pred_label
stringclasses 2
values | pred_label_prob
float64 0.5
1
| wiki_prob
float64 0.25
1
| text
stringlengths 182
1M
| source
stringlengths 39
45
|
|---|---|---|---|---|
__label__wiki
| 0.901377
| 0.901377
|
Foodie Facts
INDIA WORLD Times Channel Packs #HSIC2018
Planning & Investing
Inspiration Inc
Written Updates
TECH & GADGETS BUZZ
Meaning Of Dreams
HEALTH EDUCATION THE NEWSHOUR INDIA UPFRONT PHOTOS ASTROLOGY TODAY LATEST NEWS TRENDING NEWS LIVE TV
Everybody wants results, but I will give Igor Stimac more time, says Bhaichung Bhutia
Updated Dec 09, 2019 | 18:06 IST | IANS
Bhaichung Bhutia's comment comes as a huge boost for the coach after AIFF's Technical Committee made its displeasure known over the Stimac's performance in the games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
Everybody wants results, but I will give Stimac more time, says Bhaichung Bhutia |  Photo Credit: IANS
New Delhi: Sports is all about the final outcome and going by new India football coach Igor Stimac's statistics so far, he has managed the team in 9 international games and has managed just one win and four draws. While he has lost the other four games, the goal scored by India in these games stands at 9 as compared to the goals conceded - 18. But former India skipper Bhaichung Bhutia believes it is not the time to panic.
Speaking to IANS, the former skipper said that while the results weren't anything to write home about, one needed to wait and watch as the quality of football being played by the Blue Tigers under Stimac definitely put opposition teams on the backfoot.
"See, I am no one to assess his performance so far as Indian coach. I hope the team starts doing better. What I am happy is that the team is playing good football, that is for sure. The team is playing good brand of football. They have been unlucky in two matches. I don't see anything big to worry about," he smiled.
Bhutia's comment comes as a huge boost for the coach after AIFF's Technical Committee made its displeasure known over the Stimac's performance in the games against Bangladesh and Afghanistan.
"Obviously in terms of results, he hasn't got the results so far, but the team is playing well. I think we should be a little more patient. I, definitely, will give him more time. I am not in a rush to come to a conclusion. The team is playing good, though he has not got the results. Obviously everybody wants to see the results. So, let's see," he pointed.
Bhutia though agreed with the views of Stimac about the shortage of natural strikers. While the team is creating opportunities, they are failing to convert them and the former striker feels that the team must create players who can convert because Chhetri too is not getting any younger.
"That problem is there. You see Sunil is also not getting younger and after Sunil there is a huge vacuum as to who will score goals," he rued.
While communication barriers are often seen as a hurdle when foreign coaches take charge, Bhutia feels that shouldn't be a problem as S. Venkatesh is working with Stimac and that should be more than helpful. "Venkatesh is working with him. He is working with him from the day Stimac has come," he explained.
European Parliament ratifies Brexit deal
Yeh Rishta Kya Kehlata Hai, January 30, Preview
Bigg Boss 13 January 29, Written Updates
Taapsee Pannu calls her film Thappad, 'this year's Pink'
Nobody sits on MS Dhoni's corner seat, we miss him: Chahal
3rd T20I: India win series 3-0 after Rohit's heroics
Chair umpire steals limelight in Federer vs Sandgren match
WATCH: MP bowler takes hat-trick in 1st over in Ranji Trophy
Pakistan hang on to No.1 spot in ICC T20I team rankings
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2961
|
__label__wiki
| 0.918635
| 0.918635
|
Jana J. Pruet
TX-Sen: New 'Bernie' ad mocks senator's 'Tough as Texas' campaign
A new anti-Cruz ad, featuring Sonny Carl Davis of 2011 "Bernie" fame, mocks GOP Sen. Ted Cruz's "Tough as Texas" slogan. The ad calls out Cruz for accepting an endorsement from President Donald Trump. (Image source: Video screenshot)
A new anti-Cruz ad mocking GOP Sen. Ted Cruz's "Tough as Texas" slogan has been released on social media.
The ad, directed by Texas filmmaker Richard Linklater, features Sonny Carl Davis, who reprised his character from the 2011 dark comedy "Bernie."
"Sonny's character really captures what most Texans understand about Cruz: he's a spineless liar who puts his own ambition ahead of doing his job for the people of Texas," Marc Stanley told The Dallas Morning News.
Stanley, a Dallas lawyer and Democratic donor, formed the PAC, Fire Ted Cruz, which is not connected to Democratic Senate candidate Beto O'Rourke's campaign.
The ad calls out Cruz for accepting an endorsement from President Donald Trump, who dubbed Cruz "Lyin' Ted" during the 2016 presidential campaign. Cruz later got behind Trump after the then-presidential nominee secured the Republican nomination.
Trump is expected to make a visit to Texas later this month to campaign for Cruz.
What does the ad say?
"Somebody left something on my door the other day. It said Ted Cruz is Tough as Texas. I mean come on," Davis says in the ad. "If somebody called my wife a dog and said my daddy was in on the Kennedy assassination, I wouldn't be kissing their ass. You stick a finger in their chest and give them a few choice words or you drag their ass out by the woodshed and kick their ass, Ted. Come on, Ted."
Watch the ad:
The PAC created the ad to counter the attack ads against O'Rourke.
"It's not in Beto's DNA to be negative. That's one of the reasons that we started Fire Ted Cruz PAC, so that we could tell people how awful Ted Cruz is," Stanley told the newspaper.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2969
|
__label__wiki
| 0.523969
| 0.523969
|
Seth Meyers Tears Apart Senate’s ‘Breathtakingly Cruel’ Health Care Bill
TRUMPCARE
The ‘Late Night’ host called out Senate Republicans for somehow making the House health-care bill ‘even worse.’
Matt Wilstein
Updated Jun. 23, 2017 7:14PM ET / Published Jun. 23, 2017 1:43AM ET
The Senate health-care bill is finally here—and surprise!—it doesn’t have as much “heart” as Donald Trump wanted it to.
In his “A Closer Look” Late Night segment Thursday, Seth Meyers described Trump as a president who “campaigned on populist rhetoric but whose policy would cause needless suffering for low- and middle-income people.” There’s “no better example of that,” the host added, than Trumpcare. After “weeks of secretive closed-door meetings,” Republicans in the Senate finally released their draft today “and somehow made the House bill even worse.”
“The process for writing this bill was so secretive that even the people who were supposed to be writing it had no idea what was in it,” Meyers added, including Sen. Mike Lee (R-UT), who admitted that he hadn’t seen it either. For those who are “genuinely appalled” by the bill, Meyers suggested they “actually do something about it” before Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rushes a vote on it.
On McConnell’s answer to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer as to whether there will be a hearing on the bill, Meyers said, “I think ‘We’ll have ample opportunity to read and amend the bill’ is the longest euphemism I’ve ever heard for ‘Go fuck yourself.’”
Meyers singled out McConnell for his hypocrisy about the Democrats’ far less secretive process for passing the Affordable Care Act back in 2009. “Republicans can hate Obamacare,” he said, “but they cannot argue that it wasn’t far more open, transparent, and inclusive than the process the Republicans are using now
“What we’re seeing right now is a breathtakingly cynical process to produce a breathtakingly cruel bill,” Meyers concluded.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2972
|
__label__wiki
| 0.670213
| 0.670213
|
'It takes a lot of courage to be silly': Bud Light's plan for England to utter 'Dilly Dilly'
By John McCarthy-22 August 2018 11:03am
Bud Light and England to issue regular Dilly Dillys
Despite being only one year old in the UK, the Bud Light brand has seized a substantial grasp of the beer market. This is on the back of an aggressive campaign pushing the eternally silly catchphrase 'Dilly Dilly'. To further solidify its position in the market, it has partnered with the England football men's senior team.
Since crossing the Atlantic, the AB InBev brand Bud Light has not dilly-dallied. In one year, it became the top growth driver for standard lager. Now it taps into England's young and exciting team, accompanying sister brand Budweiser’s wider support of the FA. As a result, football is now a cornerstone of its strategy. The aim is to emulate the partnership (and benefits) it has with the NFL in the US.
Low or non-alcohol beer will make up a fifth of all AB InBev sales by 2025. To deliver this, Aina Fuller, marketing manager of Bud Light UK, will align the brand with a team that performed well at the World Cup. Bud Light will build upon a renewed excitement around the side, and the so-called Southgate fever. You only have to look at how Southgate inspired greater sales of M&S waistcoats to understand what a connection to football brings to the table.
Its entry into the market was fuelled by the 'Dilly Dilly' creative, developed by Wieden+Kennedy. This was a stateside "gift" said Fuller. Its latest creative, 'The Wizard', gives a good idea of how it will ingratiate itself in the UK.
Budweiser (which temporarily rebranded simply as America several years ago) is a definitive American beer brand. By association, the same could be said of Bud Light. The England team opens the door to a new market and invites the Americans into one of the isles' most impassioned national conversations. Football.
The 'Dilly Dilly' creative features odd medieval sketches. Here the monarchs have an unhealthy obsession with the beer brand. Any tributes paid to the sitting king and queen better be crates of AB InBev's light beer - or else. The work is reminiscent of the ever-quotable Monty Python and the Holy Grail. As a result, 'Dilly Dilly' has seeded into the public consciousness. This is no accident. AB InBev has invested heavily in media to ensure this. Fuller said the team placed the creative in many channels to reach as many eyeballs as possible - this was, after all, Bud Light's big brand introduction. Apparently, 85% of the UK public should have seen 'Dilly Dilly' up to 20 times since launch.
Fuller said: "We've not got the awareness. We see on our social channels that people really are using [Dilly Dilly] in everyday celebrations. We also saw that people were appropriating the creative and are using phrases from the campaign in their own lives.
“When you lean into culture authentically with a catchphrase that's true to your brand personality so silly and irreverent. There's something magical about just take off.”
According to data from social analytics company Brandwatch, the #DillyDilly hashtag has appeared on social globally 140,000 times since September 2017.
It benefited from notable spikes during the NFL playoffs and Super Bowl. From a few mentions in September, the catchphrase bumped up to 7,800 mentions in October, 14,700 in November, 18,500 in December, to around 28,000 for January and February. Unsurprisingly, it gained 10,000 mentions 4 February, the day of the Super Bowl, largely driven by its new, zany creative.
Many people saw the work. They also responded positively to it. It generated a high 83.37% of positive mentions. Furthermore, sentiment may skew negative due to mentions of the infamous Bud Light ‘Pit of Misery'.
As Fuller said, sports fans have been urging rival teams to get in the pit. It came as a surprise in particular how the Pit of Misery played to UK sensibilities. Fuller hinted that mentions of the dungeon (from the Banquet creative above) in the UK is disproportionately high when compared to other markets.
His Highness foresees temperatures hotter than the raging fires in the Pit of Misery with a strong chance of #DillyDilly heard across the kingdom! #WarmestDayOfTheYearpic.twitter.com/N96QxExChc
— Bud Light UK (@BudLightUK) April 19, 2018
To date, Dilly Dilly has driven 610m impressions globally on social. Although in the UK, the figures remain much more modest. 5,000 mentions have been logged all the momentum is behind it and this is projected to increase in the coming months.
“We have a very successful partnership with the NFL in the US. We were watching how Bud Light activates there. It gave us a lot of really great examples of how to authentically activate a franchise partnership. When we look to the UK, watching football with your friends is one of the biggest beer drinking occasions. The only way for us to grow was to be culturally relevant,” said Fuller.
To do so, Bud Light has partnered with footballers like Ian Wright, Jermaine Jenas, Chris Smalling and Stephen Gerrard to promote Bud Light and wish a 'Dilly Dilly' to fans. Fuller even boasted of organic usage of the hashtag from Charlton FC and Liam Gallagher. Now it also boasts England’s young team.
In penning the partnership, AB InBev switched out Budweiser from the partnership (already an established voice in football and a sponsor of the FA and the World Cup). The Bud Light brand has the chance to be more irreverent in sport, more akin to a Paddy Power. Through Southgate’s team, Bud Light has found a “credible” way to speak to a new audience.
“We've tried to intentionally evolve a really strong voice on social that is totally on tone with what you see in the TV commercial and just really cheeky and irreverent and celebratory.”
But humour is subjective. And difficult. And apparently harder to nail in the UK. Fuller said: “It takes a lot of courage to be silly and I think in the UK where humour is arguably the most developed in the world, here, to be funny - you have to be really, really good.”
Like it – or hate it – 'Dilly Dilly' is memorable. Fuller noted that Bud Light came to market with the mentality and swagger of a big brand, despite being a new player. This granted it momentum and allowed it to lean into its absurdist personality which created an enviable differentiation point against rivals.
The England team’s charisma and ability, paired with Bud Light's personality, and Budweiser’s involvement with The FA, would ideally activate a “halo effect” around the beers. The goal is to create a “megabrand” around Bud Light and Budweiser, likely how Coke, and its variants activate.
On the back of the partnership, Bud Light will increase its presence at Wembley Stadium, rolling out brand advertising and a take-over of Club Wembley bars.
It is no surprise that the light variant has been granted such a platform. ‘Light’ beers are projected to be a growth sector. On this Fuller, said: “We see a lot of people turning towards alcohol moderation. This is health and well-being consciousness. We see it across every age category but most notably among the 18- to 24-year-olds. They're looking for alternatives to traditional beer that are light and refreshing and you know allows them to still flex and be active in their lifestyle.”
Showing how desirable the England partnership is, before dropping it earlier this year, Carlsberg held it for 22 years. During this time, the side arguably underperformed with some early exits from major tournaments. In the end, Carlsberg moved away from the partnership to focus on marketing positions that would help it drive into a more premium arena, fronted by actor Mads Mikkelsen who is teaching the world, 'The Danish Way'.
This article is about: World, Sports Marketing, Alcohol, Advertising, Marketing, Brand
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2973
|
__label__wiki
| 0.669272
| 0.669272
|
3mins Tokyo 2020 unveils Olympic Plaza
38mins Social media tip-off helps rescue Assam woman
55mins Australia to intensify engagement, new envoy likely to be India-hand O’Farrell
1hr Ensure Centre doesn’t review MSP policy, Congress MPs tell Amarinder
1hr Yellow rust incidence in wheat in Punjab, Haryana causes anxiety
1hr Railway women stun Petroleum in National table tennis championship
2hrs Top news of the day: Health Ministry warns Indians against travelling to China, JD(U) expels Prashant Kishor, Pawan Varma, and more
2hrs Delhi court sends Sharjeel Imam to 5-day police custody
2hrs Nirbhaya case: another convict Vinay Kumar Sharma files mercy plea
2hrs Coronavirus: India asks China for permission to operate two flights to bring back nationals
KCR urged to stay work on update of NPR
HYDERABAD, December 25, 2019 19:24 IST
All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen president Asaduddin Owaisi after meeting Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao at the latter’s Camp Office on the citizenship law in Hyderabad on Wednesday.
Hold consultation with Kerala Govt and experts: Owaisi
The United Muslim Action Committee (UMAC) has urged the State government to stay any work taken up on the updation of the National Population Register after holding consultations with the Kerala government and experts.
The government should take steps to ensure that citizens in the State were protected from “arbitrary and discriminatory” measures such as National Register of Indian Citizens (NRIC). Measures should be initiated to ensure that conduct of public services was in accordance with the provisions of the Constitution and not contrary to them.
A delegation of the committee headed by MIM president and MP Asaduddin Owaisi called on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to represent their objections to the exercise launched by the Central government with regard to the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA), NPR and NRIC. During the meeting that lasted more than three hours, the delegation expressed concern that the CAA had incorporated a religious qualification for the first time and, when seen in the light of NRC, it would create the possibility of an avoidable humanitarian disaster.
The link between the NPR and NRIC should be clearly understood as the exercise would cause disproportionate hardship to the most marginalised communities, besides imposing unnecessary and excessive burden on government employees and civil servants.
The Constitution placed the power and responsibility of public order on the State governments. Burdening citizens, especially from poor and marginalised sections, with the arbitrary procedure under the provisions of the CAA, NPR and NRC was likely to deepen the fissures in society and empower miscreants to disrupt public order.
Related Topics Hyderabad Telangana
Printable version | Jan 29, 2020 10:14:25 PM | https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/kcr-urged-to-stay-work-on-updation-of-npr/article30396211.ece
Stakes are high in Kothagudem, Yellandu
The two municipalities are regarded as political nerve centres of the coal belt
Cyber crooks cheat Gulf migrant to the tune of ₹16 lakh
Family lost all their assets and valuables
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2975
|
__label__wiki
| 0.942631
| 0.942631
|
Evelyn Freeman Roberts
Information about Evelyn Freeman Roberts
Education Is The Key To Success.
About Evelyn Freeman Roberts
See how Evelyn Freeman Roberts is related to other HistoryMakers
Evelyn Freeman Roberts was born on February 13, 1919, to Gertrude Evelyn Richardson and Ernest Aaron Freeman. Roberts grew up in Cleveland, Ohio and performed music at local social events with "The Freeman Family," a group that included her brother, Ernie, and father. She also began performing locally in a classical ensemble. Roberts skipped school one day to watch Duke Ellington at Cleveland's Palace Theater and met Ellington after the performance. His music made a huge impact on Roberts, who decided at that moment that she wanted to be a bandleader. She was a bright student, and graduated ahead of her grade in 1936.
After auditioning for a scholarship at the Cleveland Institute of Music, Roberts decided to attend the Institute. Although she had less training than many of the students, Roberts had perfect pitch and was a talented sight-reader, and managed to work her way through school performing. Around 1938, she formed her own swing band, and their performances included a Cleveland Institute dance party. Roberts graduated from the Institute of Music in 1941, and as an African American, she saw no openings in classical music, so she began to focus more on her band's work.
Her group, now titled the Evelyn Freeman Swing Band, had begun performing locally, including broadcasts on Cleveland's WHK radio station and performances for the local NBC affiliate. When World War II arrived, a Navy recruiter convinced the group to join the Navy as a whole, which prevented the draft from splitting the ensemble. As a result, they had become the first all-African American Navy band, were stationed near Peru, Indiana and were nicknamed the "Gobs of Swing." Roberts herself was not recruited, although she would be later as an 'honorary member,' but in the meantime she continued performing but with a smaller ensemble, which included such future jazz stars as Ben "Bull Moose" Jackson.
In 1945, after the war ended, Roberts left Cleveland after meeting Thomas S. Roberts, her future husband. Roberts met her husband after he sought her for some musical arrangements, although it took some time before they would become romantically involved. The couple soon moved to New York City, where Roberts received significant critical accolades for her vocal arrangements for the Wings over Jordan gospel group. She also began working with Vaudeville acts, then began performing in upscale hotels in New York City. In the meantime, much of her band, now discharged from the military, went on to significant success, including members who would go on to perform with Dizzy Gillespie and Lionel Hampton.
The Evelyn Freeman Orchestra would reform in the late 1950s with new members, and released Let’s Make a Little Motion. In 1960, she released Sky High, a new album, and in 1962 released Didn’t It Rain. In the late 1960s, she moved to California and masterminded a group called The Young Saints, and in 1970, the Young Saints performed for Richard Nixon in the White House. Roberts continued to perform over the years, including a lengthy stint as a composer for television, although she would often remain in the background as an arranger, including work for Bing Crosby, Dean Martin and Louis Prima. She was the co-founder and chief administrator for the Young Saints Scholarship Foundation.
Roberts passed away on June 5, 2017 at age 98.
Tape: 1 Story: 1 - Slating of Evelyn Freeman Roberts' interview
Tape: 1 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts lists her favorites
Tape: 1 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts lists her parents' birthdates and birthplaces
Tape: 1 Story: 4 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts talks about her maternal great grandmother
Tape: 1 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her maternal grandmother
Tape: 1 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her maternal grandfather
Tape: 1 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her mother's family
Tape: 1 Story: 8 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls visiting her maternal grandparents
Tape: 1 Story: 9 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her maternal grandmother's country store
Tape: 1 Story: 10 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her mother's experience at boarding school
Tape: 2 Story: 1 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her mother's education
Tape: 2 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes how her parents met
Tape: 2 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her paternal great grandfather
Tape: 2 Story: 4 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her paternal grandparents' courtship
Tape: 2 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her father's time at Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
Tape: 2 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her parents' married life
Tape: 2 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts lists her siblings
Tape: 2 Story: 8 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her father's occupations
Tape: 3 Story: 1 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her father's music career
Tape: 3 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers John Burroughs Elementary School
Tape: 3 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes Cleveland, Ohio's Central High School
Tape: 3 Story: 4 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes the demographics of Central High School
Tape: 3 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her decision to attend Cleveland Institute of Music
Tape: 3 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her experience at Cleveland Institute of Music
Tape: 3 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her brothers' educations
Tape: 3 Story: 8 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts talks about her brother, Ernest Freeman, Jr.
Tape: 4 Story: 1 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls playing concerts with her family in Cleveland
Tape: 4 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers meeting Duke Ellington
Tape: 4 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls forming the Evelyn Freeman Swing Band
Tape: 4 Story: 4 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls how her swing band was recruited to the U.S. Army
Tape: 4 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her career after her swing band's military recruitment
Tape: 4 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls meeting her husband
Tape: 4 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls arranging for the Wings Over Jordan Choir
Tape: 4 Story: 8 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her work arranging music in New York
Tape: 5 Story: 1 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her marriage to Lloyd Gentry
Tape: 5 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts explains her relation to Minnie Gentry and Terrence Howard
Tape: 5 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers buying a house in New York City
Tape: 5 Story: 4 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers touring with her children, pt. 1
Tape: 5 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls touring with her children, pt. 2
Tape: 5 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers moving to Los Angeles, California
Tape: 5 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls challenges in Los Angeles, California
Tape: 5 Story: 8 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers working with Peggy Lee
Tape: 6 Story: 1 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls performing on 'The Jonathan Winters Show'
Tape: 6 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls the Young Saints' performance on 'The Andy Griffith Show'
Tape: 6 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls working with Frankie Laine
Tape: 6 Story: 4 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls working with Louis Prima
Tape: 6 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts remembers forming the Young Saints
Tape: 6 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls the Young Saints' contract with Ashley-Famous talent agency
Tape: 6 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls the Young Saints' performance on 'The Danny Kaye Show'
Tape: 6 Story: 8 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls her classes for the Model Cities program
Tape: 6 Story: 9 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes the Young Saints program at Second Baptist Church
Tape: 7 Story: 1 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts talks about the success of the Young Saints
Tape: 7 Story: 2 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes her family's involvement in the Young Saints
Tape: 7 Story: 3 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts recalls the Young Saints' performance at the White House, pt. 1
Tape: 7 Story: 5 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts describes how she would like to be remembered
Tape: 7 Story: 6 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts reflects upon her career
Tape: 7 Story: 7 - Evelyn Freeman Roberts narrates her photographs
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2976
|
__label__wiki
| 0.992489
| 0.992489
|
2 hurt as magnitude 6.1 earthquake shakes northern Panama
By Juan Zamorano and Javier Cordoba, The Associated Press
Panamanian authorities said at least two people had been injured in a village but gave no details. Sigifredo Perez, head of operations for Costa Rica's National Commission of Emergencies, said no major damage or injuries had been reported in his country.
PANAMA CITY — A strong earthquake struck a lightly populated area of Panama near its border with Costa Rica on Sunday, causing some wooden porches to collapse and products to shake from store shelves.
The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake had a 6.1 preliminary magnitude and was centered four miles southeast of the town of Plaza de Caisan. The quake occurred at a depth of about 22 miles.
Images posted on social media showed simple wooden homes that partially collapsed in rural areas, deep fissures in tightly packed beach sand and entire grocery store shelves that spilled containers of processed food and bottled beverages on the floor.
"I was in the supermarket and everything swayed," Carla Chavez said by phone from David, the capital of Panama's Chiriqui province near the quake's epicenter. "Merchandise fell on the floor. Everything happened so fast."
Panama's National Civil Protection Service said via Twitter that walls cracked at a hospital and two supermarkets in Changuinola in Bocas del Toro province.
Northern Panama is frequently hit by earthquakes. In 1991, a magnitude 7.4 quake killed 23 people and injured 500. A magnitude 6.7 tremor in 2003 killed two people and damaged hundreds of houses.
Associated Press writer Juan Zamorano reported this story in Panama City and AP writer Javier Cordoba reported from San Jose, Costa Rica.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2979
|
__label__wiki
| 0.900092
| 0.900092
|
Fort Madison Baseball
Conference: Southeast
Conference Record: 6-11
District Record: 6-11
05/20/19 Burlington Box Score W 10-2 Fort Madison High School
05/20/19 5:00PM Burlington Box Score L 11-7 Fort Madison High School
05/22/19 7:00PM West Burlington Box Score W 9-4 West Burlington High School
05/30/19 Mount Pleasant Box Score W 5-2 Iowa Wesleyan Mapleleaf Athletic Complex
05/30/19 5:30PM Mount Pleasant Box Score L 3-2 Iowa Wesleyan Mapleleaf Athletic Complex
06/03/19 Fairfield Box Score L 9-0 Fort Madison High School
06/03/19 5:30PM Fairfield Box Score L 8-3 Fort Madison High School
06/05/19 7:00PM Mediapolis Box Score W 13-3 Mediapolis High School
06/10/19 5:30PM Keokuk Box Score W 15-5 Joyce Park, Keokuk
06/11/19 5:30PM Washington Box Score W 9-1 Fort Madison High School
06/11/19 5:30PM Washington Box Score L 10-4 Fort Madison High School
06/13/19 5:30PM Washington Box Score L 2-1 Washington High School
06/15/19 5:30PM Burlington Notre Dame Box Score W 5-4 Fort Madison High School
06/17/19 5:30PM Mount Pleasant Box Score L 10-0 Fort Madison High School
06/20/19 5:00PM Davenport North Box Score W 4-2 North High School-Davenport
06/20/19 5:00PM Davenport North Box Score L 8-1 North High School-Davenport
06/24/19 5:30PM Fairfield Box Score L 2-0 Fairfield Middle School
06/24/19 5:30PM Fairfield Box Score L 11-6 Fairfield Middle School
06/26/19 Wapello Box Score W 21-7 Wapello Senior High School
07/01/19 5:30PM Keokuk Box Score W 7-1 Fort Madison High School
07/02/19 Van Buren Box Score W 9-4 Fort Madison High School
07/08/19 New London Box Score L 11-7 Fort Madison High School
07/09/19 Central Lee Box Score W 2-1 Fort Madison High School
07/09/19 5:30PM Central Lee Box Score L 4-3 Fort Madison High School
07/10/19 Denison-Schleswig Box Score W 10-0 Fort Madison High School
07/13/19 Pella Box Score W 3-1 Pella High School
07/19/19 7:00PM Fairfield Box Score L 7-4 Fairfield High School
Ethan Deacon 21 Sophomore
Brandon Reichelt 10 Junior
Brock Califf Sophomore
Garrett Hannum Sophomore
Vasin Thurman Sophomore
Parker Denning 24 Junior
Danen Settles 25 Junior
Kane Williams 8th
Matt Hopper Freshman
Jordyn Gerdes 14 Senior
Matthew Steffensmeier 5 Freshman
Reiburn Turnbull Freshman
Dayne Cordray 6 Senior
Calem MacLearn 8 Sophomore
Austin Heidbreder Senior
Dayton Davis Freshman
Jason Thurman Sophomore
Colten Engeman 50 Sophomore
Max Slater 30 Junior
Brock Barnes 28 Junior
Trey Kuntz 9 Senior
Gavin Wiseman 7 Freshman
Reed Fehseke Junior
Jace Burgher 12 Junior
Levi Lowney 22 Sophomore
Caleb Wood 26 Junior
Logan Rashid Senior
Diego Lozano Junior
Lennon Barker 15 Senior
Tate Johnson 1 Freshman
Landes Williams 4 Freshman
05/20/19 33 10 7 3 0 0 6 1 5 vs Burlington
05/20/19 24 9 10 1 0 2 10 1 7 vs Burlington
05/30/19 23 3 5 0 0 0 2 1 11 @ Mount Pleasant
05/30/19 23 3 2 0 0 0 1 0 7 @ Mount Pleasant
06/03/19 22 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 3 vs Fairfield
06/03/19 26 7 3 0 0 0 3 0 10 vs Fairfield
06/05/19 26 7 13 1 0 0 9 9 12 @ Mediapolis
06/10/19 27 12 27 3 3 0 27 0 16 @ Keokuk
06/10/19 28 10 15 1 0 0 14 3 7 @ Keokuk
06/11/19 26 10 9 2 0 0 8 2 10 vs Washington
06/11/19 29 6 4 1 0 0 3 0 7 vs Washington
06/13/19 25 3 1 1 0 0 1 1 2 @ Washington
06/17/19 20 3 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 vs Mount Pleasant
06/20/19 29 9 4 2 0 0 4 1 1 @ Davenport North
06/24/19 26 7 6 0 0 0 4 0 8 @ Fairfield
06/26/19 25 8 21 1 0 0 15 11 12 @ Wapello
07/01/19 28 9 7 1 2 0 6 2 2 vs Keokuk
07/02/19 23 7 9 1 1 0 7 4 4 vs Van Buren
07/09/19 24 3 3 0 0 0 2 0 4 vs Central Lee
07/10/19 27 13 10 1 0 0 9 1 11 vs Denison-Schleswig
07/13/19 22 4 3 2 0 0 1 1 3 @ Pella
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2985
|
__label__cc
| 0.593646
| 0.406354
|
Trump Solves Evil Clown Mystery
Written by Al N.
Trump has promised to ban all clown images, wherever they may be.
Donald Trump, Republican candidate for President of the U.S., gave a press conference and announced that he and his team had solved the riddle of where all the evil clowns around the U.S. were coming from.
"This is all a plot by Obama and Hillary. The reasons are obvious" said Trump. He then listed the reasons:
1. People will be too scared of evil clowns to go out and vote for Trump.
2. The evil clowns will vote multiple times for Hillary, using different clown disguises each time.
3. People will mistake Trump, with his wild orange hair and crazy antics, for an evil clown and attack him.
"We must take action!" shouted Trump at a rally.
Later, Trump will deny that he did anything to incite violence against clowns when Bozo and Ronald McDonald are brutally attacked.
Trump Says Women Accusing Him Are Just Using That As An Excuse To Meet Him 27 October 2016
America's Trump supporters may be lured to Florida and walled in by US government to maintain peaceful transfer of power after election. 26 October 2016
Jesus Makes a Confession: " I messed up…" 26 October 2016
Taco Trucks and "Blow Jobs for Votes™" Battle for Voters 26 October 2016
Clinton "Blow Jobs for Votes™" Campaign Gathers Steam and Something Else 25 October 2016
George W. Bush Admits He's Afraid of Words 24 October 2016
Donald Trump's grandfather's will could be source of Trump's election loss 24 October 2016
"Bad Hombre" Referenced By Trump Revealed--It's Chuy From Chelsea Lately 24 October 2016
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2986
|
__label__wiki
| 0.791427
| 0.791427
|
Flageolet Beans in French Cuisine
Culinary Glossary
Beans, Peas or Rice Sides
Danilo Alfaro
Danilo Alfaro has published more than 800 recipes and tutorials focused on making complicated culinary techniques approachable to home cooks.
Published on 11/19/19 by Danilo Alfaro
Dorling Kindersley / Getty Images
Flageolet (pronounced "fla-zho-LAY") is a type of shell bean grown in France and very popular in classic French cuisine.
A pale shade of green in color, Flageolet beans are sometimes known as the "caviar of beans" for their subtle flavor and the high esteem in which they are held by food lovers.
Flageolets are traditionally paired with lamb (or mutton), although they are also served with poultry and seafood recipes. They can also be used in salads, in soups and in stews such as the classic Cassoulet recipe.
Are They Available in the U.S.?
In the United States, flageolets are mostly available dried or canned, although some farmers grow any of a number of heirloom flageolet varieties. If you can get your hands on fresh ones, they can be simmered gently in a stock flavored with mirepoix and bacon. Unlike dried beans, fresh flageolets can be added directly to simmering water (or stock).
Dried flageolets need to be soaked for a bit, and there's disagreement about how long. Some cooks recommend at least six hours, or even overnight. The problem with this is that the beans can start to ferment if soaked for too long, which alters their delicate flavor. If the beans are fresh (meaning recently dried, as in within the past 12 months), it is probably sufficient to soak them for an hour or two, and then simmer them until tender.
What Are Figs?
What Are Fava Beans?
Shelling Beans
Classic French Chicken and Sausage Cassoulet Recipe
What Are Chickpeas?
What Are Black Beans?
What Are Black (Shiitake) Mushrooms?
How Coffee Is Grown and Produced
What Are Fermented Black Beans?
What Is Monkey Coffee? Benefits, Uses, & Recipes
What Is Chinese Red Bean Curd?
What Are Lentils?
Learn All About Bean Science for Healthy Meals
What Are Porcini Mushrooms?
Cook Black Beans Like a Pro
Get daily tips and expert advice to help you take your cooking skills to the next level.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2987
|
__label__wiki
| 0.920973
| 0.920973
|
Chad Johnson’s VH1 Reality Show Yanked After Arrest
NFL star Chad Johnson was also cut from team after allegedly head-butting his wife
Tim Kenneally | August 13, 2012 @ 12:30 PM Last Updated: August 13, 2012 @ 12:35 PM
NFL star Chad Johnson — aka, Ochocinco — has received some more bad news following his arrest stemming from an alleged brawl with his wife, Evelyn Lozada.
VH1 has decided to yank Johnson and Lozada's reality series, "Ev and Ocho," in light of the arrest.
Also read: Gary Coleman Pleads Guilty in Domestic Case
"Due to the unfortunate events over the weekend and the seriousness of the allegations, VH1 is pulling the series 'Ev and Ocho' from its schedule and has no current plans of airing it," VH1 said in a statement.
The series, which was due to premiere last month, would have traced the couple's preparations for their wedding, which took place last month.
Also read: Mel Gibson's Domestic Violence Charges Dropped by Ex
Johnson was arrested in Florida on Saturday night after allegedly head-butting his wife following an argument. According to TMZ, the altercation began when Lozada found a receipt for a box of condoms in Johnson's car. Johnson allegedly began yelling and cursing at Lozada, and eventually head-butted her. Police observed a three-inch cut on Lozada's head, but the football star told an officer that it was Lozada who had actually head-butted him.
Johnson was arrested for domestic violence and released Sunday morning.
VH1's yanking of "Ev and Ocho" follows the Miami Dolphins' decision to drop him from the team hours after his release for jail, Fox News reports.
Mel Gibson May Face Domestic Violence Charges Very Soon (Updated)
By Dominic Patten | January 18, 2011 @ 10:49 PM
Jay Mariotti Pleads No Contest to Domestic Violence Charge, Avoids Jail
By Dylan Stableford | September 30, 2010 @ 2:39 PM
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2990
|
__label__wiki
| 0.707967
| 0.707967
|
Juranda (A) / (B) / (C) / (D)
Bivotar and Juranda...
...find the Sword of Zork (A)
...find the Sword of Zork (B)
...with the Ring of Zork
...bearing the Ring of Zork
...meet a troll in the Castle of Zork
...in their adventurer garb
...embrace their uncle
...and Syovar outside Cavern of Doom
...with Grum
...with Logrumethar and Syovar
...with magic bead
...explore the underground
...before the sick Syovar
...within a cloud of magic
JURANDA THE DAUNTLESS
Juranda and Bivotar, two famous adventurers that frequented the company of each other, were the niece and nephew of Syovar the Strong. The two inseperable companions commonly dressed in the adventurer's garb, featuring leather belts, hooded cloaks, and sturdy leather boots.
THE FORCES OF KRILL
Circa 738~755, Bivotar and Juranda were kidnapped by the forces of Krill. Because of Syovar's absorption into the isolation and intrigues of the royal Quendoran life, it took him several years before he found out. The two were imprisoned for nearly two hundred years, when they finally escaped the clutches Krill's servants in the late ninth century. The two were instantly plunged into the war between Krill and the Aragain Province as Syovar and Sir Ellron were desperately trying to counter the invasion.
The two adventurers stumbled across the Sword of Zork. In the Foothills of Frobozz, they met with Sir Ellron and the rest of the Knights of Frobozz on the provincial road who were marching towards the White House to collect with Syovar's forces. He had no time to spare them the details of occurrences during their imprisonment. Thus he directed the pair to an ancient man still dwelling in a nearby village within the folds of the foothills, who explained to them all the doings in the kingdom from the fall of the Empire to the current campaign against Krill. They departed the village to bring the Sword of Zork to Syovar at the campsite in the Dark Forest. Their arrival was belated, for the knights had been forced to move on to engage with Krill’s forces that were again amassing beyond Flood Control Dam #3. A letter attached to a signpost updated them on the campaign:
Bivotar, Juranda,
It brings joy to my heart to hear that you have returned. Sir Ellron tells me that he met you in the foothills and that you have the Sword of Zork. We must hurry off to battle; the armies of Krill are massing again beyond the dam, and I fear they will attack before nightfall. We will go to Ellron's house as soon as possible; meet us there with the sword.
Syovar
The two adventurers headed down the forest trail toward the White House. At the fork in the trail, Juranda climbed a tree were she spotted a bronze key amidst a birds nest. All of the doors and windows of the White House were boarded shut, save one window behind the house which Juranda found that was slightly ajar. They entered through it. In the living room, the two adventurers found an inscription upon a trophy case: “Only when the Three Palantirs of Zork are returned to this case can the evil be driven from the land and the Great Underground Empire rise once more.” The two were determined to recover the Palantirs. Juranda accidentally found a trapdoor hidden beneath a heavy oriental rug, which was opened once the bronze key she had found was inserted into the lock. They added a brass lantern to their inventory and descended. Some mysterious ill-willed being firmly shut the trapdoor behind them.
Along a dark tunnel they were ambushed by a lurking troll. Wielding the Sword of Zork, Bivotar dispatched the troll and the two followed a passage to a flat ledge overlooking the massive reservoir of Flood Control Dam #3. A torn map once leading to the location of the three Palantirs was found on the skeleton of a deceased adventurer. They followed the ledge lining the reservoir east towards the dam until the path before them was broken by a huge gap. Hopelessly looking for a way to cross, one of the many gnomes of the region appeared, willing to help them, as long as they relinquished the Sword of Zork into his hands. Refusing to handover the precious artifact, Bivotar cleverly tricked the gnome to form a magical bridge free of charge, and the two adventurers continued their journey.
Upon their arrival at Flood Control Dam #3, a bloody and disheveled Ellron met them astride his mount. The army of Krill had beaten the Knights of Frobozz in battle that day and they were in retreat. Syovar had fled to the underground base in the nearby coal mines where the survivors were rendezvousing to form a last defense against Krill. At this moment, a letter from Syovar arrived via gray owl, informing Ellron that the armies of Krill had amassed for battle once again. He reasoned that if the armies of Syovar lost this round, that it would be their final defeat. But even if the knights were able to defeat Krill on this day, Ellron knew that without the three Palantirs, it would only be a matter of time before Krill was victorious. After bidding Juranda and Bivotar goodwill, warning them of Krill’s shape-shifting powers, and mentioning that Syovar never removed his Ring of Zork, Ellron departed to reunion with Syovar in the coal mines.
After a brief meeting with Harlon the Hermit, the two friends were interrupted by an enchanted frog near the base of the dam, who, before hopping away, suggested that the two climb the stairs to the top. Concerned that the frog might have been a minion of Krill only trying to guide them into his grip, the two reluctantly ascended the dam.
At the top, they entered the control room and opened the floodgates with the push of a button. A second button on the control panel malfunctioned, causing the pipes to burst. Fortunately, the burst broke open a hollow in the walls, revealing the three Palantirs of Zork. Unfortunately, the room was flooded with brown water and swept the Palantirs deep beneath it. Desperate to recover the spheres that he believed was their only source of salvation, Bivotar dove under the water and obtained the three Palantirs. The two adventurers were swept out of the control room by the rising water and onto the top of the dam. Now that the floodgates had been opened, the water no longer crossed the lip of the dam, thus they crossed to the far side where a path led them into the coal mines.
In the meantime, just as Ellron had arrived at the mines, Krill had discovered the hideout and forced all of the Knights of Frobozz to withdraw to the White House. The two knights who met Bivotar and Juranda upon their entrance were Krill’s lizard warriors who had been polymorphed into the likeness of men. Krill himself had assumed the form of Syovar with the same spell. This pseudo-Syovar welcomed them with stew and informed them that Ellron had already told him of their quest for the Palantirs and the recovery of the sword. But when something tugged the back of Bivotar’s mind, he recalled the advice of Ellron (that Syovar never removes his ring) and thus he was not fooled by the naked fingers of Krill’s disguise.
At Bivotar’s refusal to hand over the relics to the pseudo-Syovar, Krill reverted his appearance and the surrounding knights returned to their lizard forms. Bivotar and Juranda escaped the coal mine, sliding down a chute that returned them to the cellar of the White House. Climbing up the rickety stairs they met with Ellron, Syovar and other knights in the living room. Bivotar handed over the sword of Zork and the three Palantirs into the hands of Syovar.
Krill’s pursuing army of at least ten thousand strong surrounded the house. Syovar quickly placed the Palantirs into the trophy case, read the inscription on the case and recited a spell. An arc of light leapt between the three spheres and grew to encompass the entire room. It flashed blindingly bright, and as the light faded, so did their surroundings—the house was gone, and instead they all stood on a hill in the center of a vast plain. Before them, like a foul black sea, stood the armies of Krill. Krill himself towered above them, larger than life, a horrible dark cloud before the sun. Behind them, stretching to the horizon, summoned by the power of the Palantirs, stood the legendary Warriors of Zork, clothed in white tunics and shiny battle armor. Syovar mounted his mighty steed and commanded the summoned warriors to rid his kingdom of the evil scourge. With a cheer that echoed across the plain, the warriors charged forward, engulfing the armies of Krill. After an eternity of chaos, the armies of Krill lost both ground and strength. The Warriors of Zork pressed on, seemingly tireless and invincible. Syovar vanquished Krill by plunging the Sword of Zork deep into his heart. The evil warlock’s body disappeared in a giant puff of unwholesome smoke and his disembodied spirit fled elsewhere. Unfortunately, the middle of the tenth century would see the resumption of the evil sorcerer’s deviousness.
Syovar was wounded in the battle but it was not serious. Now that the three Palantirs had served their purpose, they vanished in black smoking piles of ash, only to be magically relocated back to the Great Underground Empire beneath the White House. Before sending Bivotar and Juranda back to their homeland, Syovar gifted them with the Ring of Zork. Whenever they wished to return, they only had to place the ring upon their finger to be teleported instantly to the Castle of Zork.
THE MALIFESTRO QUEST
The legends of Bivotar and Juranda’s bravery and their defeat of Krill spread all across the kingdom, although the tales were distorted. One of such warped versions, which omitted the roles that any of the others had played in the ordeal, making it seem that Bivotar and Juranda were two powerful wizards who alone had defeated Krill, made its way beyond the kingdom to Malifestro. This evil wizard lived on the east side of the Flathead Mountains where he was in preparation for world conquest. Malifestro conjured a powerful spell to capture Syovar and held him for ransom in his Fenshire castle. Weak and desperate, the imprisoned king contacted Bivotar and Juranda via magic which came to them in the form of a dream.
That night, the two were both troubled with images of Syovar’s imprisonment above the potent slithering reptiles. Their uncle implored them to come to his aid, to take the ancient underground route, and to seek the black crystal sphere. Then the dream dispersed.
That morning, Bivotar and Juranda met together to share their identical dreams. Fearing the worst, Bivotar placed the Ring of Zork upon his finger and the two companions were transported to the Castle of Zork, which was almost entirely deserted and somewhat neglected. Rats had even invaded the once thriving walls. They befriended Max and Fred, the two frightful elves who told them of the tyranny of Malifestro and the capture of Syovar. Though the elves begged the adventurers to remain at the castle, Bivotar and Juranda were determined to rescue the king. They gathered gear for the journey and set out from the castle for the Flathead Mountains hoping to cross it to Malifestro’s castle on the opposite side. With them, they brought a sack of magical devices, which included vials of potions.
After an hour from the Castle of Zork, the four companions noticed a band of thieves on horseback in the distance. Two accounts currently circulate on how they evaded the band: one states that huddled together behind a large invisibility cloak to shield them from wicked eyes. Another tells that Fred cast a friendliness spell upon the thieves. Despite the variations, both accounts agree that the thieves moved on without any conflict.
After an unsuccessful attempt at magic by Fred to teleport them to Malifestro’s lair (eating hard and bitter cakes and the elf chanting a spell, which only moved them four feet towards the mountains), Juranda pulled a Frobozz Magic Carpet from the sack. The four companions squeezed onto the rug and set off. Unfortunately, the abrupt propulsion flung the two elves off the rug. Juranda and Bivotar had already forgotten the magic word to bring the rug to a halt and were unable to go back. When they finally recalled this word, they had almost reached the base of the mountains and the two elves were nowhere in sight.
As no means could be found to restart the carpet, they sought shelter at a tiny cabin at the base of the mountains, where they were greeted by Vengrallior, a wizard who had been banished from the kingdom by Dimwit Flathead. He fed them bland and lumpy porridge before issuing a prophecy:
Turn not away from the one-eyed beast,
and pass ye through the gates of despair.
Vengrallior informed that only the meek and innocent would be able to approach Malifestro without detection. Then he vanished with a wild laugh. While pondering these words, Bivotar and Juranda slept within the cabin.
The next morning, Bivotar and Juranda awoke and started on their journey to cross the mountains. Recalling the advice Syovar gave through their dream, the two adventurers forsook traveling the mountain paths and entered the “ancient underground route” which had a cavernous opening at the mountain base. Entering into darkness, they would have been consumed by a pack of grues had not Bivotar opened a jar of Frobozz Magic Sunlight, putting all the grues to flight.
The labyrinthine passageways brought them to the Prince of Kaldorn, who had been exiled from his own kingdom. In his despair he had been selling magic sneakers, but the Malifestro epidemic had almost killed his entire business. Just for listening to his misery, his awarded the two adventures with free magic sneakers and set them off. Soon afterward a Frobozz Magic Wizard Escape Potion was added to their inventory.
When the two reached the door of Walter M. Smith, a cyclops, they were dubious if it was wise to enter. But recalling Vengrallior's prophecy, “Turn not away from the one-eyed beast” they risked entrance. The eager cyclops invited them inside to prepare them for his dinner. Juranda knew, as all common adventurers do, that the mere mention of the cyclops-blinder Odysseus would instill fear into this giant. Thus with the utterance of the name, the terrified Walter fled, leaving a cyclops-sized hole in the wall for them to follow.
This passage led them to the Temple of Zork. After packing their inventory with abandoned religious material the two adventurers followed a stairway at the far end of the temple which descended to the Gates of Hades. Bivotar quickly recognized this at the second half of Vengrallior's prophecy “Pass through the gates of despair.” The gates were barred by a horde of translucent spirits. Using the book of exorcism and other religious trinkets gathered from the temple, Bivotar banished the spirits and they were able to pass through.
