. If five people, of my limited acquaintance, knew five different abortionists in active practice within a few square miles of each other, I find myself wondering if the abortion rate must not parallel the live birth rate in the United States.
2. Four of the five abortionists recommended to me were duly licensed physicians. Is this extraordinary, or are the dark tales about all abortions being performed in filthy surroundings by unskilled practitioners using knitting needles exaggerated?
3. My operation at least was performed with what seemed to me incredible proficiency, speed, and deftness, with sterile instruments designed for the purpose for which they were used. The Kinsey Institute is welcome to add me to its conclusions, which are that though they have been able to interview few abortionists, they are much impressed with the skill, humanity, and understanding these few showed for their patients.
I am sure that my experience is not unique. There must be hundreds like me from coast to coast who for sober and considered reasons daily undergo the same fears, search for the same kinds of operative sources, and find the money necessary to terminate unwanted pregnancy.
Some states are less rigid in enforcing antiabortion statutes than others. The low nationwide rate of convictions obtained against abortionists perhaps points not only to the difficulty of obtaining evidence against them but also to the acknowledgment by law enforcement agencies of the real necessity of such practices. As the Kinsey group says, "In our own sample we find that the great percentage of the women who had an illegal abortion stated that it had been the best solution to their immediate problem. This widespread difference between our overt culture as expressed in our laws and public pronouncements and our covert culture as expressed in what people actually do and secretly think is as true with abortion as with most types of sexual behavior."
Is the time coming when we can rid ourselves of one more hypocrisy, closing the gap between what we do and what we say we do? Therapeutic abortion practices will have to lead the way. There is some evidence that the first steps have been taken. Grounds for therapeutic abortion vary widely from state to state and from city to city. Unfavorable Rh factors, for instance, are considered reason to terminate pregnancy by some physicians in some areas, as is a case of German measles suffered in the early stages of pregnancy. Social grounds for abortion could follow, under the surveillance of abortion boards composed of M.D.'s and psychiatrists. (Such boards exist in many areas but are generally rubber-stamp groups who are notified by a physician that he will be performing a therapeutic abortion on date fixed by him in the hospital of his choice.)
I believe that dilation and curettage is the only method of abortion used, legally or illegally by most physicians in this country. Though the operation is a relatively simple one, it remains an operative procedure with some attendant risk of infection, however small, whether performed without anesthesia, in a hospital or in a doctor's office. Again citing the Kinsey group: "It is already evident that it would not be difficult to develop effective and safe abortifacients, including some to be taken orally. The fact that such a development has not been made is largely a moral matter."
The italics are mine. Is it moral anguish, fear of fine or imprisonment, and terror about illicit practices on families who have sound social reasons for terminating an unwanted pregnancy? If it is moral to prevent conception, is it immoral to interrupt an ill-advised one?
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Obama Proposes to Declare ANWR Area as Wilderness
The move rekindles fight over oil drilling on Alaska's coastal plain.
Dan BermanBen GemanNational Journal
The Kongakut Valley in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska.National Journal
President Barack Obama will ask Congress to declare over 12 million acres of Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge as wilderness, he announced Sunday, rekindling a decades-old fight over oil drilling there.
In a video message, Obama called the portions of ANWR he wants to protect as "pristine, undisturbed" and "very fragile." He asked the GOP Congress to protect the area "as a wilderness so we can make sure this amazing wonder is protected for future generations."
The debate over oil drilling in ANWR was a mainstay as Republicans held Congress from the mid-1990s until the Democrats won the House and Senate in 2006, and was a central part of government shutdown fights between Congress and President Bill Clinton.
The plan was first reported Sunday morning by the Washington Post.
The proposal takes direct aim at Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the new chairwoman of both Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and the Appropriations subpanel that controls the Interior Department's budget.
"What's coming is a stunning attack on our sovereignty and our ability to develop a strong economy that allows us, our children and our grandchildren to thrive," Murkowski said in a statement. "It's clear this administration does not care about us, and sees us as nothing but a territory. The promises made to us at statehood, and since then, mean absolutely nothing to them. I cannot understand why this administration is willing to negotiate with Iran, but not Alaska. But we will not be run over like this. We will fight back with every resource at our disposal."
Although congressional action to declare the area as wilderness is unlikely, the Interior Department plans to begin managing the area as wilderness, Murkowski's office, which was briefed by the administration on Friday, said.
The Interior Department also plans to withdraw areas of the Arctic Ocean from oil and gas leases in its new five year oil and gas drilling plan, "which will effectively ban development in large swaths of the Chukchi and Beaufort seas," Murkowski's office said.
The new protections in Alaska follow Obama's decision in December to indefinitely extend a drilling ban in Bristol Bay off Alaska's southern coast.
Interior did not comment Sunday on restrictions in the upcoming 2017-2022 offshore oil-and-gas leasing plan.
Oil giants Shell, ConocoPhillips and Statoil hold drilling leases in Arctic waters off Alaska's northern coast, a region that Interior estimates could contain more than 23 billion barrels of recoverable oil.
Shell has been the most aggressive in seeking to explore for oil in the U.S. Arctic. But major mishaps during its initial development attempt in 2012, the collapse in oil prices that's crimping industry spending, and uncertainty about the regulatory status of its leases have left questions about when the company will resume efforts to drill there. Shell has filed a scaled-back plan with regulators that's focused only on the Chukchi Sea.
Robert Dillon, a spokesman for Murkowski, said he did not expect Interior to outright block drilling in tracts of the Arctic seas that have already been leased to energy companies. But he said the upcoming restrictions could nonetheless hinder development, depending on how it affects issues like movement of vessels through the area.
"There is a possibility it could impact existing leases. We just don't know," he said.
Ben Geman is an energy and environment correspondent at National Journal
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You are at:Home»News»Nation»Special committee set up to study security laws
Special committee set up to study security laws
Posted on June 4, 2018, Monday at 7:57 AM Nation
Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin – Bernama file photo
KUALA LUMPUR: The Home Ministry has set up a special committee to review existing laws, especially those in relation to national security which are allegedly contrary to human rights, its Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said.
Muhyiddin said the committee, which was set up last week, is chaired by the ministry’s Secretary-General Datuk Seri Alwi Ibrahim.
“We will look at and review the laws that come under the Home Ministry. Among those raised are the Security Offences (Special Measures) Act 2012 (SOSMA), the Prevention of Terrorism Act 2015 (POTA) and the Prevention of Crime Act 1959 (POCA).
“Our goal is to determine in implementing domestic laws the people do not feel that they are being used for political purposes, to punish certain parties due to differences in ideology and so on,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters during a breaking-of- fast function with locals at the Saidina Hamzah Mosque, Kampung Batu Muda here today.
The event, organised by the Ramly Group of Companies and the mosque, also witnessed 250 orphans and poor people receiving cash contributions.
Muhyiddin said the move to review the laws was one of the matters pertaining to security issues contained in the Pakatan Harapan (PH) manifesto for the 14th General Election (GE14).
“It was included in PH’s promises, namely, any law that is considered to have elements of cruelty, oppression, injustice and which may be considered contrary to human rights, and laws which are not very clear in their implementation, will be examined in depth.
“This may take some time … when we are ready we will have meeting sessions with those whom we think have vested interests to clarify whether the amendments are considered adequate or suitable before being brought to the Cabinet and subsequently to Parliament,” he said.
On May 22, Muhyiddin was reported as syaing that the ministry would review seven laws related to national security that were found to be no longer suitable today.
The laws are the Printing Presses and Publications Act 1984, the Sedition Act 1948, mandatory death sentence, the Peaceful Assembly Act 2012, POCA, SOSMA and POTA. – Bernama
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Miss Indian World is cultural ambassador
Church News staff writer
After Ke Aloha May Cody Alo was crowned "Miss Indian World" last month, her father offered some advice:
Church member Ke Aloha Alo holds the Miss Indian World title, awarded at the Gathering of Nations pow wow in Albuquerque, N.M., April 28. Photo: Photo by Sky Nez
"You are not just representing your family. You are not just representing your culture. You are also representing the Church," Lefty Alo told the Church member after she was awarded the prestigious cultural pageant title.
Now Sister Alo, who received the award at the Gathering of Nations pow wow April 28 in Albuquerque, N.M., will keep that in mind while she serves as a cultural ambassador during the coming year. Her role as Miss Indian World, she said, will be to bridge cultural gaps between Indian and non-Indian people worldwide. She will also share the cultural values she learned from her family her mother is White Mountain Apache and her father is Samoan and native Hawaiian as well as the values she learned at Church.
Each year the pageant attracts contestants from all over the United States and Canada who not only represent their tribes and tribal nations, but also their traditions. Contestants are judged in several categories including talent, public speaking, interviews and traditional dance. Sister Alo was recognized during the event with the best interview and the best public speaking awards.
Sister Alo spent her early years on the Fort Apache Indian Reservation in Arizona before moving with her family to Hawaii. There she gained an appreciation for the Hawaiian culture, as well as an "understanding of the beauty that lies in diversity."
Later she attended BYU where she performed with Living Legends, formerly known as the Lamanite Generation. It was with this group that she was first able to travel around the world, singing, dancing, speaking and representing indigenous peoples, she said.
After serving a mission to France and graduating from BYU in August 2000 with a degree in international relations, Sister Alo returned to the Indian reservation where her parents live and her father serves as branch president for the weekend and never left.
During her teen years she had grown to appreciate the beauty of the Hawaiian Islands. Now, amid Arizona's pine trees, flowers and wildlife, she learned that every place has its own kind of beauty.
At first she had a hard time; she did not immediately fit into reservation life. People questioned her motives for settling on the reservation. "Why would you come here?" some asked. "You are educated. You are experienced."
Sister Alo explained she did not return to the reservation because of a lack of opportunity elsewhere. "It was because I wanted to be here," she said. "I felt very drawn here. . . . I wanted to know where my roots came from. I wanted to know about my family."
Today she works for the White Mountain Apache Tribe legal department and is active in the McNary Branch, Pinetop-Lakeside Arizona Stake. In the future she wants to attend graduate school.
Ke Aloha Alo stands with Dallas Massey Sr., chairman of the While Mountain Apache Tribe. Photo: Photo by Lefty Alo
However, first she will continue to embrace her Indian roots as she represents the world's indigenous cultures. Next month she will travel to Bolivia. During her reign she will also attend the UNITY conference in Michigan, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Utah and the Women's Indigenous Conference in Hawaii.
Frequently, she thinks of the things she knows as a Church member; the values she learned at Church seem to mesh with the things she wants to embrace in both the Hawaiian and Apache cultures. "As I have grown older I have come to appreciate my culture and heritage and how it ties with the Church," she said. She loves to read the Book of Mormon and learn of the promises God has for her people.
In her role as Miss Indian World, Sister Alo hopes to be able to address important issues affecting minority populations, such as high school drop-out rates and chemical and substance abuse. She also hopes to address the way society looks at motherhood and womanhood.
"I feel like this is an opportunity to be a voice to my people and to share with my people not just my views and values . . . but also to be able to share with them something that is nearer and dearer to my heart," she said. "I want to be able to share the gospel through my example."
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Sister Jones shares 3 things you can teach your kids about the name of the Church
Primary leaders hope parents and teachers can help children learn reverence and respect. Photo: Intellectual Reserve, inc.
Gage Pendelton holds up a card as he and other senior primary children play a game to memorize "Choose the Right" in Copperton on Sunday, February 26, 2017. Photo: Hans Emond Koepsell, Deseret News
Sarahann Villanueva, center, sits with her primary children during the junior primary singing time in Copperton on Sunday, February 26, 2017. Photo: Hans Emond Koepsell
Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary general president, and Sister Lisa L. Harkness, first counselor in the Primary presidency, greet children performing in the Mormon Miracle Pageant in Manti, Utah on June 20. Photo: Savannah Hopkinson
Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary general president Photo: Intellectual Reserve, Inc.
How can parents and teachers talk to children about using the proper name of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
Children will lead the way, said Sister Joy D. Jones, Primary general president.
Children identify first and foremost as a child of God. “When they say ‘I am a Child of God,’ they believe it,” she said.
When Sister Jones read a statement by President Russell M. Nelson about the official name of the Church, released on Aug. 16, she instantly thought of the words of a Primary song:
"I belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
I know who I am.
I know God’s plan.
I’ll follow him in faith.
I believe in the Savior, Jesus Christ.
I’ll honor his name.
I’ll do what is right;
I’ll follow his light.
His truth I will proclaim."
The song, said Sister Jones, echoes President Nelson’s words.
“The Lord has impressed upon my mind the importance of the name He has revealed for His Church, even The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” the statement said. “We have work before us to bring ourselves in harmony with His will.”
In recent weeks, various Church leaders and departments have initiated steps to make this happen, according to the statement.
Parents and teachers can also use this important statement to teach children, said Sister Jones. “What an important time to focus on the Savior,” she said.
Parents can follow the example of their children, who sing the song, “The Church of Jesus Christ,” with enthusiasm and faith, said Sister Jones.
“They sing it like they believe it,” she said. “The power of what they are saying, the way they feel it, it is an example to all of us.”
“I feel that President Nelson is calling us all to recognize our spiritual identity before our Savior, to stand up and be the best we can be as individuals and as a people in preparing for His return to the earth. What a meaningful, preparatory time this is.”
Sister Jones said parents and teachers can talk to children about the name of the Church and emphasize three things:
1) Teach children about revelation
Sister Jones said parents can help children recognize that President Nelson is taught by the Lord. “This is an opportunity to teach children about revelation and about the importance of a prophet,” she said. President Nelson “is being taught and guided by the Savior as the Savior directs the affairs of His children.”
2) Teach the “why” behind the statement
Parents and teachers can ask children, “Why is this change important? What is President Nelson teaching us about focusing on the Savior’s name as the Savior directs the affairs of His Church?”
Remind them that every word in the inspired and official name of the Church “is significant,” she said.
3) Teach children how blessed we are to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
“This is a wonderful opportunity to testify to our children of the truths we know and live. (We) ‘belong to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ because this is who we are,” she said. “This is Who we stand for. This is Who we follow. This is Who we strive to be like.”
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How About That Trailer? - Valerian And The City Of A Thousand Planets
We now have a full trailer for Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets and it looks great. Big, bold and fun should be the key terms that come out of a new Luc Besson-written and directed sci-fi adventure and that applies here. Based on an acclaimed French graphic novel series, the footage seen at Comic-Con was some of the most intriguing stuff featured and this trailer continues to lend confidence that Valerian will be one of the more exciting non-sequels to be arriving in theaters next summer.
As the trailer touts, this film is from the visionary mind behind The Fifth Element, among other films, and it certainly looks like it. While the ratio between miniatures and completely CG effects has shifted in the years since that 1997 cult action favorite starring Bruce Willis, Valerian still looks like an incredible new world with plenty of ideas, creatures and more to explore amidst the story being told. As far as that story goes, this trailer only teases some ideas, but it involves two bickering partners played by Dane DeHaan and Cara Delevinge that will ideally be more likable thanks to having a sort of Nick and Nora-type relationship.
Also helping is the way the action is staged, which looks big and expansive, but also filled with little quirks, such as costume design and little hints that technology, regardless of how cool it is, does not always work at the right time. I can say that applied a lot more to the Comic-Con footage, but this general look at the film certainly gets some of that across, along with all the other fun here. With all that in mind, Besson is great with action, so this should pan out no matter what.
I'm excited for Valerian and hope it delivers big in the ways Besson's best films can. The film opens in theaters July 21, 2017.
Official Description:
Rooted in the classic graphic novel series, Valerian and Laureline- visionary writer/director Luc Besson advances this iconic source material into a contemporary, unique and epic science fiction saga.
Valerian (Dane DeHaan) and Laureline (Cara Delevingne) are special operatives for the government of the human territories charged with maintaining order throughout the universe.
Under directive from their Commander (Clive Owen), Valerian and Laureline embark on a mission to the breathtaking intergalactic city of Alpha, an ever-expanding metropolis comprised of thousands of different species from all four corners of the universe. Alpha’s seventeen million inhabitants have converged over time- uniting their talents, technology and resources for the betterment of all. Unfortunately, not everyone on Alpha shares in these same objectives; in fact, unseen forces are at work, placing our race in great danger.
Dane DeHaan, Cara Delevingne, Clive Owen, Rihanna, Ethan Hawke, John Goodman, Herbie Hancock, Kris Wu
2017 films Action Cara Delevingne Clive Owen Comic Book Movie Dane DeHaan Essay Ethan Hawke John Goodman Luc Besson Rihanna Science Fiction Trailers Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets
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Iranian Riots at British Embassy Portend Troubling Isolationism
Attacks on the British embassy in Tehran suggest that Iran is once again headed for the diplomatic deep freeze.
Babak Dehghanpisheh
Vahid Salemi / AP Photos
The Islamic Republic of Iran has changed a lot in the past 32 years--or has it? On Tuesday afternoon an enraged mob stormed the British Embassy compound in central Tehran, chanting “Death to England,” smashing windows, and burning the British flag. Video footage posted on several Iranian news sites showed bearded students hanging off the steel gates and tossing documents out from inside the compound. One young man held up a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II and tried to hang it upside down on the outside of the gate. The scenes were all too reminiscent of the takeover of the U.S. embassy in Tehran in 1979, when 52 Americans were taken hostage for 444 days, the beginning of Iran's diplomatic isolation that has lasted for more than three decades.
Six hostages were taken, at least temporarily, at a British residential complex in northern Tehran, according to the conservative Fars News website. It looks like Iran is headed for the diplomatic deep freeze yet again. And that's not good news for the West—or Iran. In recent years, the U.K. embassy had provided a key outlet for Iran's leaders to exchange information with their British counterparts on a host of critical issues, ranging from Iran's controversial nuclear program to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Even though the Swiss embassy in Tehran deals with the official diplomatic business of the U.S., it was always assumed that messages passed on to diplomats at the U.K. embassy would find their way to American officials eventually.
If that line of communication is cut off, any crisis could quickly escalate. For example, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps captured 15 British Navy personnel in the Persian Gulf in March 2007, claiming they had crossed into Iranian territorial waters. They were released two weeks later, largely due to the diplomatic two-step carried out by British Embassy officials in Tehran. If they hadn't been on the ground, the whole affair could have dragged out and gotten much messier.