Traversing the forbidden land, Juranda quickly found another passage leaving Hades. As the tunnel became steep and treacherous, Bivotar and Juranda donned the magic sneakers that had been given by the Prince of Kaldorn; and just in time. A giant toad began to pursue them. The sneakers gave them both the traction and speed to escape the monster.
They emerged from the tunnels on the eastern side of the Flathead Mountains. Before them, rising out of a forest of twisted trees, was the pinnacle of Malifestro’s castle. Surprisingly, they found Max and Fred here, who had crossed the mountains on their own and had been anxiously awaiting them. The four treaded the depths of the forest to the walls of the castle. They climbed some thick vines on the side of the castle and entered through a small window.
On the floor in the center of the room was a pentagram, and sitting near the window was a black crystal sphere upon which was entrapped a demon. Recalling their dream, Bivotar knew that this was the sphere that Syovar had spoken of. When he threw the sphere on the pentagram, the demon was released and appeared before them. It informed them that Malifestro had already disposed of Syovar and was in preparation to invade the Kingdom of Zork. The demon bargained, that in exchange for the adventurer’s bottle of Wizard Escape Potion, he would grant them any wish that was within his power to fulfill. Sensing their distrust, the evil spirit was willing to grant their wish before requiring the payment of the potion.
It is here that Bivotar made one of the most foolish decisions. Although the elves protested for him to retain the potion and not barter with a demon, he was not warded by their attempts. By requesting that the demon bring Syovar back to life, Juranda followed him on the path of folly, for any bargain with a demon is sickening and immensely evil and hideous. The demon granted their request, and revived Syovar from the dead, and unfortunately, was freed when Bivotar handed over the Wizard Escape Potion in exchange.
Syovar knew that if he was able to meet with Malifestro in the throne room of his own castle, the evil wizard would be unable to summon additional help. It would be just his magic and wits against Syovar’s. The king teleported them all into the throne room where Malifestro appeared to confront him in a cloud of acrid smoke.Syovar defeated the evil wizard in magical combat by trapping him in a black crystal sphere. With a wave of Syovar's arm, Bivotar, Juranda and the two elves were back in the Castle of Zork with their uncle.
By the next morning, word had spread of Malifestro’s defeat. Throngs began to gather on the meadow outside the castle. Syovar was hailed by the returning people and the two adventurers were honored with surnames: Bivotar the Brave and Juranda the Dauntless. After the celebration, Bivotar and Juranda said their farewells and departed from the kingdom.
THE CAVERN OF DOOM
The Great Underground Empire began to rise once more following the imprisonment of Malifestro. Each week, new areas of the old underground caverns were rediscovered, explored, and settled. A new section of the Great Underground Empire was discovered, a region that Syovar would later entitle the Cavern of Doom. Over fifty adventurers and treasure hunters flocked into the vast new area, many of them wise and brave, but none returned. Max and Fred were amongst the missing. Wishing to prevent further disappearances, and with utmost reluctance, Syovar was forced to forbid access to that section of the Underground Empire. For Logrumethar, Syovar's son, who was still under Grawl’s curse and in the form of the hideous monster Grum, dwelt in the Cavern of the Rainbow Mosses in that region. Although Grum was happy when people first began to come to the cavern, he hid himself from view and warned others that they would be sorry if they entered. Anyone that did not heed his words and looked upon him were instantly turned to stone.
Syovar could only glean a vague feeling that the one able to enter the enchanted cavern and return was someone completely innocent and pure of heart. His first thought was of Bivotar and Juranda. Concurrently, that moment was when the two young adventurers found themselves transported to the throne room of the Castle of Zork. Syovar picked up the Ring of Zork that dropped into the room after them.
The abundance of celebration and feasting had not ceased since the freedom that had been ushered in after the defeat of Malifestro. While Syovar hinted that he preferred if they talked with him, the excitement of these events caused them to forsake listening to his tales. Somberly, Syovar accompanied Bivotar and Juranda to the craftsfair, the jousting finals, and a banquet followed by a play before the king took them to their bedroom for the night.
The following morning, both were guilty that they had bathed in the jubilation of the festivities and neglected the king. Syovar informed them of his past, his late wife, lost son, and the conditions of the Empire since the fall. The most important information was the details of the recently discovered “Cavern of Doom.” In response to the tales, Juranda was convinced that both she and Bivotar were the ones spoken of that were completely innocent and pure in heart. For both this reason, and that their friends Max and Fred were numbered amongst the missing, the persistent Juranda was able to convince the hesitant Bivotar to accompany her.
Syovar was easily persuaded that they might possibly be the pure and innocent ones. He felt that they would succeed where so many brave adventurers and mighty warriors had failed and teleported them to the entrance of the Cavern of Doom.
The king removed the ward on the door with a lengthy spell, and gave them rations of food and water, a lamp, and a powerful talisman that would glow in the presence of evil. He additionally enchanted them with his strongest protection spell, then resealed the doorway behind them to continue to prevent unauthorized access.
The forbidden region yielded the hut of Grawl. Believing that the abode was deserted, Bivotar and Juranda entered. When they descended into the cellar, they realized that the hut belonged to Grawl. The talisman Syovar had given them glowed, warning of danger. With only enough time to nab a NITFOL scroll, they left the hut just prior to Grawl’s return. Unbeknownst to them, the wizard, having discovered the intrusion, planned to track them down.
After handing over some newly acquired treasures to a greedy toll gnome, they passed through a cavern where a glacier had formed a giant wall of ice that was smooth and shiny like an enormous mirror. The adjacent room was the lair of Leblong the Dragon. Bivotar recited the NITFOL spell scroll, and now understanding dragonese, was warned by the dragon that all passage through his lair was forbidden. In the past, Leblong had made an oath with Grawl to guard this cavern in exchange for killing his twin brother Berlong.
With haste planning, the two adventurers deceived Leblong into believing that his brother was possibly still amongst the living, and led him to the icy mirror to prove this to him. Thinking that his own reflection was his still-living brother, Leblong faced “Berlong” with flaming breath that melted the mirror. Torrents of water began pouring off the glacier that washed the two adventurers away in a massive wave. The dragon was nowhere in sight. In his absence, they quickly passed beyond the lair. Unfortunately, the water had damaged their lamp, causing it to die.
Grues quickly surrounded them, but the two young adventurers narrowly escaped into a patch of light before being devoured. This was the Cavern of the Rainbow Mosses, where they were greeted by the grating voice of Grum. Noticing that the amulet that Syovar had given them was not glowing, Bivotar and Juranda ventured into the cavern that was filled with petrified victims. From afar, Grum told them a hazy tale of his past. Bivotar, moved by compassion, opposed Grum’s warnings and approached the creature. Grum was indeed ugly beyond belief, but Bivotar ignored the ugliness, only looking into Grum’s compassionate eyes. Both Juranda and Bivotar encouraged Grum, telling him that he was beautiful, because he was willing to live within the cavern for so long in isolation, even warning others not to enter, rather than to risk harming them. This was true inner beauty.
Grum was heartbroken with tears. Never had he imagined that someone would describe him as beautiful. When the suggestion was made that Syovar would be able to break the enchantment, Grum became willing, but would return to the cavern should another be turned into stone. Before departing, the statues of Max and Fred were sorrowfully discovered.
The light source was renewed with the discovery of an ivory torch that provided them with guidance to the Hall of Mirrors where a gigantic mirror filled the cavern. Through it, a reflection of the banquet hall of the Castle of Zork could be seen. Bivotar reached out to touch the surface, and when he did, a tremor tossed all three of them to the floor. Magic had transported them to the true banquet hall.
But instead of the hideous beast, they found Logrumethar. The enchantment that had imprisoned him in the form of Grum had been broken. In fact, the enchantment had begun to break when Bivotar and Juranda demonstrated that their feelings for him as a person were more important than their feelings about his appearance. But it was not until they touched the mirror and were transported back to the Castle of Zork that the last of the curse was broken. Logrumethar’s memories were restored with his appearance. Hearing the rumble, Syovar came to investigate. Weeping with tears for his long-lost son, Syovar embraced him.
That evening, the king held a mighty banquet to celebrate the return of Logrumethar. Noblemen and enchanters from every township in the kingdom were present. Syovar and his son sat at the head table, flanked by Bivotar and Juranda. Syovar “tested his abilities” during the banquet by casting a spell so powerful that the very air in the room seemed to crackle. And when he was finished, standing in the hall were a hundred or more explorers, treasure hunters, and knights. Syovar had returned all the stone figures to flesh and transported them back to the castle. Max and Fred were amongst the restored. The jubilant reunion with the elves was short. Syovar thanked both adventures one more for saving his son, handed the Ring of Zork to Juranda, and again sent them off.
THE RETURN OF JEEARR
It was an amazing decade for all known kingdoms. Syovar’s plea for a unified Kingdom of Zork was being considered by all leaders of the lands. Dreams of peace and unity were no more translucent vapors, but nearly solidified forms. In several days, all of the leaders of the surviving city-states, as well as representatives from Kovalli, Kaldorn and Antharia agreed to meet at the old city of Quendor in the northlands. If everything went according to plan, the treaty would be signed proclaiming a union between the lands. As the conference approached, a truce between all the warring neighbors had been observed—but instead of working toward peace, the nations had merely used this time to build huge armies, poised to attack should the treaty not be signed. If Syovar was not present at the conference, the treaty would not be made and Quendor would be merely the prelude to the worst bloodshed that the Land of Frobozz would have ever seen.
This was where Jeearr surfaced his ugly feline head. The evil demon planned to lure Syovar into a trap that would prevent him from attending the Conference of Quendor. The bait was his dear Bivotar and Juranda. The evil force prepared a wicked spell which heralded a dark, black storm cloud across the sky above where Bivotar and Juranda were. With an explosion of lighting, the cloud changed shape until it knotted into the form of an enormous hand. The giant hand reached down from the sky and closed around the two, plucking them away. The two adventurers were deposited in a shallow pit in the ancient castle which was being used by the evil warlock Grawl. After helping each other out of the pit, the demon Jeearr appeared before them and recited a cryptic riddle:
Poor Bivotar
will be dead soon,
unless he finds
the silver spoon.
As soon as Jeearr vanished, a large scorpion stung Bivotar on the foot. Poisoned, he instantly began to fade out of consciousness. Searching frantically, Juranda found a Frobozz Magic Scorpion Sting Remedy in a box in the dungeon. She opened it with a silver spoon, thus fulfilling the riddle of Jeearr. Once Bivotar had recovered, she found a scroll with a spell for summoning a messenger nymph. Before any decision could be made, the demon reappeared and muttered the following before disappearing again:
Sharp fangs await
the one who dares
to climb and climb
these winding stairs.
After debating whether or not to trust the creature, Juranda recited the spell from the scroll. A three-inch tall nymph appeared instantly. The two delivered the following message to Syovar at the Castle of Zork via the nymph: “Syovar, help! Rescue us from this dungeon! Juranda and Bivotar.” Uncertain how long it would take for the message to be sent and for help to arrive, the two tired companions curled up in the straw and fell asleep.
The plea for help was received by Syovar. He presumed that Grawl had imprisoned Bivotar and Juranda out of revenge for having rescued Logrumethar from the Cavern of Doom and formulated a rescue plan. Taking the two elves, Max and Fred with him, Syovar set out for the ancient castle now occupied by Grawl. Wishing for the elves to be placed in the dungeon alongside Bivotar and Juranda, Syovar purposefully sent them alone into the enchanted woods surrounding the castle. Without any magical protection, they were captured.
Bivotar and Juranda were awakened from their restless sleep when Max and Fred were tossed into the dungeon. The two elves informed the adventurers of the situation. Suddenly, a wall of the dungeon exploded into a cloud of smoke and mortar, and sunlight poured through the newly formed gaping hole. Outside of the castle, Syovar and Grawl were locked together, the magical battle climaxing with a wall of fire leaping across the dungeon. At first there was abundant joy when the flames dispersed and Grawl was lying motionless on the dungeon floor. But the cheer died in their throats when they saw a burned Syovar staggering. Jeearr again appeared, this time above the body of Grawl. Its eyes betrayed a hint of anger as it spoke directly to Syovar:
My servant Grawl lies here
defeated by your hand
but soon you’ll see the end
of everything you’ve planned.
The demon vanished, and as it uttered the last word, Syovar stumbled backward and fell to the ground. Before anyone could tend to the king, Bivotar, Juranda, and the two elves suddenly appeared with Logrumethar in one of the turret rooms of the Castle of Zork with the unconscious Syovar now bedded. Logrumethar applied ointment to his father’s burns. A healer soon arrived to tend the king with potions. He announced that regardless if Syovar lived or died, he would not be at the Conference of Quendor.
It was then that Logrumethar knew that he had been wrong about why Bivotar and Juranda were snatched away to the dungeon prison. Jeearr had deceived them into thinking it was Grawl seeking revenge for breaking the enchantment of Grum, but the real reason was to ensure Syovar’s absence from the Conference. And it seemed that Jeearr had won, until Logrumethar recalled the Helm of Zork, a magical headpiece that allowed the wearer to impersonate anyone he chose. With the helm in possession, Logrumethar knew that he would be able to attend the Conference by impersonating his father.
Since its location was unknown, it seemed that the Helm would be impossible to find. Despite this, Bivotar and Juranda were determined to do anything they must to restore Syovar. Logrumethar presented them with equipment for the journey, a brass lantern and a magic bead that when broken would return them to the castle. Then with an AIMFIZ spell, the prince teleported the two somewhere near the vicinity of the Helm.
The young adventurers found themselves at the base of the Aragain Falls. The usual breathtaking rainbow arched high above the falls, ending at the riverbank just before them. The familiar voice of Jeearr intoned:
It bobs and sways upon the spray
warning sailors—stay away!
Walk upon the rainbow mist
but not before the scepter’s twist!
They waded through the swallow pool formed by the waterfall to an outcropping where a red buoy was moored just offshore. When Juranda opened it, a golden scepter, studded with jewels of every sort, was found inside. Bivotar waved the scepter over the rainbow and it hardened into a comfortable walking surface, but in the process he fumbled the relic, dropping it into the water.
After crossing they ventured into an underground tunnel. This entrance to the Dungeon of Zork was guarded by Cerberus, who had previously been stationed as the guardian of Hades. The weak tunnel collapsed behind them, forcing them with no choice but to face the three-headed dog. Jeearr spewed one of his riddles again:
You will always be a winner
if you give a puppy dog his dinner!
After giving Cerberus a bone covered with a hunk of meat that was in the tunnel just beyond the monster’s reach (it took the combined efforts of Bivotar and Juranda to toss the mammoth bone), the beast broke free and they were assaulted by friendly slobbering.
Leaving it behind, the two adventurers passed through the ruins of Leonardo Flathead’s studio. An attempt was made to enter the Loud Room and gather a bar of platinum, but the acoustics of the room were too treacherous and they retraced their steps without claiming it. The tunnel began to slope steeply downward and became covered with loose pebbles and other rubble. Bivotar lost his footing on a patch of gravelly ground, and when grabbing Juranda for support, caused her to lose balance as well. They slid down the corridor and landed at the bottom. The brass lantern was damaged in the fall; the bulb flickered.
The giant rectangular room they had landed in had wooden walls. After pushing the wooden panels on the walls, the entire room turned and the doorway was no longer set before walls, but before an open corridor. There the lamp sputtered and died. But they were not plunged into darkness. Light streamed down from above, for the two landed inside the bottom of an old volcano, the one which Dimwit Flathead had hollowed out. And in the center was a hot-air balloon. The demon briefly returned for another cryptic message:
One of nature's quaint surprises
is that hot air always rises.
Using wood to build a fire inside the receptacle, they boarded the inflated balloon that rose majestically out of the mouth of the volcano. The brisk wind swept the balloon away from the volcano’s mouth, over the lush Dark Forest below and towards the Flathead Mountains. Fearing that they might crash into the mountains, Bivotar set the balloon down outside the ruins of a small castle with crumbling walls overgrown with ivy. The wide moat that surrounded the entire castle was crossable only by an extremely rotted wooden drawbridge.
Within these ruins lie
the object of your quest
but to cross the moat you must
pass one final spelling test!
In a sack at the foot of the bridge was a scroll for leaping tremendous distances. Instead of daring to swim the moat or cross it via the suspicious-looking bridge, the powerful spell flung them over the crumbling ramparts of the castle and placed them into the courtyard. Searching the grounds, Bivotar found a stepladder in a closet, an explosive in the armory, and a scroll with a spell for shrinking down to the size of an insect. All Juranda found was a letter opener and doormat.
The last place to check was the tower. Peering through the door at the top, Bivotar spied the Helm of Zork through a mirror on the far wall. The keyhole was blocked by the key, but on the interior side. Using the common adventurer technique of slipping the doormat under the door and then pushing the key through with a letter opener, Juranda soon had the key and the door unlocked. Juranda picked up the Helm, admiring its beauty. But suddenly a cold wind blew through the room and the wooden doors slammed shut behind them. Jeearr was floating in the air behind them. For once its face was unsmiling, frozen in a mask of cold hatred. It spoke in a voice dripping with malevolence.
Your victory now turns sour
the Helm's not yours for long
'Twill be buried with this tower
when the whirlwind sings its song!
This time the creature failed to disappear after finishing its cryptic message. Instead, its sucker-covered tail began to whip back and forth, faster and faster. From outside the room came the sound of a powerful wind, wailing round and round the turret. The floor of the room began to quiver as the noise of the wind rose to a crescendo. Bits of mortar from the ceiling crumbled down on top of them. The tower began to collapse. Juranda reached into her tunic pocket and grabbed the bead Logrumethar had given her. She dashed it against the stone floor. A swirl of colored light surrounded the two adventurers. It grew brighter and brighter, until they were forced to cover their eyes. Suddenly the light was gone, and they were standing in Syovar's chamber in the Castle of Zork.
Logrumethar was surprised at their discovery of the Helm, but Syovar’s condition had been worsening hourly. Now he was almost as pale as his white silk bedsheets and his breathing was shallow and irregular. Taking the Helm, Logrumethar left at once, for Quendor was a day’s journey and the Conference would began on the following midday. He was fortunate, for the Hell of Zork fooled everyone at Quendor; they had really thought he was Syovar. Thus the Treaty of Quendor was signed, resulting once again in the unification of the entire area under one unified Kingdom of Zork.
Logrumethar returned to find that the healer and his assistant alchemists had used experimental procedures upon Syovar. And within half-an-hour he was on his way to recovery. The king regained consciousness the next day for first time since his battle with Grawl. Logrumethar told him all that had transpired during his illness. Syovar called Bivotar and Juranda to his bedside. Beaming, he humbly thanked them for their courageous help. Bivotar and Juranda departed from the Castle of Zork with invitations to return again to see the blossoms of the seed that had been planted. Unfortunately, this period of harmony between the providences would not last forever. Further uprisings and conflicts were on the horizon.
THE FORBIDDEN LANDS
In 947, Bivotar departed for the Forbidden Lands on a secret mission from Syovar apart from Juranda. While away, he attached a letter to his journal which was later found after his death, which mentions her:
17 Arch 948
To His Royal Highness King Syovar-
I doubt that I will live to know whether or not this report will ever reach your hands. This mission has been a dangerous one in the extreme, as we knew it would be. I am not well. I fear for my health and sanity, and yet I feel that I must remain in this place a few weeks longer, in hopes of learning the truth.
I have entrusted this packet to a friend who is utterly beyond reproach. Please show him the kindest hospitality available to you. I pray he makes it out alive. Your orders, my lord, were vague, because the situation is vague. The Forbidden Lands have been a private hell for me these last months. I have included in this packet parts of my own notes and diary, with particular attention to the words of the survivors. It is imperative that we find the truth behind the four missing alchemists if this land is ever to be cured. I remain behind in an effort to learn more.
Give my love to Juranda, and may the best of success be yours.
Bivotar
A lone female pilgrim, with Bivotar's journal in possession, set foor in the Forbidden Lands to ascertain the fate of Syovar's missing servant. Some have theorized that this unknown female was Juranda herself, in search of her long lost Bivotar. These claims are unfortunately nothing but conjecture and all attempts to discover the identity of this pilgrim apart from sex have returned void.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2991
|
__label__wiki
| 0.814774
| 0.814774
|
: Iraq
TagEconomic DevelopmentEducationGovernmentHousingIraqJournalismMilitaryReligionWar
ContributorAlex BlumbergScott CarrierAdam DavidsonIra GlassSarah KoenigLisa PollakThomas RicksNancy UpdikeGideon Yago
Year2016201320112010200920082007200620052004200320022001
There are 14 results for "Iraq"
340: The Devil in Me
Act One: And So We Meet Again
Sam Slaven is an Iraq War veteran who came home from the War plagued by feelings of hate and anger toward Muslims. TAL producer Lisa Pollak tells the story of the unusual action Sam took to change himself, and the Muslim students who helped him do it.
337: Man vs. History
Dal LaMagna, millionaire and creator of the Tweezerman tweezer, prepares to go to Iraq on a diplomatic mission he invented for himself—despite concern (and mocking) from his own sister.
Act One: Man Of Lamagna
Dal LaMagna made a fortune selling high-quality grooming products. And after retiring, he wanted to do some good in the world.
336: Who Can You Save?
Act Two: Rescue You, Rescue Me
When the U.S. government sent out a call for volunteers—regular, non-military people—to go to Iraq and help rebuild the country, Randy Frescoln signed up. He believed in the cause of the war and in the promise of its mission.
335: Big Wide World
Act One: Teen Wolf...blitzer
When he was a teenager, Haider Hamza worked in the Iraqi Ministry of Information. He was specially trained to talk to visiting dignitaries and foreign reporters, and he loved his job.
Act One, Continued
Haider's story continues.
333: The Center for Lessons Learned
There's a 200-person operation based out of Fort Leavenworth, Kansas called the Center for Army Lessons Learned. Host Ira Glass speaks with Colonel Steve Mains, who runs the Center, and with Craig Hayes and Lynn Rolf, two men who answer soldiers' requests for information.
Second Half Prologue
Ira speaks with Milt Hileman of the Center for Army Lessons Learned about the single most-requested publication they put out, Soldiers' Handbook: The First 100 Days: Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures. It explains how to avoid getting killed in your first hundred days in Iraq, which is when a disproportionate number of U.S. casualties occur.
Act Two: Am Not. Are Too. Am Not. Are Too.
What lessons are civilians taking from the War? One journalist has said that Americans seem condemned "to relive the prewar debates over and over because they were never thrashed out in the sunlight." In Salt Lake City on May 4, the prewar arguments—and some other arguments as well—were re-argued, on stage, by Salt Lake's liberal mayor Rocky Anderson and conservative radio and TV host Sean Hannity. Scott Carrier attended the event.
Act Three: The Lessons Of Tomorrow, Today
For all the discussion in Congress about withdrawing troops, there seems to be very little serious discussion about why, about what'll happen to Iraq once we leave, about responsible ways to withdraw. To understand better these and other rarely-discussed questions about the war, we turned to Washington Post reporter Thomas Ricks in Baghdad.
Act One: Cassandra
This American Life producer Nancy Updike tells the story of Conrad Crane, the head of the U.S. Army Military History Institute.
332: The Ten Commandments
Commandment Six: You Shall Not Murder
Alex Blumberg talks to Lt. Col.
327: By Proxy
Act Two: Kill The Messengers
Basim, an Iraqi national, worked as an interpreter for the U.S. Army.
324: My Brilliant Plan
Act One: Mr. Adam's Neighborhood
Radio reporter Adam Davidson went to Iraq to report on the war. He decided that rather than living in some journalist compound in the Green Zone or in a big hotel—places insurgents were more likely to attack—he'd fly under the radar, and keep safe...by renting a house in a residential Baghdad neighborhood.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line2992
|
__label__cc
| 0.70343
| 0.29657
|
North - East India
13 - 15 Days
21 + Days
Center India
Best Time To Visit Golden Triangle
Best Time To Visit Ladakh
Best Time To Visit Himachal Pradesh
Best Time To Visit Uttarakhand
Best Time To Visit Kerala
Best Time To Visit Goa
Best Time To Visit Taj Mahal
Best Time To Visit Kerala Backwaters
Best Time To Visit Sikkim
Best Time To Visit Andaman
Shimla Manali Special Tour
Guided Trips to India
Places to Visit in Winter
Singapore Malaysia Thailand Tour
Best Selling Packages
Festivals in Ladakh
Festivals are a time of merry-making. Possibly, there is no better time to visit any destination than at the time of its festive season. Similar is the case with Ladakh region. The barren yet intriguing land of Ladakh comes to life during festivals when locals from all the parts of Ladakh come to one place and take part in the celebrations.
In fact, the festival season in Ladakh is the best way to view, enjoy and experience the culture of Ladakh. Festivals in Ladakh are organized on various occasions such as birth, marriage, commemoration of head Lamas who found the monasteries, harvesting, flowering and Losar or New Year.
The winter season plays host to more Ladakhi festivals in comparison to the summer season. Masked dance, folk songs by the monks in vibrant silk garments and feasting are some of the highlights of all the festivals. The venues of the festivals are the monasteries of the Ladakh and their courtyards become the open spaces where dance-dramas are organized. Spirituality and enjoyment are set afloat in the atmosphere.
Hemis Festival
One of the most popular monastic festivals of Ladakh, Hemis festival is organized in the month of June for the commemoration of the birth of Guru Padmasambhava, the founder of Tantric Buddhism in Tibet. The monks get dressed in vibrant brocade robes and wear colorful facial masks for performing a sacred dance drama of his life and its mission.
This 3-day festival is organized, from 9th to 11th June, particularly the monkey year festival that arrives in a cycle of 12 years. At the time of the festival, the 4-storeyed thangka of Guru Padma Sambhava is slung in the courtyard along with other precious thangkas are out on display.
Thiksey, Karsha and Spituk Gustor
2-day Gustors are organized in Thiksey, Spituk and Karsha gompas during different months of the year. These celebrations are a mark of the triumph of good over evil. Various kinds of masks are worn by the dancers. These masks signify the Gods and Goddesses, the Protectors and the Guardians. In the end of the festival, there is figurative killing of evils and the effigy of evils are also burnt.
Dosmochey Festival
Celebrated in Liker (lower Ladakh), Leh (Leh Palace) and Nubra Valley’s Deskit monastery, Dosmochey festival comes in the month of May. Out of all the places where the festival is organized, the one at Leh is the most popular. The courtyard of the palace becomes the venue of this festival for two days. The Chams is performed by monks of different monasteries, each year, turn by turn.
The festival is organized in the starting and in the ending of the Tibetan New Year. Monks of the Takthok monastery make the offering using thread crosses that fix all the hungry ghosts and evil in order to make them protector against natural disaster in the coming year. On the 2nd day, a procession is organized during which these offering are taken out and burnt while the locals whistle to ward away evil spirits.
Matho Nagrang Festival
Celebrated at Matho monastery on the 15th day of the first month of the Tibetan calendar, the Matho Nagrang festival is a 2-day event. This monastery the only gompa that belongs to Sakya School of Tibetan Buddhism. During the festival, the monks of the monastery wear colorful brocade and silk robes, and perform mask dances are performed by the monastery. The masks are the representation of the Gods and Goddesses.
The main highlight of this festival the presence of 2 oracles who attend the festival after a complete one month doing meditation in loneliness. These 2 oracles are present in the courtyard along with the masked dancers. They then give future predictions about the events that would befall. Locals even from faraway places come here so that they can get an advice regarding rituals that need to be performed to warding off disasters.
Stok Guru Tsechu Festival
Organized in the month of February, just a week before Matho Nagrang, Stok Guru Tsechu festival is a 2-day celebration where the months of Spituk and Stok monasteries take part in the festivities, performing mask dances. At the time of the festival 2 oracles visit the monasteires. These oracles are actually common men from the same village who are arranged by the monks for receiving the spirits of the deities.
Phyang Tsedup Festival
Phyang Tsedup festival is organized in the month of July / August. In the same manner as the other monasteries, the monks perform mask dances, wearing colorful brocade silk robes and masks depicting gods and goddesses. During the festival, a large thangka of Skyoba Giksten Gonbo is placed in the courtyard.
Yuru Kabgyat Festival
Around 125 km away from Leh, the very popular Lamayuru monastery becomes the venue of the 2-day Yuru Kabgyat festival in the month of July. In the same manner as the other monastic festival, the celebrations in this case are also marked by mask dances by monks who also organize prayers and some other rituals in order to get riddance from disasters and bring peace on earth.
Losar (New Year) Celebration
The Losar celebrations are followed by Galdan Namchot, which is the birth anniversary of Tsogkha pa who was the initiator of Gelukpa School of order. During the second festivities, the mountains, monasteries and the houses of the locals are illuminated. Offerings are also prepared in the gompas and houses.
The Losar festival that comes 2 months before the Tibetan New Year, is celebrated in the 11th month of the Tibetan calendar. Though earlier the dates of both the festivals were same but in the first half of the 17th century, King Jamyang Namgyal was planning an expedition against the Baltistan forces in the winter season, he thus decided that the festival would be celebrated 2 months in advance. This later on became a tradition.
Lonar celebration is a month long celebration when gods, ancestors as well as animals are fed without any break. Pictures of Alpine of Ibex are made on the walls in the form of a fortunate representation. The walls of the kitchen are also dotted so that it can bring in prosperity in the New Year. Locals organize procession of fire, the Metho during which slogans are chanted to chase away evil spirits and hungry ghost. To mark good luck, they bring back rocks of ice and keep them in their store. In some of the villages, old men and women figures are made from this snow, which can last at least for one week. People of all age groups take part in Losar celebrations with full zeal. During the celebrations, if any family member would be missing, cups with their named are kept aside which are then filled by tea.
Ladakh Festival
Held from 1st to 15th September in the town of Leh and its various villges, Ladkh festival is a large scale celebration where the locals showcase their zeal and enthusiasm. The inaugural ceremony of the festivals starts with a procession that sees participation from a number of cultural troupes from various parts from Ladakh. The procession begins from Leh, passes through the market with singing and dancing on traditional tunes. The performers adorn themselves in traditional Ladakhi attire and display some wonderful performances. The procession ends at the Polo ground. During all the 15 days of the festival, programs from different villages of Ladakh continue. Mask dances, Polo and Archery along with traditional dances from monitories are some of the highlights. Musical concert and dance programs take place all around Leh.
Sindhu Darshan (Visit Indus) Festival
Sindhu Darshan is 3-day festival, that starts on 1st June and end on the third day of the month. Shay Manla, around 8 km from the Leh town, placed on the banks of River Indus becomes the venue. A mark of the communal harmony, unity and national integration, the celebrations of this festival started in the month of October in 1997. Along with being a celebration of Ladakh’s domestic tourism, it also pays respect to Indian soldiers who laid their lives fighting with the human enemies as well as natural disasters. During the celebration, Indian artists of different castes, regions and religions perform their traditional dances.
Ladakh Harvest Festival
Ladakh Harvest Festival generally begins from 1st September and continues till 15th of the month. This festival is a flamboyant merriment of the rich cultural diversity of the people of Ladakh. The festivities continue till 15 days with full vigor and enthusiasm in the whole region. Folk performances, mask dances, wedding ceremonies, archery, theatre, music, polo are all a part of this festival with a finale carnival parade through Leh’s streets being the highlight.
Tak -Tok Festival
Celebrated in a cave gompa of Tak Tok in the summer months, Tak-Tok festivals is one of the most important festivals of Ladakh., A prime tourist attraction of Ladakh, this festival is also a huge hit amid the locals who visit the venue with full enthusiasm in huge numbers.
Ask for Booking
Across Kashmir to Ladakh
7N / 8D
10N / 11D
Discover Ladakh
Hemis Festival and Leh Tour
Hidden Ladakh
Ladakh Culture
Ladakh Special Tour
Ladakh with Himachal
Splendors of Ladakh
Sightseeing & Things To Do in Ladakh
Pangong Lake
Pangong Retreat Camp Ladakh
Tsermang Eco Camp Ladakh
Ladakh by bus
Ladakh by road
Markha Valley Trek
Chadar Trek Ladakh
Camel Safari in Ladakh
More Tourist Destinations in Jammu & Kashmir
Alchi
Zanskar
Yes, Plan my Trip
Step out and travel with an ideal holiday planning done by our experts based on personalized experiences over guidebooks
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3000
|
__label__wiki
| 0.878796
| 0.878796
|
A Scottish Murder
Thursday, 9 July 1857; the atmosphere outside the High Court in Edinburgh is charged to fever pitch
A Thorn In Their Side
The true story of Hilda Murrell
Abberline
The man who hunted Jack The Ripper
Agatha Christie’s True Crime Inspirations
Fact proves far stranger than fiction in this collection of real-life crimes
Bad Companions
Cases of six London women, who all resorted to murder
Bad Girls From History Wicked Or Misunderstood?
Not just one type of bad girl, but the complete range, in one volume
The abduction of Bobby Greenlease, six-year-old son of wealthy automobile dealer
This fascinating history, the first of its kind, provides a murky and most intriguing account of criminal activity on Britain’s railways
Britain’s Godfather
Caminada The Crime Buster
His own incredible story – Amazing secrets of the Victorian Underworld by Jerome Caminada
Crafty Crooks & Conmen
They’re crafty and cunning, every one of them a conman who would relieve you of your hard-earned cash
Crime and Criminals of Victorian England
Dark and foggy Victorian streets, the murderous madman, the arsenic-laced evening meal
Doctor Crippen
The infamous London cellar murder of 1910
Forensic Casebook of Crime
This casebook gives a fascinating insight into how evidence, gleaned by some of Britain’s most famous forensic scientists, solved many of the classic murder cases in the twentieth century. By John Sanders
From Wall Street to Newgate
How I became the worlds’ biggest fraudster If you think City fraud is something new, by warned! It all began with Austin Bidwell. Bidwell’s ambition was to pull off a £1million sting at the expense of none other than the Bank of England.
Gloucestershire Murders
Within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most notorious murders
Great Train Crimes
Murder and robbery committed on the railways…
Greater Manchester Murders
We include the case of cat burglar Charlie Peace, who killed 20-year-old PC Nicolas Cock in Seymour Grove
Harrogate & District
Drawing on a wide selection of sources and illustrated with more than fifty images
Herefordshire Murders
Herefordshire Murders brings together twenty-eight murderous tales
In The Mind Of A Female Serial Killer
Walk into the darkest side of human behaviour…
There has been countless attempts to solve the brutal murders committed over one hundred years ago by Jack the Ripper, but what this most famous of British criminal cases has always
Jack The Ripper – Scotland Yard Investigates
IN 1888 the dreaded figure of Jack the Ripper stalked London’s East End murdering prostitutes
John Christie of Rillington Place
Sixty years ago, the discovery of bodies at 10 Rillington Place in Notting Hill,
Kent Murders
Kent’s history – Linda Stratmann re-examines some of the historic crimes
Killing Dr. Death
Infamous Nazi War Criminal Dr. Aribert Heim carried out grotesque sadistic medical experiments on Jewish prisoners at Mauthausen
A fascinating introduction to the darker side of Kingston-upon-Hull’s past.
Drawing on a wide selection of sources and illustrated with more than sixty photographs
Lancashire Murders
The cases covered here record the county’s most fascinating but least known crimes, as well as famous murders that gripped
The historic city of Lincoln has a history going back to the Romans and a catalogue of crimes to match it
Despite its peaceful, rural reputation, Lincolnshire has seen appalling crimes to rival
Lincolnshire Murders
The murder cases in this book are a mixture of classic narratives of jealousy, elimination and passion,
London’s Curse: Murder, Black Magic and Tutankhamun in the 1920s West End
Throughout the 1920s and 1930s, London was gripped by the supposed curse of Tutankhamun
Medical Detectives
The development of forensic pathology in Britain is told her through the lives of five outstanding medical pioneers.
To face a trial for murder must be a terrifying prospect,
Monster Butler
Archibald Hall was one of our most enigmatic criminals. A man of multiple personae,
Mr. Atherstone Leaves The Stage
A twisting and tragic tale of love, jealousy and violence in the sage of Vaudeville
The Road Hill House Mystery of 1860
Murderous Tommies
Much has been written about the soldiers executed during WW1 for military offences,
Northamptonshire Murders
Baffling case of Lydia Atley at Ringstead in 1850
This absorbing collection delves into the villainous deeds that have taken place in Norwich
Olde Cotswold Punishments
Look beyond the pretty cottages and gentle landscapes of the Cotswolds, and you will find a dark history
Olde London Punishments
This book contains all manner of grim and ancient punishments from London’s long and bloody history.
Oxfordshire Murders
Oxfordshire Murders brings together twenty-five murderous tales
Pendle and The Ribble Valley
Detailed sections on the criminal history of each of the towns in the region
Prisons & Prisoners In Victorian Britain
Prisons and Prisoners In Victorian Britain provides an illustrated insight into the Victorian prison system
Rivals Of The Ripper
Unsolved murders of women in late Victorian London…
Scottish Bodysnatchers
Graverobbing was a dark but profitable industry in pre-Victorian Scotland – criminals
The grim and bloody events in this book, many of which have not been written about for
Somerset Murders
The cases of Elizabeth and Betty Branch, a mother and daughter who beat a young servant girl to death in
South London Murders
Over the centuries South London has witnessed literally thousands of murders
Square Mile Bobbies
Square Mile Bobbies is a history and casebook of the City of London Police between 1839
Sussex Murders
Contained within the pages of this book are the stories behind some of the most notorious murders
The Acid Bath Murders : The Trials and Liquidations of John George Haigh
John George Haigh committed five perfect murders – by dissolving his wealthy victims in sulphuric acid.
The Bootleggers
No single law ever spawned greater violence than the law enacted by the U.S. Congress in 1920 banning the sale and manufacture of alcohol. By Kenneth Allsop.
The Kalahari Killings
The true story of a wartime double murder in Botswana, 1943
The Moat Farm Mystery: The Life and Criminal Career of Samuel Herbert Dougal
Samuel Herbert Dougal was intelligent, talented, and the recipient of a military medal
The Murder Of The Romanovs
The Fate of the Russian Imperial family
The Musical Milkman Murder
Long before the picturesque village of Little Marlow became a well-known location for filming episodes of popular television crime shows such as Inspector Morse
The Thames Torso Murders
Dismembered corpses are discovered scattered along the banks of the river Thames,
Tracing Your Criminal Ancestors
Did you have a criminal in the family, an ancestor who was caught on the wrong side of the law?
Victorian CSI
A few years after the Whitechapel horrors had pushed the emerging science to the forefront of the public’s
West Country Murders
Hidden behind the picturesque facade of country lanes and rugged coastlines, quaint villages
Whitechapel & District
Jack the Ripper’s brutal murders have left an ineradicable stain on the gloomy streets of Whitechapel
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3002
|
__label__wiki
| 0.638471
| 0.638471
|
EA Access Subscribers Can Play 10 Hours Of FIFA 17 Free
By Adnan Farooqui, on 09/22/2016 08:55 PDT
The EA Access service enables Xbox One owners to try out upcoming EA games ahead of the pack. Electronic Arts has now updated the service to enable subscribers to play ten hours of FIFA 17 prior to its official launch later this month. Subscribers will be able to experience the game for ten hours at no charge. Once the time limit is up they will have to wait like everybody else if they have purchased FIFA 17.
Those who do not subscribe to EA Access or happen to be on PlayStation, for them there’s the FIFA 17 demo which has already been out for several days now. However, the demo only offers a small sample of the game and not the full experience.
EA Access is a service that’s exclusive to the Xbox One so those who are on another console or the PC can’t take advantage of it. For $4.99 per month, subscribers not only get early access to some games but they also get more than 20 full games for free through the Vault.
The EA Access version of FIFA 17 is live now. Subscribers can download and start playing right away, but their total play time is going to be capped at ten hours.
FIFA 17 is going to be officially released on September 27th.
Filed in Gaming. Read more about EA, EA Access, FIFA 17 and Xbox One.
EA Claims The Nintendo Switch Isn’t A Good Fit For Its Games
EA Games Could Be Making A Return To Steam
EA Games Is Back On Steam With 'Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order'
EA Confirms That There Will Not Be A New Battlefield Game In 2020
New Mass Effect Game Reportedly In The Very Early Stages Of Development
EA To Discontinue 'Tetris' Mobile Games In April
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3008
|
__label__cc
| 0.701571
| 0.298429
|
Rose-Anne Turner
Twisted Thai
A Chef's Story
Paarl Pleasures
Microwave Mystery
Braving the Shark Alley
Travelling TEFL - finance your wanderlust!
The Travelling Pen
Hermanus - More than just whales!
By all means go to Hermanus, the 'Whale Capital of the World' for an up-close whale experience. After all, as its name suggests, it offers the best shore-based whale-watching on the globe. But if you intend just passing through for a few great photo opportunities of breaching whales, you will be doing yourself and the town an injustice. Yes, the whales may draw you to Hermanus, but once there, so much more will entice you to stay and explore the town and its surroundings.
Southern Right Whales swim 2500km from the Antarctic to calve off the Southern Cape shores each year; arriving early June and leaving towards the end of November, increasing in numbers with each visit. They are at their most active in September and October, a perfect time to stroll along the famous cliff paths of Hermanus, where you could see a whale breaching only meters away. Both tourists and locals alike gather at viewing spots along the coast. With fingers pointing, and cameras clicking, these intelligent creatures seem to perform for the crowd, their curiosity drawing them closer to shore. If you don't have sea legs, and prefer land-based viewing, start in the centre of town, at the Old Harbour where your odds are high of seeing several whales. From here, walk along the cliff path in the direction of Grotto beach. There are good lookout points along the way, including ‘Die Gang’, and ‘Siewers Punt’, and the official Whale Crier blows his kelp horn using a Morse code system to indicate at which lookouts the whales have been seen. At Voelklip beach you will often see a whale not far behind the surfers. Another great viewing location is the new harbour. On a chilly day when it is too cold to walk the cliff paths, sip a sherry in the Gecko Bar, and watch the whales just beyond the harbour wall, or sometimes even venturing into the harbour.
The coastal towns of the Overberg are now collectively known as the ‘Cape Whale Coast’. As many as 150 whales have been spotted in the bay during peak whale season, and on some days the sea is a hive of activity, as young bulls breach and show off. Groups of whales can be seen sometimes lulling about lazily, and sometimes, in the case of mating groups, quite active, with thrashing, flipper slapping and breaching.
If you fancy seeing the Southern Rights at their level, a whale-watching boat trip with Hermanus Whale Cruises comes highly recommended. This two-hour eco experience departs five times a day from the new harbour, weather permitting, and they guarantee sightings. The boat is expertly skippered by Franklin, and Christopher provides an entertaining yet informative tour. Although the skipper keeps a respectable distance of 50 meters from the whales, their curiosity draws them to the craft. They often surface right next to the vessel, and this is when their vastness can truly be appreciated. Those on the boat have an unforgettable and emotional experience as they look into the intelligent eye of a whale, hear the resonant hollow sound of their grunts and blows, and are often close enough to get wet from the spray.
Hermanus is ideally located only 120km from Cape Town, along the Cape South Coast. This location makes it an ideal base from which to explore the coastal and inland regions of the Overberg, with many quaint towns within an hour's drive. The Hemel-en-Aarde wine route just outside Hermanus, is fast becoming a popular wine destination due to its spectacular views, brilliant restaurants and award-winning wines. The ‘terroir’ (soil and climatic conditions) including cool Atlantic breezes that whisper down the valley, are ideally suited to producing Pinot noir and Chardonnay.
Benjamin Franklin once said, "Wine makes daily living easier, less hurried, with fewer tensions and more tolerance." This certainly rings true of the winemakers of the Hemel-en-Aarde Valley. What a life: creating nectar of the vines while living in one of the most beautiful areas in our country. Would we expect these wine folk to be anything but as chilled as a good Chardonnay should be served?
Creation’s modern cellar boasts state of the art equipment, which can be viewed through glass panels on the floor of the stylishly furnished tasting room. The industrial-like building has been softened with a lounge look and focal points, giving it a welcoming feel. Artwork by Hermanus artist Leon Muller adorns the walls, and chandeliers made of wine glasses form a talking point. Creation offers regular events suited to the season, such as Christmas in winter, jazz and wine, food and wine paring evenings, and a harvest festival. Details of these events, which are popular with locals, can be downloaded from their website.
Temptation restaurant at La Vierge winery, has recently re-invented itself with their quirky approach being 'the only way to overcome temptation is to give in to it'. The restaurant has a champagne verandah, with spectacular views across the valley. This deck is the ideal place for Sunday breakfasts, leisurely lunches or unwinding with sundowners. It is also the perfect romantic wedding location. The food and service equal the view in standard. For those not content to just soak in the view, there is a boule court for friendly challenges.
Bouchard Finlayson boutique winery was established in 1989, being one of the first vineyards to realise the potential of the Hemel-en-Aarde valley. Winemaker Peter Finlayson is renowned as being the pioneer of the Pinot noir cultivar in South Africa. Although he would have every right to be egotistical due to the many award-winning wines produced, this is not the case, and he has a philosophical approach to wine-making: “Each new wine is like a new child displaying uniqueness, offering promise, evoking a range of emotions, without any guarantees. I get to be involved in the initial development, giving my all. But once bottled and released into the world, I have to stand back and let go, quickly watching it develop and make its mark or accept criticism in the face of its exposure.”
Hermanus has a major asset in a seafront cliff path, which stretches from Grotto Beach all the way to the new harbour, a distance of about 10km. This is an excellent way to discover your favourite beach. Travel light. Pack a rucksack with water, towel, sun block and snacks and start at Grotto, the furthest point. Grotto is the longest beach, and the town is proud of its blue flag status. Walk along the well-signposted path, in the direction of Hermanus central, and you will pass Voelklip Beach, popular with surfers; Kammabaai, ideal for children; and Langbaai, Hermanus' secret beach. It is small, but flanked by two rocky outcrops, keeping it sheltered from the wind. Benches are strategically placed at look out points along the cliff path, allowing you to take a rest when needed. The cool breeze will keep you going on a hot summer’s day, and the anticipation of spotting a whale around the next bend, will keep you motivated for the long walk in winter months.
If you want to do what the locals do on a Saturday morning, visit one of the farmers' markets. The choice at hand is between the sophisticated and trendy Boeremark held at Hermanuspietersfontein, or the Hermanus Farmers' Market, a more typical country affair, which is held on the grounds of the Montessori school. Locals gather at the markets over an organic caffeine fix, and debate what to do for the weekend. If you decide to spend a weekend away in Hermanus, instead of stocking up at the supermarket for dinner and picnic supplies, try visiting the markets for delicious local fare. Instead of a trolley and queues at the supermarket, bring a basket and do your weekend grocery shop in the open air. From home-cured meats, tangy cheeses, pickles, and preserves, to freshly baked breads, decadent cakes and pastries, organic vegetables and even wine, your basket will be overflowing, making for a memorable gastronomic weekend.
For those seeking a more active getaway, Hermanus will not fall short of expectations, with a long list of adventure activities on offer. These range from sea-kayaking in Walker Bay, to paragliding from Rotary Way with an eagle's view over the town. Play golf at a 27-hole course, or shark-cage dive in nearby Gansbaai. Hike the mountains starting at the Fernkloof nature reserve, or horse ride along the beach or in the fynbos countryside.
Hermanus means something different to everyone. For some it is home; its inspirational landscape, champagne air and infectious atmosphere draws artists, writers, winemakers and entrepreneurs to its shore. For others it is an 'old faithful' holiday destination, where generations of families meet annually for their Christmas get together, at holiday homes passed down over the years. Hermanus satisfies the most ardent eco-tourist; from giants of the deep, both whales and sharks, to the entertaining antics of the dassies (rock hyrax). A diverse landscape ranging from the wheat and canola fields of the Overberg, to the fynbos of the Kogelberg biosphere reserve as well as indigenous coastal vegetation, means an impressive array of bird life fulfills the birding tourist. Although the town has evolved considerably over the years, and is no longer a sleepy fishing village, it has managed to maintain its charm and personality, which is why it entices visitors year after year.
© Rose-Anne Turner - Written for Explore SA - issue 28
All content in this site is copyright, either to Rose-Anne Turner, or the publications which they were commissioned for. Reproducing content, including words or photos, may not be done without the owner's express permission. Plagiarism is illegal!
Should you be interested in contacting Rose-Anne to commission a story, please email thetravellingpen@gmail.com
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3013
|
__label__cc
| 0.736147
| 0.263853
|
Go Karting at 50 mph at Bushy Park Racetrack, Barbados
Well yesterday was another fun day!
I love go-karts. And when you get a chance to drive a really fast one, it's a big thrill for me.
The Bushy Park Go Karts in Barbados has go-karts that get up to 80 km/h (50 mph) on the straightaways. When you're only sitting an inch off the ground, that's fast!
We took the public bus to get there. In fact, because it was a Sunday, the 9A bus departed Fairchild Station right on time, and we actually got to the track a few minutes earlier than necessary.
Good thing we were early though because the bus actually dropped us off at the north entrance, which happened to be closed. So we had to walk around to the south.
Kevin, ready for race day!
Main entrance at arrow.
We got registered with Dillon, who then guided us in to a room to watch a safety video. They have a couple of pricing sessions, with a ten minute ride going for $70 BBD ($46.20 CAD, $35 USD). You can also do an enduro race for double that price, but you need five participants.
Dillon, at the registration desk!
Watching the safety video.
The go-karts have a Honda GX270 engine... 270cc, with 9 HP, giving them a top speed on the straightaway of 80 km/h (50 mph). Pretty decent acceleration and braking too. There is definitely enough power there that these are not your basic "put the pedal to the floor and go" go karts!
Bubblehead Ruth, with the safety gear on.
The kart looks so small!
But the seat and pedals are adjustable so that pretty much any size person will be comfortable.
Obviously when we were racing, we couldn't take any photos. However, they allowed me to do a slow lap around the track with the camera, so I took a one lap video for you!
That was at about half speed, with only one hand on the steering wheel! Driving at full speed, you definitely need both hands on the wheel. In fact, it's hard work. At first, I thought ten minutes would go by quickly, but my arms and shoulders were getting tired after ten minutes of hard racing.
Each kart has a transponder in it, and so they keep track of your lap times. So even though it was just Ruth and I on the track, you are essentially racing yourself as you attempt to set a best lap time.
Lap time souvenir. Best lap time is in bold.
I loved it. Ruth had fun too, but says "I was just trying to make it safely around the track"! Dillon said my best lap time was "definitely good for your first time on the track", so I'm pleased with that!
I won, but then there were only two of us on the track!
I took a few photos of another couple who showed up after us...
Lots of fun, and something different that you maybe wouldn't normally think of doing during a visit to Barbados. We had a blast! Thanks to Dillon, and race marshals Maurice and Colin for providing a safe and fun karting experience!
You can even upgrade...they do driving experiences with real race cars as well...
Barbados Racing
Posted by Kevin Read at 7:11 AM
our awesome travels November 6, 2017 at 8:21 AM
What a fun time, it has been a lot of years since I drove a go cart, always a rush.
Ruth November 7, 2017 at 4:52 PM
It was a blast, even more so for Kevin!
Peter Kouwenhoven November 6, 2017 at 11:21 AM
What a riot!
It definitely was!
Dee Tillotson November 6, 2017 at 2:49 PM
Something tells me that Kevin has had some "racing" experience somewhere in his past! I grew up with a lot of guys who did! First, it was drag racing on country roads which, in turn, gave way to legal stock car racing!
That race track must be packed during tourist season. Even if you didn't do any driving, it would be fun to watch. Good thing to enjoy as a change of pace from too much beach time.
Kevin has no racing experience at all but he has always loved cars and they have almost always been part of his life so I guess it is something that he just has a natural ability for.
The track hosts several different kinds of races as well as the go-karting. I believe that Bushy Park has at least 3 different tracks depending on what is racing at the time.
Looked like great fun!
It was definitely a lot of fun. Kevin loved it!
Tina C. November 7, 2017 at 11:03 PM
Woo hoo! I love go kart racing and so happy you got to experience it in Barbados. We raced go karts last summer when in Greece with some colleagues...all Australians (we are Americans). Those little buggers were fast and yes, after 10 minutes, you're exhausted (and I was feeling sick from the exhaust)! lol Fun times and a memory you two will always have!
Ruth November 8, 2017 at 9:53 AM
Yep, they sure are a lot of fun. It would have been even more fun/interesting if they had been more people on the track with us but in my case I was quite happy there wasn't! ;-) 10 minutes was definitely enough for us, especially for our first time out on them.
Great site at Koomer Ridge Campground
Gluten free lunch, and Southern Lights
Finally, a visit to downtown Lexington, Kentucky
Lexington, Kentucky is having some great weather!
In to Kentucky, and some cheap gas!!
The Wonderbag!
Great views, and another free overnight spot!
There are no straight roads in West Virginia!
Abandoned Pennsylvania Turnpike Tunnel
A great travel day, and a good boondocking spot
Hiking in the forest and found an old plane crash....
Rainy day and Sherman has some new LED light bulbs...
Tire fixed, and a long driving day....
Not a smooth start to the trip...
New dinette table for Sherman... and we're off!
What did it cost for 19 days in Barbados?
Back in Canada
October Expenses
Barbados rough north coast
Scenic flight around the island of Barbados
Fun times at the Mount Gay Rum Tour
The ruins of Sam Lord's Castle
Disappointing trip to Harrison's Cave, Barbados
140 feet under water!
Another hike to Barbados wild east coast
Go Karting at 50 mph at Bushy Park Racetrack, Barb...
Second impressions
A blast on the Jammin' Barbados Catamaran Snorkeli...
Finally, a relaxing beach day...
Made it back home in the dark...
Sandals Resort, Barbados
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3014
|
__label__wiki
| 0.591264
| 0.591264
|
Search exact dates
Tap here to search deals
28 outstanding sea-view hotels in the UK
Whether it's a bucket-and-spade break at the height of summer or a bracing walk along the beach in the colder months, there's nothing quite like a dose of sea air to recharge and refresh. Here are our favourite properties for a UK coastal break – all conveniently sorted by region.
Explore the list or jump straight to the following sections:
South Coast | Channel Islands | Devon | Cornwall | Northwest | Southeast | Wales | Scotland
The prices stated below are intended as a guide only
The Grand Brighton
Where: Brighton, East Sussex
Why: A landmark seafront hotel with Victorian period features throughout. Currently undergoing "exciting enhancement to its facade", the property has a 2-AA-Rosette restaurant, GB1, complete with curved oyster bar. The Victoria Lounge, Bar and Terrace serves cocktails and light bites, including a top-rated afternoon tea.
Price: from £110 per night
Click here for rates and availability
Why: This boutique bolthole on the waterfront is home to Brighton's best restaurant, according to The Good Food Guide 2018. A great option for a romantic getaway, with free-standing bath tubs in all but one of the 20 rooms. It’s also a stone’s throw from the trendy Lanes shopping area.
Price: from £140 per night (inc Travelzoo-exclusive extras)
The Gallivant
Where: Camber, East Sussex
Why: New England-chic in a superior location, right opposite the dunes of Camber Sands and just down the road from the medieval village of Rye. The Gallivant has 20 ensuite bedrooms, all tastefully decorated in coastal hues, with handmade driftwood furniture in all. The restaurant is renowned for its quality, locally sourced seafood.
Price: from £95 per night
Haven Hotel
Where: Sandbanks, Dorset
Why: The Haven sits at the tip of the Sandbanks peninsula, overlooking a Blue Flag beach. It has an outdoor pool with sea-view Jacuzzi, tennis courts and an award-winning restaurant. A chain ferry docks in front of the hotel, and goes to Shell Bay on the Isle of Purbeck. The Jurassic Coast is a short drive away.
Where: New Milton, Hampshire
Why: The clifftop Pebble Beach has views of the Isle of Wight and is well placed for exploring this pretty corner of Hampshire – the New Forest is a 10-minute drive and the pretty seaside town of Lymington is 20. There’s an AA-Rosette restaurant on site, with views from the terrace, plus a deli next door.
The Hope Anchor Hotel & Restaurant
Where: Rye, East Sussex
Why: The Hope Anchor’s location – at the top of a hill, overlooking Rye’s cobblestone streets – is hard to beat. Three miles down the road is Camber Sands, a popular spot with kite-surfers and a great place for walk or paddle in the spring sunshine.
Moonfleet Manor
Where: Weymouth, Dorset
Why: A converted stately home that overlooks Dorset's Chesil Beach, Moonfleet Manor has stunning scenery and great walks on its doorstep. A great option for families, it has a crèche, a kids' pool and play areas. Abbotsbury Swannery and Weymouth SEA LIFE Adventure Park are a short drive away.
Somerville Hotel
Where: St Aubin, Jersey
Why: Cracking location, a short walk from the cobbled streets of one of Jersey’s prettiest villages, with sweeping harbour views from nearly every window. The restaurant is known for its excellent local seafood. The island’s capital, St Helier, is a 15-minute drive away.
Rylstone Manor Hotel
Where: Shanklin, Isle of Wight
Why: The small-but-perfectly-formed Rylstone Manor stands on a cliff above Sandown Bay on the Isle of Wight. You can take in sea views from the gardens, head to the beach (directly below the hotel) or venture out to explore miles of unspoilt coast and countryside.
Where: St Helier, Jersey
Why: Right on the marina in Jersey's capital, the Royal Yacht has a 3-AA-Rosette restaurant with marina views, and an award-winning spa. Jersey Museum is next door; Elizabeth Castle and the ferry terminal (for day trips to Guernsey and France) are 15 minutes away.
The Old Government House Hotel & Spa
Where: St Peter Port, Guernsey
Why: An old manor house with bags of character (wooden floorboards, rambling corridors) the “OGH” was named Guernsey's Leading Hotel five years in a row. Seaview King rooms have views of the harbour and nearby Sark and Herm islands. The outdoor pool has ocean views.
Soar Mill Cove Hotel
Where: near Salcombe, Devon
Why: Soar Mill is set in 2,000 acres of National Trust land near Salcombe in South Devon. It’s near a remote sandy inlet below the cliffs of Bolt Head. There are three golf courses, several sailing schools and a clay pigeon shooting centre within a 30-minute drive of the hotel. Dogs welcome.
Price: from £149 per night (Top 20 deal)
Quayside Hotel
Where: Brixham, Devon
Why: This string of converted fishermen’s cottages has stunning views over Brixham Harbour and an award-winning restaurant that specialises in fresh local fish, mussels and oysters. Bedrooms are all uniquely decorated with a seaside theme and all feature work from Brixham artists and photographers.
Polurrian Bay
Where: Mullion (near Penzance), Cornwall
Why: The Independent praises Polurrian Bay for its "breathtaking" surroundings. It’s easy to see why – this property is set on the Cornish cliffs, close to Land's End and a 5-minute walk from the beach. On site you’ll find 12 acres of gardens, tennis courts, a gym, an indoor pool and a spa.
Price: from £99 per night (inc Travelzoo-exclusive extras)
The Lugger
Where: Portloe, Cornwall
Why: This smuggler’s inn turned boutique hotel in the village of Portloe (just next to Truro), has a chic seaside feel. The South West Coast Path passes through the village (guests can borrow wellies and umbrellas from the hotel); we recommend the walk around Nare Head to Carne Beach’s sheltered south-facing sands.
Bedruthan Hotel & Spa
Where: Near Newquay, Cornwall
Why: The Bedruthan is regularly namechecked as one of the country’s top family-friendly properties. As well as award-winning restaurants and a spa with ocean views, it has an Ofsted-registered kids’ club, a soft-play area and assault courses. If the weather is warm, you could hit the waves; The Surf Club Cornwall is based here.
Pentire Hotel
Where: Newquay, Cornwall
Why: The Pentire sits on a headland overlooking Fistral Beach. With the South West Coast Path a four-minute walk away, and the Lost Gardens of Heligan and Eden Project around a 40-minute drive, this is an ideal base from which to explore the area.
Fowey Hall Hotel
Where: Fowey, Cornwall
Why: Condé Nast Traveller describes this family-friendly seaside pile (which is said to have been the inspiration for Toad Hall in The Wind in the Willows), as "superbly luxurious". Facilities include an indoor pool, a spa and a hot tub with uninterrupted sea views.
Formby Hall Golf Resort and Spa
Where: Formby, Merseyside
Why: A sprawling 4-star resort set in 200 acres, Formby Hall has renowned golf courses on site, and, for non-golfers, a spa with a thermal suite and indoor pool. Crosby Beach is 10 miles away, where you’ll find Anthony Gormley’s iron statues looking out to sea.
The Midland Hotel
Where: Morecambe, Lancashire
Why: Few places capture old-fashioned British seaside charm like Morecambe. The 4-star art-deco Midland Hotel stands proudly at the edge of the Bay, with sea views in one direction and the Lake District in the other. There’s a spa on site, and the Sun Terrace Restaurant, where you can expect seafood specialities.
Marine Hotel
Where: Whitstable, Kent
Why: Reasonably priced option on Kent’s north coast, just a 15-minute walk from the centre of Whitstable. Recently refurbished, the hotel is owned by Shepherd Neame, Britain’s oldest brewery, and has a good range of local ales on the menu. Wi-Fi, breakfast and parking are all included with an overnight stay.
Sands Hotel Margate
Where: Margate, Kent
Why: Boutique property with cracking views of Margate Sands. The 2-AA-Rosette Bay Restaurant has a large west-facing terrace, offering the option of al fresco dining on fair-weather days. Recently refurbished, the hotel has a light, airy style inspired by its surrounding environment.
Llandudno Bay Hotel
Where: Llandudno, Conwy
Why: The Llandudno Bay Hotel (on the doorstep of both Snowdonia National Park and the North Wales coastline) has views across the bay and the Great Orme (a prominent limestone headland). Conwy, with its medieval castle, is a 15-minute drive away.
Chateau Rhianfa
Where: Anglesey, Wales
Why: A fairytale property on the isle of Anglesey, overlooking the Menai Strait. Its design was inspired by 16th-century castles of the Loire Valley. It has four acres of grounds, plus its own private jetty and beach. There’s a hot tub, sauna, gym and tennis court on site.
St David’s Hotel & Spa
Where: Cardiff, Wales
Why: The 2017 Visit Wales Gold Award-winning 5-star property is set right on Cardiff Bay’s waterfront, a short walk from shops, bars and restaurants. The Admiral St David restaurant serves Australasia and Asia-Pacific-inspired dishes, made with quality Welsh produce. The on-site spa is “stunning” according to The Daily Telegraph.
Ackergill Tower
Where: Wick, Caithness
Why: Ackergill has an amazing location, perched on the edge of Scotland’s northeast coast near John O’Groats. Dating from the 1400s, it has 3,000 acres of grounds to explore, with activities including whisky-tasting, fishing, croquet and kayaking.
Balcary Bay Hotel
Where: Auchencairn, Dumfries & Galloway
Why: This striking white property, with manicured lawns running down to a sandy shore and views of the Solway Firth, has a genuine away-from-it-all feel. If you want to stay put (and you just might), there’s an award-winning restaurant, plus sea views from most of the rooms.
The Colonsay Hotel
Where: Isle of Colonsay, Argyll
Why: If you’re looking for something seriously remote, this should do the trick. Hop on the ferry from Oban and three hours later, you’ll be on Colonsay. The hotel combines style and cosiness – think open fires, painted floorboards and deep sofas in the bar – and of course, views as far as the Isle of Jura.
Price: from £110 per night approx.
See more Travelzoo deals on hotels and breaks on the UK coast
Related offers Related offers & more ↓
UK & Ireland breaks
Become a member - it's free
Get outstanding deals negotiated exclusively for our members.
© 2020 Travelzoo (Europe) Ltd. All rights reserved.
Type a city/town (not postcode):
You are currently on the United Kingdom site edition.
Experience the world for less
We email our members the best travel and entertainment deals each week. Sign up for free to access these deals and join the millions of members who enjoy saving on travel and experiences worldwide.
We email our members the best travel and entertainment deals each week. Sign up for free to access all of our deals and join the millions of members who enjoy saving on travel and experiences worldwide.
Great! Tell us your postcode
and we'll recommend deals in your area
Tell us later
All you need to do now is confirm your email address.
BEST TRAVEL DEALS WEBSITE
British Travel Awards
Congrats! You’re now a member.
Sign in to save this deal to 'My Favourites'.
With 'My Favourites' you can save deals for later, and we'll let you know when they are about to expire.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3015
|
__label__cc
| 0.599465
| 0.400535
|
The next gen browser Strategy MMO has entered its second Open Beta round.
Both new and returning players will benefit from improved gameplay mechanics, onboarding, and reworked economy in this release.
Admirals: Caribbean Empires is a complex strategic MMO, calling out to thousands of players to fight for dominance of the sea.
In Admirals: Caribbean Empires, players dive into the 18th century to build a colonial empire and reap the riches of the Caribbean Sea. They can join one of six mighty seafaring nations from that time and master government, trading, diplomacy, and naval war. Players take part in a tense race for expansion of their fleets and holdings.
What is Admirals: Caribbean Empires?
The Bright Future development team in Cologne worked on a lot of improvements for the second Open Beta round. The newly released version…
reworked the war resource into cannonballs for more transparency.
improved the balancing of sea and city battles.
revised the tutorial and quest system.
introduced new quests and increased their overall frequency.
added treasure maps to the game.
Sign up for duty!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3016
|
__label__cc
| 0.643994
| 0.356006
|
Fez, Morocco: The Medieval City of 9,000 Streets
I’m fully aware that I’m just now getting to blogging about Morocco well over three months after the fact. But even after being gone for that amount of time, one memory still vividly stands out in my mind:
Three Moroccan teenagers chillin’ at the Borj Nord
After six hours of travel and one train transfer (not to mention an overnight ferry from Spain), I had finally emerged from the dreary rain to behold the houses and streets of Fez as we circled the city on the train tracks. The spring-green forests veiled the city once again, but it wasn’t long until we pulled in to the Fez Train Station, a white, horseshoe-arched structure that in Spain would be called Moorish Revival but in Morocco…simply the norm. Weary from a day of transportation, I strolled into the main hall and gaped at the beautiful wooden ceiling and tilework-clad walls. Although the beautiful interior was finished just three years earlier, it nevertheless linked the new part of town with centuries-old artisanal traditions found in the old town.
Moroccan mint tea—all day every day
My sleeping arrangements also lied in the medina, or old walled city, but you couldn’t have paid me to walk across a new city in the dark with two heavy bags. So I joined the first taxi driver that approached me in front of the station and asked to be taken to the Bab Bou-Jeloud, the colonial-era gate built in a corner of the medina that was also the gateway to my hotel.
With the windows rolled down, we set off in the hibiscus-red sedan as the evening sky entered the blue hour. My driver skirted the French Ville Nouvelle for a rolling highway on the edge of town. We spoke little, simply listening past the rushing wind to the beats of the Arabic pop radio hit. Turning at an intersection, I could feel we were going back in time—a great, hulking wall had appeared, illuminated in a golden, lemon-yellow light, probably recently lit up at dusk. As we accelerated, the wall kept going and going; endless turrets and merlons flickered beyond the shady trees on the shoulder as folks in long, flowing white robes drifted by.
Northern medina walls
The months of preparing and anticipating, the hours of travel by boat and by train, the euros converted to dirhams and all the French and Arabic practiced had led up to this moment. I had arrived at the Fez medina.
The narrow street leading to my hotel
At this moment, I was reminded of many of the great cities in southern Spain; because Muslims from North Africa had invaded the peninsula in the eighth century and ruled over some part of the region until the year 1492, much of the civic architecture in that part of the country is very similar to that of historic Morocco. You can catch glimpses of it in what remains of old city walls in cities like Córdoba, Carmona, or Úbeda, but most of these murallas have often been torn down to make way for a growing population. Today, only a few battlements or small stretches have been conserved down the years. Yet here in Fez, similar walls still stand in their entirety and clearly cordon off the City from beyond.
It was here for one of the few times in my life that I experienced the true sweep of history; the past had suddenly become real. Here was this inhabited place that had carried on for over a thousand years, keeping their walls in generally the same spot and style for nearly as long. And here I was, in the year 2013, from a land far across an ocean—about to begin an adventure.
Appreciating the architecture
As an architecture nerd and a big fan of Moorish art in Spain, I was really looking forward to the main buildings old Fez had to offer. But there was one small problem: the Fez medina is an impossibly complex knot of tiny streets and alleyways that criss-cross two square kilometers of living medieval city. There was no way I was entering the labyrinth on my own—and a street map was simply out of the question. So, at the suggestion of my hotel, I hired a personal tour guide for my first morning in Morocco to introduce me to the wonders of Fez.
Tilework and plasterwork in the Medersa Bou-Inania
Mohamed, my guide, took me first to the Medersa Bou-Inania, a 14th-century religious school that took me right back to the Alhambra in Granada; it was literally covered in the tilework, woodwork, plasterwork that said palace is famous for. The intricacy required to construct such art had a dizzying effect on me, and I was left even dizzier after Mohamed explained to me the eight-pointed-star-and-traced-lines design. In this common motif in Islamic art, the squat, pointy star represents the universe while the lines that connect these repeated stars represent infinity. This beautiful geometric pattern shows up in the tile-, plaster-, wood-, and metal-based works produced throughout the Muslim world, especially since Islam prohibits representation of living beings.
Kairaouine University mosque
Next stop was the Nejjarine Museum, a tall, three-story restored fondouk or hotel-and-market designed for caravans of traders that would come through town to sell their wares. It has since been converted into a series of exhibits on woodwork and all the things that can be made with it, like wedding chairs or ornate doors. The building’s interior is gorgeous; warm stained-wood columns and railings contrast pleasantly with the white plaster columns.
We paused at Kairaouine University, one of the oldest establishments of higher education in the world. However, since I’m not a Muslim, I could only peek into the attached mosque from the busy medina street; it was an ethereal prayer hall of swooping horseshoe arches and footfall-muting rugs.
Courtyard in the Batha palace-turned-museum
The Batha Museum was a soothing finale to an exciting jaunt across the city. Don’t get me wrong—I really enjoyed the tour Mohamed took me on—but after three hours it was definitely time for a rest. There were so many fascinating people wandering the streets, wearing both Western clothes and Moroccan robes and slippers; every so often we’d have to stand to the side for a laden donkey to walk by; and the meat markets had live chickens and, uh, fresh chicken meat to choose from in their stalls.
This converted palace was set up in the traditional Moroccan riad-style of having a central courtyard around which the whole home centers, so on either side of the gardens were sets of exhibits featuring artwork and artifacts from the city representing the skills of Fez’s craftsmen. The palace itself is home to colorful tilework (and even a few kitties!). My favorite part, though, was the garden. Since I came in late March, all the spring flowers were blooming and everything was gloriously green, and it was here that I first inhaled the heavenly fragrance of the orange blossom that I would come to fall in love with as springtime came to southern Spain.
Smelling the tanneries
The tanneries
Fez is (in)famous for its traditional complex of tanneries where beautiful leather is made from sheep-, goat-, cow-, and camel-skin. The Chouara Tanneries are on the northeastern edge of town, mainly because they smell! Tour guides will bring you up to a handful of terraces where you can observe tanners at work rinsing and dyeing skins, but you need to pick up a spring of spearmint to hold to your nose to counter the stank of the washes and dyes. It wasn’t overpowering when I was there in March, but I hear it gets pretty foul in the summer heat.
The tannery guide explained to me the process of tanning leather. After the animals are slaughtered halal (throats slit and all the blood drained), they’re skinned and the pelts are soaked in a whiteish mixture of pigeon poop and lime for a bit, which makes it easy to separate the dead wool or fur from the skin, which is then left to dry and later used as cushion stuffing. I was a little confused about what comes next (something involving spinning barrels), but the actual tanning and color-adding involves those pits of varying hue you can see in the photo above. The guide told me that they use indigo for blue dye, saffron for yellow, mint for green, henna for brown, charcoal for black, and poppies for red. I was amazed at how natural the sources for all these dyes were.
Going shopping
No trip to the Fez medina is complete without shopping, or at the very least, accepting the invitations of the countless shopkeepers that ask you to just “take a look” at their wares. I didn’t buy very much, but I found simply listening to the sellers explaining their products a very educational experience. The two purchases I made in Fez were some blue babouches or slippers that are reportedly good for 1,500km of walking and a small silver teapot to brew loose-leaf tea in.
Berber carpets
I was not in the market at all for carpets, but since Mohamed my guide took me into a Berber carpet shop, I agreed to sit back, sip some Berber tea, and take in the sights. The older man running the shop showed me all the different colors and sizes of the carpets, and the floor was quickly covered in layers of rugs. He told me that women weave the large carpets and men craft the blankets, but both types have traditional Berber tribal designs woven in them. And—get this—all the geometric and symmetrical patterns they sew into the carpets are all done from scratch! I loved everything he showed me yet kindly declined his offers until he brought out a thin, iridescent blanket made from cactus fibers. I couldn’t believe it; it looked and felt just like polyester but when he took out his cigarette lighter and put a flame to the fabric it wouldn’t catch on fire. Apparently, cactus fiber is fireproof.
Leather cushions
One of the final stores Mohamed took me to was a spice shop. I was in the market for some classic, loose-leaf green tea, which I did get, but not before the shopkeeper enthusiastically showed off his “Viagra,” a.k.a. ginseng root. (!) I was initially taken aback but went along for the ride after the Viagra spiel, getting to inhale whiffs of all-natural ambergris, saffron, cardamom, star anise, curry, rose essence, and cinnamon. There were so many wonderful fragrances and not a few lightbulbs in my head went off when I got to experience such famous traded goods as ambergris.
Seeing the whole city from above
Place Baghdadi
While perusing my Lonely Planet guidebook, I noticed that they mentioned a place where you could hike up and get panoramic views of the whole medina. Since I was feeling a little claustrophobic inside the walls, I set off before sunset to the spacious Place Baghdadi, a lively, tourist-free public area on the western side of the medina where people come to buy and sell goods, go for a walk, or watch street performers.
Passing through one of the grand horseshoe arches in the city walls, I headed northeast, hugging the curb on one of the main highways into town. I soon came to a path that led up a bright green hill capped with some crumbling ruins—the Borj Nord. From this eerie setting I gazed to the south and took in the whole setting: a massive urbanization that would have been huge in medieval times, an establishment visibly bounded by pale gold stone walls and battlements, one with hazy smoke rising from stoves and ovens and with the sound of donkeys’ bells ringing out in the distance.
Panoramic view of the medina
Exploring the mellah (Jewish quarter)
My last day in Fez, I wanted to check out the mellah or Jewish quarter, as it sounded like an interesting and little-visited part of the old town. I wandered and got lost in the Fez el-Jdid neighborhood, was told not to go down a street—twice!—by kind ladies, I walked for an hour in the midday sun around a palatial wall, but I did make it to the quarter in the end.
It wasn’t long before a faux guide approached me, or an unofficial guide who, true to form, hustled me into a guided tour of the Jewish quarter. The guidebooks advise you to resist their offers since it’s technically against the law to guide without state recognition and since they may try to manipulate you into buying goods or staying in hotels that they’ll get a commission off of BUT they can be both very helpful if you are lost and very informative, too. So I accepted the offer of Yacoub, a Sephardic Jew, i.e., a descendant of Jews who were forced to leave Spain in the 15th century. He told me he spoke Arabic, Hebrew, French, Spanish, and English. I was amazed.
I sort of unwillingly followed him around town, not sure if he was going to demand payment in some back alley, but the tour was enlightening, as he pointed out the unique street-facing windows and balconies, something typically Spanish but uncommon in the Arab world (as houses are centered on the courtyard). He showed me some crumbling tilework—Spanish azulejos that looked very similar to Moroccan zellij—as well as a synagogue or two. Yacoub told me that after the “war” (which I’m assuming was the 1967 Six-Day War between Israel and her Arab neighbors), almost all the Jews fled Fez for either Israel or the United States, perhaps because of heightened ethnic tensions. Since then, they have sent money back home to preserve and restore the Jewish quarter, but progress has moved slowly.
The old synagogue
At this point (in a deserted street, ugh) he asked me for the equivalent of ten euros not for the tour but for said restoration. I felt very uncomfortable giving him the money instead of directly to the organization, not to mention the fact that I didn’t even have that in cash on my person. I don’t remember how but I managed to weasel my way out of the donation but I guess I just gave him all my change (a generous tip, ahem) and walked away after awkwardly thanking him for the tour.
Anyway, I did find the Jewish cemetery on the south side of the mellah—a vast field packed to the brim with thousands of snowdrift-like white tombs. Dotting the cemetery was the occasional tall, black headstone representing one of the city’s rabbis. Although my guide Yacoub was one of only a few dozen Jews left in Fez, the historical community was much more palpable after visiting the great cemetery, a memorial to a world where two different groups of people lived together, from medieval times down almost to the present day.
If you’ve ever been here, tell me your Fez stories in the comments below! Would you be intimidated or excited by the thought of going to Fez alone?
architecture azahar fez food morocco travel
How to Go to a Moroccan Hammam (Public Bath)
Chefchaouen, Morocco: Photos of a Blue, Spanish-St...
FAQ about Volubilis, Morocco: Roman Ruins in North...
6 Weird Things We Do in the United States
June Monthly Update: Coming Home Edition
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3017
|
__label__cc
| 0.601239
| 0.398761
|
Variations of Bananagrams
Basic Game Rules
Wild Tiles
Buy Bananagrams
Bananagrams Variant Rules
Other ways of playing:
"Best Of"
A hand can take as little as 5 minutes, so players, if desired, could play for the "best of 5" or "best of 10".
This is a less hectic version of Bananagrams. All tiles are placed face down on the table. The letters are divided equally among players, remaining face down.
Players then play a game of Bananagrams, but without "peeling" or "dumping". The first player to use all of his/her letters shouts "BANANAS!!" and is the winner of that hand.
If the game ends in a stalemate, the player with the fewest remaining letters is the winner.
Banana Cafe
This version of Bananagrams is designed to be played in restaurants while waiting for service. Place the pouch on the table.
Each player takes 21 tiles from the pouch, and proceeds to play the regular game with "dumping" but with NO "peeling". The first player to use all his/her letters says "BANANAS!!!" and is the winner.
Banana Solitaire
This is a one player version of Bananagrams. Place all letters down on the center of the table. Take 21 letters and proceed to play the game. Only peel when needed.
Try to beat your own best time in using all 144 letters, or try making as few words to use all 144 letters. This can be a relaxing way of honing your Bananagrams skills.
Advanced players could create their own versions by limiting the acceptable words to a special category, such as animals, food and drink, etc.
Double Bananagrams
Bananagrams Party Edition
Ultra BoardGames
This site is dedicated to promoting board games. Through extensive research, we bring everything you need to know about board games.
Our mission is to produce engaging articles like reviews, tips and tricks, game rules, strategies, etc. If you like a board game, please consider to buy it. These games deserve it.
© 2019 Ultra BoardGames. All rights reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3021
|
__label__cc
| 0.520446
| 0.479554
|
Home Saving Turtles
Saving Turtles
Hardback - $19.95
Hardback Title
A behind-the-scenes look at a hospital for severely injured turtles.
Turtles have been around for 220 million years -- longer than dinosaurs. But now their time might be running out. Of the roughly 300 species worldwide, more than half are threatened with extinction. Freshwater, marine and land turtles are all affected. And their biggest threat is us!
As the human race grows and expands on the planet, turtles are losing their homes, suffering the effects of pollution, the pet and food trade, killed by cars as they try to cross roads, and snared in fishing nets or by fish hooks meant to catch other species. Fortunately, a community of scientists, environmentalists and volunteers around the world are helping to protect and save turtles.
The author, Sue Carstairs, is a veterinarian at a turtle rescue and rehabilitation center. She reveals how she repairs shattered shells, broken jaws, and injured skulls, and nurses severely injured turtles back to health for release into the wild. Carstairs also explains how turtle eggs are harvested from injured mothers, incubated, raised in tanks and released into the wild. Organizations around the world performing similar work with land and sea turtles are also profiled.
What can readers do to help the worldwide effort to save and protect turtles? Two examples from the many offered in the book: participate in World Turtle Day, on May 23rd every year, sponsored by American Tortoise Rescue, and lobby for "turtle crossing" signs in nesting areas.
"And what are you going to do for us?"
Canada’s first audition book, with monologues from plays of the seventies, also useful as a survey of Canadian playwriting.
"Without fear and with a manly heart"
Private James Herbert (Herb) Gibson was 26 years old when he volunteered for service in the Canadian Expeditionary Force in the First World War. Bo...
#NotYourPrincess
Whether looking back to a troubled past or welcoming a hopeful future, the powerful voices of Indigenous women across North America resound in th...
005Baby Blanket
Acrylic Baby Blanket. Machine Washable. Air Dry.Various colors available. Blanket is crocheted and if desired can have knitted animal in the mid...
1 Hour Photo
From the award-winning Canadian playwright, performer, and radio broadcaster Tetsuro Shigematsu comes 1 Hour Photo, the follow-up to his acclaimed ...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3028
|
__label__wiki
| 0.539552
| 0.539552
|
Sourcefire Delivers Above-Consensus Quarter
Apr 30, 2012 at 12:01 AM Apr 30, 2012 at 1:56 AM
Sourcefire comfortably surpasses Wall Street's estimates on strong demand for its cybersecurity products.
COLUMBIA, Md. (TheStreet) - Sourcefire(:FIRE) continued its momentum on Monday, comfortably surpassing Wall Street's expectations for its first-quarter results on strong demand for its cybersecurity products.
Revenue came in at $46.3 million, a 50% hike on the prior year's quarter, and above analysts' forecast of $41.64 million. Sourcefire reported first-quarter results after market close.
Excluding items, Columbia, Md.-based Sourcefire earned 11 cents a share, up from 4 cents a share in the same period last year. Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were looking for earnings of 8 cents a share.
The Cisco(:CSCO) competitor also offered robust second-quarter guidance, predicting revenue between $46.5 million and $48.5 million vs. the average analysts' forecast of $46.45 million. Excluding items, Sourcefire sees adjusted earnings of 12 to 14 cents a share, surrounding the current consensus view for a profit of 13 cents a share.
"As we look to the future, we are confident in our ability to capture our share of an expanding market opportunity, and to continue to drive meaningful levels of growth," explained Sourcefire CEO John Burris, in a statement released after market close.
Investors responded positively to the numbers, pushing Sourcefire's shares up $2.71, or 5.31%, to $53.70 in extended trading.
Before the after-hours spike higher, the stock had already doubled in the past year, hitting a 52-week high of $52.54 on Friday.
--Written by James Rogers in New York.
>To follow the writer on Twitter, go to http://twitter.com/jamesjrogers.
>To submit a news tip, send an email to: tips@thestreet.com.
Check out our new tech blog, Tech Trends. Follow TheStreet Tech on your wireless devices.
Submit Announcements & News
Herkimer County
Oneida-Verona
Blogs - Living - Sports
Uticaod ~ 221 Oriskany Plaza, Utica, NY 13501 ~ Do Not Sell My Personal Information ~ Cookie Policy ~ Do Not Sell My Personal Information ~ Privacy Policy ~ Terms Of Service ~ Your California Privacy Rights / Privacy Policy
MV All-Stars
Manage My Subcription
Scene Marketplace
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3031
|
__label__wiki
| 0.760182
| 0.760182
|
Anniversary Films (A-M)
Of Dolls & Murder
Directors: Susan Marks; PROD John K. Dehn, Susan Marks
Narrated by iconic filmmaker John Waters, Of Dolls & Murder exposes an unimaginable world of miniature homicides. Lurking inside this surreal collection of dollhouse dioramas thrives a criminal element that is all too real. These “Nutshell Studies of Unexplained Death” reveal a dystopic rather than an idealized version of domestic life. Created as a teaching tool by an unlikely grandmother Frances Glessner Lee, the Nutshells are home to violent murder, prostitution, mental illness, adultery, and alcoholism. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program, the Local Film Program, and the Halloween Program
Directors: Jeremy Workman; PROD Matthew Spain, Jeremy Workman
Philip Ashforth Coppola has devoted all of his free time in the last thirty years to cataloging and archiving an obsession. Using his own resources, this humble New Jersey printing press operator has self-financed a multi-volume study of his true passion: the cathedrals of mosaic, faience, terra cotta, tile, and steel that are New York's 496 subway stations. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Opening Our Eyes: Global Stories About the Power of One
Director: Gail Mooney; Producer: Erin Kelly
They are two people--a mother and a daughter--who embarked on a journey around the world to document and film the stories of individuals--ordinary people--who are following their own dreams, passions, and ambitions and doing extraordinary things. They filmed 11 subjects on 6 continents. They believe in the power of one--the power of the individual, the power that each one of us has to effect positive change. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Oxygen for the Ears: Living Jazz
Director: Stefan Immler; Producer: Cathy Abel, Tom Abel, Stefan Immler, Tom Walker
Every jazz tune has a starting point--a simple note--from which it rises. Oxygen for the Ears showcases jazz's rich history through candid interviews with living legends, rare recordings, and original music played by contemporary stars. This film shows how jazz history was made and how jazz continues to be made in Washington, D.C. today.
The Parachute Ball
Director/Producer: Peter Boothby;
Set during World War II on a secluded farm in Kent, two elderly and eccentric women are unexpectedly called to duty one night when they discover an unconscious German pilot hanging from his parachute in their tree. Before he can regain consciousness and escape, the ladies decide to take him captive, but when his co-pilot comes looking for him, a battle of wits ensue. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Record Paradise: The Musical Life of Joe Lee
Director: Michael Streissguth; Producers: Michael Streissguth, Luke Baker
Roll with Joe Lee--black sheep of a blue-blood Maryland family, owner of one of the nation's most successful record stores, and an irreverent musical impresario. Leading an unruly parade of musicians, collectors, and disc jockeys, Joe has sold records to generations of music fans and produced, booked, and managed some of the Baltimore-Washington area’s most beloved blues and rock acts, including the tragically zany Root Boy Slim. Opinionated, brash, and unabashedly entertaining, Joe leads the camera through the studios, record shops, basements, and concert venues where music lives in Baltimore and Washington. Featuring the music of Ray Charles, The Nighthawks, The Lost Boys, and Root Boy Slim. Part of the Local Film Program
Roadmap to Apartheid
DIR Ana Nogueira, Eron Davidson; PROD Ana Nogueira, Eron Davidson
Ana Nogueira is a white South African, and Eron Davidson is a Jewish Israeli. Drawing on their first-hand knowledge of the issues, the producers take a close look at the apartheid comparison often used to describe the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Part of Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Room to Breathe
Director: Russell Long; Producer: Russell Long, Gail Mallimson
Leading the district in disciplinary suspensions and juggling overcrowded classrooms with eroding learning environments, overwhelmed administrators in a San Francisco public middle school are left with a stark choice: repeat the cycle of trying to force children to listen, or conduct an unconventional experiment using meditation that may provide the children with the social, emotional, and attention skills that they desperately need. The question is whether it’s already too late. Confronted by defiance, contempt for authority figures, and poor discipline, a young mindfulness teacher from Berkeley tries to succeed in opening the childrens' minds and hearts. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Rusti Escapes!
Director/Producer: Pamela Davis;
Finding a home for a 275 lb. orangutan was not an easy task, especially for Rusti. After years of waiting, hoping and people fighting for him, there seems to be a light at the end of a long tunnel, but unfortunately, the tunnel took many turns before he could consider himself happy. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Film Program and the Short Films Program
Short Films by Young People and Adults: A Utopian Film Festival Special Program
Twelve imaginative short films by young people and adults, which include:
Not One of Us (2 minutes) A film about bullying from a young director's perspective.
Freedom (6 minutes) Constricted by the routine of everyday life, young Maya strives to escape society's barriers.
Franklin County, PA (2 minutes) Take a quick trip with this youthful filmmaker around Franklin County, Pennsylvania.
Letting Go (8 minutes) A girl grieves after the death of a loved one but discovers it's okay to go on--just as the land around her goes on.
Cardboard (10 minutes) Homelessness in America is a national tragedy. Faced with adversity, what would you do to keep your family together?
Let Me Go (16 minutes) Held captive by an insane man seeking money, will Casey Walker survive?
Our Utopia Is (2 minutes) Young Baltimore filmmakers explore their visions of utopia.
Utopia (5 minutes) Can Baltimore become a utopia?
Wait in Silence (14 minutes) Trying to change her image, a teenage girl immerses herself in the grittier side of life but loses herself along the way.
UltraGirl/Vise (3 minutes) An animated tale about a female superhero female.
Maryland Sentient (3 minutes) Images of Maryland insects set to atmospheric music.
The Wheel (16 minutes) A whimsical, visually imaginative Steampunk science fiction tale of a dutiful young man, fated to maintain the balance of the world - and his mischievous sister, determined to test the balance.
Showing at the Greenbelt Municipal Building on Sunday, October 21st at noon (Free to the Public)
Director: Maria Demopoulos, Jodi Wille; Producers: Maria Demopoulos, Jodi Wille, Holly Becker
The Source Family was a radical experiment in '70s utopian living. Their outlandish style, popular health food restaurant, rock band, and beautiful women made them the darlings of Hollywood’s Sunset Strip. But their outsider ideals and the unconventional behavior of their spiritual leader, Father Yod, caused controversy with the local authorities, which led to them fleeing the country. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Suddenly Zinat
Director/Producer: Navid Azad;
Simin, a 35 years old teacher, has been renting her child, Nafas, from a drug addicted woman, Nasibeh, for 4 years now. As Nasibeh's husband is being released from life sentence, Nasibeh wants her child back. Now Simin confronts a reality that will change her life forever. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
There Are No Heroes
Director: Kyle Stevenson; Producer: Maggie Jane Leitch, et al
Several years after a nuclear power plant in Cape Town had a meltdown, a young single mother and factory worker, Drew, must fight to survive in a dystopian future ruled by a sinister pharmaceutical company called DARCORP. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Through Bloodshot Eyes
Director/Producer: Amanda Sodhi;
A glimpse into how family violence perpetuates itself. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
Urban/Rural Landscapes 6: A Utopia Film Festival Special Program
This special collection of experimental films is curated by experimental filmmaker Chris Lynn and is the sixth experimental landscape program to be included in the Utopia Film Festival. Filming locations include China, Portugal, Canada, and more. See the world through a different lense.
Films in the Urban/Rural Landscapes 6 program include:
The Luminous Passage
DIR Ryan Marino
A meditation on the passage of time and light, an evocation of the season of autumn. This film was shot during consecutive autumns in New York, Maine, and New Hampshire.
Hudson River Landscapes
DIR Patrick Tarrant
Recorded from a 24th floor window on Broadway, Hudson River Landscapes maps the elevated terrain of Manhattan’s Upper West Side where laborers and layabouts, while displaced from the city beneath them and framed by the river behind them, function like secret agents in an unscripted spy drama.
DIR Sarah J. Christman
Over the course of four seasons, the nuances of everyday activity are examined along one narrow stretch of public shoreline in New York City’s Jamaica Bay. Moments of recurrence and change cycle through an ecosystem rooted in migration.
Morning Fisherman
DIR Chris H Lynn
A piece from the Reconstructing Scenic views from Seventeenth Century Chinese Landscape Painting series. Shot at Xuanwu Lake in Nanjing, China.
De Luce 1: Vegetare
DIR Janis Crystal Lipzin. The colors and light of a garden are transformed by Janis Crystal Lipzin’s alchemical experiments with the film material and photochemical processes.
DIR Ann Deborah Levy
Colors, patterns, and images reflected on the surface of a pond mirror changes in seasons and weather over the course of a year to create this “painting in motion.”
Underfoot and Overstory
DIR Jason Livingston
Local environmentalists,the Friends of Hickory Hill Park, work to protect nearly 200 acres of unique urban parkland in Iowa City, Iowa. The organization’s mission statement must be produced. The inaugural Hickory Hill Park calendar must be completed. Nature images run parallel, collide, or drift beside the demands of group writing, open space, and the park’s changing boundary.
Vittorio, Capitan Pistone...e tutti gli altri
Director: Mara Consoli; Producers: Maurizio Carta, Mara Consoli
Vittorio has something in common with Ronald Reagan, Winston Churchill, Charles Bronson, and 30 million other people: Vittorio, the filmmaker's father, has Alzheimer's disease. This documentary moves back and forth in time, between report and poetry, beyond words, and towards the essence of things. Part of the Utopian & Dystopian Visions Program
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3032
|
__label__wiki
| 0.581377
| 0.581377
|
해를 품은 달
Korea, Korean Drama
9.5 4144 ratings
Thirteen-year-old Heo Yeon Woo, the daughter of a high-ranking official, accompanies her mother to the royal palace to attend her brother, Heo Yeom's civil service examination congratulatory ceremony. By chance, she comes across Crown Prince Lee Hwon. They fall in love, and Yeon Woo is chosen as the Crown Princess of Joseon. Before they can marry, the Dowager Queen secretly orders her death, in order to secure more power for herself. Yeon Woo becomes cursed and is stricken with an illness. All believe her to be dead, including the Crown Prince Lee Hwon. Heartbroken, he refuses to love another. Eight years later, the young king meets a shaman named Wol. He can’t help but find similarities between her and Yeon Woo and begins investigating Yeon Woo’s death.
Romanized title
hae reur pum eun dal
The Moon That Conceals the Sun, The Moon That Embraces the Sun, The Sun and the Moon
Korea Korean Drama Drama Costume & Period Fantasy Historical Political Romance
Watch: BTS’s V Impresses With His Acting Of A Scene From “The Moon Embracing The Sun”
11 Romantic K-Dramas To Watch When A Fictional Boyfriend Is Just What You Need
15 Historical K-Dramas For People Who Don’t Like Historical Dramas
7 Characters You’ll Find In Every Historical K-Drama
The Many Different Faces Of Kim Soo Hyun We Will Miss While He Serves In The Army
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3041
|
__label__wiki
| 0.949033
| 0.949033
|
Watford 8°c
Our Facebook feedsWatford Observer
Our Twitter feeds@Observer_Owl
WCIF
Joshua ready to avenge Ruiz Jr world title defeat in desert duel
Anthony Joshua ready to avenge Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia
By Anthony Matthews Ant_Watford Sports Editor
Boxing - Andy Ruiz Jr & Anthony Joshua Press Conference - Diriyah, Saudi Arabia - December 4, 2019 Andy Ruiz Jr and Anthony Joshua after the press conference Action Images via Reuters/Andrew Couldridge
Anthony Joshua has insisted winning his world heavyweight title rematch against Andy Ruiz Jr in Saudi Arabia tomorrow night will be no special cause for celebration.