The attack on the British Embassy on Tuesday afternoon wasn't entirely unexpected: relations between Iran and the U.K. have been steadily deteriorating since the political unrest in Iran in 2009. Some Iranian politicians had blamed the U.K. for playing a role in stoking the unrest, and there have been protests held outside the embassy in the past couple of years. But what may have pushed the crowd over the edge on Tuesday was a series of harsh sanctions adopted by Britain last week which demanded that all contacts with Iran's Central Bank be cut off. The Iranian parliament passed a bill on Sunday requiring the government to reduce diplomatic relations with the U.K. and kick out their ambassador within two weeks. Tuesday's attack also comes on the one-year anniversary of the assassination of nuclear scientist Majid Shahriari in Tehran. Some Iranian officials had pointed the finger at the U.K. for playing a role in Shahriari's death, and some in the crowd on Tuesday carried pictures of Shahriari. “An attack on an embassy is like an attack on the soil of another country,” says Fatemeh Haghighatjoo, a former Iranian parliamentarian who is now a professor at the University of Massachusetts, Boston. “This is going to complicate the situation for Iran and set the country down a more difficult path.”
Iranian hardliners will likely see it as a symbolic victory. More than 30 years after the American hostages were released in 1981, Iranian hardliners still celebrate the day radical students took over the “den of spies,” the shorthand reference to the former U.S. Embassy among conservatives. From time to time, the Iranian government has even staged bizarre exhibitions on the former U.S. Embassy ground, which include carnival-like games where attendants can beat an Uncle Sam effigy on the head with a rubber mallet. If diplomatic relations keep deteriorating, an effigy of the queen may not be far behind.
The biggest question about Tuesday's attack is the degree of regime complicity in organizing the event. In the past, similar demonstrations at the U.K. embassy have mostly been organized by the Basij, a paramilitary youth organization overseen by the Revolutionary Guards. Flags, posters, and even placards with slogans have been handed out to attendees at some previous demonstrations. A statement issued by a student group claiming to represent the protesters on Tuesday said that the demonstration was “spontaneous” and did not have ties to any official bodies. And the foreign ministry issued a statement expressing regret about the attacks.
But there are signs of official endorsement even if there's not clear evidence yet of official complicity: conservative parliamentarian Hamid Rasai was among the crowds today. And shortly after the embassy attack, Mahmoud Ahmadibiqesh, a member of the Parliament's national-security committee, told the Khabar Online website, “England was under the illusion that they could defeat our revolution with their actions. But thank god, the brave action of the students in capturing the English den of spies showed them that they are deluded.” For some, there's already plenty of evidence of government involvement in Tuesday's attack. “This action was completely coordinated from the top. It started with the actions in Parliament,” says Haghighatjoo. “The intention was to send a message to England that if you put pressure on us, we're not going to back down.”
If that is the case, Iranian officials are playing diplomatic hardball at a particularly fraught time: not only are they under ramped up pressure from the West, but also their biggest regional ally, Syria, is on shaky ground, facing eight months of continuous antiregime protests. It may not be long before Iran’s hardliners may even begin to question who they’ve got left on their side.
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Should Woody Allen Have Been Allowed to Adopt?
Do abuse accusations affect adoptions? Only if investigators know about them—and thanks to state laws that differ widely, they might not.
Keli Goff
Alessandro Bianchi/Reuters
Barbara Walters sparked a controversy of her own this week when she decided to take sides in the increasingly explosive controversy surrounding Dylan Farrow’s allegations that her filmmaker father, Woody Allen, molested her. On Tuesday’s episode of The View, Walters said, “I have rarely seen a father as sensitive, as loving and as caring as Woody is—and Soon-Yi—to these two girls. I don’t know about Dylan. I can only tell you what I have seen now.”
But Walters may have unintentionally raised more questions about Allen’s parental qualifications. After all, Allen’s two daughters with Soon-Yi are adopted, just like Soon-Yi had been before her relationship with Allen began, and just like Dylan Farrow, the daughter who, as an adult, maintains he molested her. Though the allegations against Allen have never been resolved in a court of law and the Oscar-winning director has strongly denied them, it does raise a number of serious questions. Perhaps chief among them: Is it odd that someone accused of molesting one girl was able to adopt two others?
According to adoption experts, allegations of prior bad behavior are a gray area in determining a prospective adoptive family’s fitness. Adoptions are primarily governed by state, not federal, statutes, with only a few requirements being universal across the nation. (Fingerprinting, for example.) All adoptions require some form of state and federal criminal background check. Beyond that, each state is permitted to determine what specific acts are deal-breakers. “I’ve seen cases where a 35-year-old guy adopting was convicted of marijuana [possession] at age 21, and he’ll usually be able to adopt. Then I’ve seen people with two or three DUIs not approved,” said Donald Cofsky, president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. On the other hand, he noted, he has seen recovering alcoholics with several years of sobriety cleared for adoption.
Cofsky explained that convictions for violent crimes, particularly anything involving a child, are automatic deal-breakers in many states, including New Jersey, where he works most extensively. But accusations alone are rarely enough to deter an adoption. “I hate to tell you the number of times in the middle of divorces one of the spouses makes allegations about another regarding domestic violence or child abuse. If it is not substantiated, that is not enough. But it is something an agency should certainly look into if they become aware of it.”
But other experts said that without a criminal conviction, it is unlikely an adoption agency would become aware of an abuse allegation. “We don’t google our adoptive families,” Jeanne McGee of the adoption agency Adoptions From the Heart said in an interview. “If we have some suspicion for any reason that they may be lying, we might dig a little deeper. But there are multiple clearances and criminal clearances that they fill out in every state they’ve lived in the last 10 years, and if they have been convicted of something, it will come up on those. But if they’re just being accused of something, we can’t judge them on something they have not been convicted of.”
What about someone like Michael Jackson, who was accused of child abuse multiple times without ever being convicted? “We’ve never had a case like that, so it’s probably something we’d have to discuss with the whole team to figure out,” McGee said. “That would not be a yes or no. We would have to factor in multiple things, and our personal interaction with that person and the conversations we’ve had with them. We wouldn’t base our decision just on the fact that somebody’s been accused of something but nothing has been proven. You’re innocent until proven guilty.”
Adoption lawyer Laurie Goldheim, the incoming president of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys, was more doubtful that someone could withstand multiple abuse allegations, even if none were ever substantiated. She noted that in New York state, private adoptions require judicial sign-off. “It’s to the discretion of the judge. If there are multiple allegations but none of them are founded, there’s something weird going on. Who has multiple allegations of abuse?”
Of Woody Allen’s abuse allegations, McGee said, “It might be a flag, but it’s not something that we can deny them on. We would have to factor that into other things and other conversations that we’ve had with the family to decide whether we’re approving them or not.”
Cofsky also speculated that Allen’s allegations may have raised an eyebrow, but he said, “I would have hoped they would have done the appropriate investigation to look into it.” Cofsky, who was unaware Allen had adopted two children with Soon-Yi, said questioning whether the agency got it right is like “second-guessing trials.” But he sensed Michael Jackson would have given agencies more pause. “Can I predict what they would do? No. Is it likely that they would place [a child with him]? They’d have to do an exhaustive investigation. To me it is doubtful an agency is going to place knowing that stuff is circulating out there.”
He pointed out that one way that agencies might do due diligence regarding unsubstantiated allegations of abuse is to require the parent accused of such abuse to undergo psychological evaluation and testing. The bottom line is agencies almost always err on the side of caution. “One reason is that if something goes bad and you have these accusations floating around that they’re aware of, the agency can lose its license, or if their investigation is found to be deemed negligent they can get sued.”
Cofsky is speaking from firsthand experience. He represented an adoption agency sued for allowing a young Russian girl to be adopted by a pedophile. The case made international headlines, was featured on Oprah, and resulted in congressional hearings, as well as a financial settlement. Cofsky explained that Matthew Mancuso, the adoptive father, looked perfect on paper. It turned out he had forged a letter from his biological daughter raving about his parenting skills, but had plenty of sterling recommendations from adults. But the agency still erred, namely by not executing visits to the home in the months following the adoption as required. “That was one of the checks and balances that should have been followed and they didn’t.”
But Cofsky noted that in examining abuse cases that make it to court, “Almost all of them are biological parents. How many parents [are] accused of abuse and neglect of a child they have adopted? Almost none.” He also alleged that adopted children in those high-profile abuse cases have often been placed by the state. One prime example is the notorious Collingswood case, in which two New Jersey foster parents-turned-adoptive parents later had their adoptive children removed for starving them.
History is littered with cases of celebrities and the wealthy being given preferential treatment in the adoption process, perhaps most infamously when Georgia Tann operated as Hollywood’s preferred baby broker, helping stars like Joan Crawford become parents through methods that were legally questionable. But Cofsky said that is hardly the case today. Though he has not worked with any celebrities in the nearly 2,000 adoption cases he has worked on, he has worked with agencies that have placed children with big names like Angelina Jolie, and says he has never seen any special treatment. Seeming to confirm this, in an interview with The Daily Mail , Alex Kingston, best known for starring on ER, lamented her inability to be approved as an adoptive parent. “People assume that celebrities can adopt babies as easily as Angelina Jolie, but they don’t hear about the ones who aren’t successful.”
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Rumor: ‘The Mandalorian’ Director Rick Famuyiwa in Discussions to Direct ‘Cassian Andor’ Episodes
Lucasfilm is making use of the Disney+ platform to allow directors of a variety of backgrounds work within the sandbox provided by the Galaxy Far, Far Away, as demonstrated with The Mandalorian‘s selection of directors featuring the likes of Rick Famuyiwa, Taika Waititi, Deborah Chow, and Bryce Dallas Howard, all alongside Star Wars veteran Dave Filoni. It seems like they’re so thrilled with what Famuyiwa has done with his two episodes of the eight-episode first season that that they want him to work on the untitled Cassian Andor project, should discussions between the two parties work out.
According to a new report from DiscussingFilm, the director of Dope is in discussions to work on the Rogue One prequel focused on the adventures of Cassian Andor, a spy that fought for the Confederacy of Independent Systems during the Clone Wars. Per their sources, DiscussingFilm have noted that Famuyiwa is involved with an undisclosed number of episodes, suggesting that he may have a lot of experience directing live-action Star Wars by the time that the second live-action Disney+ series comes around.
DiscussingFilm have also noted that Disney and Lucasfilm are said to be very happy with the content that all five directors working on their first-ever live-action series have produced. Perhaps that’s unsurprising, considering that Lucasfilm are apparently ready to greenlight a second season, but it sounds like The Mandalorian is going to be the killer app to get people invested in Disney+ at launch. It stands to reason, then, that they’d want some of their talent on that show to help get the Cassian Andor project off the ground.
Production on the series is set to begin in about three months (with October 7 apparently being the expected start date), so it’s likely that we’ll hear a lot of news about casting and other production info by Disney D23 in August, if not a little earlier. So far, we know that Diego Luna and Alan Tudyk will be reprising their Rogue One roles as Cassian Andor and K-2SO, and that The Americans showrunner Steven Schiff will be serving as the showrunner for this series.
The untitled Cassian Andor series is in development at Lucasfilm, and will be released through the Disney+ streaming platform. The Mandalorian will stream exclusively through that platform when it launches on November 12 later this year, and it won’t be too long before we see what Famuyiwa cooked up for the gritty sci-fi crime drama.
Grant Davis (Pomojema)
Grant has been a fan of Star Wars for as long as he can remember, having seen every movie on the big screen. When he’s not hard at work with his college studies, he keeps himself busy by reporting on all kinds of Star Wars news for SWNN and general movie news on the sister site, Movie News Net. He served as a frequent commentator on SWNN’s The Resistance Broadcast.
Posted in star wars, The Mandalorian, TV show
6 minutes 1 seconds ago
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Construction›
Heavy Construction›
U.S. public construction spending on amusement & recreation projects 2008-2018
Public construction spending on amusement and recreation projects in the U.S. from 2008 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)
by T. Wang, last edited Mar 19, 2019
The statistic shows the value of public construction spending on amusement and recreation projects in the United States between 2008 and 2018. In 2018, the public sector spent approximately 11.9 billion U.S. dollars on such projects.
Construction value in billion U.S. dollars
Figures for 2016 and 2017 have been restated in the 2018 edition of the report.
The values have been rounded.
U.S. hotel construction costs by select city 2018
U.S. office construction costs by select city 2018
Total value of commercial construction starts by type of property 2019
U.S. retail shopping facility construction costs by select city 2018
Everything On "Parks" in One Document: Edited and Divided into Handy Chapters. Including Detailed References.
Other Reports & Dossiers
Construction cost of U.S. commercial buildings
Statistics on "Construction cost of U.S. commercial buildings"
Casinos and hotels
Recreation and global amusement parks
Forecast on the growth of construction costs worldwide between 2019 and 2020, by select cityGlobal growth in construction costs by select city 2019-2020
Non-residential building construction cost index in the U.S. from 2005 to 2018*U.S. construction index for non-residential buildings 2005-2018
Construction materials, installation, and composite construction cost index in the U.S. in 2018, by select city*U.S. construction cost index by select city 2018
New non-residential commercial buildings put in place in the U.S. from 2006 to 2021 (in million U.S. dollars)*U.S. new non-residential commercial construction value 2006-2021
Value of U.S. commercial construction starts in H1 2019*, by property type (in billion U.S. dollars)Total value of commercial construction starts by type of property 2019
Average standard high rise office building costs worldwide as of July 1, 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollars per square meter)*Global standard high rise office building costs by select city 2018
Value of new private office construction put in place in the U.S. from 2000 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)*U.S. construction value of new private office buildings 2018
Average construction costs of offices in the United States in 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollar per square foot)U.S. office construction costs by select city 2018
Largest upcoming office building construction projects in the U.S. between September and December 2017, based on size (in million square feet)U.S. office building construction project sizes 2017
Value of new private sector multi-retail construction in the U.S. from 2002 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)Value of new U.S. private sector multi-retail construction 2002-2018
Most active retail construction markets in the United States in H1 2019, by select city (in million square feet)U.S. retail construction markets by select city 2019
Average construction costs of retail shopping facilities in the United States in 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollar per square foot)U.S. retail shopping facility construction costs by select city 2018
Share of square footage under construction in the United States in Q1 2017, by retail sub-typeShare of square footage under construction in the U.S. Q1 2017, by retail subtype
Value of new private commercial sector food and beverage construction in the U.S. from 2008 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)Value of new U.S. private sector food and beverage construction 2008-2018
Value of lodging construction put in place in the United States from 2002 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)Value of U.S. lodging construction from 2002 to 2018
Leading construction contractors based on hotel room construction in the U.S. as of August 2018U.S. hotel room construction by contractors 2018
Average construction costs of hotels in the United States in 2018, by hotel class (in 1,000 U.S. dollar per per room)U.S. hotel construction costs by classification 2018
Average construction costs of hotels in the United States in 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollar per square foot)U.S. hotel construction costs by select city 2018
Construction costs of selected casino buildings in the United States as of August 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)U.S. construction costs for selected casino projects 2018
Construction costs of select theme parks worldwide in 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)Global construction costs of amusement parks 2017
Per square meter construction costs of select theme parks worldwide in 2017 (in U.S. dollars)Global per square meter construction costs of amusement parks 2017
Value of new private amusement and recreation construction put in place in the United States from 2008 to 2018, by recreation type (in million U.S. dollars)U.S. value of private amusement and recreation construction by type 2008-2018
Public construction spending on amusement and recreation projects in the U.S. from 2008 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)U.S. public construction spending on amusement & recreation projects 2008-2018
U.S. public office construction spending
U.S. public construction spending on educational projects 2008-2013
U.S. public construction spending on public safety projects 2008-2013
U.S. public spending - transportation 2008-2013
Texas' value of new private non-residential construction 2003-2015
Value of U.S. amusement and recreation construction 2002-2011
U.S. public construction spending on health care projects
Public construction spending: conservation & development 2008-2013
U.S. new construction in place by region 2018-2019
U.S. non-residential construction expenditures by segment 2014
U.S. construction - total value of new public construction 1999-2018
Canada's nonresidential buildings put in place by sector 2017-2022
U.S. new state and local construction value by major state 2017
Canada's year-on-year change in non-residential construction starts 2015-2021
Asia's share of cosntruction spending by sector 2014
Industry revenue of »construction« in Greece 2011-2023
Portfolio of international orders of the main constructors Spain 2015-2016
Italy: enterprises with at least a product/process innovation 2012/14 by macro-region
Malta: number of employees in the construction industry 2008-2014
Industry revenue of »demolition« in Romania 2011-2023
Recreational Boating
Construction material industry in the U.S.
Construction industry in Turkey
Highway construction in the United States
Infrastructure in the United States
Africa Property & Construction Cost Guide 2018
Quanta Services - 2018 Annual Report on Form 10-K
China Communications Construction Company (CCCC) Annual Report 2015
Bridging Global Infrastructure Gaps - June 2016
SBM Offshore 2016 Annual Report
The Sustainable Infrastructure Imperative 2016
Forecast on the growth of construction costs worldwide between 2019 and 2020, by select city
Non-residential building construction cost index in the U.S. from 2005 to 2018*
Construction materials, installation, and composite construction cost index in the U.S. in 2018, by select city*
New non-residential commercial buildings put in place in the U.S. from 2006 to 2021 (in million U.S. dollars)*
Value of U.S. commercial construction starts in H1 2019*, by property type (in billion U.S. dollars)
Average standard high rise office building costs worldwide as of July 1, 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollars per square meter)*
Value of new private office construction put in place in the U.S. from 2000 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)*
Average construction costs of offices in the United States in 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollar per square foot)
Largest upcoming office building construction projects in the U.S. between September and December 2017, based on size (in million square feet)
Value of new private sector multi-retail construction in the U.S. from 2002 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Most active retail construction markets in the United States in H1 2019, by select city (in million square feet)
Average construction costs of retail shopping facilities in the United States in 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollar per square foot)
Share of square footage under construction in the United States in Q1 2017, by retail sub-type
Value of new private commercial sector food and beverage construction in the U.S. from 2008 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Value of lodging construction put in place in the United States from 2002 to 2018 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Leading construction contractors based on hotel room construction in the U.S. as of August 2018
Average construction costs of hotels in the United States in 2018, by hotel class (in 1,000 U.S. dollar per per room)
Average construction costs of hotels in the United States in 2018, by select city (in U.S. dollar per square foot)
Construction costs of selected casino buildings in the United States as of August 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Construction costs of select theme parks worldwide in 2017 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Per square meter construction costs of select theme parks worldwide in 2017 (in U.S. dollars)
Value of new private amusement and recreation construction put in place in the United States from 2008 to 2018, by recreation type (in million U.S. dollars)
U.S. public office construction spending from 2002 to 2013 (in billion U.S. dollars)
U.S. public construction spending on educational projects from 2008 to 2013 (in billion U.S. dollars)
U.S. public construction spending on public safety projects from 2008 to 2013 (in billion U.S. dollars)
U.S. public construction spending on transportation projects from 2008 to 2013 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Value of new private non-residential construction put in place in Texas from 2003 to 2015 (in million U.S. dollars)
Value of U.S. amusement and recreation construction put in place from 2002 to 2011 (in billion U.S. dollars)
U.S. public construction spending on health care projects from 2008 to 2013 (in billion U.S. dollars)
U.S. public construction spending on conservation and development projects from 2008 to 2013 (in billion U.S. dollars)
Value of new construction put in place in the U.S. in 2018 and 2019, by region (in million U.S. dollars)*
Non-residential construction spending in the United States in 2014, by segment (in billion U.S. dollars)
Total value of new public construction put in place in the U.S. from 1999 to 2018 (in million U.S. dollars)
Forecast for new nonresidential buildings put in place in Canada in 2017 and 2022, by sector (in million Canadian dollars)*
Value of state and local construction put in place in the U.S. in 2017, by leading state (in million U.S. dollars)
Year-on-year (YOY) percentage change of non-residential construction starts in Canada from 2015 to 2021
Distribution of construction spending in Asia in 2014, by sector
Industry revenue of »construction« in Greece from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
Semiannual evolution of the international order book of the main construction companies in Spain between June 2015 and June 2016
Enterprises with at least ten persons employed that introduced at least a product or process innovation in Italy from 2012 to 2014, by macro-region
Total number of employees in the construction industry in Malta from 2008 to 2014
Industry revenue of »demolition« in Romania from 2011 to 2023 (in million U.S. Dollars)
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Absorbents based on chemically modified lime are highly reactive. Due to their high reactivity, absorbents are used in a multitude of industrial processes - mainly for flue gas treatment in power plants, but also for water treatment.
AFESIKOS
AFESIKOS is an iron-free, synthetic, mineral-based, environment-friendly blasting agent; it is especially suitable for gentle blast cleaning of sensitive surfaces, e.g. stainless steel surfaces.
Alkali-silica reaction
The alkali-silica reaction (ASR in short) is a chemical reaction occurring in concrete between the soluble silica present in rock-based aggregates and the alkali and hydroxide ions present in the concrete's pore solution. This reaction produces an alkali-silica gel which due to its water-absorbing tendency can cause expansion and cracks as the concrete hardens. The detrimental alkali-silica reaction can be avoided by purposefully using hard coal fly ash as the main cement component.
Abbreviation for alkali-silica reaction (see Alkali-silica reaction)
"Betonkopp"
"Betonkopp" is the name of a comic-strip character developed specifically for STEAG Power Minerals' customer magazine SEGMENT which is published twice per year. "Betonkopp" translates literally as "concrete head" and, in the German dialect spoken in the Ruhr district, means a somewhat stubborn man. In each of his articles in the magazine, Betonkopp addresses a current topic. And last not least: He is also keen to learn what readers think about SEGMENT in general and about his own articles in particular.
Bottom ash is a mineral-based by-product arising from the combustion in coal in power plants. In the combustion process, coal particles are blown into a dry furnace at a temperature of around 1,200°C. Depending on its origin, the coal used contains between 64 and 95 percent of carbon and 5 to 35 percent of non-combustible mineral constituents. In den combustion process, the carbon is burned while 10 to 15 percent of the non-combustible mineral constituents agglomerate and fall to the furnace bottom. This ash is rapidly cooled down and removed from the boiler; the dark-gray, porous material thereby produced is called "bottom ash".
Calcium sulfate
Calcium sulfate is the chemical name for gypsum. (see Gypsum)
Calcium sulfate dihydrate
Calcium sulfate dihydrate is the chemical name for the gypsum arising in flue gas desulfurization plants ("FGD gypsum") (see FGD-gypsum)
Concrete is a mixture of a binder (normally cement produced from limestone and clay as raw materials), aggregate (sand, gravel), water and, as the case may be, additives (e.g. fly ash). STEAG produces and supplies high-quality concrete additives designed to improve strength, workability, compressibility and water demand of the concrete.
FGD gypsum
FGD gypsum is gypsum obtained from flue gas desulfurization (FGD) systems in power plants (see Opens internal link in current windowflue gas desulfurization). In the FGD system, sulfur is removed from the flue gas by "scrubbing". steagips® is produced only in wet scrubbing processes, where an aqueous suspension of limestone or calcium oxide is sprayed into the flue gas flow. In a first step, the sulfur dioxide contained in the flue gas is converted to calcium sulfite; reacting with the oxygen in air, the calcium sulfite then oxidizes to form calcium sulfate. The calcium sulfate dihydrate, occurring in suspension in water, is referred to as "FGD gypsum", and is separated in a mechanical process from the aqueous phase and dewatered to a residual moisture content of about 10 percent. Steagips® is available in moist, fine-grained form.
Fly ash
Hard coal fly ash is a fine dust arising in the coal combustion process; it consists mainly of spherical, vitreous particles. Fly ash has puzzolanic properties and mainly consists of SiO2 and Al2O3. STEAG produces hard coal fly ash in its own modern hard coal fired power plants and also recycles fly ash arising in third-party power plants in Europe.
General building inspectorate approval
On application, the Deutsches Institut für Bautechnik (DIBt) can grant a general building inspectorate approval for building materials and building techniques for which no generally accepted rules of sound engineering practice exist. Once granted, the general building inspectorate approval is proof of the usability of such materials and techniques and thus approval for their use in the building industry.
Glass granulate
Glass granulate is an iron-free reusable blasting abrasive. Similarly to glass beads, it is also used for finish blasting and cleaning of sensitive surfaces, but with its angular form it is slightly more aggressive and has a greater abrasive effect. Furthermore, it is optimally usable for the production of visual effects such as matting of metallic surfaces, and for treatment of non-ferrous metals.
Glass bead blasting abrasives from STEAG Power Minerals are made from fused sodium glass, and are therefore especially environmentally friendly. The iron-free beads are suitable for a wide range of applications, and are used, for example, for finish blasting and burnishing, shot peening, cleaning of sensitive surfaces and blasting of non-ferrous metals.
High-sulfur coal
Coal consists of organic matter, minerals and water. The organic matter mainly consists of carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, sulfur and oxygen, with the percentages of the different constituent elements varying depending on the origin and type of the coal. If the percentage of sulfur in the coal is 2 % or more, then the coal is considered to be a high-sulfur coal.
Hydration heat
The chemical-physical reaction of cement with water is called hydration. The heat released in this reaction is referred to as hydration heat. Adding "steament®" hard coal fly ash to the concrete not only contributes to achieving a higher ultimate strength of the concrete, but also to reducing hydration heat. This effect is of particular benefit when massive concrete parts have to be produced in very hot regions (e.g. in the Arab countries or in Africa), because less hydration heat means a lower risk of crack formation.
Loss on ignition
"Loss on ignition" is the percentage of unburned carbon in fly ash. In the electricity production process, hard coal is burned in a steam boiler furnace, and this combustion process gives rise to hard coal fly ash. The percentage of unburned carbon contained in fly ash is what we generally refer to as "loss on ignition". For fly ash to DIN EN 450-1, the loss on ignition must not exceed 5 %.
Photoment
Photoment® is an innovative, photocatalytically active concrete additive. It consists of fine-grained, mainly glassy particles of silicon, aluminum and iron oxides and titanium dioxide (TiO2); titanium dioxide is known for its use as a white pigment in paints and plastic materials. Photoment® has been designed to improve the air quality and the quality of life.
Pozzolanicity
In terms of chemical composition, steament® hard coal fly ash is similar to volcanic tuffs, and it is therefore also referred to as "artificial pozzolan". Pozzolanicity is the ability of pozzolans to form, in the presence of moisture and lime or cement, cementitious products in concrete, so-called calcium silicate hydrates (C-S-H phases). C-S-H phases present in concrete not only increase the strength of the concrete, but also result in a denser pore structure which is less penetrable by gases and liquids. The citizens of the Italian town of Pozzuoli could never have imagined that the name of their town one day would be associated with an important material property of the hard coal fly ash steament®. They noticed, however, that they were able to produce hardening construction materials by using the volcanic tuffs occurring in their region. Named after their town, finely ground tuff is also called "natural pozzolan".
A power plant is a technical facility designed for electricity production. The core competencies of STEAG are engineering, implementation and operation of highly efficient power plants based on fossil fuels (hard coal, natural gas, refinery by-products) and renewable sources of energy (biomass, biogas, mine gas, geothermal energy and wind).
Power plant byproducts
Fly ash, slag-tap granulate, bottom ash, and FGD gypsum from flue gas desulfurization plants are power plant by-products arising from the hard coal combustion process. Each year, STEAG recycles about 5 million metric tons of power plant byproducts, by marketing them to customers around the world.
Refuse derived fuels
Refuse derived fuels (RDF) excel in their high heating value and are an environmentally friendly alternative to other fuels, as they are produced from waste. Most of the RDFs supplied by STEAG come from wastewater treatment in sewage plants; by using such RDFs in their power plants our clients can considerably improve their CO2 balance, as RDF of biological origin can be a substitute for fossil fuels burned in power plants.
SEGMENT is the customer magazine published by STEAG Power Minerals. Two bilingual (German/English) issues published every year inform our customers and partners about current topics around fly ash, concrete, cement, FGD gypsum, blasting abrasives and many other topics.
Single-use blasting abrasive
Single-use blasting abrasives are mineral based abrasives whose abrasive particles disintegrate on impact on the surface to be cleaned or which are heavily contaminated in the blast cleaning process; their useful life is therefore limited to a single use. AFESIKOS and ASILIKOS are single-use blasting abrasives supplied by STEAG Power Minerals.
steagips
steagips is the trade name of the FGD gypsum supplied by STEAG Power Minerals (see FGD gypsum)
steament
steament is the trade name of the fly ash supplied by STEAG Power Minerals (see Ofly ash)
steasint
steasint is the trade name of the bottom ash supplied by STEAG Power Minerals (see bottom ash)
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Sunshine and clouds mixed. High near 90F. Winds SW at 5 to 10 mph..
Kris Long.
Flag display on Common to raise awareness of deaths due to overdoses
By JEFF PETERSON FOR THE FOXBORO REPORTER
On the days leading up to Labor Day weekend, the Town Common will be carpeted by nearly 8,000 multi-colored miniature flags to raise awareness of those who lost their lives to addictions in Massachusetts over the past four years.
Spearheaded by Foxboro Jaycees, the local display is being planned in conjunction with Overdose Awareness Day, a global event held each year on Aug. 31 and dedicated to helping eliminate overdose deaths.
“When you go and see a flag representing your own loved one it shows that somebody cares,” said organizer Kris Long of Foxboro, a past Jaycee president currently serving on the local board of directors. “It validates their experiences” as well as the heartache.
Accompanied fellow Jaycee Linda Walsh, Long appeared before selectmen last week seeking permission to use the Common, both for the multi-day memorial display and an 11 a.m. gathering at the Common bandstand on Sunday, Sept. 1 featuring entertainment, information and speakers focusing on the addictions crisis.
“I just want to bring to light that a lot of lives have been lost,” said Long, whose two children have struggled with addiction-related issues.
Billed as “The Stakes are High: Remembering Those Lost to the Crisis,” Long said she hopes the Sept. 1 event will include prospective speakers like local legislators Paul Feeney and Jay Barrows, addicts now in recovery sharing their personal stories, and even Gov. Charlie Baker, who has made the opioid crisis a focus of his administrative agenda.
Walsh told selectmen the green, blue, yellow and purple lawn flags will be located on the north end of the Common surrounding the bandstand, with different colors designating the years 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 grouped separately into four sections in between the spoked walkways.
The flags will be accompanied by small lawn signs purchased by sponsors to help offset costs that will present facts about the opioid crisis.
Due to backlogs and other difficulties in confirming many deaths by overdose, Long said a precise number is virtually impossible to establish. However, she said the cumulative number for the four years in question will be between 7,800 and 8,000 deaths.
“Because of that these numbers can never really be final,” Long said. “People don’t always understand that.”
According Long, the effect will hopefully evoke similar sentiments to recent memorial galleries which blanket landscapes with thousands of small flags in honor of American service personnel.
“It’s a reflection,” she said. “It’s not meant to be somber.”
Walsh assured board members it would not disrupt the weekly Thursday-night Farmer’s Market held on the south end of the Common.
“I hope it’s something that is going to grab people’s attention,” Long observed.
“I think it will be an outstanding reality check,” agreed Selectmen Chairman Mark Elfman.
Long, who works for Gatehouse Treatment, a multi-facility drug treatment program located in Nashua, N.H., is also attempting to arrange for actor and filmmaker Mark Wahlberg to document the summer-end event in Foxboro.
Wahlberg’s youth foundation was instrumental in producing “The Circle of Addiction: A Different Kind of Tears,” a 2018 documentary filmed in Manchester, N.H. to raise awareness about the dangers associated with prescription drug misuse and abuse and the dangers of addiction.
That documentary was written and directed by Jim Wahlberg, the actor’s brother, who has his own history with addiction. More info at: www.stakesarehigh.org.
Kris Long
Linda Walsh
Foxboro Jaycees
Mark Elfman
Tweets by @foxbororeporter
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‘Wild Rose’ Film Review: Jessie Buckley Shines as a Scottish Singer With Nashville Dreams
This star-is-born tale is old as time, but Buckley’s powerful musical and dramatic performance is a standout
Yolanda Machado | June 19, 2019 @ 8:30 AM
The story at the heart of “Wild Rose” is one that has been told time and time again, yet director Tom Harper (“The Woman in Black 2”) and screenwriter Nicole Taylor (“Secret Diary of a Call Girl”) weave a stirring, dynamic, and joyously unexpected coming-of-age tale with a potentially star-making performance from lead Jessie Buckley (“Chernobyl”).
After being in prison for a year, Rose-Lynn (Buckley) is ready to pick up right where her life in Glasgow left off. Outfitted with her signature white cowboy boots, her music, and a leather jacket, her first destination is to her boyfriend’s home for a quick romp. It seems like she’s a woman without a care in the world, independent and free, until she ends up at her actual destination: the home of her mother Marion (Julie Walters), who has been raising Rose-Lynn’s five- and eight-year-old children for the past year or so.
Immediately the weight of responsibility is placed on her shoulders, with a son that doesn’t remember her and a daughter that refuses to speak to her, and all Rose-Lynn wants to do is run off to follow her dream of becoming a country singer.
Watch Video: 'Wild Rose' Writer Explains How 'X Factor' Inspired Buzzy Drama (Exclusive)
Marion helps Rose-Lynn find a place to live and a job as a housekeeper for well-meaning, wealthy, kindhearted Susannah (Sophie Okonedo), who is charmed by Rose-Lynn’s wild personality and enraptured by her voice. Not without good reason though, because oh, that voice! Rose-Lynn is an incredible singer, completely devoted to country music because it’s “three chords and the truth,” something she believes so deeply in, it’s tattooed on her arm.
Slowly, Rose-Lynn starts to be comfortable with her day-to-day life, slowly learning to navigate motherhood on her own. But when Susannah presents a chance to help Rose-Lynn get to Nashville so that she can attempt to fulfill her dream, Rose-Lynn’s options, and her secrets, will test who she is and determine who she will become.
Also Read: Halfway Through 'Taboo,' Lorna Bow Is Show's MVP (Commentary)
Taylor’s script excels at digging into the layers beneath Rose-Lynn’s tough-girl exterior. You simultaneously want to scold her to get her life together already while also rooting for her to follow her dreams at all costs. Personally, I loved the portrait of a mother who was not perfect, one who loves her family but is caught between her destiny and her reality. As a mother myself, I was touched to see how delicately this balance was handled.
Far too many stories sell a picture of motherhood where being a mom is the entire basis of a character, and if she dares have dreams and goals of her own, then she’s clearly a bad mother. The reality is so much more complicated. While Taylor offers opportunities to wave a finger at Rose-Lynn’s choices, she never presents the issues as black-and-white, always doing so with a quiet ease.
Also Read: Country Singer Granger Smith's 3-Year-Old Son Dies in Tragic Accident
Harper wisely makes the story feel familiar while never giving a clue on what will happen next. He knows just when to step back and let Buckley lead the audience, and when to jump in to guide the story softly to the next level. Ultimately, of course, it’s Buckley who makes Rose-Lynn soar off the screen. It’s a dazzling, raw, intoxicating performance, and when she sings, it’s simply electric. The real life singer-songwriter bares her soul in each note. Buckley gently lets the audience into the world of a dreamer, stuck in a cocoon, afraid to break free and fly as the woman she is, instead of the girl she once was.
The soundtrack itself is fantastic, and I say this as someone who is not a fan of country music. Whether performing cover songs or original tunes she co-wrote, there’s a magical intensity in Buckley’s vocals that any vocalist could admire. Much like the film itself, the final song “Glasgow” (co-written by actress Mary Steenburgen) is a heart-wrenching, gorgeous ode to life that crackles with sentiment and hits your heart like a ton of bricks.
29 Most Anticipated Summer Movies, From 'Long Shot' to 'Hobbs and Shaw' (Photos)
From "Detective Pikachu" to "Blinded by the Light," this summer has movies for just about every type of moviegoer.
"Long Shot" (May 3)
This rom-com pairing of Charlize Theron and Seth Rogen will have you laughing so much your stomach will hurt. Rogen plays a writer who gets hired by Theron during her tenure as Secretary of State -- but of course, romance gets the best of them.
"Extremely Wicked, Shockingly Evil and Vile" (May 3)
Zac Efron plays infamous serial killer Ted Bundy in Joe Berlinger's film, which debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival. It is told from the perspective of Bundy's former girlfriend, played by Lily Collins.
"Wine Country" (May 10)
Amy Poehler's feature directorial debut follows a group of friends who have an epic 50th birthday celebration for their friend in Napa. Maya Rudolph, Ana Gasteyer, Rachel Dratch and Tina Fey star -- so we're confident this is going to be one hilarious romp.
"Detective Pikachu" (May 10)
Whether you lived through the era of Pokemon or not, you know it was a worldwide phenomenon. Pairing the cutest Pokemon of all with the voice of Ryan Reynolds seems like a home run.
"John Wick: Chapter 3" (May 17)
The "John Wick" franchise has worked well for Lionsgate, and footage shown at CinemaCon of Halle Berry, Keanu Reeves and dogs (!) received roars and "Oh dang's!" from the audience. We're in a for a fun ride with this one.
"Booksmart" (May 24)
Olivia Wilde's directorial debut has received praise since its premiere at SXSW. Kaitlyn Dever and Beanie Feldstein play two high schoolers who decide to cram the social side of their entire high school experience (which they spent studying) into one epic night of partying. Jason Sudeikis, Billie Lourd and Will Forte also star.
"Aladdin" (May 24)
Disney has been consistently wowing audiences with their live-action adaptations of their famous IP. Although "Aladdin" had a little bit of a rough start when the first trailer debuted, the latest trailer brought many people around. "Aladdin" stars Will Smith, Naomi Scott, Mena Massoud, Billy Magnussen and Alan Tudyk.