Victory for Watford boxer Joshua would avenge his stunning loss to Ruiz in his last fight in June and project him towards a unification bout against either Tyson Fury or Deontay Wilder.
The stakes are incredibly high for the former world champion with Joshua needing a victory to re-establish his standing in the heavyweight division.
But at the press conference close to the venue in the desert suburb of Diriyah, Joshua said: “People have asked me if it will be a special moment if I win, and I say no because I belong here.
“When I regain those belts, I will keep the challenger mind-set and stay focused.
“It’s not a time to celebrate. It’s a time to keep my challenger’s mind-set and move on to my next target.”
The 30-year-old was a 1/25 favourite to win the last bout against Ruiz with the late replacement for Jarrell Miller given little chance of success.
But Joshua’s unbeaten record was shattered after being knocked down four times. The referee waved off the fight in the seventh round as Joshua lost for the first time in 23 contests as a professional.
Joshua is expected to enter the ring roughly half a stone lighter than he was for the first fight with Ruiz, although he did not give anything away during a media workout.
He has exuded an aura of quiet confidence during his public and media appearances this week, appearing to back up his repeated assertion that his stunning loss to Ruiz has not affected his appetite for the sport.
“As soon as I got back from New York I got straight back in at Finchley ABC - I didn’t lose any heart,” added Joshua. “There’s fire in my belly, there’s no fear in my heart, and I’m just focused on putting on a show.”
Mexican-American Ruiz has relished the intense media scrutiny of fight week, lingering for media opportunities and taking to the ring for his public work-out in lime green hand-wraps and a grey bobble-hat which he threw into the crowd.
He sported more eye-catching attire at the press conference, with a New York Knicks top in order to remind himself - and Joshua - of the venue where he pulled off arguably the biggest upset win since Hasim Rahman dethroned Lennox Lewis in Carnival City in 2001.
“I’m glad people noticed the jersey,” said Ruiz. “I wore it to remind myself that I’m the champ, and to remind AJ as well, but I did it for myself mainly.”
Ruiz has been preparing for Joshua to adopt a more cagey and elusive game-plan in order to avoid another defeat at the hands of the champion’s crashing left hook.
He added: “I know AJ’s going to come with a different game-plan. I know he’s prepared and motivated and he’s going to be more cautious.
“I know he’s lost weight and he’s going to try to box me around but it’s my job to prevent that.
“I don’t want to let these beautiful belts go away. It’s been a long rollercoaster and I’ve finally made my dreams come true.
“I’m going to do anything possible to get that victory.”
Hornets launch late bid for Pedersen
Terriers interested in Success
Bachmann learned of Hornets interest from Prodl
Harvey ends Welsh's unbeaten start at the death
Jets blow lead at Dunstable
Clubs enquire about Success availability
Pawson to ref Everton match
First-team players feature for U23s
Dramatic comeback keeps Reed on track to retain county cup
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3045
|
__label__cc
| 0.740515
| 0.259485
|
You are here: Home > Things to Do > Hackfall Woods
Hackfall Woods
nr Grewelthorpe, Masham, North Yorkshire
Hackfall is a stunning woodland site near Masham, with lakes, waterfalls, follies and an intricate network of paths to explore stretching along the banks of the River Ure.
There is something about the wild splendour of Hackfall Woods that simply inspires creativity.
Nineteenth century writers hailed it as one of the most beautiful woodlands in the country while romantic landscape artist Turner painted in these woods.
The recent restoration work has been made possible due to a grant of almost £1 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund and further grants from the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and Yorventure.
Set in a 350ft gorge on the edge of Grewelthorpe, the site was bought in 1731 by John Aislabie, famous for his landscaping work at nearby Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal.
But it was his son, William who transformed the area into a “beautiful wilderness”, creating grottos and surprise views, glades, rustic temples embedded in groves of trees, waterfalls and follies - many of which can still be discovered in the park today.
In its Victorian heyday, visitors flocked to view the woods and house and enjoy teas at Mowbray Point, where the Aislabies had entertained friends.
It is possible that conifers were planted in the 19th century to supplement the largely broadleaved woodland but almost the entire wood was felled during the 1930s and regeneration since then has been at the hands of Nature.
For half a century the site fell into decline but since the Eighties, when the Woodland Trust took over, much has been done to restore Hackfall to its glory days, restoring footpaths and woodland walks, conserving the various follies, managing the fragile habitats, and giving Hackfall a future.
The ancient woodland site is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, along with several other designations, and the largely broadleaved area is still dominated by oak with beech, sycamore, ash and even lime originating from the 18th century.
Modern visitors can once again bask in the stunning scenery and enjoy a mass of period features including a host of man-made waterfalls and courses displayed throughout the woodland.
Hackfall teems with wildlife and sustains a thriving range of wild plant communities including a spectacular display of bluebells!
Road Directions
Car park is sign posted to the east of the road between Masham and Grewelthorpe, half a mile north of Grewelthorpe.
Great day's walking
Monday, 5th August 2019
There are a few different walks to choose from, ranging from one hour to about four hours. But the choice is yours. Some are quite strenuous but worth it if you are fit, though not for the physically... Read full review
bevvy21
Lovely day walking through the woods. Various routes to take with good scenery. Agree with comments regarding sturdy footwear - some parts can be a little challenging. We were lucky to have a... Read full review
katiee426
Kingston-upon-Hull, United Kingdom
Muddy trail
Went for a walk and i can say it was muddy but fun. We did the over 1hr trail and its a tough walk especially for someone like me. But i got lovely photos and burned over 340 calories. Definitely... Read full review
Swinton Park Hotel
A luxury castle hotel in the Yorkshire Dales, with fine dining, cookery school, spa and…
Holme Grange Farm
The Wheelhouse is a unique Bed and Breakfast property. It is a newly converted ground…
Swinton Bivouac
At Swinton Bivouac they love all things luxurious and rustic, sustainable and thoughtful.…
Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Holiday Cottages
Planning on staying at Fountains Abbey & Studley Royal Holiday Cottages?...If so, you…
Ripon Spa Hotel
Just five minutes’ stroll from Ripon’s ancient market square is the delightful Ripon Spa…
The Sawley Arms, Country pub with rooms.
We are a traditional English country inn priding ourselves on serving freshly cooked and…
Skell Gardens Cottage
A stylish 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom 1850's cottage which sleeps 4 with it's own garden,…
The Old Deanery Hotel & Restaurant
The Old Deanery Hotel & Restaurant is based in the beautiful market town of Ripon,…
Yorkshire Hussar Inn & Caravan Park
A delightful secluded Caravan Park attractively situated to the rear of the Village Pub…
Lavender Cottage, Pateley Bridge
Lavender Cottage is a converted barn in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales with its own…
The Holiday Apartment Sleeps 2/4 people In two acres of garden with views, peacefull…
How Stean Gorge Campsite, Bunkhouse and Bunk Barn
Informal campsite at stunning location with shop and licensed restaurant. Free wifi,…
Strawberry Safari Glamping
Strawberry Safari Glamping offers luxury shepherds hut accommodation in the stunning…
Nantodd Cottage
Nantodd Cottage set in the middle of the picturesque village of Bishop Monkton between…
Helme Pasture Lodges & Cottages
Farmhouse Cottages and Scandinavian lodges for short breaks and longer stays within…
Holly Beck Stables
A perfect blend of town and country, Holly Beck Stables is a romantic bolthole. This…
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3053
|
__label__cc
| 0.727487
| 0.272513
|
Home » Market outlook for 2018 - Dr. Steve Meyer, Kerns and Associates
<< Back to Swine Summit
Market outlook for 2018 - Dr. Steve Meyer, Kerns and Associates
Posted on April 4th, 2018 in Swine Summit
Click here to download Meyer's PowerPoint presentation.
“The last week of January was a terrifying rollercoaster if you have any money in the equity markets.”
During his Swine Summit 2018 presentation, Dr. Steve Meyer, economist with Kerns and Associates, said the average American is much more in tune with equity markets than ever before because so many people have money in 401(k) programs and other investments.
“When it goes up, it has some impact on the way we look at the world,” Meyer said.
Although equity markets did drop and are volatile, Meyer said they remain quite strong at this time.
Growth domestic product (GDP) continues to grow at a rate of 2.5 percent per year, but President Trump wants it to grow by 3 percent.
Real person disposable income (RPDI) has been positive for 12 months and consistently growing by 1 percent for the last four months. Meyer said that means consumers have money in their pockets and they want to spend it.
The U.S. is one month away from the second-longest economic recovery on the books, and we’re not likely to see a dip before October or November of this year, according to Meyer. That’s a good thing for consumer demand.
“Consumers feel very good about things, and that’s reflected itself in demand for meat in the last year,” Meyer said.
American meat consumption (pork, beef, chicken and turkey) peaked at 220 pounds per capita in 2006. Meyer said we’re on track to reach 218.2 pounds in 2018 and could hit a record high in 2019.
One negative implication of a growing economy is labor constraints, according to Meyer.
He said, “The labor sector is getting quite tight.”
Exports also look good with Meyer’s prediction of a 6-percent increase. The relatively weak U.S. dollar helps with that. However, Meyer cautioned that we “don’t know what surprise will happen and affect exports,” and cited swine flu as an example.
Assuming a normal growing season, feed costs should be manageable in 2018. U.S. corn and soybeans are both near 90 million acres. Meyer said the big increase in soybean acres is driven by problems in Argentina, “but this will break some.” The summer analog forecast predicts cooler summer temperatures and more precipitation in the Corn Belt, which could lead to a bumper year for corn.
Meyer said corn and soybean futures have been on a rally, which will push up 2018 costs, but not by much; prices are predicted to be near 2016 and 2017 levels. He said the very best farrow-to-finish operations should breakeven at $64.23 per hundredweight, and average farms should achieve breakeven at $68.
The December USDA quarterly hogs and pigs report predicted $73 to $77 for second-quarter prices, $71 to $75 in the third quarter and $60 to $63 in the fourth quarter. The Kerns and Associates model, using product sold net prices, indicates that 2017 and 2018 will be the fourth- and second-best years in the last 10, respectively.
Meyer said, even with increased slaughter capacity coming online, the industry will push the capacity by the end of 2018 or early 2019. He said it seems like more slaughter pigs are pulled through early, but we aren’t seeing lighter pigs at slaughter. Better grain quality and increased performance may have caused this phenomenon.
Meyer said risks to the forecast include major export disruption due to disease outbreaks, trade issues with the European Union, Japan and others, loss of exports to Mexico due to NAFTA renegotiations, continued labor challenges, and feed costs. Meyer concluded that, if all plants are full in 2019, it could “put some real pressure on pork prices.”
Swine Summit
Markets and economics
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3059
|
__label__cc
| 0.560951
| 0.439049
|
Glacier National Park Embroidery Pattern
I fell in love with Glacier National Park during our first visit. We stayed at a campground on the shores of Lake McDonald and every morning I wandered over to gaze at the crystal clear water set against a backdrop of jagged mountains. As much as the high mountain passes and abundant wildlife, this lake is an iconic symbol of the park.
Capture the beauty of Lake McDonald and the spirit of the park with this simple pattern featuring snow-capped mountains, calm blue water, and canoes at the ready.
Glacier National Park Embroidery Pattern quantity
Capitol Reef National Park Hand Embroidery Pattern
It might be the least popular of Utah’s five National Parks, but those who have visited Capitol Reef know that it has much to offer! Aside from the mind-blowing 90-mile long ridge of sandstone called the Waterpocket Fold that juts out of the earth and has eroded over time to form a jungle of domes, cliffs, and twisting canyons, the park also boasts a fertile river valley full of lush green cottonwood trees and rows of fruit trees planted by settlers long ago.
The Capitol Reef National Park pattern captures all of this and more with a classic scene featuring one of the apple orchards and a historic barn set in front of a towering cliff. Designed with simplicity in mind, this pattern is perfect for both novice and expert embroiderers.
Grand Teton National Park Hand Embroidery Pattern
Dramatic mountains and stunning alpine lakes dominate the landscape of Teton National Park. By far one of the most popular views in the park is the famous T.A. Moulton Barn with the three main peaks of Teton range looming overhead. Photographers and nature enthusiasts from around the world flock to this historic location.
Create a piece of lasting art featuring the famous barn, dramatic mountains, and surrounding landscape. Designed with simplicity in mind, this downloadable PDF pattern uses only six different stitches and is the perfect project for novice and experts alike.
Reverse images of the pattern for iron-on transfer
Mount Rainier National Park Hand Embroidery Pattern
Those who are lucky enough to visit Mount Rainier during the late summer months will be treated to a vibrant floral display as the park’s meadows burst with colorful wildflowers. Within the park, one of the most popular areas for wildflower viewing is the Paradise Region. Here, wildflowers in every shade sway in the breeze, filling the meadows with brilliant colors.
This hand embroidery pattern with its close up view of a brilliant flower-filled meadow, stately evergreen trees, and a 500,000-year-old volcano looming overhead, was inspired by the spectacular views from the hiking trails that wind around the Paradise Region.
Designed with simplicity in mind, this pattern requires basic embroidery knowledge but uses only a handful of simple stitches.
Reverse image of the pattern for iron-on transfer
Yellowstone National Park Embroidery Pattern
Create a work of art that celebrates the magnificence of Yellowstone National Park. Featuring the most popular attraction in the park, Old Faithful, set against a backdrop of fluffy clouds, evergreen trees, and rollings hills.
Designed with simplicity in mind, this pattern is perfect for novice and experts alike.
Zion National Park Hand Embroidery Pattern
My favorite memory of Zion National Park is hiking to the top of Observation Point. Not because I enjoyed the steep switchbacks or the narrow pathways that seemingly hang off the side of a cliff, but because when you finally reach the top and peer down over the edge, all the sweat and aching muscles are forgotten. Laid out in front of you is Zion Canyon with the Virgin River snaking down the middle, shades of green climbing up the sides, and steep red cliffs towering on either side. Lucky for you, I’ve re-created the view in this custom embroidery pattern so you don’t have to make the climb!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3062
|
__label__wiki
| 0.647664
| 0.647664
|
Louisiana's 'Obamacare' replacement bill sparks arguments
Health_Medical_Pharma
Jeff Landry
By MELINDA DESLATTE - Associated Press - Tuesday, May 21, 2019
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) - Political bickering between Louisiana’s governor and attorney general over potential fallout from a lawsuit seeking to overturn the federal Affordable Care Act spilled into a House committee Tuesday, with angry exchanges about the value of the federal law and the health care it provides.
Both Gov. John Bel Edwards and Attorney General Jeff Landry are working to show they are responding to the possibility the federal health overhaul - and its insurance coverage protections - could be thrown out.
Landry, who joined Louisiana to the Texas lawsuit seeking to jettison the federal law, is pushing legislation to start the work of creating a high-risk pool to help people with pre-existing conditions access insurance. The House insurance committee advanced the Senate-approved proposal Tuesday without objection, sending it to the full House for debate.
But passage came only after the Edwards administration’s chief lawyer, Matthew Block, told lawmakers the legislation does too little. No financing for the high-risk pool is certain, and Block said it doesn’t help the 500,000 people added to Medicaid who would lose coverage if the Medicaid expansion program authorized under the federal law is scrapped.
“We have a much bigger population of individuals who would lose coverage,” Block said, sitting at the testimony table next to Landry. “We need to have a bigger discussion.”
Landry said the bill he supports, sponsored by Republican Sen. Fred Mills, aims to offer protections to people with preexisting conditions who buy their coverage on the individual market, those who don’t have government insurance like Medicare and can’t get insurance through employers.
“The question today is whether or not we’re going to do something to protect the health care in the middle class,” Landry said.
The Democratic governor and Republican attorney general have repeatedly clashed since both men took office in 2016. Edwards objected to Landry’s support of the Texas lawsuit.
Under the Landry-backed bill, Insurance Commissioner Jim Donelon would be tasked with working on ways to devise the high-risk pool. It would require more legislative approvals - and financing - to take effect. Donelon sat with Landry at Tuesday’s hearing to support the bill, pledging to work with lawmakers, “to be completely transparent and give you our best efforts.”
Landry and Donelon said they are hopeful Congress would help states if hundreds of millions of dollars in federal subsidies that flow to Louisiana consumers each year under the Affordable Care Act disappear.
In testy exchanges during the hearing, Democratic lawmakers clashed with Landry, saying he’s politicized debate over health care and the state’s response to the possible overturning of the law known as “Obamacare.” The attorney general accused the Edwards administration of doing the same thing.
When Shreveport Democratic Rep. Cedric Glover questioned whether Louisiana would have money to finance the high-risk pool, Landry said Glover was “trying to scare the public.” Rep. Chad Brown, a Plaquemine Democrat, told Landry: “All I hear is political talk.”
The governor on Tuesday announced a task force to offer recommendations about how to respond if the federal law is overturned, saying the idea needs more study and the Landry-backed proposal wouldn’t solve the problems created. Landry noted Edwards only established a study after House Republican lawmakers scuttled a separate preexisting conditions bill backed by the governor.
Senate Bill 173: www.legis.la.gov
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3066
|
__label__wiki
| 0.951763
| 0.951763
|
Reader: Roger Waters Is Another Foreigner Trying to Influence the Election
Now Hear This: Four Concerts You Should Know About
Hearsay bits: Mansfields, Hello Kavita, Whygee & Sunkenstate, DJ Klaw and more
Dave Herrera
Dave Herrera | July 22, 2009 | 7:03am
New music: The Mansfields, who just completed a tour with the Queers, will be recording a new album in Atlanta, and Joe Queer will be reportedly producing it. Hello Kavita has posted three new songs ("Sunday," "To a Loved One" and "Ok") on its MySpace page from the forthcoming album the outfit has been recording at Colorado Sound. Wowzers. From what we've heard so far, it should be a solid record. Whygee (due on Mile Hi-Fidelity tonight) and Sunkenstate, who previously collaborated on Suicide Watch, a seven-song EP that charted on CMJ, have released a pair of brand new records, Suicide Watch 2: Sambodextrust and Abracadaver, that they've made available for free download. DJ Klaw has likewise released Bangers2Bang2, a new mix for your downloading pleasure.
Dearly departed: Wakely, a Colorado Springs-based quartet and Class of 2009 alumn, has reportedly called it a day. No word on what caused the split. Rough Draft, who just released a new EP recorded by American Idol finalist Chris Sligh in Nashville called It'll Be Alright, has also reached its natural end. Although the act has dates booked through February of next year, things will come to a close for the band at in the next few weeks, with frontman Andrew Witt continuing on as a solo act. For the Love of Ivy will be playing its last Denver show ever under its current configuration on Saturday, August 8, at the Marquis Theater. Beau Osland, who is moving to San Diego for college, says he plans to reform the band out there. Ivy will be joined on the bill by Air Dubai, of whom Osland is also a member, Effektor, Broke City and Golden Ticket. While it hasn't been pronounced dead yet, the outlook doesn't look hopeful for One Eyed Jacks on 4th and Sante Fe, who was robbed again. Word has it, the Kingdom of Magic/Minsk show this past Monday may have been its last.
Goes to show: The ReMINDers, the hip-hop act from Colorado Springs which has generated a sizable buzz in hip-hop circles, are slated to play two Denver shows this week, one tonight at Herman's Hideaway and the other at the Dragon Boat fest this Sunday from 4-4:30 p.m. On Saturday, July 25, meanwhile, Spare the Legion is playing a gig at Bushwackers Saloon with Better Left Unsaid, Wireframe and Beast of Milwaukee. The gig will be the outfit's last for a while, as it takes a break to record its new album, which it be playing songs from. Finally, set your calendars for the welcome return of d.biddle. While no venue has been announced (smart money is on the hi-dive), the outfit will evidently be performing on Halloween for its annual Días de los Muertos show.
Alicia Keys, Alice Cooper and Every New Denver Concert...
The Best Concerts in Denver This Week
After Surviving a Car Crash, Pop Singer Mandy Groves Found a...
The Lumineers Announce a Coors Field Show With Gregory Alan...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3071
|
__label__cc
| 0.670409
| 0.329591
|
We Think Loud - YOLONDA BRINKLEY
@DIVERSENCANNES
This boss lady reign in Philadelphia. Yolonda Brinkley is a full-service marketing communication professional with extensive brand development, event production, and public relations experience. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Clark Atlanta University and an MBA from University of Illinois Urbana- Champaign. Ms. Brinkley is fluent in French with international experience. This beauty took a moment to share her voice with us!
“As a Black woman, I stand with Dr. King’s belief that life begins to end when we become silent about things that matter. Film plays an integral role in perpetuating negative stereotypes of people of color and other marginalized populations worldwide. In the current cultural and political climate, Diversity in Cannes is my effort to be the change I wish to see in the world. #timesup!”
YOLONDA BRINKLEY
@DIVERSENCANNES
A corporately trained marketer, Ms. Brinkley worked 10 years at the Ford Motor Company, including assignments with the Lincoln-Mercury and Aston Martin, Jaguar Land Rover brands. During her tenure, Ms. Brinkley established herself as a valuable resource within the branded entertainment community. She fostered relationships with Fortune 500 companies and other notable organizations including Nike's Jordan Brand, Jim Beam, Rush Philanthropic Arts Foundation, Magic Johnson Enterprises, New Jersey Nets, Madison Square Garden, Sybase Golf Tournament, United States Tennis Association, and Black Enterprise Magazine.
As an entrepreneur, the momentum continues globally. Since 2008, Ms. Brinkley has managed events for the NAACP Hollywood Bureau “Image Awards”, the Hollywood Black Film Festival and Filmmakers Alliance. She has represented actors and filmmakers at global film festivals including Sundance and the Toronto International Film Festival. Additionally, she has developed brand marketing strategy for sports and entertainment figures including Bill Duke, for whom she served as personal and production publicist for the "Light Girls" Documentary, which premiered on The Oprah Winfrey Network.
Ms. Brinkley constantly creates opportunities for herself and others by impacting the global entertainment industry as the creator of Beyond Borders: Diversity in Cannes, an independent filmmaker movement promoting inclusion at the Cannes Film Festival. Celebrating a decade of diversity in May 2019, the movement was established to promote the presence of underrepresented filmmakers sharing stories about marginalized populations during the Cannes Film Festival, in France.
In her personal time, Ms. Brinkley loves traveling, coordinating special events and all facets of the performing arts; especially dance. Most importantly, is her love of family. She understands the need for a solid foundation and appreciates those who have contributed to the woman she
is today!
What are you waiting for?! Share your voice with thousands of women around the world. Submit your info online at www.WeThinkLoud.com/befeatured.
#WeThinkLoud #HerVoice #HearMeRoar #voiceofawoman #MyVoiceMyPower #SHOP #WeThinkLoud #HerVoice #voiceofawoman #woman #myvoice #empower #womenpreneurs #bossladies #womanboss #womanpower #bosswoman #womanempowerment #womanquotes #womancrushwednesday #fashion #blogger #bloglife #bloggerstyle #bloggerlife
We Think Loud - AMANDA MIRABILE
@AMANDAMIRABILE
This self-proclaimed girl boss currently resides in Huntington Beach, California. By day, Amanda Mirabile is Territory Manager for an InsurTech start-up based in Boston. Her nights and weekends are dedicated to building her blog & social media presence with an emphasis on well thought out captions that are designed with the idea in mind of inspiring women to be their best selves. This beauty took a moment to share her voice with us!
“I believe that as women we need to empower each other to show-up each day and focus on the goals & dreams we hold close regardless of the obstacles we face. Often, that obstacle is our own mindset - so when we surround ourselves with women who inspire our inner girl-boss, we become unstoppable.”
AMANDA MIRABILE
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3072
|
__label__cc
| 0.626429
| 0.373571
|
« The Harvest has begun | Main | Picnicking (again) in Paris »
Alexandre Bain among his Sauvignon Tracy-sur-Loire/Bois-Fleury (Pouilly Fumé, Loire)
We're here in Tracy-sur-Loire, a small village facing the town of Sancerre just on the other side of the Loire. It's in Pouilly Fumé, which is one of these Eastern Loire appellations where Sauvignon holds a prominent place, like neighboring Sancerre and lesser-known Menetou-Salon, Quincy and Reuilly. Long time ago, before Sancerre took the lead and left the others on the side, and particularly before the phyloxera if you rewind a little further, all these areas had been enjoying a limited fame (mostly local) without one emerging as the favorite, at least not Sancerre. And first, like Alexandre Bain told me, we must keep in mind that in these times, the vineyards were only one of the crops being grown, the region being not at all monocultural like it has become today. In the 19th century, the farmers made wine for themselves as well as for sale, and Alexandre who has deep roots in the region also adds that the majority variety in the region (including Sancerre) was not Sauvignon, but Gamay.
What brought me to Alexandre in the Pouilly Fumé in the Eastern Loire was my discovery of his wines a few months ago at a tasting event in Paris centered around his wines. The tasting, was organized by Christophe Guitard who deals with artisan wines at both his shop in the 10th arrondissement and online. Alexandre's uninterventionist wines were a good surprise for me and other tasters, as we are not always familiar with Pouilly-Fumé wines. And also, his passion for the vineyard and soil life was communicative and he was thus on my must-visit list since then. There are about 70 wineries in the Pouilly-Fumé appellation, and here is one of them (click on "Wine Producers", then on "All" to see the list).
Pic on right : the church of the tiny village of Tracy-sur-Loire.
Looking at Sauvignon leaves Alexandre Bain started his winery in 2007. His parents aren't in the wine trade but his grandfather had vines in the area, with which he could start working. During his viticulture-enology training, he had Mathieu Coste as teacher and it helped him build his trust in organic farming in the viticulture. Mathieu Coste later quit the wine school and started his own winery in the region. Alexandre's vineyard surface is 9 hectares, which he purchased from a grower in the region who need to scale down.
We walk to the vineyards which lye along the chai, in view of the village of Saint Andelain in the far (pic on left), home to the Dagueneau winery. The vineyard was conventionally farmed before he got it and he turned it organic overnight, changing also gradually the vine training because it considers this to be essential for the wines he wanted to make.
This visit took place a couple days ago, and Alexandre hasn't begun to pick yet, and he will do it 2 weeks later on average than other growers around here. As I spot a tomato crop with its tempting ripe fruits at the foot of a vine, Alexandre says that they make a good company to the vineyard, like the other weeds that sprout by themselves under the vines (he shows me Mouron Blanc and also a certain type of Véronique, as well as Geraniums à feuilles rondes, among others, many of these plants being edible. The tomato plant also gets mildew like the vines, and mildew has been pushing hard recently with all the downpours they had this summer. But although as an organic grower he could legally use his copper-base Bordeaux mix to treat this mildew, he instead stopped spraying since july 2 to let the vines handle the issue with their own health capital, which is quite high under his biodynamic farming management. Since july 2nd, they got lots of rain (205 milimeters to be precise) and there's indeed some mildew here and there, but the vines were left alone in terms of sprayings because he tries to minimize the amount of copper going into the soils. He's quite sure that if the soil is well alive and breathing health today, it's not only because he isn't spraying weedkillers or pesticides but also because he limits as much as possible the copper sprayings. Explaining the training change This said, he adds that the type of limestone soils he has here tolerate more easily the copper sulfate which is the main ingredient of the Bordeaux mixture used in the vineyard by organic growers alike. He is theorically allowed to use 6kg paer year (per hectare) but remains well below that. This year, there was this chance to have this dry and hot spring which helped get a healthy foliage.
The vineyard we're looking at here was planted in 2002 or 2003 and he managed to change gradually the training so as to have a higher foliage and better maturity : the vines were previously trained for easy machine harvesting, and he pruned the plant to lower it as much as possible, and open the branches in using the Guyot Poussard training, where branches on the sides are encouraged but not the ones above the vineroot, in order to get a better aeration of the whole. You can see on the picture at the top for example how the branch directly above the root has been cut while the side branches have been preserved. Also, you can see that the base of the vine is low : Alexandre lowered the bases of the vines, bringing them much closer to the ground, because he considers it brings more acidity overall when the branches open at a lower height. The photo-sunthesis is also higher because the foliage starts from a lower point, and this is good for the maturity. The larger foliage surface helps also in years like this one when mildew took a dent into the leaves.
The other thing is that he keep a fluid aeration between the branches and the clusters, which is easier when they are spread over a wider height.
The vineyard has various ages, much being planted in 1977. There has been lots of losses with the Esca disease, and he now tries to replace the missing vines by grafting directly on the vineroot (the American one) which is usually still alive and sometimes grows again from under the earth after the death of the vine.
There are three people to work in the vineyard : himself, his wife who can help, and Vincent (pictured on right) who is the only permanent employee of the winery. He's a biker like me (I came here by motorbike) and we exchanged stories about speed checks on the road.... Alexandre occasionally hires additional, temporary workers for the pruning and of course for the picking. The stare of love At this point with always Alexandre's lovely dog following us and turning around between the rows, he shows me the different degree of ripeness between the grapes. The one he shows me on the left is fine, at
least almost fine, he says, there may be still some time to wait if you check the seeds quality, not just the flesh and skin. But many other grapes are greener, and for the harvest he needs to wait more, even if the ripest could bring the whole up. To understand the issue, he lets me taste two individual grapes, one reipe and one unripe (pic on right) : actually the "green" one is not thar green when I eat it, quite good and ripe I would even say. But that's way less ripe than the other one, and the seeds (which I didn't try to crunch) were obviously far to be ready for the harvest.
But to decide if the harvest time has come, he also checks the color of the leaves. There are important differences between the color appearance of a conventional [chemical] vineyard and an organic/biodynamic like here : As the plant is nott boosted by products and fertilizers, it has a natural rhythm which shows in its appearance, and when the maturity is getting close to ideal, the leaves get more pale, less dark-green, and also the leaves will be less shiny or polished in their surface aspect. Curiously (for me), the foliage appearance is for Alexandre a prime way to see when the grapes will be ready soon. Then of course he also checks and tastes the grapes and the seeds. When the right time will have come, there will be more clusters looking like the one on the left, even more yellowish than that, and it's not uncommon for him to harvest with 5 % to 10 % of noble rot. There are already a few of these shrinked, violet noble-rot grapes, now.
Speaking of the acidity, Alexandre says that he doesn't share the traditional enologist view which takes into account the acidity levels and not the minerality. The enologist doesn't quantify the minerality, he could measure the dry extract but it doesn't help. Alexandre considers that even if he looses some acidity with riper maturities, he'll get back a good minerality through the long élevages. And in the end, he'll get a couple acidity/minerality which make a good balance with the other characteristics of the wine. Right now he thinks that the harvest will begin on september 19 or later. Phénomène, the friendly draft horse The soil of the vineyard is thick with kimmeridgian limestone which took form under the Portlandian period. This makes a very light and draining soil along with the sandy nature of the earth (there's one third respectively of sand, alluvium and clay). This place here was long time ago the Loire's river bed by the way. In some places the stones are really thick while in others it's less concentrated. On the pic on the right, looking at a stone found randomly on Alexandre's vineyard, you can see the compressed layers of fossilized shells on the stone. As his vineyard has a hairy ground, you can look at a conventional vineyard's soil (cleared by weedkillers) to gauge the stones. Here (left) on a Chateau-Ladoucette plot you have an idea of the kimmeridgian stone density in the area, even if the density is much bigger in some places. The stones play an important role in what the wine tastes like, with the sand part too. Speaking of the bare ground on the left, this is more or less how his own vineyard looked like when he got them 4 years ago, and he thinks that it's obvious for him that the biodynamic farming method accelerated the rebirth and recovering of his vineyard and of his soil.
Alexandre uses a horse to work the soil. He bought this beautiful, 8year-old horse in the Maconnais (Burgundy) from a guy he was visiting to see a tool that he had designed for horse-draft plows. The guy, Bernard Michon, set up a business centered on draft-horse service and specialized tools adapted to the revival of this type of farming. You can watch here a video on these new innovative tools made by Bernard Michon, and here is another one. The modernized plowing tools are getting attention from the new generation of growers who reintroduce the draft-horse plowing in their vineyard. This of course reminds me of my visit last year to Francis Dopff who makes horse plowings for several Alsace wineries. This thing is clearly getting momentum in France, particularly in the wine farms following the biodynamic principles. He heard about this man from Philippe Jambon who told it to Sébastien Riffault, a neighbor and friend of his in Sancerre, as he knew they both were considering working with a horse. He had a horse to sell then and it was love at first sight. The walk-behind plows & tools The inter-row width is 1,3 meter, with the inter-vine distance being 1,1 meter, this is because the appellation rules ask for a density of at least 6000 vines/hectare.
Alexandre keeps a collection of plows, each being appropriate for a specific ground work. He hasn't done any plowing recently because it would not be good for the vines, but he will plow again in autumn and winter. These days, he is just mowing the grass with a motorized walk-behind grass mower. This red one is the one he uses the most. There's another one he just got a few weeks ago, it's an old walk-behind plow designed to pass very close to the vineroot, with an articulated arm that prevents the blade from damaging the vine when passing it. I've seen this system working at the tail of tractors but I didn't know it hd already existed at the draft-horse era. Alexandre explained me what these different plows are designed for, like this Canadian plow on the right which helps make a first gross plowing when there's been several months since the last ground work. The depth of the blades is adjustable and when not plowing (for example walking from the warehouse to the vineyard, the blades are set up and the plows glides on the ground like a sledge. Watch the videos below. He bought these leather draft-horse accessories from an importer and they're made in the U.S. by Amish people. He also uses for family outings (with his wife and two children) a hitch cart similar to this one, it's a modern version of a 19th-century cart, complete with tires and disk brakes. They go out in the forest, particularly in the deep woods of the Sologne.
Speaking about the horse plowing issue, he gets lots of advice and exchanges with fellow growers who also use horses, some being in the trade for many years, like legendary Olivier Cousin further West in the Loire. These growers most of the time are also in Biodynamics and into natural winemaking, and every one is eager to share his experience and help emulate. For example, Alexandre often works with Sébastien Riffault on a given plot (here or at Riffault's place), each bringing his own horse. Phénomène and Ophélie (Sébastien's horse) have a different character and pace and this helps to have them work on the same vineyard, each pulling a type of plow or tool best adapted to their style.
See also this Percheron photo blog, a French blog centered on the Percheron draft-horse breed. The man behind this blog works for Sabots, a French magazine dealing with terroir and traditional animals. The facility All of Alexandre's vineyard is Sauvignon but he got the opportunity at one point to rent a small surface of red, both Gamay and Pinot Noir, which would make the blend typical of Coteaux du Giennois. The terroir was very beautiful, on Kimmeridgian marls, and he could make wine from the plot during 2 years, the first year 3 casks (because of hailstorm losses) and the following year 5 casks. The grower wanted to sell and someone from Sancerre offered more. He made this year as table wine because it was obvious that he would get through the commission d'agrément, his wines being way too different from what the other growers do. His Sauvignon wines get difficulty to get the stamp of approval for the Pouilly Fumé appellation, as conventional winemakers make something so different with their Sauvignon (and they're the ones who give the appellation stamp). He often has to come back several times (three to be precise) in front of the commission (he has to pay for that, each time), with several months between the sessions. The thing is, the norm around is to use lab yeasts and the wines are ready after a couple of weeks, and anyway ready for shipping by december, so with the long fermentations and aging of his own wines, he comes very late to the commission, and with such a different wine that the people there have a hard time to give him the green light. Right now, half of the 2010 wines haven't finished their fermentation yet, so there's a wide gap between the two types of wines. By march, 90 % of the wines of the region have come in front of the agreement commission while in short he is just now going to begin to present his own 2010 wines.
Now, the growers around begin to notice that his vineyards doesn't behave too badly, they come to him and say that they're having lots of bad rot because of the rain and in spite of intensive sprayings while he's relatively safe in that regard and with a good ripeness compared to theirs. Alexandre thinks that the problem is that they have high yields with too much vigor and nitrogen and this makes an unbalance in the plant which turns into bad rot and endangers the vines. Alexandre Bain in the vat/cask room We walk back to the facility, which a surprising modern one (I'm more used to old, mold-covered cellars), looking very efficient and easy to clean. Alexandre's father is a mason by profession and that could be why it's so well done (forgot to ask about it). I Asked if the newness of the chai was a problem for his natural winemaking (Alexandre vinifies without the help of any additives and he lets the indigenous yeasts do their job). He answers that yes, actually, the fermentation stalled somehow the first year, possibly because there was not yet the invisible shroud of yeast and other mysterious life that is so essential for real winemaking using no miracle products. But after the first vintage and with the arrival of used casks that he purchased from other natural winemakers (Hervé Villemade), the teast ambiance built up even if it's not yet visual on the walls. Anyway, he never uses bleach or detergent to clean the facility, just water, sometimes hot water with a Kärcher machine. The chemical products would create a void which could jumpstart harmful bacteria or problems. I see here a paeallel with the raw-milk cheese farms where the use of bleach or other chemicals to clean the walls and ground is totally antagonist to the making of a healthy, stable cheese, but the French and European bright minds behind the compulsory norms seem to be know-nothing technocrats who never set a foot in a real-cheese farm.
Most of what you see inside here is about Sauvignon, except as said above for 5 casks of red. We first taste a wine from a bottle :
__ Alexandre Bain Pouilly Fumé, Pierre Précieuse 2010, bottled 2 weeks ago. 100 % Sauvignon, all vinified in vat. Comes from the Portlandian terroir with the thick stone density. Harvested around october 20th. On the nose, nice ripe grape aromas, also cane syrup notes as well as honey. Rich in the mouth with a nice length. Very pleasant and the relatively high alcohol doesn't impede the drinkability and pleasure. the minerality-acidity couple certainly helps. Costs 20 € at the winery. The grapes are picked by hand in buckets which are unloaded in larger plastic boxes, then at the winery, the big boxes are lifted-over and poured into the press whole-clustered (the stem are good for draining in the press), he doesn't want any pump or other machine, not even a conveyor belt at this stage, that would damage the grapes (he wants intact grapes in the press). Then the pressing stage will be soft and long, which yields purer juices and so ha can abstain from the settling (débourbage) stage as well as from the SO2 adding. The juice goes straight into the vats or the casks with all the lees. He doesn't stir these lees during the vinification. The wine we taste here only got SO2 three weeks before bottling, at a dose of 20 mg. This wine hasn't got any other SO2 during its vinification. He had analysis conducted on this wine recently for the export to Japan, and the data showed 36 mg, the additional 16 mg being the result of the vinification process. This is very low actually, which adds to the drinkability of the wine. The excess of SO2 in white wines is often a big problem for modern wines, it's like the winemakers don't trust the way they made their wines and feel the urge to block them by high doses of sulphur. Of course, Alexandre lets the malo fermentation proceed, as this 20 mg adding wouldn't suffice to prevent it from starting. To block the malo, he would need to add like other vignerons around here 100 to 130 or even 150 mg of SO2. The homeopatic use of sulphur makes his wines very easy to drink and very healthy. When he bottles, he lets the thickest part in the bottom of the cask (the part with the lees) and lets it settle for topping-up use. The white has no filtering at all, the long againg without stirring making it quite clear at the end. What we've been tasting here is a bottle which has been opened august 29 (8 days before), amazing, doesn't hint at this and so drinkable... Turbid Sauvignon Another bottle :
__ Alexandre Bain Pouilly Fumé 2009, the same cuvée one year ealier even it wasn't named Pierre Précieuse then. The nose is way more opulent and generous with a darker golden color. 2009 was a solar vintage and the wine is indeed more solar. Vinified 30¨% in casks, the rest in a vat. Bottle also opened august 29. The nose in very nice with notes of ripe grape, bitter almonds, dry fruits. Beautiful wine indeed. Costs also 20 € at the winery. 10 mg of sulphur added only. He got the appellation stamp for this one but he says that if he had to ask the agreement today it would be refused because the wine evolved and is now so different from the mainstream wines of conventional growers. The very low SO2 adding keeps this wine alive and that's what makes it beautiful too. On the other hand, the careful vinification and patient élevage made it very stable, something conventional wines can't get without high doses of sulphur. Again, he says that high dosages of SO2 is a real disease for modern wines, similar to what the weedkillers do to the soil's life. This particular wine was bottled nov 2010 and went through a second élevage, in bottles this time, which is also very important.
We also taste a 2010 Sauvignon which is not ready yet :
__ Alexandre Bain Mademoiselle "M" 2010. It's in a vat (pic above) and displays a nicely-turbid aspect. The taste is not as expected, there isn't as much residual sugar as I expected, and if it wasn't for the turbidity, I'm not sure I'd noticed it was not ready yet. There's indeed a light perly feel, but so discreet that you may not notice it. Alexandre says that the wild yeasts are still at work now. In a few days with the fermentations of incoming grapes, there will be an ambiance in the chai thanks to which the fermentation will intensify, he says. He feels that this wine has a great potential and we'll know more in a few months about the fate of this 52-hectoliter vat. There has not been any SO2 adding here at this stage. Sampling a Gamay/Pinot Noir blend Alexandre then heads to a group of five casks with a wine thief : this is a red he made with a small rented parcel complanted with Gamay & Pinot Noir.
__ Vin de France red 2010. He could have asked the appellation for this wine (forgot to ask which) but decided not to ask for it because growers he knows told him it wouldn't pass the agreement commission. As said, he hasn't this rented plot anymore and will have to plant some red if he wants to make some more. He'll do it for sure but there will be several years before he can make wines from the vineyard. He is a fan of Gamay and these vines were planted in 1961 (the Pinot Noir was 30 years old), which plays a good part in the quality of this blend.
__ Alexandre Bain Vin de France red 2010. Blend of Gamay & Pinot Noir, vinified together in a vat first (complanted), for a 15-day maceration of the whole-clustered grapes. This was a carbonic maceration, then he ends up with doing a Burgundy style maceration as in the last days of this maceration, he pours some juice at the top. When there's just a bit of sugar remaining, he presses and blends the 2 juices in the casks.
Very nice peppery nose, like if there was Pineau d'Aunis in the wine (there isn't any), delightful. In the mouth, very nice feel with fruit and suavity. No sulphur at all here, and there will be none at bottling. The yields are 20 ho/hectare here. Here is again an odd cuvée (a red table wine in a white-only appellation) which rocks, the type of bottle which could be looked down by the uninformed wine amateur while it's so pleasant to drink. Costs 15 € here at the winery. Alexandre's 2009 red of 2009 was split between Caves Augé in Paris and Japan, so you won't find it out of these two locations (plus the winery itself). This red which is still in the casks will be bottled somewhere next year, he is not in hurry, especially as these are the last reds until several years when his would-be-planted vineyards are old enough for fit grapes.
Alexandre recounts me how both Marc Sibard (Caves Augé) and the Japanese importer Mr Ito who tasted separately this red from the previous year (2009) wanted both (unknowingly to each other) buy the whole stock of 3 casks. Alexandre had to battle against their frenzy and finally split the cuvée between them...
We taste the same red blend from another cask, it's more inky in its mouthfeel, more Pinot Noir. Each cask goes its own way and style but in the end they will be blended and bring more complexity to the final wine. Walk plows for the vineyard
Alexandre Bain sells in wine in both France and abroad (60 % to 70 % for export). In France, his wines can be found in places like Le Baratin (wine bar/restaurant), Café de la Nouvelle Mairie (wine bar), La Contre Etiquette (wine shop), Judith & Clément, Caves Augé (wine shop), Le Vin en Tête (wine shop), L'Arpège, le Chateaubriand, in general to bistrots/restaurants looking for healthy and tasty food and wines as well.
Outside France, he sells (in volume order) first to Denmark (a very good export market, he says - Rosforth & Rosforth), to Japan (Mr Yoshio Ito, Oeno-Connexion, Noisy's), the UK (Caves de Pyrene), Italy (Stefano Sarfati), Switzerland (Vinivore), Belgium (Wouter De Bakker), Canada (Diane Turcotte - Vini-Vins), the United States (Louis Dressner Selections), Portugal, Australia (just beginning), Brazil (just beginning too).
Alexandre Bain and his wife have 2 children.
Muscular 8-year old Percheron (Phénomène)
Alexandre Bain Bois Fleury 18 Rue des Levée 58150 Tracy-sur-Loire phone +33 3 86 26 66 53 alexandre.bain [at] orange [dot] fr www.domaine-alexandre-bain.com
Tracy-sur-Loire : the Chateau
I did a very bad thing (then again, maybe not). I sent a link for this blog to the guy I buy my wine from.
I love when you include information on who imports some of these wines into the US. Please keep it up.
Posted by: Hunter Goss | September 09, 2011 at 12:02 AM
Great posts. Your exploration of the Loire is inspiring, causing me to pause and think more about the regions wines and their place at the table. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Mark Thomasseau | September 09, 2011 at 04:20 AM
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3078
|
__label__wiki
| 0.93434
| 0.93434
|
Everton FC plan Lewis Holtby move
By Sarad Bade Shrestha | August 19, 2014
Everton’s campaign has recently been rocked by the news that star man Ross Barkley suffered a serious knee injury and could be set for a long lay off.
Many had predicted that if Everton are to stand a chance of breaking into the top four this season, the prodigious talents of Barkley would have to guide the Toffees throughout the campaign but with the young man set to miss a chunk of the season due to injury, a lot of people have already written off the Merseyside club’s chances of making it into Europe.
That being said, Everton certainly cannot afford to feel sorry for themselves and manager Roberto Martinez has been recently scouring the transfer market to find a replacement to negate the loss of Barkley.
The injury of Ross Barkley is a huge blow in Everton’s chances of finishing in the top four this season
French midfielder Morgan Amalfitano has been named as a potential arrival to Goodison Park and it can now be revealed that Martinez has also set his sights on signing Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Lewis Holtby.
The German star has not enjoyed the best of times at Tottenham since his move to White Hart Lane from Schalke a couple of years ago and is rumored to be unhappy at the London club.
While the arrival of new manager Mauricio Pochettino has given hope to Holtby that he may get a fair run of games in the first team this season, the potential signing of Memphis Depay looks set to push the German international further down the pecking order at the club.
Lewis Holtby being lined up as a replacement for Barkley
As a result, Spurs are open to the idea of parting with Holtby if they receive the right offer and Everton are said to be preparing to table a bid for the midfielder in the coming days.
Holtby is life-long Everton fan and would certainly not hesitate to join the Toffees if given the opportunity.
However, the Toffees could face competition in the race to secure the services of the 23-year old as the likes of Queens Park Rangers and Crystal Palace have also expressed an interest in signing the young man.
Tegs# Everton FC, Lewis Holtby
Sarad Bade Shrestha
Hailing from the beautiful Himalayan nation of Nepal, I am an avid football follower with an enormous passion for the world game. I believe that nothing in the world can match the emotional roller coaster which fans experience while supporting their beloved teams. Founder & Owner of TheEaglesFC.com.
Billionaire interested in Newcastle
EXCLUSIVE An American billionaire is interested in buying Newcastle. Winner Sports can exclusively reveal wrestling promoter Vince McMahon has expressed an initial interest in buying…
Liverpool FC agree fee in excess of £74m to sign Naby Keita
Liverpool FC have agreed in principle a fee worth more than £74m to sign RB Leipzig midfielder Naby Keita, Winner Sports understands. According to sources familiar with the matter…
Arsenal FC youngster Joel Campbell joining Greek Champions
Arsenal youngster Joel Campbell is set to join Greek Champions Olympiakos on a season-long loan. Since joining the Gunners from Deportivo Saprissa in 2011, the…
TOP FREE BETS
50% Bonus Up to £50
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Aliquet faucibus sagittis nisl massa. Senectus viverra feugiat magna risus tellus sit libero quisque. In facilisi nibh sit ut ultricies nunc morbi vulputate. At eget id eget a non magna. In massa elementum sapien gravida.
£30 in Free Bets
£30 Welcome Offer
Free £10 Acca Bet
£10 Risk Free Bet
£20 Free Bet
Address: Office 22 Fleet Street, London EC4Y 1AA, United Kingdom
Winner Sports was launched in 2012 – Boasting a dedicated team of sports journalists and writers from across Europe, that report on sports topics and events. Our aim is to provide the latest breaking sports news from around the world.
The promotions, bonuses and free bets listed on this website are all subject to their individual terms and conditions of their respective operators. Winner Sports is operated independently from any bookmaker. All betting operators on this website are licensed by the UK Gambling Commission
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3079
|
__label__wiki
| 0.852775
| 0.852775
|
Leonetta Luciano Fendi: It Girl, It Trend
by Vanessa Lawrence
Fendi jacket, $16,500, sweater, $1,150, and skirt, price upon request, Fendi, New York, 212.759.4646; Delfina Delettrez gold, diamond, and pearl earring, $1,238, and ring, $354, openingceremony.us; Jimmy Choo pumps, $595, jimmychoo.com.
Leonetta Luciano Fendi is not your typical fashion heiress. She becomes impassioned when she talks microfinance and women’s rights. And she spent last summer traveling around Kenya as part of a United Nations aid team. “Obviously, I was exposed to fashion, but my family is really down-to-earth,” insists the 17-year-old daughter of the Fendi accessories designer, Silvia Venturini Fendi. “When my friends say, ‘Oh, you must get all the bags and shoes you want,’ I tell them, ‘No, actually I do not.’ ” But there are some perks. Karl Lagerfeld sketched her portrait when she was born. As a young girl growing up in Rome, she got her mother to design a petite pink bag just for her. And at the first industry party she attended, when she was 13, she hung out with Kate Moss and stood stageside as the Gossip performed. “Fashion is really fun, but once I saw this other side of the world, I wanted to help,” says Fendi, who doesn’t think style and activism are mutually exclusive. “The best thing would be to mix both.”
Photos: Leonetta Luciano Fendi: It Girl, It Trend
Altuzarra jacket, $6,395, Trois Pommes, Zurich, Switzerland, 011.41.43.497.31.10.
Aesop Resurrection Aromatique Hand Balm, $27, netaporter.com.
Gucci bag, $3,100, gucci.com.
Tod’s cuff, $1,215, Tod’s, New York, 212.644.5945.
Proenza Schouler sweatshirt, $2,490, Proenza Schouler, New York,
Pierre Hardy booties, $1,045, Pierre Hardy, New York, 646.449.0070.
Lacoste skirt, $230, 800.4.LACOSTE.
Fendi Fan di Fendi Eau de Parfum, $98, saks.com.
Jemma Wynne pearl and diamond earrings, $2,940, marissacollections.com.
Miu Miu vest, $1,295, miumiu.com.
Hair by Ranelle Chapman at davidartists.co.uk; Makeup by Tania Guatama. Fashion assistant: Riana Pervez.
fendi It Girl Leonetta Luciano Fendi
Click to see what’s inside every issue and get a free gift.
Sign up for the latest from W editors.
Visit other Future Media Group
wmagazine.com
surfacemag.com
watchjournal.com
Future Media Group
© 2020 Future Media Group. All rights reserved Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 5/25/18). W Magazine may earn a portion of sales from products that are purchased through our site as part of our Affiliate Partnerships with retailers.Your California Privacy Rights The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Future Media Group.
Our Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement has been revised as of January 1, 2020. This policy outlines how we use your information, and how we use cookies on our site to personalize content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyze our traffic. By using our site and/or our products after this date, you are agreeing to the policy.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3080
|
__label__wiki
| 0.944962
| 0.944962
|
Trump's border tax plan would have side effects, expert says
President says he will tax products from companies that move overseas
Josh McElveen
Political Director, News Anchor, Reporter
WEBVTT MAY SEE GREENERPASTURES OUTSIDE THE UNITEDSTATES.FIRST BUSINESS DAY ON THE JOBAND PRESIDENT TRUMP WAS TALKINGBUSINESS WITH SEVERAL C.E.O.S OFMAJOR COMPANIES, AND HE THREWDOWN THE GAUNTLET ON THOSE WHOMAY BE CONSIDERING A MOVE OREXPANSION OVERSEAS.>> IF THAT HAPPENS WE ARE GOINGTO BE OPPOSING A VERY MAJORBORDER TAX ON THE PRODUCT WHENIT COMES IN, WHICH I THINK ISFAIR.REPORTER: DESIGNED TO KEEP JOBSIN THE U.S., A BORDER TAXPENALTY WOULD HAVE SIDE EFFECTS,ACCORDING TO THIS PROFESSOR OFCHECKS WHO SAYS THE SIMPLEECONOMICS SHOW THAT THE MORE ITCOSTS TO MAKE SOMETHING THE MOREYOU PAY TO GET IT.>> THE COMPANIESES ARE MOVINGABROAD BECAUSE IT'S LESSEXPENSIVE FOR THEM TO OPERATETHERE.AMERICAN WORKERS MAKE MORE MONEYBECAUSE AMERICAN WORKERS AREMORE PRODUCTIVE.REPORTER: AND SHE SAYS SOMECOMPANIES TRYING TO LUREAMERICAN BUSINESSES COULD FIGHTFIRE WITH FIRE.>> THEY COULD LOWER THEIR TAXES,THEY COULD PUT TARIFFS ON OURGOODS COMING IN.THERE IS A RISK OF RETALIATION.REPORTER: PRESIDENT TRUMP ALSOSIGNED AN EXECUTIVE ORDERWITHDRAWING THE U.S. FROM THETRANSPACIFIC PARTNERSHIP AND ITAPPEARS THAT THE NORTH AMERICANFREE TRADE AGREEMENT, OR NAFTA,IS NEXT ON HIS LIST, WHICH MAKESTHE FUTURE OF INTERNATIONALTRADE A CLOUDY ONE.>> THINGS ARE HAPPENING INEUROPE TOO, THERE'S A LOT OFUNCERTAINTY BECAUSE OF BRITAINAND BREXIT.REPORTER: THIS AFTERNOON THEWHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY SAIDTHE PRESIDENT WILL FAVORBILATERAL TRADE AGREEMENTS WITHINDIVIDUAL COUNTRIES OVER THOSEMULTINATION AGREEMENTS.THE FIRST COULD BE GREAT
President Donald Trump is pledging to place border taxes on products made by companies who move or expand overseas, but such a move could have side effects. Trump met with the leaders of several companies Monday and warned them of his plans for companies looking to move out of the country. "If that happens, we are going to be imposing a very major border tax on the product when it comes in, which I think is fair," he said. Amy Schmidt, professor of economics at St. Anselm College, said that simple economics show that the more it costs to make something, the more you pay to get it. "Companies are moving abroad because it's less expensive to operate there," she said. "American workers make more money because American workers are more productive." Schmidt said some countries trying to lure American businesses could fight fire with fire. "They could lower their taxes," she said. "They could put tariffs on. There is a risk of retaliation." Trump also signed an executive order Monday withdrawing the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership, and it appears that the North American Free Trade Agreement is next on Trump's list. Schmidt said those moves make the future of international trade cloudy. "Things are happening in Europe, too," she said. "There's a lot of uncertainty because of Britain and Brexit." White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that the president will favor bilateral trade agreements with individual countries over multinational agreements.
MANCHESTER, N.H. —
President Donald Trump is pledging to place border taxes on products made by companies who move or expand overseas, but such a move could have side effects.
Trump met with the leaders of several companies Monday and warned them of his plans for companies looking to move out of the country.
"If that happens, we are going to be imposing a very major border tax on the product when it comes in, which I think is fair," he said.
Amy Schmidt, professor of economics at St. Anselm College, said that simple economics show that the more it costs to make something, the more you pay to get it.
"Companies are moving abroad because it's less expensive to operate there," she said. "American workers make more money because American workers are more productive."
Schmidt said some countries trying to lure American businesses could fight fire with fire.
"They could lower their taxes," she said. "They could put tariffs on. There is a risk of retaliation."
Trump also signed an executive order Monday withdrawing the United States from the Trans Pacific Partnership, and it appears that the North American Free Trade Agreement is next on Trump's list. Schmidt said those moves make the future of international trade cloudy.
"Things are happening in Europe, too," she said. "There's a lot of uncertainty because of Britain and Brexit."
White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Monday that the president will favor bilateral trade agreements with individual countries over multinational agreements.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3081
|
__label__wiki
| 0.638104
| 0.638104
|
Abbotsford Senior Secondary School | Photo: Aaron Millar/ CHP Architects
The City of Abbotsford is located in the Fraser Valley east of Vancouver, British Columbia. In the 60 years that elapsed between the establishment of the original Abbotsford Secondary School in 1952 and the completion of this rehabilitation and replacement project in 2012, Abbotsford grew from a village of fewer than 1,000 inhabitants to a city of more than 125,000. Originally located in the village, Abbotsford Senior Secondary is now at the heart of the city. As such, the Abbotsford School Board saw the renewal of the school as an opportunity to enhance its role as an educational and cultural hub for the greater community.
Wood Use
In keeping with current practice in school design throughout British Columbia, significant amounts of wood are featured in both structural and non-structural applications. The use of wood draws its inspiration from the detailing of the 3.6-metre deep roof trusses previously hidden above the suspended ceiling of the gymnasium and exposed during the renovation work. Glue-laminated timber beams and purlins, timber decking for the roof, exterior heavy timber loggia, accent beams, and wood panels and grids are used throughout.
Aaron Millar/ CHP Architects
The rotunda is such a great space for kids to learn in.
Lance McDonald, Principal Abbotsford Senior Secondary School
naturally:wood Project Profile
naturally:wood Project Gallery
Naturally Wood E-book Download
Wood in Schools Resources
Size: 10,700 sq. m.
Project Owner: School District No. 34 Abbotsford
Architect: Craven Huston Powers Architects
Structural Engineer: Bush, Bohlman & Partners
Construction Manager: Unitech Construction Management
Materials: Glue-laminated timber (glulam), Solid-Sawn Heavy Timber, Lumber, Plywood, Paneling
Wood is Good for Wellbeing and Health
Wellness Benefits with Wood
Surrey Memorial Hospital Emergency Department And Critical Care Tower
Timber Trailblazer
On the Move with B.C. Wood
Naturally Wood Continuing Education Units Now Available
Prince George Airport Expansion
Wood is a Strong Performer in Pools and Ice Arenas
Strong Roots
Trout Lake Ice Rink
An increasing number of health-care facilities are incorporating wood to provide patients and visitors with a warm, natural aesthetic, and a calm, stress-reducing connection to nature.
Research begins to show the biophilic benefits of wood, which suggests that humans possess an innate tendency to seek connections with nature. Study results show students who spent time in rooms featuring natural wood exhibited lower stress reactivity. During all three periods of the study, stress, as measured by sympathetic nervous system activation, was measurably lower on average in the rooms featuring wood than in the non-wood office.
The bold, striking use of wood throughout the space — uncommon in such health-care settings— softens the hospital’s institutional feel and creates a calm, stress-reducing connection to nature, while standing up to weather, wear and tear, and rigorous maintenance. As the research on biophilic benefits of wood continues to grow, one of B.C.’s busiest hospitals leads the way in offering patients a comforting, supportive, and healing environment.
For architect and timber advocate Peter Busby, wood is one of nature’s greatest innovations
B.C. forest products are a predominant structural and finishing material for a wide range of transit infrastructure throughout the province, including airports, bus exchanges and SkyTrain stations. Learn more about the use of wood in transportation projects.
Learn about the latest wood design and construction trends within these four building applications while earning Architectural Institute of British Columbia (AIBC) recognized continuing learning units towards professional development.
With its wide-ranging use of different wood species, the Prince George Airport demonstrates how a high-traffic building can benefit from the resilience, versatility, durability, and thermal characteristics of wood. These were important considerations for this northern city, situated at the confluence of the Fraser and Nechako Rivers, which is prone to cold, harsh winters.
An effective insulator with a warm aesthetic, wood is particularly well suited to the demanding atmospheres of swimming pools — as well as ice rinks in arenas. Wood tolerates high levels of humidity, offers acoustic and thermal benefits, and absorbs and releases water vapour without compromising its structural integrity. Indoor pool design has evolved to include ample use of natural light and bold, innovative uses of B.C. wood from sustainably managed forests.
Interview with Darryl Condon, Managing Principal of HCMA Architecture + Design, who has embraced and often pioneered the use of wood and mass timber in community, civic, and recreational aquatic facilities throughout British Columbia and Canada. He shares why wood is often an integral material in the buildings they design, and how they’ve pushed the boundaries of what is possible with wood.
Located in John Hendry Park in east Vancouver, this ice rink was the first phase in the replacement of an aging community centre facility. The rink served as a practice facility for competitors who participated in the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games and opened for public use after the Games.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3083
|
__label__cc
| 0.530992
| 0.469008
|
Feel Like You're Coming Down With Something? It Could Just Be Your Period (Seriously)
Emily Shiffer
PopSugar December 30, 2019
an sick asian chinese female lying on sofa in living room covered with blanket and wiping nose with tissue paper
Between the fatigue, bloating, and cramps, that time of the month is already unpleasant. But if you frequently feel sick in the days leading up to your period - we're talking chills, body aches, a stuffy nose, even nausea and diarrhea - you're not alone, and there's science to explain why. It all comes down to hormones called prostaglandins, which peak just before your period and trigger the cramping that helps your uterus expel its lining.
The problem is, prostaglandins also cause inflammation, and "there are some studies that suggest they modulate a histamine release from cells," Leena Nathan, MD, an ob-gyn with UCLA Health, told POPSUGAR. If histamine sounds familiar, it's because it's the same chemical that causes seasonal allergy symptoms. It's possible then for your impending period to mimic a cold or other illness. "This is not due to a viral or bacterial illness, but rather due to the body's response to prostaglandins," Dr. Nathan explained.
How can you fight back against them? Dr. Nathan suggests taking a nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drug (NSAID), such as ibuprofen or naproxen, which has been shown to reduce the production of prostaglandins. Some menstrual pain relievers (like Midol) also contain an antihistamine. Apart from that, you should focus on keeping yourself healthy, which should help negate some of your symptoms. "This is done by sleeping enough hours at night, eating healthy foods, getting exercise, and decreasing stress," she said.
Hillary Clinton Shares a Powerful Quote by Meghan Markle on Instagram
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3093
|
__label__wiki
| 0.888611
| 0.888611
|
AIADMK leader and former Minister Parithi Ilamvazhuthi passes away
When DMK was routed in the 1991 Assembly elections, Parithi Ilamvazhuthi was the only MLA to represent the party.
Parithi Ilamvazhuthi, who single handedly took on the ruling AIADMK in the Tamil Nadu Assembly between 1991 and 1996, before joining the ruling party, died in Chennai on Saturday. He was 60.
The DMK was routed in the 1991 elections, held in the wake of Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination, and he was the only MLA to represent the party as Karunanidhi resigned his MLA post.
His performance greatly pleased the DMK leadership and he was made the Deputy Speaker of the Assembly after the DMK came to power in 1996. He became the Minister of Information in the DMK government between 2006 and 2011.
He was also arrested on charges of privilege of the Assembly in 2003.
In the DMK he identified with Maran Brothers and had difference of opinion with the DMK president M.K. Stalin. He joined the AIADMK in 2013.
Parithi Ilamvazhuthi first elected from the Perambur Constituency when he was 25, by defeating Sathyavani Muthu, who as a minister in the government’s led by C.N. Annadurai, M. Karunanidhi and later in MGR’s cabinet. Subsequently he was elected from Egmore constituency for five times.
Mock poll data not cleared in 44 booths, EC decides to count only VVPAT slips
Short spell of rain brings relief to heat-stricken Vellore
CMRL suspends three workers for sabotage
Gomathi receives a rousing welcome back home
Pollachi sexual abuse case: Rape charge added
No opposition leader except Stalin backs Rahul for PM: Palaniswami
CM Edappadi Palaniswami defends Deputy Speaker in Pollachi case
‘DMK has lost touch with the people’
Pollachi case: HC asks CBI to respond to plea
Corrupt public servants must be declared anti-nationals: High Court
First 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 Next Last
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3094
|
__label__wiki
| 0.957325
| 0.957325
|
JerusalemEn GediMizpe RamonBeer ShevaAshdodElatTel Aviv - YafoLodQazrinNazarethBet SheanAfulaTiberiasHaifa
Iran's Rohani tweets Rosh Hashana blessing
Moderate-leaning president posts Shana Tova to 'all Jews, especially Iranian Jews' on Tweeter, together with photo of man praying. 'He believes in equal rights,' says expert
Ynet|Published: 09.05.13 , 08:19
A simple Rosh Hashana blessing was issued via Twitter Wednesday by a surprising figure: Iran’s newly-elected President Hassan Rohani.
“As the sun is about to set here in Tehran, I wish all Jews, especially Iranian Jews, a blessed Rosh Hashana,” Rohani tweeted. The message was posted with a picture of a man in a yarmulke bowing his head in prayer, MSNBC reported.
IAEA, Iran to hold first nuclear talks since Rohani election
Obama in Rosh Hashana greeting: I was proud to visit Israel
How to make a shofar for High Holidays
It’s a far cry from former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, whose term preceded Rohani’s — and who once inflamed the Jewish community and world by calling the Holocaust a lie.
Rohani's tweet
The Iranian government has denied that the blessing came from the Iranian president, claiming that Rohani does not have a Twitter account and that the messages was posted by his political supporters.
Mohammad Javad Zarif, the Iranian Foreign Minister, also tweeted in light of the Jewish New Year on Thursday: "Happy Rosh Hashanah," The Independent reported.
According to The Independent, Christine Pelosi, daughter of Nancy Pelosi, the minority leader in the US House of Representatives, responded to Zarif’s greeting with a reminder of Iran's alleged Holocaust denial, but Zarif replied: "Iran never denied (the Holocaust). The man who was perceived to be denying it is now gone,” referring to Ahmadinejad’s notorious Holocaust denial.
Zarif's tweet
According to a report, Iran’s Jewish population, estimated in a 2011 census to number fewer than 9,000 people, comprises only a tiny fraction of Iran’s population – though the State Department and religious leaders estimate that number could be upwards of 20,000. The Muslim majority account for an overwhelming 99.4%.
With Islam as the foundation of Iranian law, Persian Jews and other religious minorities, including nearly all non-Shiia religious groups, have faced years of discrimination. While Jews, Christians, and Zoroastrians are granted freedom of religion “within the limits” of the Constitution, many have faced harassment and imprisonment at the government’s hands, MSNBC reported. Additionally, under Iranian law, religious minorities cannot be elected to senior government or military posts with the exception of five reserved seats in the 290-member legislative body.
“President Rohani has made clear from the beginning of his campaign that he believes in equal rights for all minorities, and that would of course include the Jewish minority,” Iranian-American author and NBC News contributor Hooman Majd told MSNBC.com. “I think it’s in keeping with his character, his personality, and the way he wants his administration to be seen by the Iranians who voted him in.”
Deputy National Security Adviser Tony Blinken told NBC Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent Andrea Mitchell Wednesday, “The message is welcome. The tone is welcome. But what counts are deeds more than words.”
Receive Ynetnews updates directly to your desktop
See all talkbacks "Iran's Rohani tweets Rosh Hashana blessing"
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3096
|
__label__wiki
| 0.561681
| 0.561681
|
Spiritual Garments Christianity
"If we were gonna do a tuxedo, it couldn’t just be a tuxedo," designer Christian Siriano says of his showstopping garment. Broadway performer and gender-fluid artist Billy Porter nearly shut down the.
MICHAEL TSARION. THE IRISH ORIGINS OF CIVILIZATION. In Scandinavian mythology the god-man Odin hung himself upside-down upon Yggdrasil (the "World Ash Tree") to attain enlightenment.
Spiritual Growth. Take the next step in your faith journey with devotionals, resources and core truths.
history of monogamy monogamy is as old as adam monogamy and should-be monogamy some historical background the roman empire and the roman church
has directed all female Christian students in both primary and secondary schools in the state to wear their church garments to their different schools, beginning from Monday. There was however.
“Most churches in America have organized as ‘501c3 tax-exempt religious organizations.’ This is a fairly recent trend that has only been going on for about fifty years.
I will greatly rejoice in the Lord; my soul shall exult in my God, for he has clothed me with the garments of salvation; he has covered me with the robe of righteousness, as a bridegroom decks.
The idea of the service, which has over 9 million members and partners with more than 600 brands, is to let women rent high-fashion garments instead of buying. renttherunway.com) Christian Siriano.
"The Symbolism and Spiritual Significance of the Number Five". by Dee Finney
Together with his brother, Louis IX divested himself of his kingly garments and wearing a simple tunic accompanied. Thanks to officials who still had Christian feelings left, they were kept.
The decision to allow gardai to wear religious garments, as long as they are not Christian, might also cause some disquiet. While it is understandable that the force is trying to attract recruits from.
Main Religions In Brazil This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources.Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. This is a list of religious populations by number of adherents and countries. Why Religion Is Needed The Gospel Keynotes Songs Willie Neal Johnson & The Gospel Keynotes, a group that
brown-haired Jesus wearing a garment printed with the American flag. According to one post presented by Senator Mark Warner—depicting a standoff between a glowing figure of Jesus Christ and Hillary.
Primate Babatunde Ayodele, General Overseer of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos, bares his mind on the proposed National Conference, Nigeria’s fate in the hands of Goodluck Ebele Jonathan in.
Our Father Who Art In Heaven Prayer Pdf Many of us long for deep friendship. Perhaps you haven’t admitted it, even to yourself, but the desire for someone other than your spouse to share the joys and sorrows of life looms front and center. [Why a long version? Over the years we have come to learn a great deal about prayer and spiritual
Christian secondary school students in Osun State on Tuesday wore church garments to their schools, in a dramatic but defiant protest against the use of Hijab by female Muslim students. Students.
Her garments borrowed from men’s clothing and blurred gender. democratised fashion kept Dame Mary from her true due when compared to the likes of Christian Dior. But the exhibition of the British.
Preparation for the Hajj. Each pilgrim first enters into ihram.This is a spiritual state of purity during which the person must not quarrel, commit any act of violence or engage in sexual activity.
Editor’s note: The following essay by Dennis Prager first appeared in the September 1993 print edition of Crisis Magazine. When Judaism demanded that all sexual activity be channeled into marriage, it changed the world. The Torah’s prohibition of non-marital sex quite simply made the creation of Western civilization possible.
The books of the Old Testament contain many passages about the Messiah — all prophecies Jesus Christ fulfilled. For instance, the crucifixion of Jesus was foretold in Psalm 22:16-18 approximately 1,000 years before Christ was born, long before this method of execution was even practiced.
christmas How St. Nick Became Santa Claus By Craig von Buseck CBN.com Contributing Writer. CBN.com – An ancient merchant had three lovely daughters. But due to a tragic turn of events, he had lost all hope that his daughters would be able to marry and live a happy life.
Christian Dior with model Sylvie, circa 1948. Drawn from the extensive Dior Archives, the exhibition presents over 500 objects, with over 200 rare Haute Couture garments shown alongside accessories,
The quotations below are representative of all known pre-313 A.D. writers on each particular topic. The purpose here is to present unedited, genuine Christianity as understood and practiced by.
CNA/EWTN News TOKYO — A Christian scroll found in a Japanese museum is believed. The pictures include religious figures wearing traditional Japanese garments, and Latin prayers are spelled out in.
The 61 year-old, from Twickenham, is a Coptic Christian who argued that BA allowed members of other faiths to wear religious garments and symbols. BA later changed its uniform policy but Mrs Eweida.
Christian pupils will equally not stop wearing church garments and other apparels. This declaration was made known by the Vice Chairman, VC, of CAN in the state, Pastor Moses Ogundeji. This is coming.
Did having Baltimore in common influence your decision to align with Under Armour? "Yes. Just about a dozen shoes are sprinkled underneath the garments throughout the stores.christian louboutin.
Nujabes Spiritual State Nujabes – Hikari Lyrics. [Intro: Substantial] Substantial and Nujabes Still doing this Yeah Sorry love Sorry love Sorry love But it seems like it isn’t in t. Lyrics. Popular Song Lyrics. Billboard Hot 100. Upcoming Lyrics. Spiritual State Nujabes Lyrics provided by SongLyrics.com. The Gospel Keynotes Songs Willie Neal Johnson & The Gospel Keynotes, a
Christian Dior: Designer Of Dreams. ballerina Margot Fonteyn and Oscar winner Jennifer Lawrence. Also on display are garments from the post-war Savoy show that made Dior’s name in England, as well.
In addition, it will highlight Dior’s vision of femininity and his sources of inspiration, encompassing garments, accessories and fragrances. “Christian Dior: Designer of Dreams celebrates one of the.
Gregory Brown. Greg Brown earned his MA in religion and MA in teaching from Trinity International University, a MRE from Liberty University, and a PhD in theology from Louisiana Baptist University.
Christian students on Tuesday, June 14, 2016, also defiantly came to school with various church garments. Justice Jide Falola of the Osun state High Court on June 3, 2016, ruled that Muslim students.
and that has to do with the fact that he designed the garments from the point of view of the comfort of the women wearing them,” said Debo.,christian louboutin sale sydney In lieu of presenting a mood.
Our Lady Of Mount Carmel Church Windsor This is a sample of the approved Traditional Latin Masses being offered in the US and Canada as of March 11, 2019 You may order our current directory of approved Traditional Latin Masses in the the United States and Canada by visiting our Educational Material – Group 2 page and locating item A A Casino
The Puhl translation of The Spiritual Exercises has been used by Jesuits, spiritual directors, retreat leaders, and others since it was first published in 1951. Puhl translated directly from studies based on the autograph, which are the Exercises in Ignatius’s own handwriting.
THE AWAKENED SOUL: THE LOST ART AND SCIENCE OF ASCENSION AND THE ULTIMATE YOGA EXPERIENCE. Have you ever given thought to the significance of sacred art to your spiritual.
True Religion Jogging Suit Sale True Religion Clothing available at Brother2Brother. Online Mens True Religion Jeans and T-Shirts Buy Mens True Religion Tracksuit Online UK. True Religion Red Ruby Moto Sweat Suit (Pull Over Hoodie And Sweat Short )Size S. C $120.76. Free shipping. True Religion Logo Zip Up Hoodie Sweat Jacket-Destroyed- Grey-Size XL -NWT $159. Back to School Skateboard
Welcome to the Quranic Arabic Corpus, an annotated linguistic resource for the Holy Quran.This page shows seven parallel translations in English for the 31st verse of chapter 24 (sūrat l-nūr).Click on the Arabic text to below to see word by word details of the verse’s morphology.
Jun 01, 2005 · The Hatred Felt by the Heathen Against the Christians is Unjust, Because Based on Culpable Ignorance. The Heathen Perverted Judgment in the Trial of Christians.
The Seven Letters to the Seven “Churches” Revelation 2 and 3. Lorraine Day, M.D.
We’re at the height of awards season when I drop into designer Christian Siriano’s studio in New York’s Garment District. Siriano’s name is one that’s become synonymous with the glamour of the red.
Why Religion Is Needed The Gospel Keynotes Songs Willie Neal Johnson & The Gospel Keynotes, a group that pioneered the sound of gospel quartet singing; and the Sallie Martin Singers, whose founder, Sallie Martin, helped organize the National. {p. 1} THE MYSTICS OF ISLAM. INTRODUCTION. THE title of this book sufficiently explains why it is included in a Series
I Can T Complain Lyrics Gospel Song
Our Father Who Art In Heaven Prayer Pdf
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3099
|
__label__wiki
| 0.63372
| 0.63372
|
SMART EXPATS LOOK HERE
CHANNEL SHORTCUTS / SPONSORS
business community & culture current affairs entertainment finance food & drink getting around health & wellness property shopping specials sport tech travel video
New in business
Tata Opens Digital Competency Office In Budapest
New in community & culture
Asterion Project English Theatre In Budapest: ‘Be In Time (Constellations)’, 29 February
New in current affairs
Video News: 'Hungary Reports', 29 January
New in entertainment
'Shine', Fashion & Galmour Exhibition, Kiscelli Museum Budapest, Now On Until 15 March
New in finance
Hungarian Rate-Setters Keep Base Rate On Hold At 0.90%
New in food & drink
10 Top Street Food Joints In Budapest
New in getting around
Top 5 Beautiful & Unusual Cinemas In Budapest
New in health & wellness
No Reports Of Hungarians Affected By Coronavirus
New in property
EUR 1.72 Billion Invested In Hungary’s Real Estate Market Last Year
New in shopping
E-Cigarette Liquid Prices To Fall In Hungary
New in specials
Cancelled: Lunar New Year Festival @ Budapest’s Chinatown, 1 – 2 February
New in sport
AmCham Super Bowl Party At TGI Friday’s In Budapest, 2 February
New in tech
Internet Usage In Hungary Below EU Average
New in travel
Coronavirus: Budapest Airport Prepared For Extraordinary Authority Measures
New in video
Video: Shots Fired As Refugees Storm Hungary’s Border Crossing
Budapest Police: Fraudsters Preyed On Elderly
'Kusetté Rockabilly Night' @ Lock The Club, 31 January
Parkway Drive @ Budapest Arena, 6 April
Complete Works Of William Shakespeare - Abridged, National Theatre, 14 & 15 February
Beethoven Project In Budapest: Danubia Orchestra Plays For Hearing-Impaired From February To May
Budapest Chinese Festival Cancelled Due To Virus
Holocaust Remembrance Day Marked In Budapest
Hungary To Expand Bikeway Network Nearly 15,000 Km By 2030
CHANNEL SPONSORS
Channel: Current Affairs
Hungarian Secret Agent Reveals Seriousness Of Russian Threat
By Szabolcs Panyi: Secret agents, counter-intelligence officers do not give interviews to the media very often and it is even more unique when they do so under their real name and with their own face. Ferenc Katrein worked for the Hungarian civilian counter-intelligence agency for 13 years, including a stint as an executive head of operations, and dealt with sensitive cases such as the Roma murders of 2008-2009 or defence against Russian secret services.
However, in 2013 he felt he can no longer identify with the leadership and resigned, he has lived abroad ever since. In his exclusive interview with Index.hu he talks in detail about the efforts of Russian secret services and how it feels like when allied NATO agencies ask someone if his boss really worked for Moscow.
Index: What can we know about your career?
Ferenc Katrein: I worked for the Hungarian National Security Office (NBH) and then for the Constitution Protection Office (AH) between 2000 and 2013. My main areas of expertise were extremism, mainly the far-right and international terrorism, and counter-espionage. The highest-ranking position I reached was executive head of operations, I later became chief adviser to the director general. I currently live abroad as a civilian.
Did you tell your family about your job?
My close relatives knew where I worked. But they had no idea what exactly my job was, and they didn't know why and where I had to travel from time to time. This interview will surprise them too.
Why did you leave the service?
I felt that the professional values and principles I follow and grew up with were not completely realized in the last period of my service. Therefore, I thought I would not be able to identify with things that do not suit my professional approach.
Do you have knowledge of individuals specialised in countering Russian secret service activities being sidelined within the service?
Rotating experts working in these fields is especially harmful. Sadly, several internationally recognised experts were redirected to other areas referring to constant reorganisations and so-called optimisation.
Did you feel that the political attitude towards Russia changed and that the services were obstructed on the political level?
Yes. We were not allowed to perform active operations that were necessitated by professional considerations and international cooperation was less intense than in previous years. But I must emphasise that I was an insider until 2013, there is a new leadership now who I cannot talk about. The current director general cannot possibly have ties to Russia due to his age.
On a scale of one to ten, how serious do you think the Russian threat currently is in Europe?
Nine or ten, the highest level. I followed the events in Cologne closely, where it could be seen how beautifully the whole thing was built up.
A secret service offensive is being waged against the European Union and influence operations in which the Russians have serious professional experience and traditions are part of this. Russia plays a part in aggravating the migration crisis and especially in using it for propaganda and gaining influence. When it comes to the events in Cologne or other sexual offences they are active in emphasising that the German or Western authorities and the media are attempting to cover up these crimes.
The majority of the offenders in Cologne were migrants who had arrived earlier and they were in contact with criminal groups.
This is true and this was communicated in an interesting way in Russian media and others taking stories from it. They were not newly arrived migrants, but in that interpretational environment it did not matter. The next stop was the Lisa case, where the Russian side reacted to phantom stories on a really high level, including Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov.
You were dealing with counter-espionage until 2013. Did you know about Russian activities in Hungary?
Of course, as I was working on this field.
Can you estimate how many Russian agents are currently in Hungary? Ex-Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány said 600-800 recently, but he offered no proof for this.
The phrase ‘agent’ is professionally highly inaccurate. If he talked about active intelligence officers, this number is highly overestimated. But if we count the complete web of connections employed by Russian intelligence to serve Russian interests, including dark intelligence, this number looks more realistic.
The accurate number is only known by the sending agencies, the Hungarian counter-espionage agency only talks about ‘individuals suspected of espionage’, it is how it categorises diplomats and non-diplomatic (service) staff accredited to embassies. Besides traditional positions offering diplomatic immunity it is worth it to map individuals connected to different state-owned or state-backed companies, airlines, travel agencies, cultural centres, educational institutions, and state-owned media based on professional counter-intelligence considerations.
Furthermore, it is also hard to say an accurate number because these secret services rather think regionally than on a country-by-country basis. Consequently, it can happen that a diplomat accredited to Hungary acting as an intelligence officer under a diplomatic cover works in neighbouring countries, thus he is irrelevant from a Hungarian viewpoint. Obviously, it must be added immediately that counter-espionage is conducted in a system of alliances, therefore, Hungary as a NATO and EU member has a serious responsibility in holding its own when the alliance is attacked by foreign intelligence or attempts are made to infiltrate it.
How many of the about 50 diplomats of the Russian embassy in Budapest do you think are intelligence officers and how do you find them?
Experience dictates around what share of staff at a given embassy could be ‘individuals suspected of espionage’, which of course depends on the geopolitical and political situation of a destination country. I would say 30-40% with the abovementioned criteria and I repeat we cannot narrow this down only to embassies. Although immunity is only granted by diplomatic passports, the service passports must be checked as well, be it one belonging to a journalist of state-owned media or an employee of a cultural centre.
Their national security checks are done individually, which includes checking their pasts in the allied database and a professional risk assessment. Following this, we can talk about which category we put the given person in and what oversight strategy we choose.
How different are the profiles of the three Russian secret services, the FSB, the SVR and the GRU in their activities in Hungary?
All three are present in Hungary, earlier we were in contact with them through a liaison officer. What is advisable to know about the world of secret services is that there could be joint issues in which services from opposing sides can and will cooperate with each other. The common denominator with Russians could be fighting organized crime, and mostly counter-terrorism, where we even make a deal with the devil if it is needed and if it is in our interest. Counter-espionage is a much more rigid and closed affair in this regard.
The SVR deals with more traditional intelligence tasks like science, technology, media and the EU. The FSB is the chained dog, they are the ones responsible for the technical-operational protection of Russian foreign representations, diplomatic delivery services, and securing operational actions, monitoring, etc. is also their task. The GRU is specialised in gathering information on NATO and militaries, and if we take a look at what happened in Montenegro recently, the attempted assassination and coup, they are also responsible for the dirty jobs. It is a visible requirement for them to provide a kind of readiness to take action supporting Russian interests in a given country.
In Hungary, it was the GRU that was in connection with the István Győrkör-led neo-Nazi, paramilitary organisation the Hungarian National Front (MNA), they held joint drills with undercover Russian diplomats. Was this also needed to provide readiness to take action and if it was, what does this mean exactly?
I would leave the answer up to the imagination of the reader. But by readiness to take action we mean anything from provoking street riots through the disruption of public services – e.g. news communication or the media – to physical atrocities. All this is suitable for testing a country’s security systems or authorities. Who, when, how and with what forces reacts to these, who takes part in countering these, what the hierarchy for making decisions is and what the decision-making processes are – a lot can be mapped by these actions.
Now that you mentioned street riots: did the services forecast the violent events in 2006? Or at least that the far-right has such a high potential for mobilisation and violence?
I was dealing with international counter-terrorism at the time, I had no oversight on this.
What I did see in 2006 was how the leaders back then panicked and who were those who grew up to the task and who chose to have themselves taken to a hospital instead. At the time, I realised that we are a sleeping agency, we had to build potential to react from zero. Which we managed to do to some degree and afterwards we became somewhat more proactive. But up to that point the agency had been quite muted, not even our natural reflexes of self defence worked.
Were there really leaders who decided to go to a hospital to avoid responsibility?
Yes. You can assume it was not easy from then on.
Returning to Győrkös: after the murder of a police officer in Bőny, the Counter-Terrorism Centre (TEK) dissolved MNA practically in a few weeks. Why did the murder had to happen beforehand?
We cannot push our own responsibility to others, as we also dealt with this area. But it shows how the philosophy of the police and the secret service are different, and since prevention has been transferred to the Ministry of Interior again, the former is the dominant one. Thus, something has to happen, a crime, a murder for the mechanism to start. But obviously this has been going on since the ‘90s, and the passivity of the agencies also played a role in this.
We can then say that action-orientedness is not one of the strengths of the Hungarian agencies.
Action should be taken much more dynamically, but politics defines the agencies.
What could explain in professional terms that Hungarian authorities knew about the connections between the MNA and the GRU and that Győrkös’s organisation also possessed weapons, yet they did not intervene for years?
No professional reason can explain this. Presumably we did not want direct confrontation with a foreign intelligence agency or country.
Was the reason the Hungarian agencies’ fear of the GRU or Hungarian politics’ fear of Vladimir Putin?
I would rather say it is the latter. I do not think that anyone in the Hungarian secret services is afraid of the GRU, which is of course a very well built organisation with a long tradition, but we know and see their modus operandi. If it was I in a position to make a decision, it is certain that this would have to induce an active measure on our part. But these are not decided on internally, these are political decisions. The fact that the GRU and the MNA cooperate is an information of such a high level that the director general would have to inform the political side.
Does such an information belong to let’s say the five largest national security threats to Hungary in a given year?
Absolutely. But informing Hungarian politics is not enough, this information must be sent to partner agencies in NATO, because it works that way: I get information if I give information as well. But this should have been made known to other agencies because everybody’s fighting its own far-right organisations in Europe, where this is a very specific example of cooperation between the far-right and Russia.
The far-right paramilitary organisations of different countries also like to hold joint drills with each other, for example, Hungarians with the Slovak or German neo-Nazis.
Yes, and the MNA also had its own connections, thus such an information is important internationally as well. I hope that it was sent to our partners!
How many Russian illegal spies, deep cover agents could be in Hungary nowadays?
This is the largest professional challenge. Finding and checking them would require a separate department, as these agents can do the most damage. Russian services are known for thinking perspectively, 10-20 years in advance.
They build up the careers of agents settled in the target countries in areas they deem to be important in the long-term, such as politics, energetics, law enforcement, homeland defence, educational-scientific research, the media, etc. Russians, then it was the Soviets, saw in 1988-1989 that the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union will be forced back and democratic transitions were coming in Eastern Europe, so in the last moment they intensively settled agents illegally.
But this generation of deep cover agents is close to retirement, so they are looking for opportunities to build new lives in EU countries. And sadly, a great chance was offered by for instance the Hungarian residency bond programme. Especially since AH has 30 days to perform national security screenings, which is nowhere near enough.
Allegedly there was a serious debate on the residency bond programme between Minister for the Cabinet Office of the Prime Minister Antal Rogán and Minister of Interior Sándor Pintér, who is overseeing AH. This must not have been a coincidence.
Knowing the system, it is quite a high risk if we allow such a high number of people into the EU, especially from places where we do not necessarily have sufficient operational positions. It is of course possible to ask for extraordinary screenings, but I think 30 days is really insufficient to perform their background checks. If we think with the head of the opposing secret service, there is no need for a bigger opportunity. In a reverse situation, I would also take this chance.
In a given situation, is it worth it for a foreign secret service to pay 300 000 euros to settle an agent only to arrive not under a traditional cover as a diplomat or soldier?
It is absolutely worth it, it is worth even more! Illegal agents are the most valuable connections. It is possible to build up such a legend, personality and life for them which can be used in a wide range of operations later. And since they have no connections to colonies in the given countries, meaning the official bodies of the foreign state, they do not automatically bring the attention of the given countries’ national security agencies to themselves either.
Thus, even establishing their contacts are done based on a stricter protocol. It is a more protected, nuanced, longer-term operational construction, which is considered one of the highest achievements in the profession. With the Hungarian residency bonds both the Russians and the Chinese could settle whole families. Of course, other countries have similar residency bond programmes to offer, but none with security flaws similar to the Hungarian situation.
Around 80% of the bonds are bought by the Chinese, the Russians are only in second place. Is this perspective build-up characteristic of Chinese secret services?
Absolutely characteristic. They are the other agency that thinks in decades, only the Chinese used to employ this method less, but now they can build up their own illegal spy rings as well. The Chinese actually used to prefer economic covers back in the day.
There was news about Russian criminals also buying residency bonds, but there were rumours about the Chinese mafia doing this too. Therefore, it is not only foreign secret services but also criminal circles who can exploit this.
We should not have illusions, the two do not exclude each other. Organised criminal circles can be used by the given country’s secret services in many places.
Many also wrote that individuals with ties to minister Antal Rogán earned a huge amount of money on the residency bond programme. Since it is Chinese, Russian and other foreign money, is it a possible national security risk that unknown foreign actors corrupt Hungarian decision-makers this way?
Seriously, what should I say to this? The fact that the system is run through offshore companies, this needs not to be overexplained. Politics obviously has the right to start and maintain a residency bond programme. The task of secret services is to say what kind of security risk this poses and minimalize it. A balance should have been found, meaning that if politics insists on having the bonds, then it should have given AH a chance, time and tools well in advance to build capacities in the given countries.
The story of the illegal visa factory operated from the Moscow embassy by ex-diplomat Szilárd Kiss in the few years after 2010 is somewhat similar, as thousands of visas were given to unknown Russians, criminals, prostitutes and who knows who else. In the meantime, Kiss failed his national security checks twice, while according to what was said in the parliament’s national security committee his wife was in contact with Russian secret services. Were they proper Russian agents?
I would not like to answer this question.
If there are such information available on Szilárd Kiss, but I could also name the Jobbik MEP suspected of espionage, Béla Kovács, why have they not been arrested yet?
This is why espionage cases are difficult, because a story is only clear legally when someone is caught red-handed. In any other case, we are talking about something diplomatically sensitive, and the highest-ranking political decision-makers decide on what would happen. However, one must get ready to react instantly whatever the decision is, for instance expelling Hungarian diplomats from Russia.
To what extent is the case of Béla Kovács, an elected EU politician allegedly spying for Russia, considered extraordinary? How regular is that Russians recruite European politicians or infiltrate state organisations of European countries?
Decision-makers and their inner circle, the experts, the advisors are primary targets for all secret services of the world. It is not even absolutely necessary to approach decision-makers, it is enough to create professional views around them through which they can be manipulated, which also means that the chance for the activity being unveiled is lower. This is why I would consider it important to put external experts, advisors under national security protection when politics starts to employ them in such high numbers. We should also learn from the scandals of Donald Trump's advisors and experts with Russian ties.
The Hungarian government believes it is not the Kremlin but George Soros who threatens Hungarian national security. Do you know if there is a department within AH which previously focused on Soros and the partly Soros-financed NGOs?
No, not at all. And now I don’t want to pose like I was a kind of out-and-out counter-espionage agent, but my nerves are not really broken by NGOs like Krétakör, the Helsinki Committee or the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union and I am not looking for cover in the corner. I cannot really imagine these being organisations who are setting up a violent change of government. But I also do not view combatting corruption as an effort to overthrow the constitutional order.
And that these are the agents of the United States or its secret services?
I have no knowledge of that and in my past I did not come across any piece of information suggesting this.
Then why did the vice-chairman of Fidesz asked Hungarian secret services to investigate these Hungarian NGOs?
I would not like to comment on this in professional terms. But if politics sees something as a serious threat, then the secret service will look after it. I do not know what the result will be.
And for example if they find a bug in the office of a Hungarian NGO, would it be possible that Hungarian agencies planted it?
I think that the comments of Mr. Szilárd Németh (the deputy-chair of Fidesz) or minister János Lázár on this were unlucky because the secret service does its job much more efficiently if politicians do not communicate their requirements beforehand in the media, but simply request agencies silently to do something. And then if someone finds a bug somewhere there would be no conspiracy theories that it must have been the government who planted it. My problem professionally is that too many bugs have been found lately.
I guess if it was the Hungarian secret service planting it they failed because the bug was found. If it was not them, then they failed because they could not prevent an unauthorised actor from illegally gathering information.
That is right. My professional vanity would be really bothered by the case of the state-owned Hungarian public broadcaster and I am not only talking about the wire-tapping scandal. I consider articles on the Hungarian public media broadcasting a lot of messages taken from the Kremlin’s war propaganda a serious warning for the counter-intelligence profession, as the public media should be under special national security protection according to the law. These analyses should be done by the secret service, not by journalists.
After the attack in Brussels, the Hungarian public television featured an expert, Dániel Sógor, who used easily debunkable, completely false Russian propaganda about the terror attack’s perpetrators being Belarussian.
The public media has a much larger role in informing the public than letting similar foreign disinformation being featured on it. This is a serious warning that there is an error in the system.
An employee of a Hungarian national security agency is sitting in the building of the public media, right?
I do not know who sits where, but theoretically the public media is actually considered to be a protected object. But the building does not only need physical protection, but operational protection as well, which include the counter-espionage field as well. This is a complex task ranging from the reception to what foreign information offensive the organisation should withstand.
Despite that, the public media regularly features so-called national security experts who are talking about the failure of the West and the European Union, about Washington and Brussels wanting to settle migrants in Hungary, about the refugee crisis being a controlled invasion and Hungarian policemen serving at the border should be given permission to fire. In addition, now they are also attacking NATO while they are silent on Russia or they even deny that Russia interfered in the US election on the side of Trump.
It is very hard for someone with a lot of experience in the field to keep themselves quiet when they hear this. It is clearly possible to declare what the orientation of this so-called professional group is. Those who consider themselves experts while they panic and talk about war and invasion are not experts but something else. One must go outside and see if there is war. And if there is not, let’s think about it.
What goals could Russian secret services have in Hungary realistically? We must admit that we are not the most important players in this region.
Referring to all of the above: when the Hungarian secret service cannot even push the result of a national security check through politics, as it happened in the Szilárd Kiss case, or when the Hungarian public media airs things we see it does the Russians will come to the conclusion that the track is clear. They can calmly follow their agenda, not much harm can befall them. They have more space for manoeuvre in Hungary than they would in other places where the counter-intelligence is much more aggressive.