"Brightburn" (May 24)
"Brightburn" offers a more sinister take on a Superman-like legend of a superpowered figure crash-landing on planet Earth, and it stars Elizabeth Banks, David Denman and Matt Jones.
"Rocketman" (May 31)
After the success of the Queen biopic "Bohemian Rhapsody," this film about Elton John is highly anticipated -- especially because director Dexter Fletcher worked on both. "Rocketman" is expected to look at John's tumultuous life. Taron Egerton stars as the famous singer, alongside Richard Madden, Bryce Dallas Howard and Jamie Bell.
"Ma" (May 31)
Octavia Spencer wanted to do something different after dramas like "Hidden Figures" and "The Shape of Water," and something different, she did. Spencer stars in this horror film as a woman who invites teenagers to drink in their basement -- before things take a strange turn.
"X-Men: Dark Phoenix" (June 7)
Jennifer Lawrence takes a back seat to Sophie Turner's Jean Grey in this "X-Men" spinoff, one of the last ones shot for Fox before its acquisition by Disney. The film also features Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Jessica Chastain, Evan Peters -- and many, many more.
"Late Night" (June 7)
Mindy Kaling wrote and stars in "Late Night," which also made a huge splash at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year before it was acquired by Amazon for a whopping $13 million. Emma Thompson stars as a legendary talk show host who must revamp her image to make sure her show doesn't get canceled.
"Men in Black: International" (June 14)
In this new iteration of the "Men in Black" franchise, we see Tessa Thompson and Chris Hemsworth as agents who tackle the organization's biggest threat yet -- a mole. F. Gary Gray directs.
"The Dead Don't Die" (June 14)
Jim Jarmush directs this comedic horror film about zombies starring Chloe Sevigny, Adam Driver, Tilda Swinton, Bill Murray, Steve Buscemi and Selena Gomez.
"Shaft" (June 14)
Samuel L. Jackson returns as John Schaft II nearly two decades after the 2000 reboot of the 1971 blaxploitation movie. Jessie T. Usher stars as his son, an MIT grad and cyber security expert seeking to carry on the family's crime-fighting tradition.
"Toy Story 4" (June 21)
It's been nine years since we saw "Toy Story 3" (and 24 years since the original film hit theaters), and Woody, Buzz, Jessie and Bo Peep are back! This movie will go back to its roots and focus on Woody again.
"Annabelle Comes Home" (June 28)
The "Annabelle" movies have proven a successful spinoff franchise of the "Conjuring" universe, and "Annabelle Comes Home" will be third iteration. This time, the cursed doll is put into the artifacts room of the Warrens for protection -- but of course, she gets out.
"Midsommar" (July 3)
"Midsommar" is Ari Aster's first film since "Hereditary," a film that horrified people across the nation. Florence Pugh, Will Poulter and Jack Reynor star in the film about a summer trip where things quickly take a horrific turn.
"Spider-Man: Far From Home" (July 2)
After "Spider-Man: Homecoming's" successful run at the box office (the film grossed $880.2 million worldwide), Tom Holland will return as Peter Parker in "Far From Home." An added plus? Jake Gyllenhaal joins the cast as villain Mysterio.
"The Farewell" (July 12)
Awkwafina's "The Farewell" debuted to huge fanfare at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, and was bought by A24 for $6 million-plus. Lulu Wang directs a story about a Chinese family that opts not to tell their beloved matriarch about her lung cancer diagnosis, instead scheduling an impromptu wedding reunion to give everyone the chance to say their goodbyes.
"David Crosby: Remember My Name" (July 19)
A.J. Eaton directs this portrait of American singer-songwriter David Crosby, which debuted at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival to huge praise.
"The Lion King" (July 19)
In what might be one of the most anticipated movies of the year, Jon Favreau's live-action adaptation of the classic Disney tale stars huge names like Donald Glover, Billy Eichner, Seth Rogen, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Keegan-Michael Key and Beyonce!
"Once Upon a Time in Hollywood" (July 26)
Quentin Tarantino's new film follows a faded TV star (Leonardo DiCaprio) and his stunt double (Brad Pitt) who try to make it in Hollywood in 1969. Of course, that's the same time Sharon Tate (Margot Robbie) was murdered by members of the Manson Family. The all-star cast also includes Al Pacino, Kurt Russell and Damian Lewis.
"Hobbs and Shaw" (August 2)
This "Fast & Furious" spinoff will focus on two of the best characters from the franchise: Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham). Plus, we get a film that is directed by action master David Leitch and also stars Idris Elba, Eiza Gonzalez and Vanessa Kirby.
"Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark" (August 9)
What would happen to you if you face your fears? Andre Ovredal's film, co-written by Guillermo del Toro, promises to be bonkers.
"The Kitchen" (August 9)
Elisabeth Moss, Tiffany Haddish and Melissa McCarthy star as mob wives who take on their husbands' crimes. Yes, please! Footage shown at CinemaCon wowed audiences -- plus, this is the directorial debut for "Straight Outta Compton" writer Andrea Berloff.
"Blinded by the Light" (August 14)
Gurinder Chadha's "Blinded by the Light," which took the Sundance Film Festival by storm, follows a teenager in 1980s Britain who lives his life through the music of Bruce Springsteen.
"Where’d You Go, Bernadette?" (August 16)
Richard Linklater is back with the adaptation of Maria Semple's 2012 comic novel, which follows Bernadette Fox, a woman who unexpectedly disappears. Cate Blanchett, Kristen Wiig and Judy Greer star.
"Good Boys" (August 16)
Dubbed "Pineapple Express" for young boys, this R-rated comedy stars Jacob Tremblay, Brady Noon and Keith L. Williams as preteens who ditch school to go on a journey while accidentally carrying stolen drugs and trying to make it home for a party. Seth Rogen, James Weaver, Lee Eisenberg and Evan Goldberg produce.
Summer Movie Preview 2019: This summer’s release schedule is full of big studio tentpole films as well as indies and documentaries
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By Juliette Verlaque and Tony Maglio | June 13, 2019 @ 12:43 PM
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Award-Winning Historical Fiction for Middle Grade Readers
13 Novels for Kids in Grades 4 Through 8
Annie Engel/Getty Images
by Elizabeth Kennedy
Elizabeth Kennedy is an educator specializing in early childhood and elementary education who has written about children's literature for over a decade.
These award-winning books of historical fiction for middle-grade readers are all excellent stories. The awards won by this group include the prestigious John Newbery Medal, the Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction, and the National Book Award for Young People's Literature. These books represent time periods from the 1770s to the 1970s and appeal to kids in the upper elementary and middle school range (grades 4 through 8).
Johnny Tremain
"Johnny Tremain," by Esther Forbes, is a Newbery Medal Winner.
Photo from Amazon
Title: Johnny Tremain
Author: Esther Forbes
Overview: Set in the 1770s, the story of Johnny Tremain, a 14-year-old orphan, is a dramatic one. The book focuses on his involvement in the Revolutionary War and the impact it has on his life.
Awards: 1944 John Newbery Medal
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Publication Date: 1943, 2011
Across Five Aprils
Title: Across Five Aprils
Author: Irene Hunt
Overview: This novel covers five years in the life of young Jethro Creighton. The story focuses on how the Civil War impacts Jethro from the age of 9 to 14, and how it affects his family on their southern Illinois farm.
Awards: Five, including recognition as a 1965 Newbery Honor Book
Title: Dragon's Gate
Author: Laurence Yep
Overview: Set in and around 1867, this coming-of-age story combines Chinese and United States (particularly California) history. This book is the tale of Otter, a 14-year-old Chinese boy who is forced to flee his country and join his father and uncle in California. There, his unrealistic expectations of life in the U.S. come up against the reality of the harsh experiences faced by Chinese immigrants.
Awards: 1994 Newbery Honor Book
Title: The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate
Author: Jacqueline Kelly
Overview: Set in Texas in 1899, this is the story of spunky Calpurnia Tate. She is more interested in science and nature than in learning to be a lady. The story also shows her life with her family, which includes six brothers.
Awards: Newbery Honor Book, several state awards
Publisher: Henry Holt
Title: Zora and Me
Authors: Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon
Overview: This novel is based on the childhood of author and folklorist Zora Neale Hurston. It takes place around 1900, during the year Hurston was in the fourth grade and living (and telling stories) in Eatonville, an all-black community in Florida.
Awards: 2011 Coretta Scott King/John Steptoe Award for New Talent; also endorsed by the Zora Neale Hurston Trust
ISBN: 97800763643003
Title: The Dreamer
Author: Pam Munoz Ryan
Overview: This novel by Pam Munoz Ryan is based on the life of Chilean poet Pablo Neruda (1904-1973). The story tells how a sickly boy whose father wants him to go into business becomes, instead, a beloved poet.
Awards: 2011 Pura Belpre Author Award
Publisher: Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc.
Moon Over Manifest
Title: Moon Over Manifest
Author: Clare Vanderpool
Overview: The story, which is set in southeast Kansas during the Depression, moves between two time periods. It's 1936 when 12-year-old Abilene Tucker comes to Manifest, Kansas, and 1918 during her father's youth there. The story weaves together mysteries and the search for home.
Awards: 2011 John Newbery Medal, 2011 Spur Award for Best Western Juvenile Fiction from the Western Writers of America
Publisher: Delacorte Press, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books, a division of Random House, Inc.
Breaking Stalin's Nose
Title: Breaking Stalin's Nose
Author: Eugene Yelchin
Overview: "Breaking Stalin's Nose" is set in 1930s Moscow where 10-year-old Sasha is eagerly looking forward to the next day. This is when he will become a Young Pioneer, demonstrating his loyalty to his country and to Joseph Stalin, his hero. Over the tumultuous course of two days, Sasha's life and his perception of Stalin change as members of Stalin’s Secret Service take his father away and Sasha finds himself rejected by those he seeks out for help. It's up to him to decide what he should do next.
Awards: 2012 Newbery Honor Book and 2012 Top Ten Historical Fiction for Youth, Booklist
Publisher: Henry Holt and Company, Macmillan
Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Title: Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry
Author: Mildred D. Taylor
Overview: One of eight books about the Logan family based on the author's family history, "Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry" focuses on the hardships the black farming family faces in Mississippi during the Depression.
Awards: 1977 John Newbery Medal, Boston Globe-Horn Book Award Honor Book
Title: Countdown, Book 1 The Sixties Trilogy: 3 Novels of the 1960s for Young Readers
Author: Deborah Wiles
Overview: The first in a trilogy, this novel is about an 11-year-old girl and her family in 1962 during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Photos and other artifacts from the time period add to the book's appeal.
Awards: Publisher’s Weekly Best Book of the Year, 2010
Publisher: Scholastic Press, an imprint of Scholastic, Inc., 2010
Dead End in Norvelt
Title: Dead End in Norvelt
Author: Jack Gantos
Overview: Set in Norvelt, Pennsylvania, Gantos uses his own childhood experiences and his vivid imagination to create the story of 12-year-old Jack Gantos in the summer of 1962. Gantos combines appealing characters, mysteries, small-town adventures, humor, history, and life lessons to create a novel that will appeal to kids aged 10 to 14.
Awards: 2012 Scott O’Dell Award winner for young people's historical fiction and the 2012 John Newbery Medal for children’s literature
Publisher: Farrar, Straus, Giroux, an imprint of Macmillan Publishers
Title: One Crazy Summer
Author: Rita Williams-Garcia
Overview: Set in the 1960s, this novel is unusual in that it focuses on the Black Panther movement in the context of one African American family. The story is set during the summer when three sisters, who have been raised by their father and grandmother, visit their mother in California where she is involved in the Black Panther movement.
Awards: 2011 Scott O’Dell Prize for Historical Fiction, 2011 Coretta Scott King Author Award, 2011 Newbery Honor Book
Publisher: Amistad, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers
Title: Inside Out & Back Again
Author: Thanhha Lai
Overview: This novel by Thanhha Lai is based on her life and her experiences with leaving Vietnam in the mid-'70s when she was 10 and the difficult adjustment to life in the United States.
Awards: 2011 National Book Award for Young People's Literature
The John Newbery Medal for Young People's Literature is a Big Deal!
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Beverly Cleary, Author of Ramona Quimby and More Terrific Kids' Books
7 Young Adult Novels That Encourage Discussions on Racism
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CHARLOTTE, N.C. — On July 11, 2014, a total of 16 Soldiers from the 108th Training Command HQ attended the Military Appreciation Luncheon at the Billy Graham Library in Charlotte, N.C. The following were Soldier’s reflections and comments on this event.
Lt. Col. Val Clay
(108th TC, EO OIC)
It was a pleasure to be invited to the Billy Graham library for a Military Appreciation Luncheon. A number of 108th Soldiers were invited to lunch by the Billy Graham staff. Major Tang, 108th AGR Chaplain, gathered the group together as we left from the headquarters parking lot. A number of people had never been there before; I had been there once before myself. When we pulled into the parking lot we were greeted by volunteers of the library. We saw the house where Billy Graham grew up, it was moved from its original site just a few miles from the library in Charlotte. We entered the Library through the base of the cross-shaped entrance. It was a unique experience to enter a building that way. Once inside we were guided to the lunch area by other smiling volunteers.
The luncheon was very special. We were thanked for our service; there was singing and some story-telling. There were also service members representing all branches of the services there. We proudly sang the Army Song as we saluted one another. After the luncheon was over we went on a tour of the library. The tour described the early years of Billy Graham, how he met his wife, the lives he impacted and the countries he helped shaped through the word of the Lord. The 108th Soldiers felt the experience was both breathtaking and educational. It was truly a spiritually uplifting experience that should be shared with others.
Sgt. 1st Class Poore
(108th TC, HHC, Training NCO)
I really enjoyed the lunch today. The Billy Graham Library put on a real class event. I grew up in this area and remember Billy Graham on TV back in the seventies and early eighties. The work he has done and the work his son continues to do is truly a blessing for the world. There is a special place in heaven for him and his son. The library brought back many fond memories of days gone by. I only wish I could have had another BBQ sandwich!
Sgt. Shinika Lambert (108th TC, G1, Human Resources Specialist)
I had the opportunity to participate in the Billy Graham Library Military Appreciation Luncheon and Tour. I am still overwhelmed with emotions from this powerful experience. The hospitality provided was outstanding and the appreciation expressed to all of the military branches was beyond measure. I proudly put on my uniform every day. The demonstration of love shown by those reminded me that others truly recognize the sacrifices made by the men and women in the Armed Forced who are dedicated to representing the “Land of the Free”. Need I say more?
I thoroughly enjoyed the luncheon, program and tour. I found Billy Graham’s Christian values to be in line with our Army Values. He was loyal to God, and understood his duty to share the good news of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. He respected those of all genders, races and nationalities, even during the times of segregation he expressed that God’s love and salvation was for everyone. He demonstrated numerous acts of selfless service when he responded to national crisis. He honored the commitment to evangelize when he was offered other prestigious opportunities. He maintained his integrity and the integrity of the bible without compromising. His personal courage has resulted in millions of people developing a relationship with God. It also serves as an example to Christians how we should boldly share the good news with others we come in contact with and live a life that exemplifies the characteristics of Christ. I am so humbled to have participated in this event.
Sgt. 1st Class Regina Clay
(North East Retention Command, ARRTD NCO)
I was highly impressed with everything and everyone. I thought Bessie (the cow) did an outstanding job of narrating the life of Billy Graham – very educational. All the personnel greeted you with a friendly and pleasant smile and you could feel their loving spirits. The food was delicious. The atmosphere was so energetic and inspiring. I will be going back another day to take my time and enjoy the tour. I am going to take my daughter and my grandchildren. I will spread the word to others as well. It was a great experience.
Maj. Chad Byas
(G-7 AGR OIC)
I would like to thank Chaplain Tang for arranging such a wonderful trip to the Billy Graham Library. I knew Billy Graham had a voice that reached far and wide. I did not realize how far it reached, and how many hearts he touched. I told my wife about the library. It is definitely something both she and my kids must experience. Once again, thank you so much. I look forward to visiting the library in the future
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Polish feminism is no longer ridiculed
Agnieszka Graff
The Polish government's new commitment to gender equality is a triumph for the feminist movement's strategic change of focus
Sat 9 Apr 2011 05.00 EDT First published on Sat 9 Apr 2011 05.00 EDT
Poland's prime minister, Donald Tusk, has said his government will listen closely to the recommendations of the Women's Congress. Photograph: Reuters
For a good part of the last two decades, becoming a feminist was a sure way to make oneself ridiculous in Poland. You were viewed as a naive enthusiast of western ideas, supposedly irrelevant to Polish culture, or worse – a fossil from former times, a communist. Well, the days of feminist martyrdom are over: in the runup to Poland's presidency of the European Union, women's rights have become a serious and respectable topic of public debate. Feminism is all but a fad, with major celebrities speaking publicly for equality, and attending Women's Day street demonstrations. The third European Women's Congress, planned for September 2011 in Warsaw, is presented as one of the presidency's major events, a showcase of Poland's successful modernisation. The prime minister, Donald Tusk, recently said in a speech that his government intends to listen closely to the recommendations of the congress.
How did this happen? And is it true commitment to gender justice or mere public relations? In part, the movement owes its new visibility to a strategic change of focus. After 20 years of exhausting and fruitless struggle for reproductive rights, its efforts have shifted. Given the enormous political influence of the Catholic church, legalisation of abortion is likely to remain a fantasy for decades. But there are areas where both massive mobilisation and real success is possible. The new strategy is to downplay topics that divide women (abortion and sexual minority rights) and to attract celebrity women who will bring in crowds. The "patrons" of the Women's Congress include legend of underground "Solidarity" Henryka Krzywonos, Danuta Wałęsa (Lech Wałęsa's wife), former first lady Jolanta Kwaśniewska and novelist Olga Tokarczuk.
Within just two years of its birth, the congress has managed to bring about two major changes in law: 35% electoral quotas and a bill on childcare for under-threes, both passed by parliament in recent months. The two bills were viciously attacked by the right as dangerous to family values, and are justly criticised by the left as insufficient. Why require parties to place 35% women on election lists and not the 50% as originally demanded? Why is the childcare reform so poorly funded? Still, these are the movement's first tangible achievements – pro-woman legislation won through activism and not forced by EU regulations.
Together, the laws may bring about real change. Poland has one of the lowest proportions of women in the labour market in Europe (53%, compared with the EU average of about 60%). Lack of accessible childcare is a major factor. Workplace discrimination is widespread. The wage gap, now broadly discussed in the media, is about 23%. The last to be hired, the first to be fired, more likely to be stuck with uncertain, short-term employment with no benefits, women have clearly been losers in Poland's turn to free market economy. Young women lose their jobs when pregnant, older women are pushed out of their jobs and asked to retire. Prospects for a decent pension may be grim for all, due to financial and demographic crises, but they are far grimmer for women, who not only earn less, but retire five years earlier then men (60 and 65 respectively). If enough women can leave toddlers in nursery schools and head to work, and if enough women can get elected and press for gender justice, at least some of this might change.
The women's movement is now big enough to be internally divided. Magdalena Środa – the charismatic intellectual who is the brain behind the Congress – is often vilified by the right as a leftist ideologue, man-hater and destroyer of the family. But in fact the Women's Congress is the moderate wing of Polish feminism. The true radicals – groups of leftwing women who work in feminist NGOs and organise annual street demonstrations known as Manifa, criticise the congress for its neoliberal agenda, its flirtation with the government, and its disregard for poor women. Its leading figures (and much of its funding) come from the business world, and meetings are often held in the Warsaw stock market. The goal of this year's Manifa was to publicise the atrocious employment conditions of nurses and women working in supermarkets, its slogan: "Enough exploitation." Meanwhile the congress is initiating a campaign for quotas on boards of directors.
Another cause for controversy is that the congress has abandoned the struggle for reproductive rights. Abortion was banned in Poland in 1993, and a huge underground has evolved. With sex education long gone from schools, and religion lessons securely installed in its stead, public debate about sexuality and motherhood is run by the Catholic church – a discourse of shame, not rights. Can reproductive freedom be strategically placed on a back burner for a time, and then made central again when women have gained political power? It sounds like a good plan, but the "right time" may never arrive, and meanwhile the conservative forces continue to push their agenda. The struggle for abortion long lost, we now need to defend in vitro fertilisation, which – like abortion – is viewed as "murder" by the church.
The rifts within the movement may be painful, but "Polish feminism" is certainly no longer an oxymoron. After two decades of talk about the "special status of women in Poland", supposedly due to the importance of the Virgin Mary in national culture, commitment to gender equality is becoming a new selling point for Poland as an EU member. The new feminism may be somewhat shy on issues close to the heart of the Catholic church, but given Poland's well-earned reputation for conservatism, homophobia and abuse of women's reproductive rights, mainstream enthusiasm for gender justice is a welcome change.
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More Than 168,000 Patients' Information Stolen in Los Angeles County Computer Theft
By George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law
Around 168,500 patients of Los Angeles County medical facilities are receiving letters that their personal data was stolen. According to the Los Angeles Times, on February 5, 2014, an office of Sutherland Healthcare Solutions, which handles billing and collections for the county's Department of Health Services and Department of Public Health, was burglarized and computer equipment stolen.
Click here to read the entire article from the Los Angeles Times.
Stolen Equipment May Have Contained Patients' Personal and Medical Information.
According to an article on Health IT Security, the office was broken into on February 5, 2014. Sutherland notified county workers overseeing compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) on February 10, 2014, but it was unclear how many patients were affected. On February 25, 2014, Sutherland confirmed that county patients' personal information was stolen.
In all, eight computers and two monitors were stolen. The computers allegedly contained data including patients' first and last names, Social Security numbers, and certain medical and billing information. According to the Los Angeles Times, the computers may also have contained patients' birth dates, addresses and diagnoses. To read the article from Health IT Security, click here.
Breach Under Investigation.
Currently the theft is under investigation. It is not yet known whether the patient data was the intended target of the burglary or whether the data has been used in identity theft since. According to the Los Angeles Times, Sutherland had privacy and security processes, as well as security systems in place at the time of the theft. Los Angeles County authorities are looking into whether this breach could have been prevented.
Warning to HIPAA Covered Entities Regarding Risk Assessments.
HIPAA covered entities are responsible for making sure all personal information is protected. Entities are also required to undertake a careful risk analysis to understand the threats and vulnerabilities to individuals’ data, and have safeguards in place to protect this information.
HIPAA laws have most likely changed since you last edited your privacy forms and procedures. Many health providers simply do not have the time to re-review their policies and revise documents. In a perfect practice, this would be done every six months. To learn more on HIPAA risk assessments, click here.
Contact a Health Law Attorney Experienced in Defending HIPAA Complaints and Violations.
The attorneys of The Health Law Firm represent physicians, medical groups, nursing homes, home health agencies, pharmacies, hospitals, and other health care providers and institutions in investigating and defending alleged HIPAA complaints and violations and in preparing Corrective Action Plans (CAPs).
For more information about HIPAA violations, electronic health records or corrective action plans (CAPs), please visit our website at www.TheHealthLawFirm.com or call (407) 331-6620 or (850) 439-1001.
Does your office and/or practice have an annual security risk assessment? Do you think risk analyses are important? Please leave any thoughtful comments below.
Sewell, Abby. "Computers with L.A. County Patients' Personal Data Are Stolen." Los Angeles Times. (March 6, 2014). From: http://lat.ms/1n3eWeP
Health IT Security. "Los Angeles County DHS Reveals 168,000 Patient Data Breach." Health IT Security. (March 7, 2014). From: http://healthitsecurity.com/2014/03/07/los-angeles-county-dhs-reveals-168000-patient-data-breach/
About the Author: George F. Indest III, J.D., M.P.A., LL.M., is Board Certified by The Florida Bar in Health Law. He is the President and Managing Partner of The Health Law Firm, which has a national practice. Its main office is in the Orlando, Florida, area. www.TheHealthLawFirm.com The Health Law Firm, 1101 Douglas Ave., Altamonte Springs, FL 32714, Phone: (407) 331-6620.
Tag Words: corrective action plan (CAP), data security, defense attorney, defense lawyer, Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), health law firm, HIPAA attorney, HIPAA compliance, HIPAA compliance audit, HIPAA lawyer, HIPAA risk assessment, medical history, medical records, Office of Civil Rights (OCR), Omnibus Rule, Omnibus rule compliance deadline, Patient privacy, patient records, privacy, protected health information (PHI), health law firm, the health law firm
"The Health Law Firm" is a registered fictitious business name of George F. Indest III, P.A. - The Health Law Firm, a Florida professional service corporation, since 1999.
Copyright © 1996-2014 The Health Law Firm. All rights reserved.
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Ode to Virginia Woolf
Virginia Woolf the great lover of words and considered a prominent author in modernist writing during the 20th Century. She's attributed to being one of the pioneers in the narrative mode of writing known as 'Stream of Consciousness', a style we're quite used to reading in today but utterly groundbreaking at the turn of the 20th Century.
There is a nod in the background of my portrait to Bloomsbury, a group of intellectuals and artists of which Virginia was a key member. I am just embarking upon reading the beautiful Penguin Clothbound edition of 'Orlando', written in 1928 and one of her lighter novels intended as a portrait of her enigmatic lover Vita Sackville West.
Sadly, Woolf suffered with mental illness throughout her life and committed suicide in 1941 at the age of just 59. But she lives on inspiring others through her brilliant works which have been translated into over 50 languages.
Tags Virginia Woolf, Bloomsbury, Bloomsbury Group, Female Writer, Women Who Paint, Inspirational Women, Orlando, Portrait Painting, Portrait, Gouache, Turner Acryl Gouache, Watercolour, Watercolor, Watercolour Painting
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With Sochi Locked Down, Worries Arise of an Attack Elsewhere
By Yekaterina Kravtsova
Russian security officers riding a chairlift above the men’s Olympic downhill skiing course at the Rosa Khutor alpine resort near Sochi on Saturday. Kai Pfaffenbach
Amid unprecedented security measures by the authorities to secure Sochi for the Winter Olympics, observers have expressed concerns that other cities in Russia have been left unprotected, with law enforcement personnel and technical equipment needed to prevent terrorist attacks having been concentrated in the Olympic capital.
Some Russian regions, including Moscow, have announced that security measures will be intensified until the end of the Games on Feb. 23, and that particular attention will be paid to the security of airports and railway stations to catch potential terrorists who may be in transit or are targeting busy transportation hubs.
The U.S., which has offered Russia assistance in securing the Games by sending FBI agents to Sochi and Moscow, as well as fighter jets and warships to the Black Sea, also said that a key concern was the possibility of a terrorist targeting locations outside the main event areas.
"The biggest issue from my perspective is not the Games themselves, the venues themselves," U.S. National Counterterrorism Center director Matthew Olsen told the Senate Intelligence Committee last week. "There is extensive security at those locations — the sites of the events. The greater threat is to softer targets in the greater Sochi area, in the outskirts beyond Sochi, where there is a substantial potential for a terrorist attack."
President Vladimir Putin has said security will be guaranteed in Sochi, with about 40,000 personnel employed in the effort, but he has not specifically addressed concerns about other potential targets.
But other targets appear to be more vulnerable. In late December, two terrorist bombers blew themselves up in separate attacks in Volgograd, leaving 34 people dead.
In Moscow, law enforcement authorities will operate a robust security regime until mid-March. Alexei Mayorov, head of regional security at Moscow City Hall, said in an interview with Moskva FM radio last week that police would work more intensively during this period and that all crowded places would be patrolled more actively and often. He said some 500 volunteers would also help law enforcement personnel at airports and railway stations.
"Moscow, as the capital, cannot stand aloof," Mayorov said. "It is a large transportation hub — Olympic visitors and official delegations will go to Sochi via Moscow."
Security at airports throughout the country has been strengthened since early January, with the Federal Air Transportation Agency banning all liquids on board flights, saying that attacks by terrorists using improvised bombs were possible. The ban will be in effect until late March.
Safety measures in Moscow and St. Petersburg will be greatly increased, making them the two most protected cities in Russia after Sochi, according to Gennady Gudkov, former deputy head of the State Duma's Security Committee.
"I believe it is impossible to attack Sochi — it is fully protected," said Gudkov, who is also a colonel of the Federal Security Service in reserve.
But he said there was potential for terrorist attacks outside Sochi during the Olympics because it was impossible to introduce security equal to that in Sochi in all regions of Russia.
Not only Moscow and St. Petersburg are beefing up their security. Additional security measures for the period of the Olympics will be introduced in regions as far away as Tver, the region's Governor Andrei Shevelev said, according to local media. Tver is located almost 2,000 kilometers north of Sochi and is not known as being a hotbed for terrorists.
Some question whether there will be enough security personnel in the regions, however. In November, St. Petersburg-based news outlet Fontanka.ru, citing an unidentified law enforcement official, reported that some 37,000 police officers from different regions would be sent to Sochi to secure the Games.
The report said Moscow police would send some 3,000 officers to Sochi, St. Petersburg would send 1,000, the Tatarstan republic would provide 700, and even such small towns as Klin in the Moscow region would also allocate officers for the Games. These figures could not be confirmed.
Andrei Soldatov, a prominent security services expert who runs the think tank Agentura.ru, said that for terrorists, timing is more crucial than location, so there could be multiple attacks during the Games both in Sochi and beyond.
He said the main security problem was with data collection and the exchange of information between agencies in different regions. When the last major counterterrorism reform was conducted in 2006, he said, the main emphasis was put on fighting large militant groups. Now, Soldatov said, attacks are usually carried out by a single person, and Russian authorities are not fully prepared to prevent such attacks.
"I am appalled that when information about a possible female suicide bomber appeared, law enforcement authorities in Sochi reacted to it too slowly, demonstrating that Russian law enforcement is not trained to work in crisis situations," he said.
In mid-January, police fliers appeared in Sochi saying that a potential suicide bomber, Ruzanna Ibragimova of Dagestan, who had apparently been interrogated in the past by law enforcement officials, may have made it through the ring of security around Sochi. Since then there have been no further reports regarding Ibragimova.
Vulnerable North Caucasus
Gudkov said that North Caucasus republics located close to Sochi, such as Dagestan, the current epicenter of a violent Islamic insurgency, were the most likely targets of terrorist attacks during the Games.
But acting Makhachkala Mayor Murtazali Rabadanov said last month that no additional security measures would be introduced in Dagestan in connection with the Olympics.
In mid-January, a counter-terrorism operation regime was put into place in Makhachkala when law enforcement officers blocked a group of militants in the city after an explosive device was detonated in a city restaurant, injuring 16 people.
"In Makhachkala, security is high all the time," Gudkov said. "It is normal there, they have gotten used to it, so that is why there is no need to introduce additional measures."
Not everyone shares the concerns over terrorist threats in the regions, however. Maxim Agarkov, a terrorism expert with the SK-Strategia think tank, which focuses on the North Caucasus, told a joke in response to a question on potential terror attacks:
"When a blonde was asked whether it was possible to see a dinosaur on the street, she said the odds were 50-50. It is the same in this situation — maybe there will be attacks, maybe not."
But he acknowledged that no city in Russia besides Moscow was protected enough to prevent terrorist threats.
He said that police officers sent to Sochi from the regions were the best-qualified officers in the country but that there would be no lack of security personnel in the regions during the Games.
Soldatov said the problem with officers sent from the regions was that they did not know Sochi well, since they had never worked there.
But Agarkov said he believed no more than 1,000 regional officers were sent to Sochi and that the figure of 37,000 police officers was closer to the total of all the security staff that would be present at the Games.
"If it was only the number of police, there would be no accommodation for all of them in Sochi," he said.
It seems that Sochi is indeed experiencing problems with accommodating all the security personnel sent to the city. Last month, two police officers from St. Petersburg tried to flee from Sochi, saying that living and working conditions were "inhumane," Fontanka.ru reported. The news article featured a photograph of two police officers sleeping on the floor in a tiny room.
Contact the author at e.kravtsova@imedia.ru
'disrespect' law
Facebook has been put on a government registry of banned information over the picture.
An overview of the S-400’s strengths and limitations, based on a new report by Stratfor.
Activists warn that construction will release radioactive dust into the air and the Moscow River.
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Iranian Pastor May Face Imminent Execution
Written by James Heiser
In a decision likely to further alienate Western nations against the Iranian regime, a trial court in Iran has found Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani (left) guilty of apostasy and has sentenced him to death. Prior to his arrest in 2009, Nadarkhani had led a 400-person house church movement in Iran after his conversion from Islam. The court demanded on several occasions in late September of last year that the pastor renounce his Christian faith, or face possible execution for apostasy from Islam.
As Dave Bohon reported in September for The New American, Nadarkhani has been imprisoned since October 2009, “when he was arrested while trying to register his church.” He was found guilty of apostasy and sentenced to death in 2010 for abandoning the Islamic faith, but the Iranian Supreme Court sought a reexamination of his case in order to determine whether or not he had been a practicing Muslim adult before his conversion to the Christian faith.
A February 22 article for FoxNews (“Iran court convicts Christian pastor convert to death”) reports that the review of Nadarkhani’s case is now complete, and he may now be executed “at any time without prior warning, as death sentences in Iran may be carried out immediately or dragged out for years.”
As previously reported for The New American last November, Iranian officials endeavored to obscure the religious nature of the trial and conviction of Nadarkhani, spreading false accusations of rape and “Zionism” in an attempt to attack the character of their prisoner — and those false accusations were reported in the Western news media:
The regime even claimed that there was never a plan to execute Pastor Nadarkhani. For example, an article for the International Business Times reported both the false accusations against Nadarkhani, and the government’s denial of its intention to execute him....
The author of International Business Times then declared that “If Nadarkhani were indeed guilty of rape and of Zionism, which could be the treasonous crime of spying for Israel, the death penalty would not be off the table. Both convictions are subject to capital punishment in Iran, and the death penalty is mandatory in rape cases unless the victim forgives the rapist.” However, given the sudden appearance of these charges against Nadarkhani, long after he had, in fact, actually been convicted for apostasy — and not rape or espionage — treating the Iranian regime’s charges as anything other than a smokescreen does a disservice to the persecuted pastor.
Nadarkhani’s conviction for apostasy — abandoning the Muslim religion — is a telling example of sharia law in action. While reporting on the latest development in the case, a February 22 article for the International Business Times noted: “Although apostasy is not a crime under Iran's official legal code, it is punishable by death according to Ayatollah Khomeini's fatwas and religious decrees, thereby bringing Nadarkhani's trial through Iran's special Revolutionary Court.” Although Iran has purportedly not executed anyone for apostasy in 20 years, the fact that a legal code dictated by the tenets of Islam has the power to carry out executions is a clear signal that such nations are far removed from Western notions of a separation of sacred and secular.
The FoxNews article contains the observation that “Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and 89 members of Congress, along with the European Union, France, Great Britain, Mexico and Germany, have condemned Iran for arresting Nadarkhani and have called for his quick release.” However, apart from the disinformation spread by the Iranian regime last year that was aimed at blackening the reputation of its prisoner, the government has remained resolved to punish those who deviate from the tenets of Islam. According to the International Business Times, the European Union has “condemned Iran for breaking with the Universal Declaration of Human rights, of which Iran is a signatory,” but this is hardly a surprise. The repellent practice of executing converts to Christianity is not a new practice within Islam, and even the Council of Foreign Relations acknowledged back in 2007 that “Conversion by Muslims to other faiths is forbidden under most interpretations of sharia and converts are considered apostates (non-Muslims, however, are allowed to convert into Islam). Some Muslim clerics equate this apostasy to treason, a crime punishable by death. The legal precedent stretches back to the seventh century when Prophet Mohammed ordered a Muslim man to death who joined the enemies of Islam at a time of war.”
For now, Nadarkhani’s advocates continue to plead for his life — though Iranian practices regarding executions could keep his execution secret for weeks after the sentence has been carried out. The International Business Times quotes Jordan Sekulow of the American Center for Law and Justice, who noted: "Iran's legal system is not like any legal system in the world. [The order] is still being kept secret. Even his legal team might not find out about the execution until the body is delivered to the family."
Photo: Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani
More in this category: « State Department, White House Demand Release of Iranian Pastor Al-Qaeda & the West Back Syrian Rebels Against Assad »
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Father Apologizes For Taking Out Anger On Wrong Son
SEE MORE: News in BriefSEE MORE: News in Brief
ELIZABETH, NJ—Moments after losing his composure with an unwarranted emotional outburst, local father David Kessler reportedly apologized to his son Christopher Thursday for erroneously taking out his anger on him and not his older brother Peter. “I’m really sorry I snapped at you earlier, Chris—you aren’t the one who deserves it,” said Kessler, admitting he overreacted by losing his temper and berating the 16-year-old instead of his lazy and useless elder sibling. “I was totally out of line when I was screaming at someone other than Peter. There’s really no excuse for me to treat anyone except for your good-for-nothing brother that way. I promise it will never happen again.” Following the apology to his youngest son, sources confirmed that a sentimental Kessler told his assembled family members he was very proud of all but one of them.
It may be hard being a perfect dad, but it’s a piece of cake to tune into The Jim Gaffigan Show, premiering July 15 on TV Land.