How imaginable is it that Russian agents infiltrated high levels of Hungarian secret services?
The case of General Lajos Galambos has been an interesting and damaging issue. Regardless of what the result of the case was legally, the suspicion itself that the leader of Hungarian counter-intelligence between 2004 and 2007 could have been turned by the Russians, and several others could have worked for them, is quite serious.
What was the essence of the case?
Exactly what the media wrote. General Galambos made it possible for Bulgarian colleagues to perform polygraph tests on active Hungarian colleagues.
And those Bulgarian colleagues were in fact Russian ones.
Precisely. But all this was reported by the media, there is nothing new under the sun.
How did it feel to live through this inside the 'company'?
It is very hard for us to talk about this, I served with many of those affected for shorter or longer terms. It was shocking, and for me it is to this day, that nothing more serious could happen in the life of an agency. And even today it is unknown what the end result of the whole affair will be. Think about the situation when we had to do professional negotiations with our foreign partners on counter-espionage while our former number one leader was suspected of this!
Do you know what kind of questions other EU-NATO partner agencies who knew our director general personally asked us and what kind of correct answer we could give them? How can we manoeuvre in the international intelligence environment, how deep is the information they are sharing with us? How does it materialise when the confidence of NATO partner agencies is shaken in Hungarians because of this or for other reasons?
There are different cooperation forums where active information exchange takes place and for instance they show case studies to each other. If this loss of confidence materialises then there will be no specific joint issues. You are in the international bloodstream if you have joint issues with other agencies, not only in counter-espionage but in counter-terrorism as well. If these are there, you are in the club. If these are not there, you are on the periphery.
If Hungarian secret services had to be ranked in terms of their commitment to NATO, which would be the most committed and the least committed?
I will not answer that, since every one of them has to be committed to NATO. And this is what the comments of the so-called experts lack: stating that we are EU and NATO members and want to stay that way. NATO is a community militarily and in terms of secret services, this is how things must be looked at.
To what extent do you agree that before merging military intelligence services into the Military National Security Service (KNBSZ) Hungarian military intelligence was completely pro-NATO, while military counter-intelligence – which many of the leaders of AH originate from – was an organisation with strong connections to Russia?
And do you agree that before 1989 the Hungarians were completely subjected to the Russians and we practically worked for the Soviet Union?
Of course, but not only the Hungarians, but everyone from the Czechs through the GDR to Cuba. The Czechoslovakian secret services were for example used specifically for transatlantic operations. Just as the Comecon, every agency had its own profile.
What was the profile of Hungarians in this secret service cooperation?
One of the areas of focus that the KGB signed over to their Hungarian partners was collecting information on the Vatican systematically. But there was constant Russian demand for acquiring COCOM-listed technical tools and technologies under embargo. Furthermore, a marked part of journalistic activities was also under the responsibility of Hungarian secret services. Another task was constructing illegal intelligence lines for the Soviet comrades in a way that the agents were settled in the West after they stayed in Hungary for some time.
What do you think about the fact that the current leadership and some staff members of Hungarian secret services are professionals who had already been active before 1989? Did their loyalty to the Russians suddenly cease to exist after the democratic transition? How can we imagine this?
This is complicated because the political and professional parts are different. But if you want a clear answer, then yes, it is problematic that those from before 1989 are still in the system. The Czech service BIS practically sent anyone who was active before the democratic transition packing and then built a completely new agency with the help of the British intelligence. With this the BIS practically allowed Prague to become a safe haven for spies for a long time and 5-8 years had to pass before the new officers got the hang of it. For this a political decision was needed and it came with a price. But currently they do not have problems like in certain cases the Estonians, the Latvians or others do, where the Russians’ men continued to play an important role in the system.
Was this ever considered within Hungarian national security agencies or did you ever see such plans?
I became an employee at the company much later, this should have been decided on in 1991-1992. But as I see we have only moved further away from this since then.
Would you support the publicity of all pre-1989 dossiers?
We can delay it as much as we want, but it must be done. When I was inside the house I of course said that it should not be done. But now that I have been outside for a while and I see how much damage can be caused by leaks on who was and who was not an agent I would say let’s do it and start fresh.
Did you ever approach someone to turn them into an agent or informer?
Naturally. Is approval for the methods of achieving this different than it had been before 1989? Is there any method you believe only a dictatorship uses and nowadays you refuse to use it?
We cannot allow ourselves the luxury of moralizing to this degree, executing the task is the most important thing. But it does happen that something is professionally unfounded and hard to represent.
I mean physical aggression, blackmail, threats as pre-1989 methods. How characteristic are these nowadays?
Not at all and I never used it. But let’s be honest, pressuring someone into becoming an agent is in the toolkit. However, anyone who has spent some time in this profession knows that this cannot be maintained in the long-term, it is an inefficient and counter-productive tool.
Thus, you are not using them for professional rather than moral reasons?
For a security officer, moralizing works differently than it is for an average person. In short: if you are in a situation when a sleeper cell activates itself in Budapest and it depends on acquirable information if they commit a terror attack or not, then I think it is possible to extend the definition of the toolkit used in intelligence operations. But naturally even this cannot overwrite everything.
If the agencies of today’s democratic system need to turn someone into an agent from an extremist group, how many approvals are needed from leadership to do this?
This must be approved on several levels, I would not like to say a number. This is a very well documented, hierarchic system. There are no solo dancers here, leaders always have a lot of responsibility resting on their shoulders. Turning someone into an informer, an agent must be part of the daily routine. On the one hand, this is not such a big thing as outsiders think it is.
On the other hand, it is much more complicated than that. From the use of technical tools through completely mapping someone’s personality to doing an environment assessment this is preceded by a lot of analytical work. Basically, it is only possible to conclude if someone’s suitable to be turned into an agent after all this is done.
One agent like this was István Csontos, who turned from being an informant to the Hungarian military counter-intelligence to an accomplice to the Roma murders in 2008-2009. Later it was revealed that military counter-intelligence repressed the information that Csontos had been their agent during the investigation and they even met him at the time the murders were taking place and one counter-intelligence officer even lied about him afterwards. What was the reason for this? Did they want to defend the honour of the uniform?
I do not know what kind of honour of the uniform we are talking about when people are dying. In these cases, there is no such thing. But I did take part in several meetings when all the affected organisations, services were at the table. And I did not hear many pieces of supportive information from the military branch either.
So you were an affected party in the investigation into the Roma murders?
Yes, but I do not want to talk about that. Later I also took part in hearings on the off-site hearings of the national security committee.
Earlier you said that moralizing is not the job of security officers. Did you feel remorse because the racist serial murders were not prevented or stopped during they were happening?
Yes, absolutely, I also had to deal with my own conscience. Everyone who worked on this case, be they policemen or secret agents, I think will take the fates of these six people to the grave and they will never forget it. Everybody was shaken and everyone needs to take responsibility for their own mistakes.
Hypothetical question, but was it possible to save more lives?
If I wanted to be really dramatic I would say yes. But we will never know this.
Did the secret services manage to reassuringly clarify their own responsibility in the case of the Roma murders?
Absolutely not. The National Security Office, the predecessor of the AH, was screened correctly and naturally we had to present the events to MPs as well on the off-site hearings. Then, contrary to the results of the national security screening, contradicting the findings of the report, the mandates of several of our leaders were revoked, including mine. It is completely natural that whoever worked in this field had to take the blame. I was later even rehabilitated, I became chief advisor to the director-general.
However, with regards to our colleagues from the military, several questions remain open. I did not experience investigations, hearings of similar intensity in their ranks.
So, a screening of similar depth did not take place there? Why?
I don't know the answer to this.
After the murder in Bőny it was revealed that Csontos, an accomplice in the Roma murders, was also in contact with the MNA, which held joints drills with the GRU.
I do not know that, but since Csontos was a special assistant of the Military Security Office, they obviously played with him then as well. They themselves said he was their own contact, obviously they did not only use him in one far-right circle, but in many. But all this is just a guess.
Do you think those who belong to your generation within Hungarian secret services agree with what you said in this interview?
There are generational tensions within law enforcement agencies, which not even younger high-level leaders can remedy. My generation and those younger than us cannot really identify with the so-called 'Eastern opening' of the recent period, while the older individuals whose informal influence is to this day decisive are able to do so much more.
This article was originally published in Hungarian.
Translated by Patrik Szicherle.
How does this content make you feel?
I dislike it
current affairs CHANNEL SPONSOR
LATEST NEWS IN current affairs
Man Dies As Ambulance Fails To Enter Roma Majority Village In Hungary
We're interested in your stories, and photos, related to expat life in Hungary. Your contributions, and Press Releases, are invited for review before publication in the loop.
get in & enjoy more!
XpatLoop’s newsletter contains a hand-picked selection of fresh news, special invitations, events, movies, and more.
I understand & accept the Privacy Policy
XpatLoop.com was developed
and is maintained by
MOON42 RDI Ltd.
About xpatloop
Hungary's Leading Expat Media, Since Jan. 2001
"We are all one", yet there are barriers to unity such as nationality, language, culture, tradition, and so on. Xpatloop seeks to facilitate a better understanding, appreciation and enjoyment of life in Hungary for expats and locals alike. As a portal we share news, views & information - from a wide range of sources - to enhance cooperation between people, companies and organisations operating in expat related circles.
Email: info@xpatloop.com
XpatLoop.com is powered by experienced expats, and locals in the loop. XpatLoop readers include both valuable expats and high-level locals in decision making positions. We refer to this inclusive and cosmopolitan group of internationally-minded folks as the Xpat Community.
Copyright ©2000-2019 XpatLoop.com. All Rights Reserved Copyright Liability Privacy
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3101
|
__label__cc
| 0.626008
| 0.373992
|
Home > France SailGP Team > Bruno Dubois on new role in charge of France SailGP Team
Bruno Dubois on new role in charge of France SailGP Team
France SailGP Team
With the second season of the highly successful SailGP championship starting in Sydney in less than 50 days, Bruno Dubois has been named manager of the France SailGP Team, and will help the team maximise its performance on the water and commercial development.
In 2019, the Belgian-Canadian led the China SailGP Team to a podium placing as team manager. However, with China no longer competing in the 2020 season and two new nations – Denmark and Spain – joining the league, the French team was quick to select Dubois as its new team manager.
The former director of North Sails France for almost 20 years, Dubois brings a considerable wealth of experience to the role. As well as his recent management of the China SailGP Team, Dubois led Team France in the 35th America’s Cup and also managed the Franco-Chinese Dongfeng Race Team in two iterations of the Volvo Ocean, including the team’s winning 2017/18 campaign.
Dubois answered questions following the announcement of his new role…
What did you learn from your experience with the China SailGP Team?
I got great satisfaction finishing the season in third place on the podium, especially as it was not easy at the start against some of the established nations and we had a steep learning curve.
What do you think of the French team’s first season?
What I do know is that the fight for the third podium spot was very tight between China, Great Britain and France. Besson and the team worked hard during the season to improve and, as we saw in Marseille, they were very much in the game.
What are the main objectives for the team in Season 2?
Two key areas will dictate the future of the team: performance and sponsorship. We need to start flirting with the podium as soon as possible in the new season and have commercial partners alongside us. At this stage, and like many of the teams in the league, we are still subsidised by SailGP but we need to move toward financial independence as soon as possible.
What are you putting in place to achieve these goals?
The team obviously did not wait for my arrival to prepare for the season. A lot of work has been done since Marseille across all areas, from performance and communication to marketing and sales. The structure that is now in place is solid and to reach our objectives we have to focus on our performance as well as our commercial growth.”
What does the France SailGP Team offer commercial partners?
The first season has shown the international scope of this championship. French companies that export their know-how internationally are the ones that we think can best benefit from this environment. those that, in our opinion, can best take advantage of this environment.
When we associate SailGP with the corporate world, we automatically think of innovation, performance, data and technological advancement. These are themes that resonate well in companies from the technology and innovation sectors or those that have a strong strategy in these fields.
We are looking to partner with companies whose growth is accompanied by a desire for greater international brand visibility, as well as with international groups with an ambition to set up or develop in the French market.
Investing in SailGP also means exploring new marketing horizons and promoting another vision of the company. Racing at more than 50 knots is not without danger and requires permanent technological control. To achieve this, we need to master data analytics in the same way as businesses do today.
The efficiency of the team is based on the collaborative work of the men and women, who excel in their respective fields – it is the human story that is the differentiator here and what makes this sport so relevant to our society.
SailGP offers a great B2B platform: the spectacle and the format of races close to the shore, alongside the gaming and data aspect, offer customer, business and employee experiences within a framework of premium hospitality, at the heart of iconic cities around the world.”
What is the program before the first event in Sydney at the end of February?
On the sports side, the team will have two simulator sessions in the UK before leaving for Sydney as well as foiling training days in early February. We have the final members of the team in place and will be holding meetings in order to be ready for Sydney.
We will also be at Global Sport Week in Paris from 5-7 February, when Coutts will speak, as well as at several other sports marketing events.
Tagged Bruno Dubois France SailGP Team SailGP
Foiling for (almost) everyone
A new era for the World Match Racing Tour
2nd January 2019 4th January 2019
Ben Ainslie on GC32 Racing Tour
27th September 2018 3rd October 2018
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3102
|
__label__wiki
| 0.558542
| 0.558542
|
Yugul Mangi Development Aboriginal Corporation
Cattle Muster
Darlala Motel
Ngukurr Nyus
Yugul Mangi Development Aboriginal Corporation (YMD) was established in 2008 after changes to the Local Government Act, which created the Roper Gulf Shire (now Roper Gulf Regional Council).
The Council handles basic services while YMD has the responsibility of being the main community reference group on all matters – working closely with other community reference groups in town.
YMD promotes the growth of community owned enterprise and supports clan business development. It is our aim to build a sustainable viable local economy creating full employment, career pathways and an end to generational welfare dependence.
YMD represents the seven clans of South East Arnhem land. On the Northern side of the Roper, these lands extend from Blue Mud Bay across toward Bullman, down the Wilton River Valley to Roper River and out to the Gulf. On the Southern side of the river the lands extend from west of Buddawka to the Hodgson River and includes the Towns River and Limmen River systems and coastal areas between. This area includes the newly declared Limmen National Park and the Mara Land Trust.
These vast lands hold great potential for developing pastoral, tourism, land management, mining industries among others and in many ways have been a forgotten area of Australia.
Things are always changing, as evidenced by Western Desert Resources attempt at opening an iron ore mine on the Towns River, and the ever growing numbers of tourists driving the Savannah Way which runs through the heart of country. Over 20,000 vehicles use this route every year.
The community of Ngukurr as represented by Yugul Mangi Development with nearly 300 members is looking forward to an exciting future as the people engage in these growing opportunities.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3110
|
__label__wiki
| 0.835534
| 0.835534
|
Video of the Week (110)
Studio 54 | Behind The Scenes
Written by Video of The Week
Studio 54 was Sodom and Gomorrah with a disco theme, a place where celebrities and civilians alike reveled in unrestrained debauchery. Nothing was off limits when the club was in full swing, drugs, sex and rock and roll
Published in Video of the Week
Steve Rubell
Disco Dancing
The Strange Story of Joe Meek
The Strange Story of Joe Meek. ... A documentary about the influential pop composer and record producer Joe Meek, who died in dramatic circumstances in 1967 after a bizarre childhood and a career, often controversial, which spanned the period from the mid-50s to the rise of the Beatles in the 60s.
The Tornadoes
The Blue Men
The Honeycombs
Jimmy White: Sports Life Stories
Snooker legend Jimmy White talks to Adam Darke about his life in sport, from discovering his love for snooker as a youngster to fighting back from testicular cancer and losing five consecutive world finals.
Jimmy White
The Whirlwind
People's Champion
Crucible Theatre
World Snooker Championship
Alex Higgins
Botham: The Legend of '81
Botham: The Legend of '81 tells the simply incredible story of how Ian Botham went from national zero to hero, not once but twice. It is the most remarkable comeback story in English sporting history.
The Ashes
OneDay International
FastMedium Bowler
The Smiths - The South Bank Show (1987) Full Episode
Originally made for The South Bank Show. Presented by Melvyn Bragg this documentary on The Smiths was filmed just days before the band went their separate ways in 1987. It’s a fitting testament to one of the most talented and influential bands of the 1980s. The film contains interviews with Morrissey, Johnny Marr, Mike Joyce, Andy Rourke as well as assorted fans, John Peel, and rock journalist, Nick Kent,
The South Bank Show
Film Archive (111)
Music Archive (271)
Sport Archive (20)
Tales of Aggro
ZANI was conceived in late 2008 and the fan base gradually grew by word of mouth. Key contributors came from those of the music, film and fashion industry and the voice of ZANI grew louder. So, when in 2013 investor, contributor and fan of ZANI Alan McGee* offered his support to help restyle and relaunch the site it was inevitable that traffic would increase dramatically and continues to grow. *Alan McGee co-founder of Creation Records and new label 359 Music..
ZANI is an independent online magazine for readers interested in contemporary culture, covering Music, Film & TV, Sport, Art amongst other cultural topics. Relevant to modern times ZANI is a dynamic website and a flagship for creative movement and thinking wherever our readers live in the world.
Lenny Mclean (Tonight Boxing Documentary 13-09-1978)
in Video of the Week
Just Mercy Reviewed
in Film
The Connection Between Music and Gambling Through the Years
Copyright © 2015 ZANI - All Rights Reserved.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3112
|
__label__cc
| 0.568434
| 0.431566
|
Welcome to ZDDVM
Asian Horror & Gore
Bikers And Pychos
British Sex Comedy
Euro Sex Comedy
Euro-Crime
Euro-Cult
Thrills and spills
Filipino / Indo
Mondo & Documentary
Pinky Violence
Spies & Superheroes
teensploitation
Turkish/Greek
“Amongst English-speaking fans of the cinema of the fantastique and cult film fans, the term ‘giallo’ is often used to refer to a particular style of (predominantly Italian-produced, though often the product of international co-productions) murder mystery films which often (but not always) include elements of horror fiction and eroticism. These films often contained explicit violent or sexual content, as a result of the relaxation of attitudes towards film censorship during the 1970s…”
Death on the Four Poster
Jean Josipovici, Ambrogio Molteni
© ZDDVM. 2019. All Rights Reserved
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3114
|
__label__wiki
| 0.781268
| 0.781268
|
Postgraduate scholarships schemes
Postdoctoral and Fellowship awards
Research funding awards
Funding databases
Access to journals
African studies blogs
Nairobi Process
Selected initiatives
Search the Directories
Search here for people, places, libraries and journals involved in the study of Africa.
People Research centres & networks Libraries Journals
UK Africanists | African Scholars | Both
Or you can
Browse the Directories
International Studies Association 56th Annual Convention
February 18th - 21st, 2015, New Orleans Amitav Acharya, ISA President Pinar Bilgin, Program Co-Chair L. H. M. Ling, Progam Co-Chair
Submission Deadline: June 1st, 2014
(Proposal Guidelines Below)
Global IR and Regional Worlds: A New Agenda for International Studies
International Relations (IR), once termed by Stanley Hoffmann as an “American social science,” is gaining popularity around the world. Yet its dominant theories, methods and narratives fail to correspond to the new global distribution of its subjects. Distinctions between the “West” and the “Rest” may be blurring in material terms but these are yet to fully register in the way IR is studied, published, discoursed, and located in terms of centers of learning.
With IR scholars around the world seeking to find their own voice and reexamining their own traditions, our challenge now is to chart a course towards a truly inclusive discipline, recognizing its multiple and diverse foundations – a Global IR. The world of IR is now confronted with new issues, actors, and voices that call for significant re-thinking and broadening of its theories, methods, and empirical horizons. This is not merely the function of a “power shift,” or the rise of new powers. It also reflects the importance of global issues, like human rights violations, the subjugation of women and minorities, racism, financial meltdowns, forced migration, terrorism, disease, and climate change. Global IR is also demanded by the growing role of transnational actors (good or bad), such as international and regional institutions, social movements, or terrorist networks and cross-border criminal gangs.
The Global IR project gives a central place to the study of regions and regionalisms, and integrates disciplinary and area studies. While the world is not being fragmented into regions, it is also not moving inexorably towards a seamless globality. Global IR calls for the acknowledgement of regional diversity and local agency. Our idea of “what makes regions” is being altered. Regions are no longer viewed as fixed geographic or cultural entities, but as dynamic, purposeful, and socially constructed spaces. Regionalism today is less territorially-based or state-centric and encompasses an ever widening range of actors and issues. The traditional divide between regionalism and universalism is blurring.
The notion of “regional worlds,” originally coined by a project at the University of Chicago, captures this broader, inclusive, open, and interactive dynamic of regions and regionalisms. It is not just about the how regions self-organize their economic, political and cultural space, but also about how they relate to each other and shape global order.
The challenge of building a Global IR does not mean a one-size-fits-all approach; rather, it compels us to recognize the diversity that exists in our world, seek common ground, and resolve conflicts. Global IR transcends the “West versus the Rest” divide and recognizes the voices, experiences, and agency of the Global South. This new, pluralistic universalism underpins the possibility of a Global IR.
Against this backdrop, the theme of the 2015 Annual Convention explores the following questions:
When is IR Global? What are the new, current and possible directions and innovations in IR theories, methods and issue areas as IR aspires to become a truly global discipline?
Given the hitherto marginality of the non-Western voices and traditions in its mainstream theories and approaches of IR, what are the ways and sources of knowledge – e.g. world history, classical traditions, cultural practices, foreign policy approaches, writings of scholars, etc. – that can help to make the discipline more inclusive?
What is the relationship between regionalism and universalism, between the local and the global? What are the variations among regions and their institutions, and how do they figure in global governance?
How can we build greater synergy between IR and area studies, so that we can be true to the name of our association as the International Studies Association?
How does the rise of new powers – e.g., China, India, Brazil, and others – affect the study of IR? Is hegemony a thing of the past or reappearing in new forms?
How do the key transnational challenges of our time, such as environmental degradation, climate change, pandemics, transnational crime, gender violence, refugees and migration, and responses to them, affect regional worlds, North-South relations, and global order?
How do ideas and norms travel? Are local actors and developing countries passive recipients or active agents of norm creation and diffusion?
Do civilizations clash or learn from each other?
Conference Home Page
Types of Submissions
ISA's Governing Council and Program Chairs have defined the types of proposals we accept. In addition to the traditional types defined below, ISA accepts a number of specialty sessions including innovative panels and, new this year, proposals to hold an instructor-led course on site. You can find out more about our submission types on our website.
Papers: Accepted papers will be formed into panels by our program chairs. They require a title (limited to 50 words), an abstract (limited to 200 words), three tags, and at least one author.
Panels: Panels are submitted in full with five papers for review by our program chairs. They require a title (limited to 50 words), an abstract (limited to 200 words), three tags, a chair, a discussant, and exactly five papers. Please note that we do not accept four or six paper panels.
Roundtables: Roundtables are submitted in full for review by our program chairs. They do not have papers and are designed for expert discussion on a topic. They require a title (limited to 50 words), an abstract (limited to 200 words), three tags, and at least three participants in addition to one chair.
© Copyright 2020 Africa Desk
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3119
|
__label__cc
| 0.731778
| 0.268222
|
We are Atento
Corp Social Responsibility
Solutions We Provide
Omnichannel Experiences
USA and Puerto Rico
Key Facts & Corporate Info
Atento: A Great Place To Work
Join the Atento Team
We help our customers strengthen and grow their businesses through the implementation of innovative world class solutions adapted to the consumer needs.
We have been working for more than a decade driving excellence in Customer Experience Management (CEM) and Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) solutions.
Atento is the leading company for Business Process Outsourcing and Customer Experience Management services (BPO and CEM) in Latin America and Spain and the only one in its sector to be recognized as one of the 25 Best Multinationals at Which to Work, according Great Place to Work.
We believe the only way to achieve and maintain such a leading role is to become a true business partner for each of our clients. Atento achieves this through the flawless implementation of world-class customer experience solutions and innovative omnichannel experiences, while maintaining optimum levels of service, proprietary and mainstream technology and world class analytics.
In Argentina, we began operations in 2000 and we are the leaders in our industry, with locations in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Chaco, Mar del Plata, Salta and Tucuman. We have over 3,700 workstations and over 7,000 employees.
We currently work with a considerable number of companies from different sectors primarily those in telecommunications, banking and financial services, healthcare, retail and public administration.
Since 2007, we have been included in the Great Place to Work´s national rankings. We have also won numerous industry awards over the years. The AMDIA, granted by the Direct and Interactive Marketing Association of Argentina, and the Amauta, in different categories such as Telemarketing, Sales Campaigns and B2B Programs.
Our Figures
More than 7.000
Number of workstations
Number of centers
Awards, Acknowledgements and Certifications
Great Place to Work:
In 2015, Atento was ranked 1st in the list of Best Places to Work in the country for companies with over 1,000 employees, according to Great Place to Work Institute.
Premio Nacional de la Calidad
In 2015, Atento was recognized with the Premio Nacional a la Calidad, the most important award for a company operating in Argentina. Atento was the only company in the CRM/BPO sector to receive this recognition.
AMAUTA Awards:
Atento received three prizes for best business cases in Argentina in 2014: Silver for "Telefonica on line" in the Telemarketing, Sales Campaigns and Programs B2B category, Silver for "Movistar APV People answering in remote mode”, in the Telemarketing, Customer Service, B2C category and, finally, a Bronze for "Movistar SMEs Each customer, a person”, in the Telemarketing Customer Service B2B category.
AMDIA Awards:
These awards, granted by the Direct and Interactive Marketing Association of Argentina (AMDIA), recognized us in 2014 in three categories: Gold for “Telefonica on line” in Organization of Tertiary Company, B2C Telesales category; Silver for "Movistar APV People answering in remote mode”, in Technological Contribution B2C category and silver for “Movistar A plan that fits you” in Strategy Organization Customer Service B2C category.
ventas@atento.com.ar
http://www.atento.com
México 2051 Piso 1 Martinez Provincia de Buenos Aires CP B1640DLY
México 2051 pisos 1° y 2°, Provincia Buenos Aires CP 1640
Centro II
Chacabuco 271 Pisos 5° y 6° , Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires, CP 1069
Larrea
Larrea 847, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires CP 1117
20 de Septiembre 2592 - Mar del Plata,Provincia de Buenos Aires - CP 7600
Rosario de Santa Fe 187 - Provincia de Córdoba CP 5004
La Rioja 260 , Provincia de Córdoba CP 5000
Salta I
Balcarce 487 - Provincia de Salta - CP 4400
Salta II
Santa Fe 649 - Provincia de Salta - CP 4400
Ejército del Norte 757 - Provincia de Tucumán - CP 4000
Pres Arturo Illia 829/847 PB-1°Provincia de Chaco CP 3500 || 9 de julio 565, Presidente Roque Saenz Peña - Provincia de Chaco - CP 3700
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3122
|
__label__cc
| 0.705149
| 0.294851
|
LOVE AND TREASON ON THE VERGE
a novel in seven days
The Outpost was a squat stone structure that was ringed on all sides by high thick walls that were honeycombed with stairways, arrow loops and topped with crenellations festooned with ancient barbed wire. There were dozens of Outposts scattered along the Verge, marking the point of demarcation between the nurturing safety of the Protectorate and the madness of the Barrens. Each Outpost was similar in design but always ended up being different in execution.
The vagaries of the land made improvisation a key to survival and the proximity to the Barrens meant that many of these strongholds were never completed at all. This Outpost had taken six seasons and four Dukes to complete. The blood of over a hundred sentinels had stained the ground before the walls were completed and the great metal portcullis closed...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3131
|
__label__wiki
| 0.761767
| 0.761767
|
“Wise and funny.”
— The Wall Street Journal
“…what sets the novel apart is Benjamin’s ability to skillfully weave Greek mythology, Shakespeare and even reality television into the mix.”
— WBUR, Here & Now
“entirely original…a middle school story to top all middle school stories.”
-— The Buffalo News
“Benjamin…adroitly fleshes out her witty premise…Genuinely original, the novel offers thoughtful perspectives on friendship, accepting change, and the many rewarding guises of storytelling, as well as a fully gratifying ending that the characters don’t see coming.”
— PW, starred review
“A story with massive heart, Benjamin’s follow-up to The Thing About Jellyfish (2015) proves this writer’s incredible wit, charm, and ability to navigate deep questions while tapping directly into the middle school mindset. The novel is rare for the ease with which it combines ancient Greek studies with modern-day issues such as bullying and change…”
— Kirkus, starred review
“Benjamin has crafted a smart, funny, and deeply felt coming of age story that middle schoolers will relate to and find themselves ruminating on….A witty, tender, and utterly engaging modern school story that draws on the
wisdom of the ages.”
— School Library Journal, starred review
“Ali…has a phenomenal knack for weaving together seemingly mismatched threads–goats, soccer, pantsuits, bullying, Plato–as if they have every right to be together, making a gorgeous tapestry. The Next Great Paulie Fink is a beautiful, powerful novel about embracing one’s own great self, even–or especially–in middle school.”
— Shelf Awareness starred review
“Suzy’s best friend, Franny Jackson, was a strong swimmer. There is no way she could have drowned, at least in Suzy’s mind. Suzy’s determined search for a different explanation for her friend’s death leads her to believe that Franny was stung by an Irukandji jellyfish. Having nothing but time, since she has no other friends and has decided to stop talking, Suzy sets out to prove her theory. This a multilayered novel takes readers on several concurrent emotional journeys. Benjamin skillfully blends time and narrative to slowly reveal truths about Suzy: first and foremost that their friendship was over long before Franny’s death. The girl she had once thought her best friend decided it was time for a middle school social upgrade, choosing popularity over her awkward childhood pal. Suzy’s decision to seek revenge and remind Franny of their bond backfires, destroying what was left of their relationship. Consequently, Franny’s death is the impetus for the protagonist’s mission of personal reconciliation for the guilt and regret she feels over their falling out. Suzy’s fierce intelligence, compounded by her painful transition into adolescence, makes her a sympathetic and compelling character. Benjamin’s sense of timing and delivery is extraordinary, as she blends the visceral experiences of Suzy’s journey with an internal dialogue that is authentic and poignant. Though Suzy herself is oddly unique in her self-imposed social ineptitude and singular focus, the politics of friendships and changing values of young teens will resonate with readers. Benjamin’s inverse approach to tragedy, placing the death at the beginning of the novel and storytelling through the grieving process, transcends the tragedy trope, as the story triumphs in the affecting realities of emotional response and resilience. VERDICT Strong readers of middle grade realistic fiction will fully immerse themselves in this superbly written, heartfelt novel.”
“Suzy lost her longtime best friend twice: first at the beginning of sixth grade, when Franny shifted away from her and into a clique of “pretty girls,” and irrevocably during the following summer, when Franny drowned at the beach. Entering seventh grade and burdened by painful memories that she can neither express nor forget, Suzy almost entirely stops talking for many months. She becomes fascinated with jellyfish and intent on linking Franny’s drowning to a sting. Unable to connect meaningfully with those who are closest to her, she secretly, meticulously plans a trip to Australia to consult a jellyfish specialist in hopes of finding answers to her questions about Franny’s death. In the end, though, a conversation closer to home offers what she needs in order to deal with the experience, forgive herself, and move forward. Benjamin’s involving novel features clean, fluid writing that is highly accessible, yet rich with possibilities for discussion. Science-minded and fascinated by facts, Suzy is intellectually able to see the big picture, but limited in her life experience. Her highly individual, first-person narrative makes compelling reading. Facts and metaphors related to jellyfish are woven seamlessly into the narrative of this memorable story. An uncommonly fine first novel.”
— Booklist Magazine, starred review
“In middle school, where “Worst Thing” can mean anything from a pimple to public humiliation, Suzy “Zu” Swanson really has a reason to be in crisis: her former best friend has died unexpectedly, and the seventh-grader is literally silenced by grief and confusion. A chance encounter with a jellyfish display on a school trip gives her focus—for Zu, the venomous Irukandji jellyfish, while rare, provides a possible explanation for the “how” of Franny’s death. And Zu is desperate for answers and relief from her haunting grief and guilt. In seven parts neatly organized around the scientific method as presented by Mrs. Turton, a middle school teacher who really gets the fragility of her students, Zu examines and analyzes past and present. A painful story of friendship made and lost emerges…Zu is awkward, smart, methodical, and driven by sadness. She eventually follows her research far beyond the middle school norm, because ” ‘Sometimes things just happen’ is not an explanation. It is not remotely scientific.’ A painful story smartly told, Benjamin’s first solo novel has appeal well beyond a middle school audience.”
— Kirkus Reviews, starred review
“In her first solo outing, Benjamin (coauthor of Positive with Paige Rawl) composes a moving portrayal of loss and healing. Franny Jackson and Suzy Swanson had been best friends for years until Franny joined a middle-school clique and began to drift from Suzy and her penchant for scientific facts. As seventh grade begins, 12-year-old Suzy channels the conflicting emotions surrounding Franny’s drowning death into silence, shutting out her divorced parents, her older brother and his boyfriend, her psychologist, and a caring science teacher. Replacing language with research, Suzy follows the scientific method, whose structure mirrors that of the book, hoping to prove that a jellyfish sting was responsible for Franny’s drowning. Reminiscent of works by Jennifer L. Holm and Sharon Creech, Benjamin’s novel is a shining example of the highs and lows of early adolescence, as well as a testament to the grandeur of the natural world. Increasingly fascinated by her own theories, Suzy embarks on an ambitious plan to prove her hypothesis, while tentatively reaching out to new friends and finding support for her emerging voice.”
“Thanks to its honesty, the book is one of the best sports memoirs I’ve read recently. Howard is unsentimental when it comes to how he was treated at the end of his time at Manchester United. His section on why he and his wife split—he essentially chose soccer over her—would be risky if its candor were not so refreshing. His explanation of Tourette’s is eye-opening and educational.”
— Daily Beast
“Inspiring and compulsively readable.”
— People Magazine
“Howard is a gracious narrator… the most affecting part of his book comes when he describes the failure of his marriage.”
— Chicago Tribune
“a good story… Mr. Howard’s book is mostly about hard men on a difficult mission, and as such it can be nearly as single-minded as Ernest Shackleton’s diary.”
— New York Times
“Rawl and Benjamin deftly capture the mindset of middle schooler Paige with anecdotes that reveal the teen’s innocence and naivete, tracking her progress toward adulthood. They tackle tough subjects such as suicide delicately but honestly. Readers will come away feeling inspired by Rawl’s work as an HIV/AIDS speaker and anti-bullying advocate.”
“This realistic and honest biography of a young woman living with HIV will draw readers in, shedding light on this difficult topic… Through short chapters, teens will get a sense of the girl’s life, including her happy childhood, the strong bond between her and her mother, and the difficulties she faced, as well as gain accessible information on HIV/AIDS.”
— Library Journal
“As readers follow (Paige’s) personal journey from middle school target to activist, they will be touched by her mature belief that her painful experiences eventually led her to a richer life — and her commitment to help others.”
— Common Sense Media
“Bottom Line: powerful message by a strong young lady.”
— YA Books Central
“In this heart wrenching, inspiring memoir, Paige recounts her story of how she hit rock bottom—and still managed to find hope even in the darkest situations. POSITIVE is the type of book that compels readers to do something. It ignites a compassion-fueled, indignant spark to reach out to those who are hurting. Paige narrates with a clear straightforward voice… POSITIVE is the type of book that compels readers to do something. It ignites a compassion-fueled, indignant spark to reach out to those who are hurting.”
— Teen Reads
“This book comes with lots of information, a witty sense of humor, and even an any-mistake-you-made-we-made-it-too attitude.”
— USA Today
“… thankfully written for Real Parents, meaning we who want the best for our families, but who are very, very tired… This book is jammed with info: guidelines, pantry lists, meal-planning techniques and time-savers—yet the energetic authors make it feel as fresh as our next family dinner can be, with their plate-cleaning help.”
— Publishers Weekly
“This crayon-colored real-food manifesto from mommy bloggers Bader and Benjamin, gives parents plenty of ammo in the never-ending battle to get their kids to eat better.”
Presented in a colorful, kid-friendly style, with mom-next-door chatty text, this guide offers advice on what to choose and how to cook it in a fast-food age. VERDICT: The market for books on this subject continues to grow following Pollan’s 2006 best seller, The Omnivore’s Dilemma, and this is a useful addition. Great for public libraries and all readers interested in healthy cooking/shopping for the family.
— Mother Earth News
“Keeping your resolution just got easier thanks to The Cleaner Plate Club.”
— KCUR, Kansas City Public Media
“It’s like Michael Pollan for real people.”
— Kitchen Daily
From time to time, I do speaking engagements. Here are some comments from a recent talk in Chicago (200+ people):
“Loved this session! Ali was so inspiring.”
“This was a great way to end the conference. The breakout sessions got me fired up by showing me ‘how.’ Ali’s closing session got me even more fired up by emphasizing ‘why.’ Loved it!”
“This was the best general session of the conference. Absolutely wonderful!”
“Helped me realize how important it is to get our story out to the public.”
“Fantastic presentation!”
“What a wonderful closing to a great conference!”
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3132
|
__label__wiki
| 0.664449
| 0.664449
|
ACE Insurance Litigation Watch
Litigation Index
ACE Corporate Information
The Collaborative Clearinghouse for Lawsuits and Other Claims Against ACE Group Insurance Companies
Home › Litigation Index ›
THE FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, INC. v. ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY
ATTENTION: It is possible that this information may no longer be current and therefore may be inaccurate. The index contains both open and closed cases and is not a complete list of cases in which an ACE Insurance Group company is involved. This information is provided to give interested persons an idea of the issues disputed in the indexed cases. For a full understanding of a case, one should read the rest of the court file, including the response. For the most up-to-date and complete information on a case, visit www.pacer.gov or contact the clerk of the relevant court.
0:13-cv-62558 Search Pacer
ACE Group party(s):
ACE American Insurance Company
Opposing Party:
The Florida Strawberry Festival, Inc.
Court Type:
US District Court:
Southern District of Florida
Complaint:
THE FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, INC. v. ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY complaint
Docket:
THE FLORIDA STRAWBERRY FESTIVAL, INC. v. ACE AMERICAN INSURANCE COMPANY docket
COUNT I-DUTY TO DEFEND AND TO INDEMNIFY
23. FSF restates and realleges paragraphs 1 through 22, inclusive.
24. That there is an actual controversy between the Plaintiff and FSF concerning
whether the ACE Policy provides liability coverage, including defense and indemnity for FSF in
the underlying negligence action brought by the McRae Plaintiff.
25. Because of the dispute between the parties as set forth above, FSF is in need of
judicial interpretation or construction of the aforementioned insurance policy as it relates to
whether ACE owes a defense and/or indemnity to FSF in the underlying negligence action
referenced above.
26. Without this Court's declaration, the McRae Litigation cannot be settled, as the
parties are in doubt as to their respective rights and obligations.
27. Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. ss. 2201 and 2202, this Court has the power to declare the
rights and obligations of the parties under the Policy and the Midway Contract.
28. WHEREFORE, FSF respectfully requests this Court to:
A. Take jurisdiction over this matter;
B. Find and declare that ACE is obligated to provide a defense to FSF;
C. Find and declare that ACE has an obligation to indemnify FSF.
D. Enter any other order the Court deems proper under the evidence and
circumstances, including but not limited to an award of costs and attorneys should FSF be
deemed the prevailing party.
(Breach of Contract)
29. FSF hereby alleges and incorporates by reference paragraphs 1 through 22
inclusive.
30. That FSF is an Additional Insured under the ACE Policy referenced above and is
an insured pursuant to 2b(2)(a)(b).
31. That as an Additional Insured, FSF is entitled to coverage under the ACE Policy
and to defense and indemnity in connection with the McRae Litigation claims against FSF.
32. That ACE has failed to provide such defense and indemnity and as a consequence
FSF has incurred actual damages, which include costs and attorneys fees incurred by FSF to
defend against the McRae plaintiffs claims.
33. That FSF has and will continue to incur damages in the form of costs and
attorneys fees, or as a result of the McRae plaintiffs claims against FSF, due to ACE's current
and continuing failure to provide defense and indemnity in breach of its obligations under the
ACE Policy.
WHEREFORE, The Florida Strawberry Festival, Inc. demands judgment and favor
against ACE American Insurance Company and such other and further relief as the Court deems
just and proper, including costs and attorneys fees.
DEMAND FOR JURY TRIAL
Plaintiff, The Florida Strawberry Festival, Inc. demands trial by a jury on all issues
triable as a matter of right.
The provided text is an excerpt from a document filed in this case. For a full understanding of the case, one should read the complete court file, including the response.
Access to Court Records
The PACER system provides public access to federal and select state case filings, although you need to register to use the database. To find information about a case in the Index, copy the provided case number and paste that number into the search box in PACER.
File A Consumer Complaint
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy. © Copyright 2014, All rights reserved
This website is NOT associated with ACE Ltd., any of its affiliated companies, or employees
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3138
|
__label__wiki
| 0.512171
| 0.512171
|
« Only If The Republicans Weren't So White[The Therapist] | Main | Gratuitous Maximus[The Therapist] »
Bolivia's New President - Brought To You by Coke
Breaking on CNN:
The head of Bolivia's Supreme Court -- Eduardo Rodriguez -- has been sworn in as interim president to succeed the outgoing Carlos Mesa. ... The job of interim president automatically went to Rodriguez after two congressional leaders, who were first and second in line for the post, turned it down.
Senate leader Hormando Vaca Diez was first in line under Bolivia's constitution to be named as Mesa's successor, but the leaders of the street protests that have effectively shut down the capital of La Paz vowed to drive him from office if he gained power.
Leftist opposition leader Evo Morales lashed out late Wednesday at Vaca Diez, saying he was a wealthy landowner and another discredited member of the "mafia of the oligarchy" that has ruled Bolivia for decades.
"We will wage a campaign of civil disobedience" against any Vaca Diez presidency, warned Morales, a leader of poor coca leaf-farmers and a House deputy who heads a leftist party, the Movement Toward Socialism. "The street mobilizations will not halt."
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3139
|
__label__cc
| 0.711469
| 0.288531
|
Board index » Battlestar Galactica Discussion » Comm Chatter- General BSG Discussion
Caprica -- Who's Watching?
Post subject: Re: Caprica -- Who's Watching?
Up The Riverworld Without A Paddle
The virtual world is nice... looks also "retro-futurist", à la Blade Runner (zeppelins). The story seems sometimes very different from BSG... and sometimes simply too soapish. Like it hesitates between genres.
Let me guess: of course Zoe/Robot isn't destroyed. Tyrell Graystone's wife maybe only fell into water under the bridge. And poor Papadama will maybe see Tamara again, after all?
Captain of the Praetorian Guard of Her Majesty Empress Boomer
Jack Raby
Location: Namur,Belgium
I watched all eps in a row. I found if far better than expected/feared. Even if far from perfect. Virtual world à la Blade Runner but less gloomy. Doesn't give the same depressing feeling.
BTW I've re-watched season 4.5. and I discovered a reference to STO in 'Islanded in a Stream of Stars' I hadn't notice the first time I saw it.
Jack Raby wrote:
Virtual world à la Blade Runner but less gloomy. Doesn't give the same depressing feeling.
Ah yes, the streets...
I still can hear the don't walk - don't walk... , pass now - pass now... ,
& also move on - move on... (From the Police spinners)
terribleted
Virtual World is my favorite pat of Caprica. Love the Blimp of Death!
Well, a few months late in getting to this topic. Sorry.
I liked the first half of the season. I like the idea of a genius teenager (actually two teenagers, if you count Tamara) as the prototype cylon mind. Explains so much about the anger.
I, too, would like to see Grace Park appear in a decent role. But I do love that this program has strong female characters, too (even if the two primary adult ones are each a little nuts). I'm hoping Amanda and Clarice will have a little more depth in the second half of the season.
I'm fascinated to learn much of Admiral Adama's morality came from his Uncle Sam the mob enforcer.
The V-World is great.
And I love that there's not a single lovable character in the show. The storylines themselves have been strong enough to hold my interest, as it should be. The only shipping in this show, so far, involves sending cargo off-world.
Scrawny71
arial wrote:
Yeah, it explains a lot.
No lovable characters? What Serge and Caesar/Jake? And doesn't Zoe-A's predicament strike you as a littleBoomerish?
I think that Caprica has the potential to be a better-realised cousin of BSG. The acting is just as good, Bear McCreary's music is fantastic and the whole "mood piece" vibe sits well here as compared to the end of BSG. I also think that Jane Espenson's considerable talent will prove to be better employed here than on the other show.
Posted: Fri Jul 09, 2010 11:10 pm
Oh, my bad! Of course I love Serge and Caesar/Jake. I shouldn't have discounted them just because they're not human characters. However, Serge could still end up a key cylon player (not that I'd blame him, given the lack of respect from the humans).
In some ways, ZoeA's predicament is like Boomer's, but Zoe chose to be involved with a fringe group and made her own avatar to benefit that group, whereas Boomer had her programming "adjusted" by Cavil before BSG began (that none of the other Numbers "remembered" about their "parents," the Final Five shows that), so one bears some responsibility for her own fate, while the other never got to think about it first. In all honesty, I'm having a problem deciding where Zoe leaves off and ZoeA becomes a separate entity, belief-wise. But ZoeA does sometimes seem like an innocent caught up in things beyond her understanding.
Love Bear's music in this series just as much as in BSG. In this one he gets to show a little more of his romantic side.
I think this is a better fit for JE, but worry that she may have too much on her plate, with her being the co-creator of Warehouse 13. (I didn't realize that until this week )
That kind of faded out in the last few episodes. Just too much on the plate?
I guess I've found Caprica uneven so far. It seems to be trying to establish a bunch of pieces without a strong narrative hook, which is risky. I thought the best episode was the one where Tamara and that guy explored the V-world. It had a clear sense of focus on one piece that some episodes simply lack.
I'm curious whether the final episode indicated a real change of pace, or whether it will revert to form. By that, I mean is Amanda really dead or the ZOE plot-line going to fundamentally alter? If so, perhaps that shakeup we read about had a dramatic effect of some kind. If not, then it might just be more of a tonal thing.
It will be interesting to see if it finds a rhythm, and if it can do well enough when it comes back to garner renewal.
In all honesty, I'm having a problem deciding where Zoe leaves off and ZoeA becomes a separate entity, belief-wise.
That would an interesting topic for the show to really bore into. I'd like to see that more than the computer dating routine.
Scrawny71 wrote:
So how's it going? Did Caprica air the same time in Europe, or was there a delay?
NT2 wrote:
It was ten or eleven days behind to start with, but then the Stateside broadcast apparently had a week-long hiatus while we didn't. I'm looking forward to more discussion on it when it returns.
sunshine_alien
Mayor of Dogsville
I agree that the whole "mood piece" vibe works better with Caprica than it did on Galactica. That said, I also think Caprica hasn't found its stride yet. I've yet to see much that really compares with the first two seasons of Galactica.
I hope it picks up in September. If it does wind up getting cancelled, I'd like to miss it.
I'm not so wild about Little Bill at present, but I do like "gay uncle hit man," as a friend calls him.
S2 has started. I think the two first episodes are pretty bad. It seems the writers, once again, really don't know what to do with this story. Caprica isn't worth a second season imho.