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Siegelman gives his approval to "60 Minutes" segment
From behind bars in a Louisiana prison, former Gov. Don Siegelman gave a thumbs up to the CBS �60 Minutes� program questioning whether his prosecution was fueled by Republican politics, his brother told The Huntsville Times.
Les Siegelman, a Birmingham businessman, said his brother had to coax other inmates into watching the Sunday night program, offering canned mackerel from the prison commissary to get the TV tuned to CBS.
�Don said they had the mackerel and salmon as hors d�oeuvres as they watched it,� Les Siegelman said. �Don enjoyed the program, and the people who watched it with him enjoyed it.
�He thought the producers did a great job of putting it together. In less than 15 minutes ... they explained the complicated story and the complex cast of characters.�
The former Democratic governor, 61, has long contended that he was the target of a plot by certain Republicans to derail his political career. Federal prosecutors have denied the claim.
Convicted of bribery-related and obstruction charges, he is serving a sentence of more than seven years at a federal prison in Oakdale, La.
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Edward I: Where History Happened
What are the most interesting sites linked to Edward I?
If you're wondering 'where did Edward I live?' Or you want to find our more about the places that this famous English King spent his life then we can help you follow in the footsteps of this iconic figure and visit sites that relate to his life. There's a host of absolutely incredible Edward I sites to visit to visit and among the very best are Denbigh Castle, Harlech Castle and Beaumaris Castle. If you’re planning a trip to explore sites relating to Edward I but are short on time, then these famous places are probably your best bet. But if you do have a more flexible itinerary then at the very least Conwy Castle, Caernarfon Castle and Bothwell Castle should all be on your list. To begin your journey exploring the Edward I sites to visit you can view our editor’s selection of top picks below.
1. Beaumaris Castle
Beaumaris Castle is a striking medieval castle on the Isle of Anglesey built by King Edward I. Begun in 1295, this was the last of the king’s ring of castles which he commissioned to affirm his rule over Wales. Designed to be the largest of this imposing circle, Beaumaris was never actually completed. Today, the picturesque ruins offer a glimpse into its real and potential grandeur. Together with three of Edward’s other Welsh strongholds, Beaumaris Castle is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
2. Harlech Castle
Harlech Castle is a dramatic medieval stronghold and one of a ring of imposing castles built by Edward I in his conquest of Wales. The castle would later play a role in the Wars of the Roses, when it was laid siege by the Yorkists and eventually taken from the Lancastrians. This event was the inspiration for the song Men of Harlech.
3. Conwy Castle
Constructed under the orders of King Edward I of England, Conwy Castle is the medieval military masterpiece of architect James of St. George. Later, Conwy would be the subject of a siege by the Welsh and would be garrisoned in several conflicts over the centuries. With imposing towers and turrets and its position over the Conwy estuary, Conwy Castle remains a picturesque site.
4. Caernarfon Castle
Caernarfon Castle is an imposing medieval stronghold built by English King, Edward I. Grand and commanding, Caernarfon was an impressive mix of fort, royal home and seat of political power. Through the centuries the castle has fared well, remaining in a good state of preservation and standing today very much as it would have hundreds of years ago. The castle also continued to play host to important events, including the investiture of Prince Charles as the Prince of Wales in 1969.
5. Bothwell Castle
Bothwell Castle is a stunning ruined medieval stronghold near Glasgow and one of the most celebrated of its kind. In 1301 Edward I laid siege to Bothwell with a force of almost seven thousand men and eventually succeeded in conquering the castle. In 1362, Bothwell Castle passed to the aristocratic Black Douglas family by marriage and they rebuilt it, forming the basis of what visitors can explore today.
6. Caerlaverock Castle
Standing strong on the Scottish border, Caerlaverock Castle is in many ways a symbol of the divisions that for so many years tore England and Scotland apart. Due to its strategic location, Caerlaverock was often central to the on-going rivalry and warfare which took place between the two crowns. In the early 14th century Caerlaverock was besieged and captured by King Edward I, as he led his armies against Scotland. Despite holding off an initial assault, the small Scottish garrison could do little once Edward turned his siege machines against the fortress and it was captured within two days. Today Caerlaverock stands in the centre of picturesque countryside and is celebrated for its beauty.
7. Rhuddlan Castle
Rhuddlan Castle was one of the iron ring of strongholds built by Edward I in his conquest of Wales. Construction of Rhuddlan Castle began in 1277 and it was built in a concentric style. Today the pretty ruins of Rhuddlan Castle are open to the public.
8. Acton Burnell Castle
Frequented by Edward I on several occasions, the picturesque Acton Burnell Castle is a ruined English fortified Manor near Shrewsbury. When constructed, the castle had walls standing up to 40ft high, with three-storey towers at each corner. Today, Acton Burnell Castle lies in ruins, having been slowly abandoned through the middle ages and finally replaced altogether by the nearby 19th century Acton Burnell Hall. Made up of partially-preserved red sandstone walls, the site is a picturesque shell which makes for a peaceful, atmospheric visit.
9. Scone Palace
Scone Palace was once the coronation site of the Kings of Scotland and now operates as an historic house and garden. Located on the banks of the Tay, and only a short distance from Perth, Scone Palace was the traditional resting place of the Stone of Scone. The stone, sometimes referred to as the Stone of Destiny, has a history as varied as the Palace itself. It was removed from Scotland by Edward I in 1296 and was housed in Westminster Abbey until 1996, when it was finally returned to Scotland. Whilst the Stone of Scone no longer exists at Scone Palace but rather at Edinburgh Castle, its place in history is far from over, having been used in the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.
10. Denbigh Castle
Denbigh Castle is one of the ring of castles built by King Edward I in order to establish his dominance over Wales. Edward invaded Wales in 1277, defeating its leader, Llywelyn ap Gruffydd and then proceeded to encircle it with imposing castles. Despite being in a ruined state, Denbigh is a pretty castle ruin which dominated the local skyline and is very much worth seeing. Today, the ruins form a dramatic sight and the remains still have discernible curtain walls and a well preserved gatehouse.
Full list of Edward I Sites
There are also some additional lesser-known sites relating to Edward I and we'll be expanding this list over time to bring you even more places to visit.
Although we’ve tried our hardest to list every sites linked to the life of King Edward I of England, it’s possible that a few slipped through the net… If you’ve noticed a site that we’ve missed, you can submit them to us by dropping us a note via our contact us page.
Three Days in Dubrovnik
Three days in Washington DC
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Historic New York City Hotels
United States New York New York City
These New York City hotels all have a slice of history to share with guests
By Heather Cross
There are so many hotels in New York City, but if you're looking for a hotel with some special New York City history, here are some of the best options for your stay.
More: NYC Hotels For Families | Luxury NYC Hotels | NYC Hotels with Pools
Courtesy of The Plaza Hotel
768 5th Ave, New York, NY 10019, USA
Located on Fifth Avenue and Central Park South, the Plaza Hotel first opened on October 1, 1907 and has been an iconic New York City hotel ever since. The 19-story building took two years and $12 million dollars to build. Single rooms at the luxury hotel started at $2.50/night. It's most famous appearance in a film was probably Alfred Hitchcock's 1959 classic, North by Northwest, which was also one of the first films to be made on location and not on a Hollywood sound stage. It was designated a New York City Landmark in 1969 and is the city's only hotel that is also a National Historic Landmark.
Algonquin Hotel
59 W 44th St, New York, NY 10036, USA
Designed by architect Goldwin Starrett, the 181-room Algonquin hotel opened in 1902. It's most famous for hosting literary and theatrical celebrities, particularly members of the Algonquin Round Table, who lunched there daily for many years. The hotel was designated a New York City Historic Landmark in 1987.
The Knickerbocker Hotel
Courtesy of TripAdvisor
6 Times Square, New York, NY 10036, USA
Located in Times Square, The Knickerbocker Hotel was opened in 1906 by John Jacob Astor IV. This Beaux-Arts building was a very happening spot for NYC society, but with the advent of prohibition it was converted into office space in 1921. Designated a New York City Landmark in 1988, the hotel was re-imagined and re-opened as a luxury property in 2015.
Warwick New York Hotel
Warwick New York, 65 W 54th St, New York, NY 10019, USA
The Warwick Hotel was built in 1926 by William Randolph Hearst actress Marion Davies. Over the years, the hotel has hosted many celebrities, including Elvis Presley, the Beatles and Cary Grant. It's also very famous for its appearance in the background of the famous photograph titled Lunch Atop A Skyscraper.
Continue to 5 of 10 below.
FPG / Getty Images
Two East 55th Street At, 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022, USA
Founded by John Jacob Astor IV in 1904, this Beaux-Arts hotel was where butler service first began to be offered in hotels. When the hotel first opened, suites were just $4/night. Marlene Dietrich, William Paley and Salvador Dali are among the famous figures to call the St. Regis home.
The Sherry-Netherland Hotel
781 5th Ave, New York, NY 10022-1046, USA
Just steps from Central Park, The Sherry-Netherland Hotel opened in 1927 and continues to provide elegant accommodations and sophisticated service to its high-end clientele. In 2014 they restored the lobby's ceiling mural which was designed by Joseph Aruta and inspired by frescoes in the Vatican Palace. With just 50 rooms and suites, this hotel offers guests a welcome respite from the city's hustle and bustle.
The Iroquois New York
Designed by Harry Mulliken and first opened in October 1900, this historic New York City hotel has been beautifully preserved and was extensively renovated in the late 1990s.
The Redbury New York
29 E 29th St, New York, NY 10016, USA
Originally built in 1907, and once known as the Martha Washington Hotel, the building that has now become the Redbury New York was the first hotel in New York City built exclusively for professional women. Until 1998 it continued to exclusively serve women, but since then it has changed hands numerous times before being renovated and rebranded in 2016.
Radisson Hotel Martinique
49 W 32nd St, New York, NY 10001, USA
The Hotel Martinique on Broadway opened in 1897 and was then redesigned and expanded by the original architect Henry Hardenberg in 1910. The exterior is French Renaissance style and Hardenberg was also the architect behind the Waldorf Astoria and The Plaza Hotel.
The Gotham Hotel opened in 1905, but was bankrupted in 1908 when it couldn't get a liquor license due to its proximity to the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church. After changing hands several times, (including in 1979 when a Swiss hotelier bought it and added the signature rooftop health club and pool) the hotel was eventually purchased in 1988 by the Peninsula Hotel group and reopened in 1999 after extensive renovations.
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Turkish Airlines regards the safety of its organizational activities, stakeholders and the environment as the most important consideration.
Turkish Airlines acknowledges the involvement of management as a key contributing factor to the overall safety of the organization’s operations. All accountable managers at Turkish Airlines are responsible for the continuous monitoring of safety trends, and to actively provide the necessary support and resources within their areas of responsibility in order to maintain and improve safety.
Turkish Airlines continuously strives to achieve and maintain a healthy working environment for its employees and to provide the highest possible safety standards to all its customers. In order to achieve these goals, Turkish Airlines has developed a Safety Management System (SMS) that actively involves all levels of the organization’s operations. The core of Turkish Airlines’ SMS is to continuously monitor, identify, manage, reduce, or eliminate detectable or foreseeable hazards through a systematic and data-driven approach. This enables Turkish Airlines to minimize its exposure to risk and to address potential future challenges, while fulfilling its safety responsibilities to the highest standards.
Turkish Airlines fosters and encourages a safety culture that includes flat, just, adaptive, committed, informed, learning, and reporting cultures among all managers and employees. It is of the utmost importance to increase the awareness of the role of safety within all activities and the resulting responsibility of each individual.
Adoption and Development of Safety and Quality Standards
With regard to national and international requirements, Turkish Airlines aims to continuously develop safety and quality standards that exceed industry best practices.
Our quality policy Learn more
Turkish Airlines hereby declares its Quality Policy to bring its employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates, and all its business partners and shareholders together to meet a common goal for its future, which will be achieved in accordance with national and international legislation and standards as well as the principles of commercial ethics along with the Company's mission and values in domestic and international lines, scheduled and unscheduled commercial passenger and cargo air transportation services, training services design and presentation activities with an approach of Total Quality.
It complies with the relevant standards, obligatory national and international aviation rules and legal and other conditions within the scope of quality management. It utilizes the appropriate methods and the best possible technology and resources with the participation of all its employees in order to fulfill its purposes and targets. Within the processes, it monitors process performances via adopting the principle of managing with targets and continuously improves its processes.
Searching for Perfection in Service
Every level that we have reached in our activities is merely the starting point for a new search for perfection.
Giving Priority to Safety and Security in All Our Activities with an Awareness of the Value of Life
Our well-equipped human resources strive for perfection with adequate facilities and advanced technology to ensure flight safety and security.
Displaying a Customer-Focused Approach
By taking cultural variety into consideration, efficient service is provided through the accurate assessment of the present and future expectations and needs of our customers. Customer satisfaction, recommendations, and complaints are thoroughly evaluated.
Creating a Difference Through Our Employees
Service is provided by our employees, who are aware of their ultimate impact on customer service, who adopt the corporate values, who produce solutions, who share information, who participate in team work and who continuously improve themselves.
Making Use of Advanced Technology
Technology that can provide an advantage over our competition is utilized.
Provides all the necessary resources to ensure operational safety, security, and quality at the highest level and uses them appropriately.
Maintaining a Widespread and Well-Built Flight Network
Strives to be one of the world’s leading airlines with respect to its flight network, distance and hours, passengers and cargo quantities, aircraft fleet, and range of destinations.
Sustaining the Global Airline Identity
The product and services that have been provided and supplied are identified, audited and administered in light of the concept of sustainable quality.
Being Prominent in the World of Civil Aviation
An active and conspicuous role is performed in the management, activities and decision-making of national and international civil aviation organizations.
Acting with Awareness of Social Responsibility
Full support is given to projects that provide social benefits to education, culture, art, history, the environment, sports, and humanitarian support by providing resources directly or indirectly.
Collaborating with Our Business Partners
We work together with our agencies, shareholders, sub-contractors, and other investors for sustainable profits and the worldwide and continuous growth and success of our company in the long term.
Increasing Efficiency and Productivity
We aim to reach our targets in all our processes through the use of appropriate resources and at the first attempt.
Complying with the Quality Management System and Continuously Improving Its Effectiveness
Opportunities to improve the system are created through continuous review and a quality-focused, systematic, and well-defined approach to our organizational structure and activities.
Our security policy Learn more
Turkish Airlines hereby declares its Security Policy to ensure security and the constant improvement of operational conditions during the course of its activities. These include passenger transportation, cargo transportation, and training conducted according to national and international regulations and standards.
To Ensure Operational Security
Turkish Airlines develops and implements processes to prevent acts of unlawful interference that may occur on the ground or during flights and establishes security objectives and security performance standards. While implementing these processes, Turkish Airlines provides a periodic policy review to ensure continuing relevance to organizational needs and to the requirements of security performance standards.
Management of Security-Related Activities
Turkish Airlines ensures a clear statement of the organization's security objectives and the measures taken in order to conform to security regulations. It executes its corporate security management system to provide security to all its activities with constant improvement.
To Determine Security Responsibilities
Turkish Airlines determines the responsibilities of its employees regarding security-related issues and ensures a commitment to security from senior management as a fundamental priority throughout the organization.
To Identify Security Vulnerabilities and Risks
Turkish Airlines provides assistance to all its employees to identify and prevent vulnerabilities and risks that may occur as a result of the interaction between people, machines, the environment and duties.
To Provide the Highest Level of Communication
Turkish Airlines promotes a just culture where the flow of information and communication is carried out objectively between senior management and the employees in order to support all activities. Communication should be executed in a secure manner, including non-punitive reporting procedures to encourage the reporting of any inadvertent human error.
To Establish and Promote a Corporate Security Culture
Turkish Airlines ensures that all necessary arrangements are made to establish and improve a “Corporate Security Culture”. It promotes activities to increase security awareness and to make security an integral part of the corporate management system.
To Provide Necessary Resources for Security
Turkish Airlines ensures the provision of the resources necessary for the successful implementation of the security policy.
Our occupational health and safety policy Learn more
The Senior Management of Turkish Airlines declares its Occupational Health and Safety Policy in order to bring together its employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates, all business partners and shareholders for the same purpose.
Abiding by the Rules
Complies with international aviation rules along with national, legal and other regulations on occupational health and safety issues.
Considering People while Growing,
Uses equipment and organizations that have the minimum risk level while planning new investments, expanding the fleet, and raising the technological infrastructure level by considering the health and safety of its employees, customers, suppliers and subcontractors.
The Company Management believes in the importance of working in a safe and healthy environment, and that this is a part of the Company's success.
Employee Participation and Communication
Ensures participation of all the levels of the organization in the improvement of occupational health and safety performance. Realizes activities in order to support the improvement of occupational health and safety culture via increasing knowledge and awareness of employees regarding occupational health and safety.
Establishes an open dialogue regarding occupational health and safety with employees and suppliers for current and future activities.
Resource Procurement
Undertakes provision of resources necessary for implementation, maintaining and development of the established occupational health and safety management system.
Managing the Risks
Identifies all risks concerning occupational health and safety arising from its activities, develops action plans in order to minimize these risks and realizes activities for preventing occupational accidents and occupational diseases.
Ensures continuity of monitoring of work environment and preventive medicine works. Establishes the necessary infrastructure for creating a healthy and safe work environment for personnel, subcontractors and guests.
Determines probable emergencies in working areas and realizes preparation activities for all these scenarios.
Controls that personnel taking part in critical functions are physically and medically fit to undertake their respective tasks.
Carries out the procedures below in order to make no compromises regarding operational security and safety and to minimize the operational risks, with the awareness of human factor in the civil aviation industry:
First of all, alcohol and psychoactive substance addictions are taken into account as a selection criterion when it comes to human resource employment for tasks involving critical functions. People who are confirmed to be alcohol and/or psychoactive substance addicts are not employed.
Checks whether employees carrying out tasks involving critical functions are under the influence of alcohol and/or psychoactive substances first routinely before they start their duties and randomly during their duties.
Employees who are confirmed to be under the influence of alcohol and/or psychoactive substances are not allowed to be involved in operations. The regulations of national and international civil aviation authorities are complied with to the letter.
Supports employees who admit to be alcohol addicts with their treatments provided that they did not violate any rules.
Improving Consistently
Monitors and measures the occupational health and safety performance, and makes efforts to improve its performance in this area consistently by considering the good practices in the World as well.
Fulfills the requirements of suitable management procedures by reviewing the policy continuously through the occupational health and safety targets and continuous development programs.
Our environmental policy Learn more
The Senior Management of Turkish Airlines hereby declares its Environmental Policy covering the design and presentation of the scheduled and unscheduled passenger and cargo commercial air transportation services in domestic lines, the in-flight services in international lines, and the training services in order to bring its employees, customers, suppliers, affiliates, and all its business partners and shareholders together around a common goal for its future, in line with duties and common values of the Company by considering the national and international laws and regulations as well as the commercial ethics, by focusing on total quality.
It complies with the aviation regulations along with the national legal requirements, and the other national/international requirements on the environmental issues that it is liable to comply with. It aims to extend beyond compliance with laws by the environmental projects it supports.
Managing the Environmental Aspects
It determines the environmental aspects of all its activities, products, and services, detects the environmental impacts, and develops action plans to decrease such impacts. It applies an improvement-oriented management system and methods to keep significant environmental aspects under control.
Minimizing Adverse Environmental Impacts
It gives top priority to protection of environment while carrying out all its activities, products and services. It supports the fuel efficiency initiatives and takes measures to decrease the greenhouse gas emissions to decrease and eliminate the factors that may worsen the climate change.
It takes measures against noise pollution and wastes. It minimizes wastes by giving priority and support to the use and recovery of recyclable materials within the waste management process.
Considering People and the Environment while Growing
It considers the life cycle approach while planning new investments in relation to its operation area, expanding its fleet, and upgrading its technological infrastructure.
Bequeathing an Habitable World for Future Generations
It uses the natural resources effectively and efficiently as per the sustainability principle by considering the future generations that are its common assurance with its stakeholders; and places importance on biological diversity.
Developing along with Stakeholders
It works to increase the environmental awareness of its own employees, and encourages their participations. It shares and spreads good environmental practices by making contact with all its stakeholders. It supports the sustainable products and services throughout the life cycle.
It measures, monitors, reviews and continuously improves its environmental performance on a regular basis as per its environmental objectives. It ensures participation of stakeholders and all levels of the organization for the improvement of its environmental performance. It shares the information on its environmental performance with its stakeholders. It reviews, updates, and shares its Environmental Policy with the relevant parties periodically.
Our customer satisfaction policy Learn more
As Turkish Airlines we lend ear to our customers without any economic expectation by providing communication opportunities through which our customers can deliver their expectations, complaints, suggestions and satisfaction in passenger transportation activity that we perform with a customer-oriented approach. We implement compensation methods to ensure customer satisfaction as well as evaluate feedbacks of our customers and produce solutions by considering national and international legal requirements, legislative requirements, civil aviation rules and documented information of the Company.
We assess and manage the processes for understanding, identifying, analyzing, directing, providing solutions and notifying results to customers in the most accurate manner about customer complaints related to our operations with a customer-oriented approach in accordance with the principles of transparency, accessibility, responsiveness, objectivity, confidentiality and accountability, as well as we utilize such and information to ensure our continuous improvement.
In accordance with the expectations and requirements of our customers, we continuously improve our processes by using the feedbacks received particularly from our customers and employees, as well as from all of our stakeholders and by providing all necessary resources to improve our products and services.
Unsere Geschäftspolitik
Barrierefreiheit | Impressum | Datenschutz- und Cookie-Richtlinie | Rechtliche Hinweise | Fluggastrechte | EU Data Subjects Rights | Turkish Airlines Copyright © 1996–2019
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PG&E starts fire a day; may be killing a customer every 6 days
Dennis Wyatt
Updated: Jan. 15, 2019, 6:28 p.m.
Someone needs to save Northern and Central California from PG&E.
And if folks in Sacramento don’t believe PG&E is the No. 1 threat to the safety of 16 million people or 40 percent of the state’s population, they need to look at statistics compiled by the California Public Utilities Commission and Cal Fire:
· PG&E — based on mandated state reporting that started in June 2014 — has started more than a fire a day since then for more than 1,500 fires.
· 16,000 PG&E power lines fell between 2013 and 2017 or one every three hours. Of those, based on PG&E reporting, 30 percent remained energized posing a severe fire and public safety hazard. A number of the fallen lines were caused by trees falling but many were the result of failing PG&E equipment.
· PG&E equipment has been tied into the start of 17 significant fires in 2017 that charred 193,743 acres, destroyed 3,256 structures, and killed 22 people.
· PG&E is being investigated for its possible role in starting the deadliest wildfire in California history in 2018. It wiped out the Town of Paradise, killed 86 people, and destroyed 14,000 homes. Minutes prior to the start of the fire PG&E reported the failure of an 115,000 volt line that fell to the ground.
That is just the tip of the iceberg.
In recent weeks it’s been revealed exactly how cavalier PG&E has been toward safety. Part of the settlement for the 2010 incident in San Bruno, where an overtaxed natural gas line exploded killing 8 people leveling a neighborhood, was the for-profit utility to take specific steps to improve safety of the natural gas system. They have failed to do so despite being on federal criminal probation.
This is on top of repeated evidence that PG&E for years was granted rate increases by the CPUC that included addressing the replacing of aging equipment such as power poles PG&E then failed to do so.
And whether a PG&E customer in Manteca, Lathrop or Ripon — or anywhere else for that matter in the utility’s service territory — is in immediate threat of being blown up by a failed natural gas line or burned up by a wildfire started by aging, faulty or damaged electrical equipment, they are going to pay a heavy price financially and not just through higher rates.
PG&E as of Friday was worth $9.12 billion. Back in October they were worth $29.32 billion. Experts conservatively estimate PG&E is facing $30 billion in liability through lawsuits. Keep in mind the law the legislature passed last year to help shield utilities from bearing the full brunt of financial responsibility for fires their equipment starts does not apply to 2017 nor any fire in 2018.
The solution that’s been tossed around is to make the ratepayers ultimately pay for PG&E’s less than stellar management when it comes to replacing aging and failing equipment in a timely manner and addressing safety concerns. That means much — if not all — of PG&E’s liability from lawsuits will be securitized and tacked onto monthly ratepayer bills for decades to come. No one would escape the charge even if your electrical needs are met 100 percent from solar. If you have a PG&E meter of any type you are on the hook.
Unfortunately, there is more.
Insurance firms are no longer willing to underwrite PG&E’s exposure to wildfire liabilities for obvious reasons. PG&E is toying with bankruptcy which brings up a whole new set of issues when wedded with the fact their bonds have now slid into junk bond status with many stock experts anticipating they will fall even deeper.
Once that occurs, how will PG&E be able to buy electricity when needed on the spot market that relies heavily on credit-backed transaction?
At the same time given the growth in the PG&E customer area, what guarantees are there when deposits are made for work to be done that it will even happen? Already PG&E is unreliable when it comes to meeting promises for installing and/or making connections for new development.
Then there is an issue of PG&E being investigated by the California Attorney General’s office for possible criminal prosecution for manslaughter connected with various wildfires based on their questionable safety record. That doesn’t exactly bode well when you’re trying to sell stock that has plunged 62.79 percent in the past three months or even when you’re trying to hawk junk bonds to cover ongoing costs or liabilities that come with extremely high interest rates due to the risk investors are taking when it comes to your ability to pay them off.
You’re also not likely to buy stock in a company that faces the specter of being broken up in to separate concerns or being taken over by regional public agencies that could be created under ideas being batted around by state regulators and legislators.
And let’s not forget how PG&E — in its wild frenzy to crank up profits after it sold Californians a bill of goods about electricity deregulation — plunged much of its service territory into rolling blackouts.
Why we are still at the mercy of PG&E should be the No. 1 issue in the 2020 legislative elections given how Southern California for-profit utilities have faced the same daunting challenges but haven’t destroyed ratepayers’ property or killed off customers anywhere near PG&E’s pace.
San Diego Gas & Electric, as an example, several years ago started replacing their most vulnerable wooden power poles that are part of distribution systems serving neighborhoods or customers in problematic rural areas with steel poles. Some 16,000 have been replaced to date. They also installed an intensive wind/weather monitoring system to provide critical information in a timely manner to manage their system so they can cut off power when conditions become dangerous. PG&E has just started to get around to doing so.
At the end of the day, PG&E is a privately-owned for-profit business propped up by monopoly status granted to it by the State of California that also through its approval of rate increases guarantees PG&E a 10.5 percent return or profit on every $1 they collect.
The CPUC’s ineffective oversight hasn’t helped the situation. That said, with each passing day it is clear that Sacramento lawmakers — either through inaction or failure to put pressure on PG&E via the CPUC — share the blame for the fiasco known as Pacific Gas & Electric.
This column is the opinion of Dennis Wyatt and does not necessarily represent the opinion of The Journal or Morris Newspaper Corp. of CA. He can be contacted at dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com or 209.249.3519.
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UV Directory
Description and characteristics
Master's objectives
Master's degree admissions
Master's degree enrolment
Master's Degree programme
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Master's calendar and timetable
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Basic regulations
Home > Admission and enrolment > Master's degree admissions > General requirements
Specific admission requirements
Admission requirements for foreign graduates
1. General admission requirements
On a general basis, official master’s degrees are open to holders of any of the following qualifications:
Official Spanish university degree
Foreign higher education degree officially recognised as equivalent to an official Spanish university degree
Degree awarded by a higher education institution that is part of the European Higher Education Area (EHEA) which allows access to official master’s degree courses in the country in which it was awarded
Degree awarded by a higher education institution that is not part of the EHEA. In this case, access is conditional upon the verification that the course of study completed corresponds to a level of education equivalent to an official Spanish university degree and that the qualification obtained would provide admission to an official master’s degree in the country of award. Admission following this process under no circumstances implies the official recognition of the degree or its acceptance for any other purpose except admission to the master’s degree course. The process of verification of equivalence of foreign qualifications is subject to a fee payable at the time of submission of the online pre-enrolment form which amounts to €155.22.
2. Specific admission requirements
In addition to the general admission requirements, the University may have established specific admission requirements and criteria for assessment of merits for each master’s degree.
Please, refer to the specific requirements for the master’s degrees in which you are interested on the website of the University of Valencia.
In addition, your master’s degree of choice may require specific language skills. Please, refer to the University of Valencia language equivalence chart.
3. Admission requirements for foreign graduates
3.1 General information
If the qualification with which a candidate applies for a master’s degree has been issued by a higher education institution outside Spain, both the degree certificate and the academic transcript (marks) must be official and have been issued by the relevant bodies, in accordance with the law of the country of origin.
Additionally, both documents require:
3.2 Process to legalise academic documents issued abroad
Any information regarding the legalisation process must be provided by the university where you completed your studies, by the relevant authority or by the consular services of the country of issue of your academic documents.
The process for legalisation and, therefore, for these documents to be valid in Spain, may differ according to the country of issue, depending on whether there is any applicable international agreement.
The different legalisation procedures are:
Member States of the European Union and signatories to the Agreement on the European Economic Area or to a bilateral agreement with the European Union:
The legalisation of documents is not required.
Countries Member States of the European Union:
Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, United Kingdom
Countries signatory to the Agreement on the European Economic Area:
Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway
Countries signatory to a bilateral agreement with the European Union:
Countries signatory to the Hague Convention of 5 October 1961:
The relevant authorities in the country of issue must verify the signatures of the academic officers and stamp the apostille.
The apostille must be stamped on the original document
Countries Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Azerbaijan, Bahamas, Bahrein, Barbados, Belize, Byelorussia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brasil, Brunei, Burundi, Cape Verde, Chile, Colombia, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Fiji, Georgia, Grenada, Honduras, Hong Kong*, India, Israel, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kirguistán, Lesotho, Liberia, Macedonia, Malawi, Marshall Islands, Macau*, Mauritius, Mexico, Moldova, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Niue, Oman, Panama, Peru, Paraguay, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, São Tomé and Príncipe, Samoa, San Marino, Serbia, Singapore, Seychelles, South Africa, South Korea, Suriname, Swaziland, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United States, Uruguay, Uzbekistán, Venezuela and Vanuatu.
(*)Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China.
C. Countries signatory to the Andrés Bello Convention (Bolivia, Colombia, Cuba, Chile, Ecuador, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Spain and Venezuela) and the rest of countries:
Documents issued in these countries must be duly legalised. Therefore, they must be presented at:
The Ministry of Education of the student’s home country for the recognition of the signatures on the original document.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the country in which the documents were issued for the legalisation of the recognition of signatures made by the Ministry of Education.
The Spanish Consulate in the country in which the documents were issued for the recognition of the signature of the previous legalisation.
3.3 Official translation of academic documents.
Documents that have not been issued in Spanish, Catalan, English, French, Italian or Portuguese must be submitted along with their official translation into Spanish or Catalan. The official translation must be stamped by the translator. Notarial translations have not official status.
Check the Updated listed of sworn translators-interpreters.
In the case of documents that have to be legalised, the official translation must be done after the legalisation procedure has been completed, and, therefore, the official translation must include the signature legalisation procedure. In any case, the original document must also be submitted.
Certified translations into Spanish can be obtained from:
Any sworn translator authorised or registered as such in Spain.
The Office for Interpretation of Languages of the Spanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation.
The UNESCO, the Ibero-American Centre for Cooperation or any other organisation recognised by Spain.
Any Spanish consulate or embassy abroad.
Any embassy or consulate of the country of issue or of the applicant’s country of origin (if different) in Spain.
Master´s Degree in Physical Activity and Sport management
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The College of
Science, Engineering and Technology / About Us / Our Staff / John Katers
University Mission
Faculty Spotlight - November 2017
Student Spotlight - November 2017
Alumni Spotlight - November 2017
Founders Award
Student-Nominated Teaching Award
Faculty Grants
Faculty Achievements
Newsletters & Stories
John Katers
Dean Of Science And Technology
ES 317B
katersj@uwgb.edu
Dean John Katers has been employed at UW-Green Bay since 1995, initially working for the University of Wisconsin Solid and Hazardous Waste Education Center as a Recycling Specialist before joining the Natural and Applied Sciences (NAS) faculty in 1999. He was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2004, and promoted to Professor in 2012. He served as Chair of NAS since 2012, and has served as chair of the collaborative Online Masters in Sustainable Management (SMGT) program since its inception in 2012, a collaborative effort with UW Extension and four other UW campuses.
An award-winning educator and leader, Katers was named a Wisconsin Idea Fellow by the UW System in recognition of his outstanding public service and outreach to business and industry. In 2013, he was awarded a Fulbright Specialist position and worked collaboratively with faculty at the Universidad del Desarrollo in Santiago, Chile, on sustainability issues. He serves as director of the University’s Environmental Management Business Institute (EMBI). Katers holds a bachelor’s degree in Environmental Science and Business Administration and a master’s degree in Environmental Science and Policy from UW-Green Bay and a Ph.D. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from Marquette University.
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The Leningrad Symphony
An exploration of the political and musical reception and significance of Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony
Antiaircraft guns in front of St. Isaac's CathedralDavid Trahtenberg
by William Poulos
Friday May 18 2018, 1:17am
Completed during the siege of Leningrad, Shostakovich’s Seventh Symphony has an uncertain place in the history of political music. After its first performance in 1942, many Russians greeted it with enthusiasm (not easy considering the cold and hunger they suffered) while Virgil Thomson, working for The New York Herald Tribune, wrote that, “it seems to have been written for the slow-witted, the not very musical and the distracted”. After hearing it on American radio, all Rachmaninoff could say was “now, let’s have some tea”. Musicologists today agree that parts of the symphony are deliberately anti-music, but are they anti-Hitler or anti-Stalin?
The question is asked mostly in response to the first movement and its famous ‘invasion’ theme. The Siege of Leningrad lasted 900 days and one needs about the same amount of time to hear the first movement. It is apt that Shostakovich was the first major composer who was educated entirely within the USSR: any drummer performing the piece had better belong to a good workers’ union, because he’ll be playing the same thing for hundreds of bars straight. Soviet critics thought that the first movement represented the invading Nazis, and later critics have recognized that its triteness is supported by quotations from Franz Lehár’s sentimental operetta The Merry Widow, which was one of Hitler’s favourite pieces of music. Under Gorbachev, however, Lev Lebedinsky, a close friend of Shostakovich, claimed that Shostakovich had written the theme with Stalin in mind, and called it the anti-Hitler theme only after the invasion of Russia. The gradual crescendo of the theme could be imitating the invading army coming closer or a gradual takeover from within; the bombastic caricature could be one of Stalin and the Soviet Union. As with the anti-Hitler reading, quotations support the anti-Stalin reading: in the first movement Shostakovich quotes from his own opera Lady Macbeth of the Mtsensk District.
On 26th January 1936, Stalin and his cronies saw a production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk District and left silently before the end. The next day in Pravda, the official newspaper of the Soviet Union’s Communist Party, an anonymous article appeared scolding the opera’s music and libretto. The article called it “muddle instead of music” and warned the composer that, for him, “it might end very badly”. The opera was banned until 1961, when it reappeared in a revised form, and for the rest of his life Shostakovich lived with the fear of coming to a “bad end”.
His Fifth Symphony revived his reputation. After its premiere in 1937, it was applauded by both critics and the public. The doctrine of socialist realism demanded that art be life-affirming and triumphant, and these were the qualities the critic Alexei Tolstoy found in the Fifth Symphony, writing that its finale provided an “enormous optimistic lift,” and that the audience is “organically incapable of accepting decadent, gloomy, pessimistic art. Our audience responds enthusiastically to all that is bright, clear, joyous, optimistic, life-affirming.”
Like the Seventh Symphony, the Fifth Symphony inspired contradictory interpretations. The head of the Soviet Writers’ Union, Alexander Fadeyev wrote in his diary that the ending of the last movement does not sound like victory but rather like “a punishment or vengeance on someone. A terrible emotional force, but a tragic force. It arouses painful feelings.” Myakovsky wrote to his fellow composer Prokofieff expressing his shock that Shostakovich could have written a finale so “utterly flat,” and the “official” Soviet critic Georgiy Khubov emphasized the slow movement’s “torpor”.
These accounts allow for the sympathetic interpretation that Shostakovich wrote bad music deliberately in order to comment on Stalin and the Soviet Union. What that comment is nobody can really say, and biography doesn’t help us: while the Soviet administration denounced him for a second time in 1948, in 1949 Shostakovich represented the USSR at the Peace Congress in New York and at similar events in Warsaw and Vienna in 1950 and 1952. From 1939 to 1948 he was a member of the directorate of the Union of Soviet Composers and later served as the first secretary of its Russian branch. He accepted the Order of Lenin in 1956 and 1966, as well as the Lenin Prize in 1958. While his acceptance of these honours could be seen as an acceptance of the Soviet Union, and hence – by our standards – a failure, he might have rejected the Soviet Union through his other failures: a deliberately flat final movement and an unbearably bloated first one.
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Bishop Dew, social justice advocate, dies
A UMNS Report By Heather Hahn*6:30 P.M. EST July 15, 2010
Bishop William W. Dew Jr.