Actually, I thought the last episode was pretty good...one of the best so far. It managed to convey a sense of dread, which reminded me of BSG in a way.
Caprica iz dead.
http://www.deadline.com/2010/10/syfy-cancels-caprica/
It's over for Syfy's Battlestar Galactica prequel Caprica. The cable network said today that it will be pulling the show off the schedule effective immediately. The final five episodes of the sci-fi saga will air in the first quarter of 2011 and will mark the end of the series' one-season run.
Can't say I'm sad...
The cable network just greenlighted a two-hour pilot for Battlestar Galactica: Blood & Chrome, about the young years of Ensign William Adama, which hails from Battlestar Galactica exec producer David Eick.
I guess this will look like TOS-Battlestar.
Look here for links about that.
Jump to: Select a forum ------------------ General Discussion Fleet News Service- Site Updates The Hayloft- General Discussion Forum Tahmoh and Grace Discussion Tahmoh And Grace In The Public Eye Grace And Tahmoh On The Screen Extras Battlestar Galactica Discussion Comm Chatter- General BSG Discussion Helo And Sharon And The Eights Discussion Fanfiction The Fighting Agathons- Helo and Sharon Fanfiction Athena Fanfiction- You Pick Your Side And You Stick Boomer Fanfiction- A Hero Of The Cylon Helo Fanfiction- He's A Good Man; He Always Does The Right Thing BSG Others Fanfiction- Well, This Should Be Interesting Dollhouse Fanfiction- Let's Be Neighborly Whistler Fanfiction- Morose Is The New Brooding Leftovers Graphics The Red Carpet- Grace and Tahmoh Public Appearances Aloha! The Hiwahiwa Grace Helo and Sharon Graphics- Together No Matter What The Memorial Wall- Miscellaneous BSG Graphics Through The Looking Glass- Dollhouse Graphics Pretty Pictures- Other Graphics Vids Helo/Sharon Vids- Love So Complete The Dream House- Boomer Vids The Bucket- BSG Vids Moving Pictures- General Vids
Style by HighDefGeek
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3142
|
__label__cc
| 0.721549
| 0.278451
|
Shop Imagination
About A Day of Imagination
The Swiss Orange Project
The Swiss Orange Project is now available in e-book and print formats in a grand collection that completes the first section of the 12 book series:
Audiobook via Soundcloud.
Audio/visual companion via Youtube.
Creatureform fables take place on the earth of Kaia, a planet like ours many manies away, and probably a long time ago.
These are the people who could turn into animals. This is their story in their darkest hour and their greatest legend.
This Omnibus collects Books 1-6. The Swiss Orange Project is a 10 book series. Individual copies of Books 1-6 are available on www.shopimagination.com as well as on GoodReads and www.swissorange.com (where you can obtain free digital copies).
Book 1: Celladore
Book 2: The Egg
Book 3: The Man of Flames
Book 4: The Smoke
Book 5: What to do with the Fakes
Book 6: Spirits and Limits
Available on: GooglePlay Books, Amazon, and Apple iBook
Posted by A Day of Imagination at 6:04 AM No comments:
Pathetic Pussy
What is Pathetic Pussy?
Pathetic Pussy is the story of what happens when a man is afraid to admit any pain in his life, caused or inflicted, except when he serves to gain something by appearing injured.
Albert Cross has a wife, a son, a good paying job, and a natural lust for life (and women). When he loses everything except for his lust, Al must face reality: he’s nothing more than a pathetic pussy, but, will he believe it?
Albert Cross is a man of great weakness, though he would never admit it. He believes a man should show no sign of weakness, and that any man that does is a pathetic pussy. When Al’s choices expose him for who he is, he continues to deny the existence of his faults, except when he can use his apparent weakness to attract women, even a fifteen-year old girl who seems to be able to read his mind and with whom he becomes immediately infatuated.
Pathetic Pussy is a graphic tale of a man’s sexual desire for women, a story of a man’s endless hunger, which cannot be satiated, in a world where there is no such thing as satisfaction, just what else is out there to fill a man’s plate.
From Pathetic Pussy, by Stephen Demone:
The smell of rain falling onto hot soil flows through the window with the wind of the oncoming storm. She says dirty words. Do you want more? To satiate is a dirty thing, she’s mine, a possession, equally dirty and never satiates. She says dirty words. She talks about my wife. Does she fuck you like this? No. I don’t think so.
Published by A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation © 2014
www.shopimagination.com
Amazon Direct link
@s_demone10 on Twitter
Posted by A Day of Imagination at 2:13 PM No comments:
A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation is proud to announce it's next release, After the End, a new novel by Stephen Demone.
After the End will be available in Print (Amazon) and Digital (Kindle, Kobo, Direct PDF) October 2013.
The Swiss Orange Project Book 3: The Man of Flames
The Swiss Orange Project, not a single path is its own adventure, but a part of something much greater.
A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation is proud to announce the release of the third installment of The Swiss Orange Project series. Author Stephen Demone says that Fantasy fans should expect this to be the hottest book in the series so far. "Book 1 and 2 set the stage for this fiery installment of the series," he said, and of course, burning our hands putting it together proved he was right, and we have the burn marks to prove it:
No Part of the World
A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation is proud to announce the release of its newest title, "No Part of the World", by Stephen Dawson.
No Part of the World is a fictional account of a boy growing up a strict religious upbringing in a fictional religious organization named "God's People".
Stephen Dawson loves his family, his friends, and his God, but over time these loves gradually contrapose each another leaving Stephen demoralized and angered about the challenges of remaining No Part of the World and steadfastly in God's Favour as One of His Chosen People.
No Part of the World is a story that parallels the struggle of many young people born into a religious upbringing, and the struggle to separate while not harming their family, themselves and their own faith in the Unknown forces behind life, death, belief, and the Truth.
No Part of the World for sale on Amazon Kindle and also direct from our online store (in PDF format).
The Swiss Orange Project: It's a STORY not a Book
OTTAWA – Fiction lovers rejoice! The Swiss Orange Project is old-time story-telling with a futuristic twist. Published by A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation, The Swiss Orange Project Book 1: Celladore was introduced today as the first release of the 12 book series.
Author Stephen Demone made the following statement through his manager The Face:
"The Swiss Orange Project is a modern fantasy set in a world just like ours. The struggle of its people echoes our own struggle to understand our humanity and our place in the world."
The Swiss Orange Project Book 1: Celladore is the first leg of a new adventure in a rich world full of wonder and mystery. The pages (both digital and print) are alive with colour in words and images, fully illustrated, and also companioned by a full dramatic reading that further enriches the experience, and charms the imagination.
Whimsical and unusual, meant for serious lovers of storytelling and imagination. The Swiss Orange Project is make-believe made to make you believe – and you will.
The Swiss Orange Project Book 1: Celladore and Book 2: The Egg are available for sale in print and digital format directly at shopimagination.com
Posted by A Day of Imagination at 12:51 AM No comments:
A(nother) New Publisher? A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation is Just That: The New Publisher, The Publisher of the New Age
OTTAWA – A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation started business today with the announcement of its first release, The Swiss Orange Project Book 1: Celladore.
Chief Business Operator Stephen Demone had the following statement:
“A Day of Imagination is all that is needed to change a dull and repetitive landscape. Our world is not dull and repetitive. Business cannot be either if it is to be successful. A new publisher such as A Day of Imagination will face great challenges. Our business model will guide us towards our ultimate goal of creating a rich new publishing house that trains its artists to self-promote and adopt an entrepreneurial spirit in the writing and delivery of their works. To help our artists not only become published but to help them grow into complete individuals, capable, able to apply their creative skills to any situation or challenge and to utilize all tools and resources at their disposal to create the necessary conditions for success.”
The first release by A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation is now available for sale online through the company’s website (www.adayofimaginaton.com) or directly at www.shopimagination.com. The Swiss Orange Project comprises 12 books of which A Day of Imagination has signed on to publish all 12 with Book 2 pending publication and set for release in 2013.
For more information on A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation please visit www.adayofimagination.com or email info@adayofimagination.com.
Advertising piece for The Swiss Orange Project, Published by A Day of Imagination Corporation.
Available for sale at www.theswissorangestore.com.
Published in Canada.
info@adayofimagination.com
Posted by A Day of Imagination at 11:11 PM No comments:
A Day of Imagination Publishing Corporation. Travel theme. Powered by Blogger.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3143
|
__label__wiki
| 0.975073
| 0.975073
|
'The Hot Flashes' premiere
Eliza Roberts and Eric Roberts - The Los Angeles premiere of 'The Hot Flashes' - Arrivals - Los Angeles, California, United States - Thursday 27th June 2013 (3 Pictures)
Eliza Roberts and Eric Roberts
Photo credit: FayesVision
The Los Angeles opening night of 'Mike Tyson -...
View All: 'The Hot Flashes' premiere
Next Eric Roberts Slideshow: The Los Angeles opening night of 'Mike Tyson - Undisputed Truth' - Los Angeles California United States - Friday 8th March 2013
More: 'The Hot Flashes' premiere
2016 Los Angeles Film Festival - 'Opening Night' Premiere - Arrivals
2016 Los Angeles Film Festival - 'The Hollars' Premiere - Arrivals
'Room' Screening And Q&A
The Resurrection Of Jake The Snake Screening And Q&A
Premiere Screening Of FX's 'Fargo'
Premiere Of FX's 'Fargo' Held At The Arclight Cinemas Hollywood
Sicario Screening And Q&A With Benicio Del Toro
Prophet's Prey Screening And Q&A
Arclight Cineramadome
'The Hot Flashes' premiere - Los Angeles California United States - Thursday 27th June 2013
Eric Roberts Gallery
More Eric Roberts Photos
LA Slasher Trailer
On the streets of Los Angeles, people will do anything for fame. Sometimes, they'll turn...
Human Centipede 3 Trailer
Bill Boss is a prison warden at one of the most notorious jails in the...
Inherent Vice Movie Review
Like the Thomas Pynchon novel it's based on, this film remains infuriatingly evasive as its...
Inherent Vice Trailer
Larry "Doc" Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a simple man. When he's not abusing illicit substances,...
Doc Sportello (Joaquin Phoenix) is a private investigator living in Los Angeles during the tail...
Lovelace Movie Review
An unusual structure gives this biopic a surprising kick as it explores both sides of...
Lovelace Trailer
Linda Lovelace was a hugely successful pornographic actress who hit global stardom with her 1972...
The Expendables Movie Review
Relentlessly loud and bombastic, this old-school thriller is clearly trying to exceed the 1980s action...
The Expendables Trailer
Barney Ross is the leader of a group of mercenary fighters, his team is made...
Doa: Dead Or Alive Movie Review
Dead or Alive could be the most literal cinematic interpretation of a computer game ever...
It's My Party Movie Review
Like the outstanding Longtime Companion, Randal Kleiser's It's My Party shows what happens as AIDS...
Phat Girlz Movie Review
In a world of skinny bitches, the aggressively smart-mouthed Jazmin Biltmore is larger than life...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3144
|
__label__wiki
| 0.837786
| 0.837786
|
EPISODE #2010-65 Part #2
Grant said, "If you don't want me running for Mayor, just say the word. As much as I've come to realize I want back in that game, as much as I'd like to leave some kind of legacy that Kirkland can be proud of, I won't sacrifice the people I love to do it. Not this time."
"Wow. I didn't realize that hope and change had trickled down quite this far the political landscape."
"I mean it, Marley."
"And I mean this." She leaned forward, kissing him lightly, proceeding to murmur three words destined to affect both their lives for the foreseeable future. "Count me in."
"Really? You're sure?" His grin froze halfway up, as if Grant couldn't accept his good fortune quite yet.
"Sure that it's going to be an insane, bloodcurdling, outrageous experience akin to getting a public root canal in the nude."
"Then why — "
"Who am I to hold back greatness?"
"Please, Marley. Be serious."
"I am. I have never seen you this excited. And I've seen you pretty darn excited."
"Apples and oranges," Grant mumbled with an almost embarrassed smile.
"Not to mention, I remember back when you were running for the Senate. Before matters got so complicated between the two of you, Vicky would just gush about all the things you wanted to do, all the plans you had for improving people's lives. You weren't an evil, mustache-twirling politician only out for yourself. You had ambitions. Admirable ambitions. If I can help you achieve even some of those things now...I want to. At least, I want to give it a try."
"I thought, instead of letting Felicia play intermediary, you and I could talk," Frankie told Lorna. "Get everything out into the open."
"Okay," Lorna agreed, opening the door to the guesthouse and waving her unexpected visitor inside.
Frankie noted the boxes in their various stages of assembly; Lorna perched on the ground with a roll of masking tape. She said, "I hear you and Jamie are moving in together."
"Yup. I'm sure my mother told you all about it. Including why it's a lousy idea."
"She's worried about you."
"So she says."
Frankie smiled faintly. "You sound like Charlie."
Unable to think of a response that wouldn't use at least three of the seven words George Carlin claimed you once couldn't say on television, Lorna merely shrugged in response and continued to focus on her packing.
Frankie got the hint. She offered, "I understand why you're doing this. I believe that you love Lori Ann. You would have made a wonderful mother for her."
"Yeah, well," Lorna stood up off the floor, flipping the roll of tape in her hand. "You're about the only one who thought so."
"We all did what we thought was best for her at the time."
"Spare me, okay? I had a front row seat to Cass' version of doing what was best. Killing Cecile and letting Jamie take the fall for it sure would have been best for him. Screw everyone else."
"He didn't let that happen. He stepped forward."
"Only after Lucas did." Lorna wondered, "Is that really the kind of example you want to set for Lori Ann? You want her growing up with a father who's a criminal and a liar and a coward, to boot?"
"Cass Winthrop," Frankie seethed. "Is the bravest man I have ever known. He could have kept quiet. But he didn't. He could have fought the charges. But he didn't. He sacrificed his own life so that your mother didn't have to lose Lucas yet another time."
"True," Lorna mused. "I suppose he could have put on pantyhose and gone undercover as Crystal Lake again to avoid taking responsibility for his actions. You're right. Cass has grown as a person. Bully for you both."
"I take it back," Frankie said after a moment. "You may have wanted to be Lori Ann's mother. But you are nowhere near being ready to raise a child. You're still one yourself. A petty, selfish, jealous child. Being a parent means putting your needs secondary to someone else's. It means being able to see beyond your own immediate interests."
"Was Cass looking out for Charlie and Lori Ann's interests when he poisoned Cecile?"
"He was. And he still is. I came here, Lorna, believing that we could work something out. I thought that you could be reasonable. I guess that was a mistake."
"You want me to be reasonable about my niece being raised by a killer?"
"I do. When the alternative is her being raised by a rapist."
Driving back to Bay City, Jen didn't take her eyes off the road as she asked Alice, "How much longer does he have?"
"A day. Maybe two at the most."
"You know, I thought about going to medical school. When you're good at science, it's kind of a gimme."
"What stopped you?" Alice wondered. "Organic chem.?"
"Organic chem. didn't help," Jen admitted. "But, no, it was... this. I knew I couldn't hack it. A nineteen year old kid dying... no, thanks. I ran into the research lab, locked the door behind me, buried my head in a stack of books and never looked back." She wondered, "How do you do it? How do you deal with the illogic of it? It's just not right. This isn't how it's supposed to work. It makes no evolutionary sense. The human race is allegedly single-mindedly devoted to the propagation of our species. Dying young goes against everything commonsense and natural and... damn it," she wiped her eyes with the back of one hand, struggling to control the car with the other.
"Those stacks of books to bury your head in aren't particularly helpful once you get out in the real world, are they?" Alice asked gently.
"Only for throwing in anger," she choked out, then changed the subject. "Gregory delivered Allie's baby, you know. That wasn't too pleasant of an experience either. Probably worse for her than for me, since I just watched. But at least it had a point."
"I had a daughter," Alice said slowly. "She died young, too. Not as young as Gregory, but young enough that I'm still trying to figure out the point of it. And I've long ago given up looking through books for the answers."
"Your daughter was my dad's mother, right? She was your only child?"
"I'd lost a baby earlier, before I adopted Sally."
"Dad doesn't talk about her much."
"I wouldn't expect him to."
Jen snuck a peek sideways and told Alice, "He's really not a bad guy."
"I'm sure he isn't. A bad guy couldn't have raised a notable young woman like you."
"He's just... a little messed up about some things."
"Aren't we all?"
"I don't know; you seem to have it together pretty much."
"At my age, you don't really get a choice in the matter."
Jen smiled at that, asking, "Why did you come back to your office this afternoon?"
"You mean, why didn't I fall for your little ploy?"
"Yeah," she agreed sheepishly.
"Dumb luck mostly. I almost did. But, halfway out to my car, I decided I wasn't in the mood for Kevin to harangue me about yet another behavioral infraction — imaginary or otherwise. So I called his phone to ask what this was all about, and got a recorded message saying he was scheduled to be in court all day. I think a better question is, how do you expect your dad not to find out about your sending me that message?"
"I erased the text right after I sent it. You got it, but there's not going to be a record left in his phone. He could recover it, I suppose. But why would he think to?"
"I see," Alice said. "Smart girl."
"Obviously not nearly as smart as I thought." Jen hesitated. "Dr. Frame?"
"Yes?"
"My grandmother Camille, she died when I was ten."
"I'm sorry."
"I still miss her. I mean, my dad is great, he did everything he could.... But it's not the same thing. Do you... would you... do you think it might be okay if I called you.... Grandma?"
Alice cleared her throat and leaned over briefly, squeezing Jen's arm as she paused under a traffic light. "I would be honored."
"Got a minute for me, Counselor?" Lila grabbed Kevin by the tie as he was walking down a courthouse hallway and pulled him into an empty utility closet, pinning him against the wall, between the mops and cleaning products, and kissing him before he'd had the chance to answer one way or another.
"Hello, Lila," he replied, non-committal, scrambling to keep her hands off the buttons and zippers she seemed determined to simultaneously undo. "I'm sorry, but Family Court is a bit like Denny's. No shirt, no shoes, no service."
"Family Court can wait," Lila's tongue snaked his ear.
"I'm afraid it can't." Kevin forcefully pushed Lila away, holding her stiffly at arm's length. "And neither can my saying this: Cut it out, Lila. I don't need you popping me out of court to remind me about how fantastic you are. I know exactly how fantastic you are. If I didn't, I wouldn't be with you. And I am with you. Last night, I — "
"Made a fool of yourself over Amanda."
"No question about it. And I apologize. Again. I promise I'll make it up to you."
Lila admitted, "I didn't mind you ogling her so much. Pretty woman working it that hard deserves to be ogled; I can't hold that against her."
"Then what's the problem?"
"Problem is, you weren't just taking stock of the merchandise, you were glaring daggers at Grant for doing the exact same thing."
"So?"
"You were jealous, Kevin. Jealous that she was laying it on so fast and furious for him, and not for you."
Kevin hesitated. "I suppose maybe I was."
"Jesus Christ, Counselor, you ain't under oath. Whatever happened to being a gentlemen and letting loose with a little white lie or two to guard a lady's ego?"
"I respect you too much to do that, Lila."
"Gee, thanks," she snorted.
"I've always been straight with you, and I intend to keep on being straight with you. Yes, I was jealous last night. But it didn't mean anything beyond the fact that I'm a selfish jerk. Once something was mine, I don't like anybody else having it. Even if I don't want it anymore. It's a real problem. I often grieve about it on long winter evenings."
Lila had to laugh at that. "I used to think I wanted an honest man. But you fellows ain't exactly everything you're cracked up to be."
"I know," he pulled Lila closer, smiling and ducking his head to kiss her neck. "Good thing it makes us work extra hard to compensate...."
"I am getting too old for this," Jamie announced after a last minute three-point shot by Cory gave him and Kirkland the victory — and bragging rights — to top off the afternoon's basketball game.
"Or maybe we're just getting too good," Kirkland countered, laughing and tossing Jamie a can of root beer from the cooler they'd dragged out.
"You're just getting tall," Jamie corrected. "This guy, on the other hand," he patted a still-giddy Cory on the back. "You've really improved since the last time we played. Think you'll go out for the J-V team this year? I think Kirkland was just about your age when he started. Eighth grade, right, Kirk?"
His son nodded, but Jamie's youngest brother merely shook his head and parroted the company line. "Father thinks I should focus on school for now. Plus, I already have fencing and ju-jitsu and chess..."
"Translation: Hutchins men don't do team sports. At least not plebian ones like basketball."
"Anyway, now that you and Kirk are moving out, I won't have anyone to practice with."
"There's Uncle Matt," Kirkland pointed out as the three of them walked back towards the house.
"Matt has no game," Jamie and Cory said in near unison.
"We'll come around lots," Kirkland reassured. "Dad's new place doesn't have a court."
"Yeah," Jamie teased his son. "We're really going to be roughing it." Then slung a comforting arm over Cory's shoulder, "We'll all still spend plenty of time together, you just wait and see."
"I don't know, bro," Matt crossed paths with them on the patio, having overheard Jamie's promise. "You know how it is when you have a new kid. No time for anyone or anything else."
Kirkland's head jerked at that, as he looked at Jamie, both curious and accusing. "Are you and Lorna having a baby?"
"Stealing one, is more like it," Matt answered before Jamie could get a word in. "Lori Ann. Oh, wait... You are going to keep her name as Lori Ann, right? Knowing Lorna, she'll want to change that, too, soon as the adoption goes through."
"If you adopt Lori Ann," Cory scrunched up his face as if in the midst of a thorny math problem. "She'll be my niece on two sides. Through you, and then through Jenna."
"Yeah," Matt taunted. "Pretty messed up family tree you're setting up there, Jamie."
Primarily concerned with pulling Kirkland aside so he could offer his version of Matt's inopportune bombshell, Jamie hurried to shut his brother up, snapping, "First of all, if any of us ever stopped to really think about all the ways that we're related to each other, we'd be perennially reaching for a barf bag. Secondly, nothing about Lorna and I adopting Lori Ann is a done deal. And, last, but most certainly not least," Jamie leveled a heated look at Matt. "Nothing about me, Lorna, or Lori Ann is really any of your business. So you can keep your opinions and your wisecracks to yourself."
"Make me."
"Look," unwilling to get into a shoving match in front of the kids, Jamie tried to be the adult one, calmly reasoning, "I know things with Donna haven't worked out the way you would have liked. But that doesn't give you the right to act like a — "
"Spare me the understanding big brother act. It just pisses me off more."
"Okay." Jamie gave up. "You're right. That's what I live for, Matt. To piss you off."
"You and Lorna deserve each other. Two, annoying, sanctimonious peas in a pod. God, Jamie, will you pull your head out of Lorna's — "
"Matt!" He jerked his head in the wide-eyed boys' direction. "What the hell is your problem?" Then, softening, added, "Please. I want to help. I want to understand."
"How very Mac of you," Matt sneered. "Sorry to disappoint you, Jamie, but you are no Mac Cory. So don't you dare pretend."
"I know that," Jamie agreed. "None of us is. Which, frankly, is a damn shame."
"You don't know the half of it," Matt mumbled, stomping off.
"What?" Spencer barked in response to Grant's knock on his study door.
"It's just me, Dad." He felt as if he should duck and cover before entering. "Nice to see you, too."
"Don't be cute."
"Alright," Grant hesitantly took the chair across from him. "So tell me something, are you ever going to snap out of this nasty mood you've been in, or must I just accept that this is you from now till the end of time?"
"Luckily, that shouldn't be too much longer."
"I'm sorry, Dad," Grant ventured. "I know that Alice Frame — "
"Leave her out of it."
"Okay," he agreed and just sat silently for a few moments, until Spencer couldn't take it anymore.
"So. What brings you here? Beyond criticizing my mental state, that is."
"I had a thought this afternoon that I wanted to run by you. I'm thinking of throwing my hat into the ring for Mayor of Bay City. Again."
"Against that District Attorney fellow?"
"Uh-hm."
Spencer leaned back in his chair, thinking. "He's run a damn good campaign so far."
"You should know, you contributed to it."
Spencer's glare suggested Grant might want to get off that subject, and fast. "You'd have to hit him where he's most vulnerable. The absolute mess he made of Cecile's murder trial. Three false arrests, and then the real kill just waltzes in, no thanks to him."
"Plus," Grant, despite promising himself not to get too excited, couldn't help all but rubbing his hands together with glee. "Hamilton's against gay marriage. Sure, he's got some libertarian bullshit rationalization about how government should have no say in legislating marriage, period. But any opponent who can't run with that hypocrisy as a campaign issue is an imbecile."
"And I didn't raise any imbeciles," Spencer noted.
Grant said, "I got to admit, I'm surprised. I didn't expect you to be so supportive. I thought, at best, I was in for a lengthy review of my many previous political failures."
"To what end? Especially when we both know that, ultimately, your failures are my failures."
"Actually, Dad, I wouldn't say we knew that at all."
"Really? You mean I've never mentioned it before?" Spencer wondered innocently. "Must have been an oversight on my part. Now, may I have the honor of writing the first check towards the Grant Harrison for Mayor Fund?"
"She has to be doing it on purpose," Felicia didn't so much tell Lucas as plead with him to confirm her suspicions. "Lorna has to be deliberately misinterpreting everything I say. There's no other explanation for it."
"What happened?" he sighed, already dreading hearing the answer.
"I try to look out for her. I try to give her some advice. And she responds as if I'm out to get her. Like I am trying to make her unhappy."
"She knows how you feel about her and Jamie. That it's all happening too fast, that nobody is looking before they leap. That's bound to cause some friction."
"Oh, this was a lot more than friction. Friction is Lorna and I on a good day."
"Just give it some time, Fanny. Either things will work out and then there'll be no more reason for you to worry, or they'll fall apart on their own and — "
"But that's what I'm trying to help her avoid. I don't want to see Lorna hurt again. And certainly not by the likes of Jamie Frame, of all people. That would definitely be the ultimate insult."
Lucas mused, "Would that be one of those helpful tips of yours that Lorna took offense to for no reason?"
Felicia hesitated; growing so serious that Lucas felt his supportive smile dying as if blown away by a particularly harsh wind.
"What is it?" he asked softly, no longer merely dreading the answer, but genuinely afraid to hear it.
"I — Every time she gets like this, I can't — I can't help thinking that Lorna, she wouldn't be like this if I had gotten the chance to raise her."
"But that's perfectly natural," Lucas exhaled in relief, having prepared for something much, much worse. "Of course you feel like that. And it's most likely true, too. She would be a different person if we'd gotten to raise her ourselves."
"No. You don't understand. That's not all of it. Sometimes, I look at Lorna, and I think — I can't stop myself from thinking — I think: My daughter wouldn't be like this. This can't possibly be my daughter." Felicia looked at Lucas, standing there silent. She challenged, "Aren't you going to tell me that's perfectly natural, too?"
"I — I don't know," he told her honestly. "Probably, maybe it is."
"I fought so hard for her! When she refused to accept us as her parents, I begged her! And I begged you to accept her! I threw a party so I could tell the whole world: Look! Look at my baby!"
"She's not your baby," Lucas said abruptly.
"What?" Felicia cocked her head. "What are you talking about?"
"You and me, Fanny, we spent years looking for our lost baby. We said it again and again, we wanted our baby back. And then we got her. Only she wasn't our baby. She was a beautiful, talented, complicated, troubled, difficult grown woman. We didn't go looking for that. We weren't prepared for that. We got Lorna. Lorna and all that entails. What if, Fanny — what if you're still waiting for the baby girl of your dreams? And what if you haven't accepted yet that you are never, ever going to get her?"
"Please go," Spencer told Alice when he found her on his doorstep, insisting that she needed to speak with him immediately.
She refused to budge. Instead, Alice reminded Spencer, "You said to me, months ago, that you were determined not to make a single mistake in our relationship. Sending me away now, without hearing what I have to say, would most very definitely be a mistake."
POLL: Should Spencer hear Alice out?
That you for voting! Come back next week to see the results.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3145
|
__label__wiki
| 0.877461
| 0.877461
|
Home / Music / Albums / Band’s First Album – Khoj
Band’s First Album – Khoj
Buy From OKListen
CategoryAlbums TagsAntariksh, Antariksh Khoj, Hindi Prog Rock, Hindi Rock Album, Khoj, Prog Rock Album
The band’s first album, ‘Khoj’ is about a search for identity, a quest to understand our own nature. It is in moments of disconnection from our own selves that the journey inward begins – Khoj, an intense and passionately crafted musical journey, captures these moments through hard, edgy Hindi rock music.
The album has a strong theme across all songs both musically as well as lyrically, touching topics such as ethics, identity crises, hope, greed, chaos and realization – emotions that are a part of our everyday lives. The music is thought provoking, hard rock with elements of reggae, ambient, electronica. Through Khoj, the band elegantly integrates their diverse backgrounds and love for music into a coherent masterpiece that is set to re-define Hindi Rock.
The album also features guest performances by guitar virtuoso Baiju Dharmajan (ex-Motherjane), Gaurav Chintamani (Advaita), Indian classical singer Rini Rajput, Sid Mathur, and Kartik Dhar (Nasya).
Be the first to review “Band’s First Album – Khoj” Cancel reply
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3146
|
__label__cc
| 0.564493
| 0.435507
|
The Estuary Plan
Flood Cell 1
Flood Cells 6 & 7
Flood Cell 10 North & South Aldeburgh
Flood Cell 11
Flood Cells 12 & 13
SoS Estuary Trailer
Estuary Trust Donations
EADT – 20 September 2019
September 24, 2019 / No Comments
Pioneering collaboration aims to protect precious area of Suffolk with £27m project
Richard Cornwell
The Alde and Ore estuary stretching towards the sea – Snape Maltings in the foreground and Aldeburgh in the distance Picture: MIKE PAGE
The pioneering collaboration comes as part of the Alde and Ore Estuary Partnership’s (AOEP) plans to put in place a programme of work, including raising river walls, to make the estuary landscape of homes, businesses and protected wildlife resilient to a one-in-200 year tidal surge.
Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey hosted the meeting at Snape Maltings Picture: AOEP
The meeting of some of the most senior utility directors in the UK took place at Snape Maltings, hosted by Suffolk Coastal MP Therese Coffey.
The AOEP and the fundraising charity Alde and Ore Estuary Trust called for the meeting to ensure all stakeholders in the region with interests in areas at risk of flooding were fully aware of the proposed works and to understand opportunities for partnership working and funding bids.
Representatives from Anglian Water, Essex and Suffolk Water, EDF and UK Power Networks joined the discussion with the Environment Agency, New Anglia LEP, CEFAS and East Suffolk Internal Drainage Board, which has been commissioned to complete the upgrading of the river walls.
Chairing the meeting, AOEP’s Alison Andrews said: “We were delighted that the utility companies attended with such a positive attitude to listen, collaborate and share ideas and plans.
“We now have a plan to move forward with the team from the Coastal Partnership East to keep the momentum of collaboration going, which is the only way that we can all benefit from the resilience we need to build to avoid the disastrous floods of 1953 hitting the region again.”
Dr Coffey said: “I was delighted to bring together key figures from the Alde and Ore Estuary Partnership, and the utility companies with infrastructure in the area.
“The community and local landowners are really engaged in how best to protect this amazing area from flooding.
“I thought we had a good discussion on how to work with large companies with key infrastructure assets. I was pleased such senior executives attended and I am confident that further detailed discussions will follow.”
The Partnership asks anyone who value this very special place and want to help protect the economy and all the wonderful amenities on offer in the estuary, to please help by making a donation or giving your time to support us via the Alde and Ore Estuary Trust.
For more information about the Estuary Plan, please visit the Alde and Ore Estuary Partnership website.
THE NEXT MEETING will be on Thursday 27th June 2019 2pm Orford Town Hall.
Press release: 16th September 2019 SAVE OUR SUFFOLK ESTUARY
Subscribe to the SOS Estuary Newsletter
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3150
|
__label__wiki
| 0.582339
| 0.582339
|
Vol. 11, Issue 63 - Saturday, March 4, 2006
S | S | M | T | W | T | F
No replay required of this episode
THERE were, Thursday night, a handful of calls in the Hawaii-New Mexico State men's basketball game at Stan Sheriff Center, that many in attendance, including myself, did not agree with. You know what I'm talking about. You yourself have yelled at the television over things like this. (Or at least you are related to someone who does this. Possibly by marriage.)
And then the replay would come -- because as part of the multi-million-dollar deal with UH, KFVE has installed huge, incredible, cool video screens in the SSC. And there, with video replay, in slow-motion, suspicions were confirmed: How could that be a foul! What were they watching? See!
Again, you know what I mean.
So people, understandably, made a little extra noise.
This happens. Basketball happens in a blink of an eye, and sometimes the refs miss a few, sometimes calls just go the other way. And then people hold their heads in disbelief.
Nothing dishonest. Nothing going on. But sometimes we're less forgiving of the human element when we've got a camera lens to catch what we might have otherwise missed. Sometimes, things look different on video than they do in real life. Sometimes, we don't know as much about basketball as we think we do (it's true).
Sometimes, yes, officials can and do have off nights (and we notice them more often on slow-mo).
But then, after yet another "questionable" whistle, one of the officials went up to one of KFVE's broadcast crew and ordered that no replays be made of "controversial calls." And he was pretty adamant about it, no questions asked.
Three feet away, I started laughing.
Then stop making bad calls!
He wasn't kidding.
This looked really, really, really, really, really bad.
Luckily, KFVE handled itself well, even as the guy got on the headset to have a "let me talk to your manager" moment. Um, they're TV. There seemed to be some misunderstanding on who exactly this ref thought he had authority over.
"We have nothing to do with it," KHNL/KFVE Vice President and General Manager John Fink said yesterday. "There is no rule. Zero rule about blacking stuff out. ... If UH chooses to cover it up and put their big H logo up over controversial calls they can do that. It's their arena."
After all, UH does replace KFVE's commercials with its own, in the arena. UH controls the feed.
And that is, Fink said, what UH eventually ended up doing in the final minutes, to calm everyone down. Apparently, including the officials.
You did have to feel bad for the guys. It did seem like they were having a heck of a rough night -- and with every replay, you could see it. In slow-motion to boot.
And in the end, it doesn't matter if they were wrong or right. Too late. That's the call.
And, of course, you don't want things getting out of hand, when the fans think they're seeing injustice after injustice, and with video proof.
"I understand the human logic for wanting it," Fink said.
Of course. But the way it went down, with what the ref seemed to be saying, in that environment, after all that had happened, at that moment, it just didn't look good. Just didn't feel right.
And that's a shame, for all involved.
Fink said the WAC, and the MPSF, might want to make rules about replays, so everybody knows, to avoid situations like this. And he's right.
Until then, make a bad call, take the heat. You know? This happens, in basketball. That's the way it goes, too.
And that's all it was, that night. Sometimes a replay will prove a ref wrong. Sometimes it will prove him right. Nothing's up. No big deal. No hard feelings. Everything's cool.
But Fink said he did get a kick out of it, at the end of the game. When after having ordered that replay not be allowed, the refs had a question about how much time was left on the clock. And they had to come over to ask to take a look at the videotape.
Kalani Simpson can be reached at ksimpson@starbulletin.com
E-mail to Sports
» Flood cleanup begins
» Gov. declares disaster, calls National Guard
» Sewage spills from rain pollute water
» Isle Dems' disputed gifts to be returned
» Help catch isles' most wanted fugitives
» Shark victim gets visit from family
» Albatross chicks could help endangered bird
» Big Island mayor requests tax limits
» High court reinstates blocked fee conversion
» Man pleads guilty in shooting of drug dealer
» Hawaii judge served in Army during WWII
» Whatever Happened To...
» Barometer of Cool
» The Hit List
» Religion Briefs
» View from the Pew
» Wood Craft
» Island Mele
» On Faith
» Seniors bid aloha to Hawaii hoop
» Rain forces 'Bows to play 2
» Warriors hyped up after road trip
» Carter faces DUI charge
» Kamehameha boys earn repeat paddling championship
» Notebook: Rainbow Basketball
» New bank to give 10% of profits to charity
» Hawaii efforts target active senior travelers
» Unemployment
» Hawaii Stock Index
» Keep David McClain as UH president
» Allow housing on ag land unfit for farming
Island Mele
Mary Adamski
Ben Wood
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3154
|
__label__wiki
| 0.571275
| 0.571275
|
Belgrade Blues
Letter from Belgrade
By Jasmina Tesanovic
I hope we all survive this war, the bombs: the Serbs, the Albanians, the bad and the good guys, those who took up the arms, those who deserted, refugees going around the Kosovo woods and Belgrade's refugees going around the streets with their children in arms, looking for nonexisting shelters, when the alarm for bombing sets off.
I hope that NATO pilots don't leave behind wives and children who I saw crying on CNN as their husbands were taking off for military targets in Serbia. I hope we all survive but not this world as it is.
. . . I went to the market in my neighborhood, it has livened up again, adapted to new conditions, new necessities: no bread from the state, but a lot of grain on the market, no information from the official TV, so small talk among frightened population of who is winning. Teenagers are betting on the corners: whose planes have been shot down, ours or theirs, who lies best, who hides best victims, who exposes best victories, or again victims. As if it were a football game of equals.
The city is silent and paralyzed, but still working, rubbish is taken away, we have water, we have electricity. But where are the people -- in houses, in beds, in shelters. I hear several personal stories of nervous breakdowns among my friends, male and female. Those who were in a nervous breakdown for the past year, since the war in Kosovo started, who were very few, now feel better: real danger is less frightening than fantasies of danger. I couldn't cope with the invisible war as I can cope with concrete needs: bread, water, medicines.
I think of the Albanians in Kosovo, of my friends and their fears, I think they must be worse off then us: fear springs up at that thought, it means that it is not the end yet.
Every evening I go with my friends and family to the big underground station in the neighborhood: I know people there already, of all ages and social types. They come with stools and small talk. We think of making an emergency plan: in all cases, we try to list the many possible developments of the situation. Hardly one can be good for us, common people who cannot believe anybody anymore, who have nothing but few dollars in our bags and a lot of bad experience. "At least we are not pathetic," I say, "and our children will not be spoiled." . . . I even say, "My daughter will be a rarity, a true Serbian raw beauty, ready to die for nothing: won't some cultures love that?" It will be so exciting for those who are afraid of lightning and thunder to see a thin teenager in jeans not afraid of bombs.
. . . I watch Jamie Shea from the NATO press conference, he is terribly precise, you hear him you hear it all, the reality that happens to us seems only a slight deviance from his course. But of course, it isn't that simple . . . I fight for my computer every day, every hour, everybody in my family wants my computer, the only one at home, for playing, for studying, for communicating.
We heard our friends from Kosovo, they don't want to speak on the phone, they are living already what will probably come to us in a few days: killings and looting of flats, houses, complete anarchy.
Today no bombs, I slept 16 hours, no alarm to wake me up. . . . A BBC journalist said Serbian people are big-hearted, they wouldn't have killed the pilot of the fallen plane, they would have given him homemade bread and brandy as they claim. But how come then NATO generals claim that Serbian are committing atrocities against Albanian civilians? I believe them both. . . .
My father used to dream of bombings long after the war was over, wake up during the night and take me out of my bed and carry me out to the basement: sleepwalking. I remember him doing it, I did it myself last night, to my daughter, a few times. I feel as if a sickness is getting out of my body, a long historical fever, a buried anxiety which I inherited being a Serb of Serbian father from Herzegovina . . .
Last night we spent in shelter, three grownups, five children and two dogs. Actually it is a private house with a good cellar next to a very decent deep underground station, the one where I spent the night Belgrade was first bombed, mostly inhabited by Gypsies and mothers with small children. Our group was a large family, a psychological family, we make a group on psychological not biological basis. Our group was based I think on fear to be hit by a NATO bomb or some local warrior. Yesterday a band of very primitive vandals was roaring through the city destroying windows and screaming at whoever they felt was different. But then police with shields scattered them: finally the police were doing what I expect them to do. In '97, during the demonstrations, those shielded policemen were on the other side from where I stood.
. . . We were expecting bombs in Belgrade downtown, CNN said so. Instead three American soldiers were captured by Yugoslav army, again CNN says so. It is a dirty dirty war, I say, frightened people in basements, bruised soldiers on TV without name, Albanian refugees crying in TV all the time saying all those things people should never have to say, especially not in TV. Human dignity is here at stake, of all of us, actors and onlookers. April 1st, the fool's day.
My parents are alone in their flat, they hardly hear the alarm, they watch official TV and every now and then phone me, saying, "Don't worry, it will be OK." And I feel better, the voice of my father calms me, as when I was a kid, he gives me security, I don't give that kind of security to my children. On the contrary, it is a choice not to: this world is not a safe place.
Today is the Catholic holy Friday . . . The son of my friend phoned last night from the battlefield: he could hardly speak, he said he was somewhere not saying where and that he was OK but that some of his friends were not so. The age limit for the volunteers who want to join the war has moved to 75 for men. What about women, no age limit, often they are even more loud in their patriotism?
I watch the sea of refugees orchestrated from both sides on the borders with Yugoslavia, Macedonia, Albania. It reminds me very much of the scene I saw in '95, when Serbs from Krajina were pouring into Serbia for days and days, without resistance, thoughts, ideas, of what and why has happened. I had a feeling it was orchestrated -- everything except for the pain and the actors themselves, they were natural.
It is morning, a beautiful sunny morning, I am crying . . . last night center Belgrade was bombed with appalling precision, yes the military targets, but only 20 meters from one of the biggest maternity hospitals in the Balkans, the one where I was born and years later gave birth. The destroyed building was Ministry of Interior: some of my friends remember being interrogated there.
I am relieved, happy with NATO precision, it was even raining, but I feel visible, exposed to those young responsible pilots who carry their cargo wondering will they make it to hit the military building without doing wrong to a newborn baby. They were all in shelters, the babies, the mothers, and I am crying, relieved, all this matter of life and death reminds me of a delivery, of my delivery, of being brave and crying at the same time.
Again a night in shelter. Another two bridges have been struck down towards Hungary and the railroad towards Montenegro is destroyed on the Bosnian territory by SFOR troops. Facts which make me claustrophobic, the wire is finally visible around our cage in the zoo: [Here are] wild bad Serbs from 13th century, some disguised in jeans, most speaking the language (English), but still different, aliens.
This NATO strategy is completely in line with local nationalists who said "when the maternity hospital suffered the concussions from bombs nearby our babies didn't even cry, because they are Serb babies . . . " Well, I am not a baby, but I cried yesterday like crazy, hearing the song "Tamo daleko" ("There far away is Serbia"). It is a beautiful sad song from World War I, when Serbian soldiers went to Thessaloniki, Greece, to fight, and only few came back.
My grandfather was one of them. . . . When I was a kid he used to sing me that song, when I grew up I sang that song abroad when asked to sing a Serbian song. It is the only Serbian song I know how to sing and make people cry: yesterday thousands of people sang it on the Square of Republic during the daily concert. But I couldn't sing it anymore, this is not my song anymore, this is not my Serbia anymore, not the one that my grandfather fought for. Far, far away is my Serbia, I am now in my own country in cage and in exile.
The most terrible thing in a way is that after all, nothing really happens: in the morning we are alive, we have food, we have electricity, we have even luxury articles like whiskey. But in a way, we were there, where it all happened, once again not us but to somebody else. As in false executions we survive our own death every night.
I entered a pharmacy, it was full, fuller than ever, but you couldn't get aspirins or tranquilizers, and everybody was asking for those. The supplies were out.
Another detail: sweet-shops are full, people are buying sweets like crazy -- emotional distress, lack of love. . . .
Today is the anniversary of the bombing of Belgrade in 1941 by Hitler. However the major damage to Belgrade was made at the end of the war by bombing of the allies, the so-called liberation or Britain bombs. I know everybody today here will use this parallel to feel better or worse, whatever. . . .
I was sitting on the terrace this morning, the sun was bathing me with great love, I was dreaming of the sea and clear sky of which we spoke last night waiting for air raids on the terrace, while the planes were flying over our heads. And the planes came again. But they didn't bomb Belgrade last night: again other places, other victims. I feel so guilty, more than ever this morning for this Other. My friends and enemies from all over the world ask me, do you realize how terrible it is in Kosovo? I do, I really do, and I feel guilty that we feel bad here without having the horror they do. But our war, for the past 10-50 years has always been this kind of invisible horror, we have still a long way to run to the catharsis, to be free from our bad conscience, wrong myths, inertia...
I feel we are being cut away from the rest of the world, more bridges down, more friends and enemies pointing out to us here how bad we are, more crazy people here making careers on screaming how we are heavenly people. And the people? In cellars or just in beds waiting for nothing.
I dreamed last night of bombs falling in my cellar, in my bed and afterwards feeling relieved and free. I should stop writing, I hate my dreams, thoughts and words. But it is a vice.
Shortly before midnight: We are under raids, we hear boom boom all the time. I am hoping, I am trembling, but my family is okay. And let's hope we all survive -- but really, all.
Return to Articles Index
RELATED INFORMATIONAL SITES RELIEF ORGANIZATIONS
AUDIO and VIDEO BOOKS MAPS
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3158
|
__label__wiki
| 0.574653
| 0.574653
|
Tag Archives: fracking
Michigan policy: foster the oil-gas industry and warm the globe
Posted on February 3, 2018 by BMF webmaster
by Ellis Boal
Michigan’s early days with oil and gas
In 1912 and 1913 a group of local capitalists and businessmen formed the Saginaw Valley Development Company to prospect for oil. During the group’s second attempt, a hole near the geographical center of the city was treated with the downhole discharge of 100 quarts of nitroglycerine. The well “erupted with a spout of oil forty feet high from the mouth of the well and stood solid for four or five minutes. This spurt was followed a few minutes later by a second, higher column of oil that lasted about two minutes and also included natural gas. The excitement in Saginaw was spontaneous.” Predictions were freely expressed that a new era of prosperity was opening for the Valley. … [But the] discovery well, along with eight others nearby, did not pan out commercially. … [Later] a test well was started…. On August 29, 1925, the Saginaw News reported the well’s success with a banner headline. … [I]t was enough oil to be sold commercially. Michigan had arrived as a real oil and gas producing state.
This is the story of Michigan’s spectacular entry into oil-gas development in the 1920s, according to a history of the industry collected at Central Michigan University’s Clarke Historical Library. The collection is sponsored by a Michigan Oil & Gas Association (MOGA) affiliate.
The Muskegon field followed Saginaw in 1927. At a prime location near a center with a shipping infrastructure by land and water, the field made Muskegon a boom town. Oil crossed the state from Muskegon to a refinery at Zilwaukee.
Mount Pleasant, c 1934. Photo courtesy of Clarke Historical Library Central Michigan University.
Then according to the collection, in 1928 the new Mount Pleasant field proved the “entire state” had become “Oil Hunting Country.” Mount Pleasant became another boom town, and is the site of MOGA’s headquarters today.
In those days discoveries meant gushers that drenched workers in oil, and attracted crowds to celebrate in a carnival atmosphere. Midland County was the site of the state’s biggest disaster in July 1931 when the Struble 1 well exploded killing 10 people including the operator’s wife.