Retired United Methodist Bishop William W. Dew Jr., a passionate witness for social justice, died July 14 at his home in Elk Grove, Calif. He was 74.
The denomination's Western Jurisdiction elected Dew to the episcopacy in 1988. He served the Portland Area, comprising the Oregon-Idaho Annual (regional) Conference and Alaska Missionary Conference, until 1996. He then served as bishop of the Phoenix Area, comprising the Desert Southwest Conference, until his retirement in 2004.
"Bishop Dew had a very deep commitment to the preservation of the doctrine of the church, believing that it represented the goodness of God's grace," said Bishop Minerva Carcaño, who succeeded Dew as leader of the Phoenix Area. "He was also very committed to the presence of the church in the world. He was a strong, prophetic voice deeply respected in the ecumenical community in this area and in this western region."
Throughout his ministry, friends and colleagues say, he spoke up for those he saw as marginalized by the larger society and challenged fellow United Methodists to be more Christ-like in their ministry to others.
Outspoken in faith
Early in his pastoral ministry in California in the 1960s and 1970s, he worked with civil rights activist and labor leader César Chávez in championing the rights of local farm workers.
In recent years, he joined other church leaders in advocating that The United Methodist Church change its Book of Discipline, the denomination's book of law, to welcome gays and lesbians into ordained ministry. He was one of 15 bishops at the 1996 General Conference who released a statement saying the church's restriction was "hurting and silencing countless faithful Christians."
"When all was said and done, The Book of Discipline ruled," said Bob Meyers, his friend and retired treasurer of the Oregon-Idaho Conference. "But it did not dissuade him from his personal passions about how we should be living a Christ-like life."
The Rev. Linda Susan Dew-Hiersoux, his elder daughter and a United Methodist pastor in Sacramento, Calif., said her father believed that "you do the right thing for reasons that are just for the people who need it."
Dew understood his views were often in the minority, said the Rev. Paul Dirdak, a longtime friend and director of the Central Conference Pension Administration. Still, Dew thought the best way to honor the majority was to be honest about his views.
"Even if he was in a very small group, he never spoke for just himself," Dirdak said. "He was going to create a community of thought."
Lifelong teacher
Dew was born Dec. 14, 1935, in Newport, Ky. He earned a bachelor's degree from Union College in Barbourville, Ky., where he met his wife of more than 52 years, Mitzie.
Bishop William Dew Jr. addresses the 1996 General Conference of the United Methodist Church in Denver. A UMNS photo by John C. Goodwin
He earned his divinity degree from Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, N.J. Decades later, he received honorary doctorates from Rust College, a United Methodist-related historically black college in Holly Springs, Miss., and Union, his alma mater, also a United Methodist-related institution.
Dew served churches in Springville, Lindsay and Clovis, Calif. He also was pastor at Epworth United Methodist Church in Berkeley, Calif., and a district superintendent from 1979 to 1984. While in Berkeley, he also taught the required course in polity and doctrine for United Methodist students who attended Pacific School of Religion.
At the time of his election as bishop, he was senior minister of San Ramon Valley United Methodist Church, a 1,200-member church in Alamo, Calif.
Even after he became bishop, he never fully left his teaching days behind. Dew-Hiersoux said United Methodists pastors and seminary students from around the United States continued to seek her father's guidance, which he was happy to give. She also used to turn to her father for advice on her sermons.
"He was a very Wesleyan thinker," Dew-Hiersoux said. "Scripture, tradition, experience and reason - that's what he was about."
Carcaño was at a meeting of the executive committee of the United Methodist Council of Bishops when she learned of Dew's death. She said all the bishops there had a story about how Dew had helped them to be better bishops.
San Francisco Area Bishop Warner H. Brown Jr. echoed that sentiment.
"He helped all of those he worked with to act on the possibilities God gives us," said Brown, who leads the California-Nevada Conference where Dew spent much of his career and his retirement.
"In a sermon I fondly remember, he reminded us, 'You can't think your way into new ways of acting, but you can act your way into new ways of thinking.'"
His survivors include wife Mitzie Eggers Dew; daughter Linda and son-in-law Mark; son William Waldo Dew III and daughter-in-law Peggy Murphy; and daughter Marilyn Jane Dew and son-in-law Paul Delgado. Dew is also survived by six grandchildren.
The memorial service for Dew is tentatively scheduled for Saturday, Aug. 7, at Central United Methodist Church in Sacramento, Calif. Details, when finalized, will be published on the website of the California-Nevada Annual Conference, www.cnumc.org.
*Hahn is a multimedia news reporter for United Methodist News Service.
News media contact: Heather Hahn, Nashville, Tenn., (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
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Oregon-Idaho Annual (regional) Conference
The Desert Southwest Annual (regional) Conference
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Bishop Hicks, striver for peace, dies at 96
The bishop, who led conferences in Arkansas and Kansas, was known for his kindness and wry humor.
Traditionalists, bishops talk church future
Leaders of traditionalist advocacy groups held a listening session with bishops from Africa, Europe and the Philippines. Church separation was on the table.
Creative spirit lifts Philippines’ churches
A United Methodist team looked at whether the Philippines should have more bishops. The group’s report highlighted church strengths and needs.
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Weedville, PA (View All Cities)
Elk County
Weedville, PA
ZIP code 15868 is located in central Pennsylvania and covers a slightly higher than average land area compared to other ZIP codes in the United States. It also has a slightly less than average population density.
The people living in ZIP code 15868 are primarily white. The number of seniors is extremely large while the number of middle aged adults is large. There are also a slightly less than average number of single parents and a slightly higher than average number of families. The percentage of children under 18 living in the 15868 ZIP code is small compared to other areas of the country.
Male 18 30 37 40 30 28 22 40 47 53 67 52 44 48 47 29 24 9
Female 27 34 38 32 23 18 36 33 47 43 61 45 51 60 39 37 24 37
Total 45 64 75 72 53 46 58 73 94 96 128 97 95 108 86 66 48 46
Under 5 18 27 45
5-9 30 34 64
85 Plus 9 37 46
Owner 2 26 80 105 100 102 58 34
Renter 8 15 9 14 9 20 23 8
Total 10 41 89 119 109 122 81 42
35-44 80 9 89
55-64 100 9 109
74 12%
Male 2 4 7 3 9 6 2 4 9 9 5 12 5 6 12 9 3 9 7 9
Female 3 6 9 4 8 6 12 4 4 6 7 12 5 8 7 5 14 5 1 5
Total 5 10 16 7 17 12 14 8 13 15 12 24 10 14 19 14 17 14 8 14
ZIP code 15868 has an extremely large percentage of vacancies.
The majority of household are owned or have a mortgage. Homes in ZIP code 15868 were primarily built in 1939 or earlier or the 1990s. Looking at 15868 real estate data, the median home value of $80,300 is low compared to the rest of the country. It is also slightly less than average compared to nearby ZIP codes. 15868 could be an area to look for cheap housing compared to surrounding areas. Rentals in 15868 are most commonly 3+ bedrooms. The rent for 3+ bedrooms is normally $500-$749/month including utilities. Prices for rental property include ZIP code 15868 apartments, townhouses, and homes that are primary residences.
1,350 100%
As with most parts of the country, vehicles are the most common form of transportation to places of employment. In most parts of the country, the majority of commuters get to work in under half an hour. Most commuters in 15868 can expect to fall in that range. It is very uncommon, compared to the rest of the US, for employees to have to travel more than 45 minutes to their place of employment.
For more information, see Weedville, PA commute times.
The population has a much higher percentage of people with low education levels (less than high school) than normal. Despite the lower high school graduation rates, the area has some of the highest percentages of people who attended college of any ZIP.
ZIP Code 15868 is in the Saint Marys Area School District. There are 1 different elementary schools and high schools with mailing addresses in ZIP code 15868.
Bennetts Valley Elementary School
19073 Bennetts Valley Highway
Weedville, PA 15868
District: Saint Marys Area School District
Benezett, PA
Byrnedale, PA
Driftwood, PA
Force, PA
Kersey, PA
Penfield, PA
Frenchville, PA
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Cat Breed Guides
From Our Vets
Posted by Bruce Little DVM | Jan 16, 2018 | Articles
By Dr. Bruce Little
According to Wikipedia, the word Potpourri comes from the French language meaning a Spanish stew containing many different ingredients. In French the word pot means the same as it does in English and pourri means rotten. Therefore, potpourri means a pot of rotten stew! I really cannot vouch for the French version of these words; however, in today’s English language the word potpourri means a container of a wide variety of decoratively shaped dried plant material with strong natural scents that is used to make a room smell fresh and clean. The operative words here are a wide variety of subjects about which we are going to discuss regarding dog and cat issues in our presence, or Petpourri as I have chosen to label it.
Recently my wife and I had the opportunity to take a European River Cruise from Budapest, Hungary to Amsterdam in The Netherlands. It was a wonderful experience sailing on the Danube River across Hungary, Slovenia and Austria, and then crossing into Germany before cruising on the Main Canal and into the Rhine River into and across Holland. Stopping and visiting in nineteen cities, we were able to observe many of the customs of the populations that inhabit these beautiful countries in addition to seeing and taking pictures of the magnificent Medieval architecture many of the cities contain. Being a veterinarian, the one thing I noticed more than the architecture and the historical customs of the people was the fact that pets are as common and cherished as much in Eastern and Northern Europe as they are in the United States. Everywhere we went to look at castles, museums, music halls, restaurants and on the streets, people had their dogs on a leash and in buggies much like we see in America. Again, being a veterinarian, I stopped to talk to many of these people who were just as interested in talking to me about their pets as they were about talking about their churches, castles, Christmas ornament shops or parliamentary buildings. We saw dogs of all breeds from large Russian Ovcharkas (sometimes called Caucasian 0vcharkas), Australian Healers and French Poodles all the way down in size to French Bulldogs and Bison Friese dogs with a few Heinz 57 mixed breeds thrown in for good measure. It was a great experience chatting with the people about their four-legged family members in all these countries. Fortunately, most people in Europe speak English so we were able to communicate with them freely.
One new experience for me on this European trip involved a service dog. Bomb sniffing dogs in airports and places where there were crowds of people are seen frequently. In addition to bomb materials, I am sure they were also looking for cannabis that was being transported from place to place. There were seeing eye dogs and police dogs in many of the cities we visited. The new experience occurred at the Amsterdam Airport while we were inside airport security walking from the arrival gate to our connecting flight gate. As we were walking along the corridor we approached three military police officers, one of whom had a service dog on leash. This dog was a greyhound type dog, very friendly who came up to me and literally bumped my upper right leg. The military policewoman asked me to step aside where she asked how much money I had in my pocket. I stated that I did have money in that pocket, but it was just a few hundred dollars. She asked for me to take it out, so she could see it, and I did. She looked at the money clip briefly and said I was fine and wished me a good day and safe flight. This service dog was apparently looking for large stashes of cash that was being transported from country to country for laundering money or purchasing drugs. A total new experience for me to have a service dog identify that I was carrying a money clip with money in my pocket.
In the Chinese calendar, 2018 is the year of the dog. Many companies are advertising their products utilizing dogs as part of their advertisements. Government agencies and commercial companies are using the image of dogs in their promotional offerings. I think this is a great time to feature the value and companionship of our family dogs for the good of global unification. Perhaps, through the influence of the dog, the world can become a safer and better place for people to grow and appreciate each other, as we appreciate our dogs. I saw a newspaper article where the Russian Armed Forces was utilizing a recruitment video featuring warm, cuddly puppies to help to improve its image all over the world. Also, there seemed to be a recent increase of Christmas card greetings utilizing dogs as part of the holiday message. That may be a good thing!
Lung cancer is one of the biggest causes of cancer death in New Zealand. The exact cause is not known why lung cancer is so prevalent in that country; however, a medical research foundation has recently funded a research project to try to find out about these cases of lung cancer in its formative state. Dr. Tim Edwards and his team collected breath and saliva samples from a local health clinic and are training pet dogs to sniff those samples to collect the dog’s reactions or time spent sniffing the sample. By utilizing some samples that contain known cancer cells and some samples that are from known sources that do not have indications of cancer, Dr. Edwards is able to speculate which samples might contain cancer cells long before they would show symptoms in the real patient. It has been speculated in earlier cancer studies that cancer cells may produce a bouquet of chemical smells that dogs with their sensitive olfactory or smelling capabilities possess. There is much work to be done in this area; however, the outcomes appear to be promising.
By far, the most common surgery performed on pets in the United States are spay and neuter procedures. These surgeries remove the reproductive organs of both male and female animals which helps to prevent unwanted pregnancies and pet overpopulation. However, spaying and neutering of male and female dogs and cats has other beneficial outcomes as well. It has been established that cancer of the mammary glands is seven times more likely to occur in unspayed female dogs than in those that have been spayed. Also, one in four unspayed female dogs have been shown to have developed some level of uterine infection. The optimal time to spay dogs to prevent mammary tumors is to spay them before they are 2 ½ years of age. However, the optimal time to spay and neuter dogs is not established if all types of disease and body condition are taken into consideration. As an example, enlarged prostate conditions in the male dog can start in mid-life and will progress as the dog increases in age. The older they are the larger the prostate gland may become. This is a non-cancerous condition, but does increase in intensity as the dog ages causing other potential problems specifically in the urinary tract. Testicular cancer in intact male dogs will affect approximately one in one-hundred dogs. The greatest down side of not spaying or neutering your pet dog or cat is overweight or obesity. It has been established that 54% of dogs and 59% of cats in the United States are overweight or obese. Talk to your veterinarian about how to control the weight of your pet after spaying or neutering has been performed. The Veterinary Task Force on Feline Sterilization calls for sterilization of cats by 5 months of age. This procedure should be scheduled at the end of the vaccination series for cats.
The winter months of 2017-2018 have been noticeably severe for the Influenza virus for humans, dogs and poultry. There has been an unprecedented occurrence of influenza in humans this year. Dozens of countries world-wide have reported avian influenza whereby entire flocks of chickens must be depopulated to prevent spread of the virus to other poultry and egg producing companies. Canine influenza has now been diagnosed in more than 40 states in the United States. It all started in March 2015 in and around the Chicago area when more than a thousand dogs were diagnosed with canine influenza. In the beginning, it was thought that outbreak was being caused by the H3N8 virus that had been around since being discovered by the University of Florida in 2004 at various greyhound race tracks and had sporadically infected susceptible dogs in any location in which the local dog population had not been exposed to the virus to develop passive immunity. However, much to the chagrin of veterinarians and pet owners alike, the virus that infected thousands of dogs in the Chicago area was due to the H3N2 virus that had been isolated only in Asia prior to the Chicago outbreak. A vaccine for H3N8 influenza virus had been developed and approved for use in 2009; however, no vaccine for H3N2 had been developed at that time and the virus was extremely virulent, meaning it spread to all susceptible dogs quite easily. When the virus enters a community where there has never been exposure all dogs are susceptible, and it will cause symptoms in more than 80% of those dogs with as many as 10% of those infected developing into much more serious conditions including pneumonia. Veterinary pharmaceutical companies immediately started research on vaccines for the H3N2 virus and today, most veterinary hospitals offer a bivalent vaccine that protects against both H3N2 and H3N8 viruses. It is recommended that all dogs get a flu vaccine, especially those dogs that visit boarding kennels, dog parks, grooming facilities and travel with their owners. It has been determined that the H3N2 canine influenza virus can and has infected cats. There is no vaccine available for cats currently. Also at this time, there is no evidence of transmission of H3N8 canine influenza from dogs to horses, ferrets, or other animal species including humans. The H3N2 strain, however, has been reported in Asia to infect cats, and there’s some evidence that guinea pigs and ferrets can become infected. There are no cases identified where transmission of either virus can be transmitted to humans.
The past year has been a devastating year for pets from natural or man-made disasters. Three major hurricanes, flooding, tornados, wildfires and diseases have taken their toll on our family pet population. There are many orphaned pets that are in shelters and rescue facilities waiting for a forever-home. Please consider adopting one of these pets. Disasters can strike at any time and at any place. Be prepared with all family members by having an evacuation plan, an evacuation survival kit and numerous practice sessions in place. Written instructions, both for emergency first responders and family members may save time and lives. Lives, money, and anxiety can be spared with proper emergency and disaster planning. And that makes for a better life for all family members, including the animals in our lives.
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Home Round Table Discussion on Elections-2019
Round Table Discussion on Elections-2019
April 26 , 2019 View: 524 Comments: 0
A round table discussion was held at the VIF to discuss the various aspects of Election 2019. Dr A Surya Prakash, Chairman Prasar Bharti, led the discussions.
The participants expressed their concern at the growing role of money and muscle in the elections. In just the first two phases of this election, currency, drugs and liquor worth about Rs 2500 cr have been seized by the authorities. The use of tainted money and power poses a threat to the legitimacy of the electoral process. It was pointed out that in a majority of the Lok Sabha constituencies, serious candidates spend on an average Rs 20 cr during the campaign, which means that candidates are spending over RS 20,000 cr in this election! Much of this money is used to lure the voters. This is well above the Rs 70 Lakh ceiling prescribed by the Election Commission for Lok Sabha constituencies in the larger states. Given this reality, no ordinary person can hope to participate in the election because of the high expenditure involved.
The method of candidate selection by the political parties is non-transparent. Often, they distribute tickets on the basis of how much money a candidate can spend and contribute to the party kitty. India has 4910 public representatives in just the two Houses of Parliament (790) and the state assemblies (4120). If four candidates contest the election in a serious manner in every constituency, we would have about 20,000 candidates with deep pockets participating in the electoral process. These are the people with money who can afford to contest the elections. The rest of the population of this vast country cannot think of contesting in the electoral process because of the humangous costs involved.
It was also pointed out that over the years, a few political families and their networks have begun to dominate the electoral constituencies. The resulting concentration of power and money in their hands poses a big threat to democracy. Elected representatives to Parliament and state assemblies tend to accumulate vast sums of assets during their tenure as legislators. This is a worrisome trend for democracy. Concern was also expressed at the rising incidence of violence during the elections in some parts of the country like West Bengal, although large-scale violence and booth capturing of the kind seen in the 1970s and 1980s in many states is now a thing of the past.
The participants were of the view that solution to curb the use of money and reduce the influence of political families must be found. The Election Commission, which has vast power under Article 324 of the Constitution, must come down heavily to curb the prevailing malpractices in the elections.
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The Vivekananda International Foundation (VIF) hosted a Chinese d
Round Table Discussion on Sri Lanka: Reeling Under the Attac
A round table discussion (RTD) was held on 16th May 2019 at the V
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VIF organized a one day capsule for 14 India’s Defence Attaches
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Vimarsha : New Templates For India’s National Security Man
On 13 June 2019, Ambassador PS Raghavan, Chairman, National Secur
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