The activity had been catching the attention of Michigan academics. Oil-gas lecturer James A. Veasey, writing in the Michigan Law Review in 1920, reflected on the magical changes wrought by these substances, and explained how they could be exploited completely:
No thoughtful observer will presume to gainsay the all-important part which the oil business plays and will continue to play in the industrial, commercial and social life of the civilized world. At the end of [World War I] it was said with much truth that the Allies had floated to victory upon a sea of oil. … Petroleum products are now practically indispensable to the progress of modern industry and commerce. In a somewhat less degree they enter into almost every phase of the daily life of civilized peoples. … No substance now known possesses within itself greater potential capacity to serve mankind. … In these circumstances, pointing as they do to an enormous and ever-increasing demand for the commodity, the question of an adequate supply of crude material reaches the highest importance. … Under pressure of this serious economic condition the petroleum industry must bend its efforts toward the complete exploitation of the lands of the United States for oil.
In modern times we know better. It is hardly disputed that oil and natural gas as carbon fuels exacerbate global warming — one of the many aspects of climate change — which can lead to world-wide catastrophe. Even the oil-gas industry, in futile pursuit of carbon sequestration, agrees.
But in 1939, taking a cue from James Veasey, Michigan statutory policy began “fostering” the oil-gas industry “most favorably” and “maximizing” oil-gas production.
It was an ideology and it serves us poorly. But save for a slight modification in 1973, today it continues to threaten the climate.
Of the 30 states which used high-volume production methods, in 2013-14 Michigan ranked 18th in natural gas, 9th in shale gas, and 17th in crude oil.
There is little sign that state officials and policymakers have any interest in tamping down production. Last June the governor’s office announced Michigan will not be joining other states in upholding standards of the Paris climate accord.
So Michigan is part of the parade marching into a black hole. The future looked so good in the 1920s. How did we get here from there?
Characteristics of oil and gas
According to Donald H. Ford of the University of Michigan Law School writing in the Michigan Law Review in 1932 – before the advent of horizontal drilling – oil and gas were “fugacious,” meaning they were fleeting and fluctuating like wild animals. Unlike coal which stays in one place, oil and gas could migrate naturally and rapidly underground from under one owner’s land to another’s. They could be extracted with technology which could divert migration toward or away from a particular owner’s land. Further, no one “owned” oil or gas until it was brought to the surface and captured, and was thereby “reduced to possession.”
Generally an oil reservoir is capped by an anticlinal (arch-like) dome, wrote Ford. Oil sand textures are not uniform, some being tight and others loose. Being light and mobile, natural gas tends to accumulate under the top of the dome, followed underneath by oil and then by water. The drilling of a well in a reservoir establishes an area of low pressure resulting in a flow of pressurized gas toward the center, which can bring oil and water along with it. They can flow easily at first, but tend to diminish or stop as the drainage area increases. If the rate of gas flow is not checked with back-pressure, it can bypass valuable oil and leave it behind, or water may rise and “drown” the well. In 1932 the US Supreme Court said in Champlin Refining Co v Corporation Commission of Oklahoma:
Every person has the right to drill wells on his own land and take from the pools below all the gas and oil that he may be able to reduce to possession including that coming from land belonging to others, but the right to take and thus to acquire ownership is subject to the reasonable exertion of the power of the State to prevent unnecessary loss, destruction or waste.
So it was thought in that period that the tendency of existing law to treat oil and gas the same as stationary substances like coal, encouraged waste of gas pressure even while gas pressure is what drove the oil.
(April update: This month the Pennsylvania Superior Court overturned a century of common law which allowed an operator to sink a well and then drain oil and gas from a neighboring property without paying the neighbor. It allowed a neighbor’s trespass suit for punitive damages to proceed against a Marcellus shale gas operator, based on a claim that extraction channels for the gas were created by hydraulic fracturing and crossed the boundary onto the neighbor’s property, though the wellbore itself did not cross the boundary:
We … conclude that hydraulic fracturing is distinguishable from conventional methods of oil and gas extraction. Traditionally, the rule of capture assumes that oil and gas originate in subsurface reservoirs or pools, and can migrate freely within the reservoir and across property lines, according to changes in pressure…. Unlike oil and gas originating in a common reservoir, natural gas, when trapped in a shale formation, is non-migratory in nature. … Shale gas does not merely “escape” to adjoining land absent the application of an external force. … [M]any natural gas discoveries “are made in tight, relatively impermeable rocks, and natural gas will not flow easily from these tight reservoirs without some assistance.” … Instead, the shale must be fractured through the process of hydraulic fracturing; only then may the natural gas contained in the shale move freely through the “artificially created channel[s].”
Though a Pennsylvania decision is not binding in Michigan, courts here will likely take a close look at the reasoning, grounded as it is in traditional property rights.)
Michigan’s 1939 Public Act 61
MOGA lobbied for “Act 61” in 1939, the statute which first articulated the policy mandating fostering and maximizing. Oil and gas are nonrenewable. Even so the leading section of the statute cites the state’s history of overcutting renewable forests as a cautionary tale. Innocuously titled “Construction of Part,” the section says in full:
It has long been the declared policy of this state to foster conservation of natural resources so that our citizens may continue to enjoy the fruits and profits of those resources. Failure to adopt such a policy in the pioneer days of the state permitted the unwarranted slaughter and removal of magnificent timber abounding in the state, which resulted in an immeasurable loss and waste. In an effort to replace some of this loss, millions of dollars have been spent in reforestation, which could have been saved had the original timber been removed under proper conditions. In past years extensive deposits of oil and gas have been discovered that have added greatly to the natural wealth of the state and if properly conserved can bring added prosperity for many years in the future to our farmers and landowners, as well as to those engaged in the exploration and development of this great natural resource. The interests of the people demand that exploitation and waste of oil and gas be prevented so that the history of the loss of timber may not be repeated. It is accordingly the declared policy of the state to protect the interests of its citizens and landowners from unwarranted waste of gas and oil and to foster the development of the industry along the most favorable conditions and with a view to the ultimate recovery of the maximum production of these natural products. To that end, this part is to be construed liberally to give effect to sound policies of conservation and the prevention of waste and exploitation.
As seen from the text, the statute also expresses a second overarching policy, the goal of guarding against “unwarranted waste” of gas and oil. Elsewhere in Act 61 “waste” is prohibited absolutely.
In the definitions section, waste was defined “in addition to its ordinary meaning” in three categories: underground waste, surface waste, and market waste. In sum:
Underground waste: practices which dissipate reservoir energy, reduce the total quantity of oil or gas extracted, or damage underground water, brines, or other mineral deposits.
Surface waste: drilling of unnecessary wells; unnecessary surface loss of gas or oil; unnecessary damage to surface, soils, animals, fish, aquatic life, or property; unnecessary endangerment of public health, safety, or welfare.
Market waste: production in excess of market demand.
Thirty-four years later in 1973, the legislature expanded the definition of “surface waste,” with support of the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), to include damage to “other environmental values” alongside damage to soils, animals, fish, aquatic life, and property. As originally proposed, the definition in the bill would have included damage to “aesthetics or other environmental values.” Attorney General Frank Kelley had ruled in 1971 that the legislature “constitutionally” could have included “aesthetics” in the 1939 definition and the DNR wanted it included in 1973, saying:
Contemporary thinking suggests that “aesthetics and environmental values” are positive definable values that should be considered.
But the legislature declined.
Today Act 61 is administered by the state’s Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), alternately referred to as the “Supervisor of Wells” or “Supervisor.” The name has changed over the years, the most well-known predecessors having been the DNR, and “Natural Resources Commission” (NRC).
Notably, Act 61’s examples of environmental “surface waste” are all couched in subjective words, “unwarranted,” “unnecessary,” and “other.” That means the environmental part of the policy is dependent on warrant and necessity. But warranted for what? Necessary for what? And just what are the other environmental values?
The statute’s only answer: maximizing production and most favorably fostering the oil-gas industry.
Particularly the word “unnecessary,” repeated several times in the definition of “surface waste” has no definition, and allows the DEQ wiggle-room.
For example, DEQ application forms for a drilling permit ask the dimensions of the surface well site in feet and acres. In practice today, sites cleared of trees in the forest (including the state forest) sometimes range up to five acres. But no statute, administrative rule, or supervisor instruction limits them to that area. Cleared sites in the future could be larger, if DEQ were only to say it would maximize production.
As another example, the definition of “surface waste” has no specific reference to air or climate. Nor could it: air and climate are not confined to the surface. The DEQ administrative rules do prohibit “nuisance odors” at and around the wellhead. An example is deadly hydrogen sulfide.
But destructive greenhouse gases like methane and carbon dioxide ordinarily have no “odor.” And DEQ’s Air Quality Division confirms that in practice it does not monitor them at the wellhead or at the associated tanks, dehydrators, burners, line heaters, or engines. Thus DEQ has no interest in the climate-changing effects of oil-gas activity. Under Act 61, climate is just not an “environmental value.”
Act 61 and the administrative rules do have specific health and environmental provisions. Wells, facilities, and sensitive areas (homes, lakes, streams, protected species) have to be separated by certain isolation distances. Nuisance noises are not tolerated. There are special rules about high-volume fracking. DEQ enforces these.
Act 61 is codified today as “Part 615” of Michigan’s comprehensive 1994 Natural Resources and Environmental Protection Act (NREPA). Colloquially it is often referred to as “Part 615.”
So “Construction of Part” comes down to a mandate that DEQ regulators are to favor the industry unless an environmental issue is tied to what DEQ says is waste. That is, the title “Construction of Part” means that fostering the industry, maximizing oil and gas production, and guarding against waste are construed as overarching guides whenever a judge, jury, or environmental regulator tries conscientiously to apply the sentences and paragraphs of Act 61/Part 615.
Act 61 gives the Supervisor of Wells jurisdiction to regulate and control drilling, completion, and operation of oil and gas wells. He/she determines well spacing, acceptable drilling and production operations, proration of the amount of oil or gas that can be taken, forced pooling, who may drill, and environmental measures.
From time to time the Supervisor is assisted by an 8-member “Advisory Committee” (formerly “Advisory Board”) of which six are from the Michigan industry and two from the public.
The traditional evaluation of Act 61
Almost unanimously, the legislature passed Act 61 and gave it immediate effect. The governor signed it the same day he received it, giving a cold shoulder to a group of protesting independent oil producers and farm organizations.
A 1991 county-by-county MOGA history describes the run-up to enactment this way:
But none of these developments matched the impact to the industry of the enactment of [Act 61] the first comprehensive oil contol [sic] law. Where in both the 1936 and 1937 Legislative sessions oil bills had died along the way, in 1939 the House approved 79 to 8 and the Senate approved 24 to 3. Gov. Lauren [sic] Dickinson (who succeeded Gov. Frank Fitzgerald who died in office ) signed the oil bill.
The birth of the oil act had been long and painful and often bitterly contested. The Association had worked hard for it and most other segments of the industry at least dropped active opposition.
Supervisor P. J. Hoffmaster, a forestry graduate, front center, surrounded by the initial Advisory Board members representing (left to right, front to back) Gulf Refining, Rex Oil, Smith Petroleum, Pure Oil, Gordon Oil, and Socony-Vacuum Oil. Photo courtesy of Clarke Historical Library Central Michigan University.
The act was modeled after the New Mexico law and in the minds of many included improved clauses. Dr. R. A. Smith, state geologist, was credited with not only writing many of the provisions but keeping the pressure on for passage from one defeat after another.
P. J. Hoffmaster, who had become director of the Department shortly before the law went in effect on May 3, 1939, held the first hearing with the advisory Board … and his first order fixed 10 acres as the base drilling unit and 200 barrels as the maximum production for a well in a prorated field.
Party affiliation does not seem to have been a factor in Act 61’s success in 1939 after having failed twice. That year both houses of the legislature were Republican-dominated, but a majority of Democrats in each house also supported it. However Republicans dominated in 1936 when according to MOGA an oil bill died, and Democrats dominated in 1937 when an oil bill also died.
Jerome Maslowski, the assistant atttorney general in charge of natural resources, described the run-up to enactment this way in 1970 in the Michigan State Bar Journal:
In the early days of our development the only statutory requirement was that well owners obtain a drilling permit before operations commenced, that wells be plugged under supervision and that well records be filed with the Geological Survey Division of the Department of Conservation. Due to episodes of flagrant waste in the Muskegon field, the oil and gas associations of Michigan and the Geological Survey Division concentrated on efforts to pass adequate legislation on control of oil and gas drilling and production procedures. Finally in 1939 the legislature passed Act 61, P.A. 1939, which, with minor amendments, serves as present authority to prevent waste in the drilling, completion, producing and plugging of wells for oil and gas. … The primary purpose of the statute is to insure that the fewest number of wells are drilled to recover the greatest amount of oil and gas.
William Reid Ralls, a professor at Cooley Law School, summed up the purpose in the Michigan Bar Journal in 1989:
Always keep in mind the “purpose” set forth in Act 61 of 1939: To conserve natural resources and encourage development of oil and gas. The Supervisor wants you to show that your plans for drilling or development will provide for the orderly development of petroleum reserves and that the most economic means of recovery will be used, which will result in as complete drainage as is possible from the affected pool or field.
Charles O. Galvin of Southern Methodist University Law School, and also an editor of the Oil and Gas Reporter, advised practitioners bluntly in the Wayne Law Review in 1961:
Despite the infinite variety of relationships devised to accommodate landowners, investors, and operators in oil and gas exploration and development, the underlying motivations in each case are the same: to find and convert dormant natural resources into usable economic wealth and to accomplish this activity with minimum tax and business costs and with minimum risks of litigation.
The Geological Survey Division in 1954 commented about the world war which followed Act 61’s passage:
Rapid expansion of military facilities and activities began shortly after passage of [Act 61] and the country was actually at war nineteen months later. Petroleum assumed a critical place in the war economy.
It is notable that on very few occasions has the judgment of the Supervisor … failed to agree with recommendations of the [Advisory] Board.
For a very short time after the legislation became effective a small segment of the industry, objecting to any measure of production control, offered opposition by deliberate violation of the orders of the Supervisor. Suits against producers of oil and against one pipe line purchaser shortly after the legislation became effective resulted in convictions in Circuit Court. No appeals were made. Few subsequent violations of rules, regulations, or orders of the Supervisor have been deliberate.
Fostering/maximizing of oil-gas is not unique to Michigan. In the same month of 1939 as Act 61, the state joined what is today called the Interstate Oil and Gas Compact Commission, of which 38 states are members or associates. The IOGCC charter states its single-minded purpose:
The purpose of this compact is to conserve oil and gas by the prevention of physical waste thereof from any cause.
The Commission shall have the power to recommend the coordination of the exercise of the police powers of the several States within their several jurisdictions to promote the maximum ultimate recovery from the petroleum reserves of said States, and to recommend measures for the maximum ultimate recovery of oil and gas.
The fostering policy of the federal government itself is quite similar to that of the IOGCC. It states:
The Congress declares that it is the continuing policy of the Federal Government in the national interest to foster and encourage private enterprise in (1) the development of economically sound and stable domestic mining, minerals, metal and mineral reclamation industries, [and resource development, research, and waste disposal to lesson adverse impacts].
For the purpose of this section ‘minerals’ shall include all minerals and mineral fuels including oil, gas, coal, oil shale and uranium….
In its fostering role, the federal government is to prevent “unnecessary or undue” degradation of the land.
National antecedents to Act 61
Donald Ford’s 1932 article described oil-gas laws existing at the time in states around the country. He emphasized courts’ consternation in making decisions about these unusual “fugacious” substances, which nevertheless were so important. He added:
The result of existing legal rules is to force a mad competitive race of owners to extract the oil. Immediate extraction is the price of ownership. Rate of extraction is controlled, not by the rate of consumption or demand, but by the rate of discovery. To save the oil under his own property the surface owner is forced to drill more and more off-set wells in order that he may equal or exceed his neighbor’s production. … [M]arket demand is ignored. … Gas is wasted.
Ford listed five categories of legislation nationally:
Statutes governing the casing and plugging of wells, to prevent water from entering or leaving the bore.
Statutes to prevent waste of gas and oil. In Ohio Oil Co v Indiana, a celebrated case in the US Supreme Court in 1900, Indiana law prohibited escape of oil or gas into open air for more than two days after striking oil or gas. The defendant Ohio Oil (later to become Marathon Oil, the largest oil-gas leaseholder in Michigan today) defied the law for periods up to nine months because it was seeking oil not gas. But gas pressure was necessary to lift the oil, even though after the lifting, the gas escaped. The state argued that escaping gas would eventually destroy the large gas pool which underlay several counties in the area, on which hundreds of thousands of people depended for light and fuel. The court characterized the company’s argument this way:
Hence, it is said the law, by making it unlawful to allow the gas to escape, made it practically impossible to profitably extract the oil. That is, as the oil could not be taken at a profit by one who made no use of the gas, therefore he must be allowed to waste the gas into the atmosphere, and thus destroy the interest of the other common owners in the reservoir of gas.
The court recognized the fugacious character of oil and gas, said the many surface owners over the pool other than Ohio Oil have a co-equal right of access to the common supply, and held waste was an injury to all of them. The oil company lost.
Statutes to restrict the purposes for which gas may be used. Examples were bans such as Michigan’s on the burning of gas in flambeau lights (torches) and the use of gas in the manufacture of carbon black (a material produced by incomplete combustion of heavy petroleum products).
Statutes to regulate the manner of taking, storing, and operation. The earliest legislation in this group made it unlawful to use a pump or other artificial process to increase the flow of natural gas. Ford tells us for instance that Michigan had a regulation forbidding use of vacuum pumps except for casing-head gas or a depleted field, and a statute requiring wells to be located at least 200 feet from outer boundaries.
Statutes to “prorate” (or limit) the amount of taking. These were the most controversial. According to Ralls, as a general rule, the more slowly a reservoir is pumped, the more efficiently it is drained. According to today’s DEQ administrative rules, one of proration’s goals is to “maximize oil and gas recovery.” Ford noted the definitions of proration were not nationally uniform. Some statutes (like Michigan’s) limited taking to a percent of the daily natural gas flow. Some limited it according to what was thought to be an optimum oil-gas ratio. Some curtailed production if it was thought to be economically wasteful.
In answer to a contention that prevention of economic waste (as a Michigan statute did) amounted to price-fixing Ford justified it this way:
Proration so as to secure a fair return to oil producers seems to satisfy the test of a valid exercise of the police power, whether the test be phrased in terms of public interest or of reasonableness. As to the public interest, the industry is monopolistic in its character, and has a tremendous hold upon our economic life. As to its reasonableness, the curtailment legislation falls uniformly on all producers; it stabilizes a great industry; it conserves an exhaustible natural resource. In short, even if curtailment were to be used as a price-fixing device, it should be sustained if the prices fixed were reasonable, as the oil industry seems to be sufficiently affected with a public interest.
Of the five categories, Ford argued that proration was the only one that struck deeply into the problems. But even proration:
does not accomplish enough. Proration can only, in a limited degree, give an opportunity for the scientific development of an oil pool. There is no necessary relation between proration (based on market) and the engineering problem of controlling the rate of flow so as to conserve gas energy and control water drive. No mere scheme of proration will curtail excess drilling and eliminate the cost of unnecessary offset wells. Nor will it insure the proper location of the wells on the geologic structure so as to obtain maximum recovery. The solution which promises most in relation to production problems is unit operation.
Unit operation means simply that all the properties in a pool shall be consolidated into a single producing unit. Competition in production is entirely avoided and the maximum recovery from the reservoir is secured.
Thus according to Ford, unit operation (also known as unitization) would solve the industry’s problems.
The distinction between unitization — which is governed by a different part of NREPA, “part 617” — and pooling under Act 61 is not particularly clear. Both can be done either by mutual consent of the interest owners, or can be forced by DEQ. Ralls says unitization “is essentially forced pooling” for certain types of operations. This is a bit oversimplified. The environmental section of the Michigan State Bar explains the nuances here. See also the discussion of compulsory pooling below.
Ford said unitization is justified on the theory that
The thought is growing that mineral deposits, so slowly accumulated by nature are the heritage of all the people and are not to be exploited exclusively for private gain, or that if the exploitation is left in private hands it must be done in trust for the public.
From the public point of view the foremost object should be to obtain the maximum recovery of oil from each pool.
He added that voluntary unitization however was problematic:
There is nothing in the law today that prevents the collective owners from consolidating their interests for the purpose of unit development, except perhaps a fear of the anti-trust laws. And there are splendid examples of cooperative development in the United States. … Unfortunately, these cooperative agreements have been the exception, rather than the rule. The reasons are obvious. The big practical difficulty in the way of such a movement is human greed.
So forcing unwilling interest owners into units and pools was considered necessary.
None of the reasons advanced for proration, unit development, pooling, or unitization was environmental. True, one environmental result of these was fewer wells and therefore less disruption of the surface. But that was driven by the real motivator, greater production.
Michigan antecedents to Act 61
A 1931 article by Boice Gross in the Michigan State Bar Journal described Act 61’s antecedents in Michigan. In the early years the state
did not consider it necessary to enact many laws and that those it did adopt are not unduly detailed. The legislature did not desire to over-regulate and thus possibly discourage the development of the infant industry.
Michigan statutes were of three types, none of which implicated proration or unit operation. One imposed a severance tax, being a percent of the gross value of the oil and gas which was paid to the state. Another applied to pipeline owners, declaring they were common carriers who could not discriminate among potential customers.
The last, thought to “prevent waste and protect the public interests,” provided for a Supervisor of Wells, for inspection where necessary to safety, and for issuance of permits to begin drilling and to abandon wells, and an appeal board. This law was repealed and replaced by Act 61 in 1939.
Michigan court decisions: Act 61 balances the environment and harvesting of hydrocarbons
Two Michigan court decisions have rejected industry appeals of permit denials, appeals which argued that the sole purposes of Act 61 and “Construction of Part” were to favor drilling. The court reasoning was different in each case.
In Michigan Oil Co v NRC, through intermediaries an operator had acquired from the state a mineral lease for a 40-acre site, Corwith 1-22 located in the Pigeon River Country State Forest, for approximately $2.06/acre. DNR and NRC refused to issue a permit despite a finding that operator actions of clearing the location, bringing in machinery, installations, and personnel, and drilling would have been done carefully and prudently. The Corwith area had many pre-existing public and private uses including camping, snowmobiling, hunting, and timber harvesting. These non-oil-gas activities disturbed elk, bear, and bobcat. But the result of drilling would have been a reduction in their range, habitat, and population. The agencies denied a permit on that basis.
The Court of Appeals affirmed:
We conclude that the construction given to the term waste by the [NRC] … is the correct one and that the very acts of drilling for oil may constitute or result in waste prohibited by [Act 61].
At the Michigan Supreme Court the oil company argued that the court should declare that the purpose of Act 61 was just to protect oil and gas, not protect the environment. They argued the act empowers the agencies only:
to withhold issuance of a drilling permit to prohibit waste which is unnecessary to the production of oil and gas. The statute, therefore, would impliedly protect any and all other waste, no matter how serious, if necessarily incidental to the production of oil and gas. According to the [oil company], the clear import of [Act 61] was not to conserve the environment in general but to conserve only oil and gas so that they are efficiently extracted.
The court rejected this and again affirmed denial of the permit. But among the seven justices there was no majority opinion. A three-member plurality noted the pre-1973 definition of “surface waste” but declined to rely on it, or its inclusion of the phrase “as those words are generally understood in the oil business.” Rather the plurality focused on “waste” in its general “ordinary” meaning and said waste:
includes any spoilation or destruction of the land, including flora and fauna …. Serious damage to the wildlife of Corwith 1-22 resulting from oil drilling is spoilation or destruction…. Conservation should not be read to apply only to the efficient extraction of oil, but should include the efficient extraction of oil which simultaneously conserves the other natural resources (flora and fauna) of the state.
To the operator’s contention that at the time it applied for the permit no rules or regulations existed which prevented unnecessary destruction of wildlife, the three-member plurality answered Act 61 required the agencies
to prevent waste, including serious or unnecessary damage to or destruction or wildlife, even in the absence of specifically promulgated rules and regulations.
A concurring justice said simply he would have affirmed the reasoning of Court of Appeals. That made four justices for denial of the permit, albeit with differing rationales.
The three dissenting justices argued that no waste within the meaning of Act 61 had been established, because the operator had acquired a mineral lease from the state and intended to exercise it prudently and carefully; and the primary purpose of Act 61 is conservation of oil and gas to assure maximum production. As to waste in its “ordinary” meaning, highlighted by the plurality, the dissenters answered:
Although use of the surface of the land by the lessee [oil company] results in death and injury to wildlife belonging to the lessor [landowner], such use is not waste within the “ordinary meaning” of that term if it is reasonably necessary for oil and gas operations. A lessee [oil company] does not abuse or misuse the estate granted when it carefully and prudently exercises the rights specifically granted to it.
There being no majority opinion, the Michigan Oil decision is not a binding precedent. But the 2014 decision of the Court of Appeals in Schmude Oil v DEQ, another Pigeon River case, was unanimous and binding. Schmude Oil held (without citing Michigan Oil):
The language in NREPA that deals with oil and gas production seeks a balance between Michigan’s interest in protecting the environment and its interest in harvesting valuable hydrocarbon resources. [Construction of Part does not express], as petitioners argue, a clear public policy favoring drilling.
The dissenters in Michigan Oil had given a nod to the environment: they recommended a remand to consider the facts under a separate law, the 1970 Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA). MEPA, which our 1963 constitution required the legislature to enact, protects “air, water, and other natural resources and the public trust in these resources.” Under MEPA courts have overturned DEQ oil-gas permits.
But Schmude Oil and the other judges and justices in Michigan Oil reasoned solely from the language of Act 61.
Compulsory pooling: a practical effect of “Construction of Part”
Apart from Act 61’s overall ideology, there is one area where the Supervisor has held that fostering and maximizing production has an explicit effect on decisions: compulsory pooling — also known as statutory pooling — of unwilling interest owners. Act 61 says this type of pooling is allowed where
the smallness or shape of a separately owned tract or tracts would … otherwise deprive or tend to deprive the owner of such a tract of the opportunity to recover or receive his or her just and equitable share of the oil or gas and gas energy in the pool.
The state compels owners into pooling only after voluntary pooling has been attempted and failed. Jerome Maslowski observed in his 1970 article: “If a land owner does not pool voluntarily, he usually is subject to a penalty.”
Petition of OIL Energy Corp (Kearney Township Antrim County) was a DEQ pooling decision in 2011. In a 1454-acre unit, owners of 144 acres had declined to lease to the oil company. Assistant Supervisor Harold Fitch gave three reasons for compelling pooling and allowing horizontal drilling under the land of the declining owners. The first reason of course was just and equitable sharing cited in the above-quoted pooling subsection of Act 61.
Assistant Supervisor Harold Fitch, MOGA President Frank Mortl, Governor John Engler, MOGA Chairman Greg Fogle, and DEQ Director Russell Harding, on the occasion of IOGCC’s 2002 Environmental Excellence award to the Michigan Natural Resources Trust Fund. Photo courtesy of Clarke Historical Library Central Michigan University.
But that subsection does not reference Fitch’s other two reasons: (a) “prevention or minimization of surface waste by fewer surface locations” and (b) “the ultimate recovery of natural gas can be increased and drilling through unleased tracts will assist in avoiding the drilling of unnecessary wells.” The two are inspired by the Schmude Oil view of “Construction of Part,” in seeking to balance protection of the environment and maximization of hydrocarbon resources.
Compulsory pooling means that mineral owners of land in an oil-gas pool – including those who oppose oil and gas on principle and don’t want the money – have no option but to surrender to a profit-making private industry. This was what happened to pooled oil-gas opponent Lorie Armbruster in Washtenaw County, cited by the Ann Arbor News in July 2013:
With horse pastures, a hay field, a garden and woods on her own property, Armbruster said she enjoyed the farm smells and activities nearby. Cow manure doesn’t bother her, she said, and the rumble of tractors and farm equipment was a comforting sound.
The addition of drilling rigs — 24-7 operations for about a month to install a new oil well across the street — and the associated large trucks carrying gravel for new roads — have turned her agricultural haven into an industrial site, Armbruster said.
A flare installed at the oil well across the street to burn off natural gas that can’t be captured from the well has also proved to be the biggest nuisance, she said. The smell of gas burning wafts into her home if the wind is blowing from the southwest —causing her to shut her windows and stay indoors.
“It’s farmland and their property and they were allowed to do whatever they wanted to it,” Armbruster said of her neighbors. “And we were very good friends with them so I didn’t say anything … I didn’t complain and once the flare started I still didn’t want to complain — but we’ve been suffering and other neighbors too — and it’s like, what can you do? It’s there; it’s there legally.”
In addition to the gases being released through the flare, Armbruster said she’s concerned for the future safety of her water well in her front yard should drilling activities or spills from crude oil transportation contaminate it.
In answer to those like Armbruster who have to “accept oil or gas development which they oppose for economic, environmental or aesthetic reasons,” James R. Neal, a past chair of the State Bar Oil-Gas Committee, argued in the Michigan Bar Journal in 1999 that compulsory pooling is successful:
Michigan’s declared policy is to foster the development of its oil and gas natural resources “with a view to the ultimate recovery of the maximum production of these natural products.” Those who want to capture the oil and gas beneath their land are entitled to do so, but their efforts are subject to Michigan’s declared policy and regulatory implementation of that policy.
The role of compulsory pooling in this regulatory scheme has been to preserve drilling units. The practice successfully balances the rights of those desiring to develop their oil and gas interests against the wishes of other owners who either oppose development altogether, or who oppose development on economic terms other than their own.
Neal conceded that no published Michigan court decisions address the constitutionality of compulsory pooling, but argued it is like zoning. He noted a 5-4 Oklahoma decision, Palmer Oil Corp v Phillips Petroleum Co, which upheld the constitutionality of a pooling statute like Michigan’s, in 1951.
But does Palmer Oil address Armbruster’s concerns? It involved the large 3700-acre “West Cement Medrano” unit in Caddo County, an area very different from hers. There were about fifty wells producing oil and gas on 72 separate ownership tracts with several hundred royalty interest owners at the time of the protested pooling order, while additional wells were in the process of being drilled. The object of the Oklahoma pooling statute was
that a greater ultimate recovery of oil and gas may be had [from the unit], waste prevented, and the correlative rights of the owners in a fuller and more beneficial enjoyment of the oil and gas rights[] protected.
The statute allowed a majority of the interest holders to initiate a compulsory pool.
The objectors were lessors, lessees, and royalty owners. They made no environmental arguments, such as danger to animal or plant life, water or air quality, or climate.
As to any objector who simply didn’t want to participate in the oil business, the four dissenting justices in Palmer Oil noted their opponents’ astonishing answer: “the taking resulted in no loss to the owner, but, on the other hand, resulted in gain to him.”
The dissenters, citing federal precedent, taking care not to dispute principles of well spacing and proration, and noting that issues of water drainage districts are not analogous, labeled regulation by a majority of interest holders over the affairs of an unwilling objector “obnoxious.”
Michigan should stop fostering the oil-gas industry
Like Charles O. Galvin, the state of Michigan wrongly assumes that for everyone – landowners, investors, and operators – “the underlying motivations in each case are the same”: acquisition of “usable economic wealth” with minimum tax, litigation, and business costs.
Because DEQ fosters the industry, it is a captured agency — one that advances the concerns of the special interest group it is charged with regulating. Capture is normally frowned on and the captured regulators often deny it. But far from denying, the Michigan legislature is proud of it.
The obvious first option for reversing it of course is political action and lobbying of elected decisionmakers. But with current officeholders there is little hope. On February 13 Governor Rick Snyder keynoted an all-day “Governor’s Summit on Extractive Industries” in East Lansing. MOGA announced the goal was to promote and showcase extraction companies. Over 200 attended. For legislators and staff, the $50/plate event and lunch were complimentary.
Leading committee members of the House and Senate opened the meeting. It was co-sponsored by MOGA, whose chairman Joel Myler sat on the opening “extractive industries 101” panel. Harold Fitch, the assistant Supervisor of Wells, sat on the second panel. Attendees watched this video.
Four days earlier, this writer contacted the governor’s office through his website, provided the link to this article as originally posted on February 3, and asked this question:
Do you agree that production of oil and gas exacerbates global warming which can lead to world-wide catastrophe, and if so how do you square that with Michigan’s policy expressed in MCL 324.61502 that DEQ regulators are to ‘foster’ the oil-gas ‘favorably’ and ‘maximize’ oil-gas production?
He has not responded.
The more promising option is to call public attention to the fostering/maximizing issue and then for public action. The issue dovetails with the related issue of fracking — the modern version of what the Saginaw developers did with exploding nitroglycerine in the 1920s. Today the lion’s share of US climate-changing oil-gas production is developed with fracking completion methods, particularly in horizontal wells.
Polls show majorities oppose fracking nationally and in Michigan both among local officials and voters.
Our state has a long history with vertical fracking. As the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy explained in 2014 it has been used in Michigan since the 1940s:
However, this earlier hydraulic fracturing was undertaken with vertical drilling only and relatively small volumes of water usage. More controversy has grown recently around the use of high-volume hydraulic fracturing, which uses horizontal drilling to expand the underground area that can produce gas or oil, but which also requires much higher volumes of water, and produces higher volumes of used “fracking fluid” mixtures that must be disposed of somewhere. All of these factors have raised potential health and environmental concerns. In Michigan, the issue of fracking has seen a marked increase in attention.
Since 2015 the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan (CBFM) has undertaken a statewide ballot initiative to ban horizontal fracking and acidizing and their wastes. The initiative is known chiefly for that language. It would also include the substances involved in horizontal fracking in the definition of prohibited waste. The exact language is here.
The initiative is motivated by public health and environmental concerns in addition to climate.
But a sleeper issue of the initiative has drawn little public attention. In the opinion of this writer it is the more important issue. The initiative language would amend “Construction of Part” to delete the fostering/maximizing policy. As amended the statute would say:
It has long been the declared policy of this state to foster conservation of natural resources and to provide for the protection of the air, water, and other natural resources from pollution, impairment, and destruction. In past years extensive deposits of oil and gas have been discovered that have been extracted using wells through which oil or gas flowed naturally or was pumped to the surface. The recent uses of high intensity horizontal hydraulic fracturing and acid well stimulation and completion treatments are different and typically include injections of large amounts of water, solvents, acids, and other chemicals to fracture or dissolve underground formations horizontally, the consequences of which pollute, impair, and destroy our water resources, land, air, climate, and public health. The interests of the people demand that the exploration of oil and gas shall not be done at the expense of the natural environment and human health. It is accordingly the declared policy of the state to protect the interests of its people and environment during gas and oil development. This part is to be construed liberally to give effect to sound policies of conservation and the prevention of waste and exploitation, and to protect water resources, land, air, climate, human health, and the natural environment.
The language would not change the subsections of Act 61 which declare unnecessary wells as “waste.” The statute would continue to provide for proration and drilling units.
Unitization would not be affected.
Nor would there be changes regarding compulsory/statutory pooling. The process would continue as before, with decisions based on owners each getting a “just and equitable share” of the oil or gas. The Supervisor could continue considering prevention of waste.
But instead of fostering the industry and maximizing production, decisions under Act 61 would now highlight values consistent with the Michigan constitution:
The conservation and development of the natural resources of the state are hereby declared to be of paramount public concern in the interest of the health, safety and general welfare of the people. The legislature shall provide for the protection of the air, water and other natural resources of the state from pollution, impairment and destruction.
This is apt, given that the Supervisor of Wells is the Department of Environmental Quality.
More generally, a new view would replace the old one in all manner of DEQ judgments and decisions ranging far beyond compulsory pooling.
Should the CBFM measure succeed, the governor could not veto it, nor could the legislature amend or repeal it except by a ¾ vote in both houses.
By thinking globally and acting locally, Michigan will have made its own contribution to forestalling or preventing climate change.
Notes, legal sources, photo credits
As mentioned above, IOGCC has 38 member states. Most or all of them have policies embedded in their statutes and regulations similar to Michigan’s “Construction of Part.” An article similar to this one could be written for each state, using sources arising in that state.
Underlinings in quoted materials above are added. Footnotes in quoted materials are omitted except for the “in trust for the public” paragraph which was in a footnote of Ford’s, quoting another author.
Quoted legal articles:
Donald H. Ford, Controlling the Production of Oil, 30 Michigan Law Review 1170, 1171-78, 1178-1201, 1202-06 (1932).
Charles O. Galvin, Developing an Oil and Gas Jurisprudence in Michigan, 7 Wayne Law Review 403, 403 (1961). A scanned copy may be obtained from the WLR managing editor.
Boice Gross, Michigan’s Legislation Governing Oil and Natural Gas, 10 Michigan State Bar Journal 193, 194 (1931).
Jerome Maslowski, Government Regulations Many and Varied, 49 Michigan State Bar Journal 50, 50, 52 (1970).
James R. Neal, Compulsory Pooling Promotes Conservation of Michigan’s Oil and Gas Natural Resources, 78 Michigan Bar Journal 158, 158, 161, 162, 163 (1999).
William Reid Ralls, Oil and Gas Regulation: An Overview, 68 Michigan Bar Journal 14, 16, 17 (1989).
James A. Veasey, The Law of Oil and Gas, 18 Michigan Law Review 445, 445 (1920).
Photographer credits: unknown. The Clarke Library notes that almost all its photos were taken from the files of the Michigan Oil and Gas News (MOGN) or the private collections of two long-time editors of the MOGN, Norm Lyons and Jack Westbrook.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Act 61, climate change, compulsory pooling, foster the industry, fracking, Part 615
Michigan DEQ seeks total control of frack wastewater injection wells
Posted on February 16, 2016 by BMF webmaster
One of approximately 887 injection wells used to dispose of oil and gas wastes in Michigan, the Slowinski injection well in Kalkaska County. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
By LuAnne Kozma and Ellis Boal
DEQ’s request to EPA to be in sole charge of the state’s class II injection wells for disposal of oil and gas industry wastes spells danger for Michigan water
We call on EPA to reject DEQ’s application and discontinue permitting of new injection wells in Michigan: Neither DEQ or EPA are credible or capable.
The Flint River depicted in a 1920 post card. The writer of the card says of Flint on the back, “This is a beautiful clean city.” Postcard courtesy LuAnne Kozma.
While the State of Michigan was blowing off the entire community of Flint’s complaints about contaminated water last August, it was also applying to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to be in complete control over the state’s toxic waste injection wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
If EPA approves the State’s application, it would be disastrous for Michiganders and our water resources.
Numerous investigations have publicized the responsibility of both the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the EPA’s Chicago-based Region 5 in the water crisis in Flint, after Flint’s state-appointed emergency manager Darnell Early switched the city’s water source to the Flint River in April 2014.
The Flint river has suffered from decades of industrial pollution. The water has high levels of chlorides (thought to be partly the result of road salt), making it highly corrosive, and which resulted in eating up the pipes and the leaching of lead into the public water supply. See www.flintwaterstudy.org and ACLU of Michigan video “Circle of Lies.”
On February 9 the state attorney general announced an investigation into possible criminal acts including manslaughter charges against a range of Michigan public officials. Two in the cross-hairs will be Governor Rick Snyder and the former DEQ director Dan Wyant. Targeted also could be EPA officials in Chicago, including Region 5’s former director Susan Hedman.
Both Wyant and Hedman have resigned in disgrace over failure to enforce provisions of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act and for their roles in the #FlintWaterCrisis. They and other key players including Gov. Snyder will soon testify before Congress.
DEQ is asking for sole power over Michigan injection wells under the Safe Drinking Water Act
Diagram of the two types of underground injection well for oil and gas industry wastes. EPA illustration, in the public domain.
Michigan DEQ drafted a plan in 2014 to acquire even more power over safe drinking water enforcement. In this case the subject was “class II” injection wells, wells drilled into the earth where gas and oil industry toxic liquid wastes are put down into geologic formations. Not actually containers, these porous formations are the resting place for some of the nation’s worst toxic wastes. Old oil and gas wells are sometimes pressed into service as disposal wells. The wastes going underground include the chemical stew of the fracturing or acidizing fluids shot down into oil and gas wells combined with additional, salty and sometimes radioactive liquids and chemicals already below ground that all return to the surface during oil and gas extraction. They are massive in volume.
Currently both Michigan DEQ and EPA have to sign off on a new “class II” injection well permit. Now DEQ is seeking what is called “primacy.” This means, DEQ would have sole power and authority over all decision making and enforcing of federal laws regarding injection wells with little EPA oversight.
In November 2014 DEQ circulated a “briefing report” boasting that:
There are about 1286 class II wells in Michigan. … The State of Michigan is well equipped for Class II … primacy, understanding state specific geography, geology, cultural, climactic [sic], social, and economic issues. … The State of Michigan’s record of accomplishment for excellent environmental protection and regulation for Class II injection will continue under the delegated authority, and the DEQ will continue to provide good customer service to the regulated community and public.
Misspelling of “climatic” would be merely amusing if the consequences were not so serious. And the reference to “good customer service” angers a lot of Michigan residents who want governmental protection of water resources because we live here and drink the water, not because we are paying “customers.”
From EPA website 1/11/14.
Of the 1286 class II wells, 887 of them are for disposal, and others are for enhanced oil recovery.
Structurally, there is no difference between a disposal well and a gas or oil well.
DEQ held “public meeting,” turned it into an on-the-spot (illegal) “public hearing” and then lied about it to EPA
DEQ then announced a “public meeting” would be held on December 9, 2014, to discuss the plan. Whether public comment would be allowed there was ambiguous, in the announcement.
When the “public meeting” started, DEQ announced to everyone’s surprise that it would hold a “public hearing” first. The two are very different, particularly in the legal requirement that a “public hearing” have advance public notice and that a formal record be made.
So this “public hearing” was secret. With no advance notice for a hearing, fewer than a dozen people attended, and only two provided comments in person. Ban Michigan Fracking attended and made comments. [See: bmfCommentOnDeqInjectionPrimacy.]
Later we filed a formal objection to DEQ assuming primacy in injection well regulation. We argued there had been no proper public hearing, Michigan and EPA have different definitions of “injection well,” and DEQ had advanced no reason it should have primacy other than that it wanted the power.
DEQ pitches the primacy plan to EPA while the two agencies cover up the Flint lead levels
But the water in Flint had turned brown and poisonous and for months people had been documenting numerous health problems. Both EPA and DEQ were hiding EPA regulations manager Miguel Del Toral’s February memo to DEQ and his June report to EPA higher ups about the horrific lead levels he had documented. EPA gagged Toral from speaking with anyone and did nothing to alert the public. DEQ spokesperson Brad Wurfel called Del Toral a “rogue employee” and tried to explain:
“Let me start here – anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax. … It does not look like there is any broad problem with the water supply freeing up lead as it goes to homes.”
Amid all of this dual-agency denial, and with no publicity DEQ submitted a draft primacy application for injection wells to EPA Region 5 last August.
The centerpiece was a “memorandum of agreement” set up for the signatures of Dan Wyant and Susan Hedman. It calls for DEQ and EPA to “maintain a high level of cooperation and coordination … to assure successful and effective administration.” Page 1 of the 383-page package has space for an endorsement letter by Governor Snyder.
A week later Flint citizens submitted 26,000 signatures on petitions asking the city to end its use of the Flint River for drinking water. In September Hurley Children’s Hospital in Flint published a study documenting the increased lead levels in children’s blood. DEQ’s contemptuous answer was: Repeated testing indicated the water tested within acceptable levels.
So DEQ’s record with safe drinking water law is far from “excellent,” and EPA’s complicity in the whole affair is now part of a federal investigation. Michigan DEQ has no business asking for primacy over injection wells and asserting the agency has a stellar record protecting Michigan people under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
One problem with injection wells is they leak
As ProPublica’s 2012 series of investigative reports on the nation’s underground injection wells revealed, there is the growing problem of leaking. The assumption that these toxic materials will remain safely entombed underground forever is mistaken. In “Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us,” former EPA technical expert Mario Salazar remarked that “In 10 to 100 years we are going to find out that most of our groundwater is polluted… A lot of people are going to get sick, and a lot of people may die.” Salazar worked with EPA’s underground injection well program in Washington for 25 years.
Cornell’s Dr. Anthony Ingraffea’s work in studying well casing failures shows that there is a big problem with all well structures–the cement and steel casing barriers between the drilled frack well or injection well and our aquifers. About 5% fail right after drilling, more fail later and eventually most will fail. A former industry insider Ingraffea says, “loss of well bore integrity [is] a well-understood and chronic problem.”
Jessica Ernst’s work, A Brief Review of Threats to Canada’s Groundwater from the Oil and Gas Industry’s Methane Migration and Hydraulic Fracturing, details hundreds of studies, reports, and other evidence of widespread well failure and water contamination in Canada and the U.S.
Compounding the issue of leaking casings is that with increased fracking activity creating more wells creating more and more fractures underground, and generating more wastes leading to even more injection wells poking more holes in the ground, there is more pressure on all the wells’ cement. Ingraffea commented to Ernst that industry is speeding up the cement degradation process “that used to take decades” and now takes only years. (See Slickwater: Fracking and One Insider’s Stand Against the World’s Most Powerful Industry, by Andrew Nikiforuk, p. 245)
A 2014 US Government Accountability Office report criticized the EPA for failing to adequately oversee injection wells. One criticism is that the EPA has not consistently inspected state programs to ensure that state regulators comply with the Safe Drinking Water Act and EPA guidelines. And back in 1989, another GAO report, Drinking Water: Safeguards are Not Preventing Contamination from Injected Oil and Gas Wells, said that most of the contaminated aquifers could not be reclaimed because fixing the damage was ‘too costly’ or ‘technically infeasible.’ The report also noted “water contamination was not discovered, for the most part, until water supplies became too salty to drink or crops were ruined.”
Injection well hearings
Injection wells proposed for Michigan townships over the past few years have been met with intense public outcry. When “enough” people request a public hearing of the EPA, they hold one. While EPA is predisposed to permit an application if it meets all criteria, in some instances, when a community rises up and makes a show of force at a public hearing, and other political pressure comes to bear, communities can defeat an injection well in their area, but it’s tough going.
In Fork Township in Mecosta County, the EPA held a hearing in late January. About 200 people showed up at a local high school. Fifty people spoke, all in opposition to the well. This well is pending and the community continues organizing to oppose it.
In White Lake Township in Oakland County, residents rose up in opposition in late 2014 to a proposed injection well by Jordan Development. After residents inundated the township offices with calls, the company backed down prior to an EPA hearing being held and withdrew their application. Without a local notice of the pending EPA hearing, residents would never have known to complain at all.
In Summerfield Township in Monroe County, a similar story played out. Residents packed an EPA hearing in the local school auditorium in May 2015 and spoke out in opposition to a planned injection well by Trendwell Energy. The karst topography of the area played a role in providing a substantive reason for not putting an injection well there. After sustained opposition and public pressure, as well as pending legislation in Lansing to ban injection wells in karst topography, Trendwell pulled out of the project.
Regarding the DEQ having primacy and how it would have affected the outcome in Summerfield Township, township supervisor John Chandler says
“We need the EPA or another set of eyes for sure. The state rubber stamps these projects. The EPA hearing set the stage for us and put the oil company on notice. I believe it was the last trip to Lansing in December that really ‘drove it home’ when we testified to the House [on the bill.]”
Monroe County is now considering a county-wide ban on injection wells.
In Michigan DEQ’s hands, most injection wells would be approved
If Michigan were granted primacy by EPA, the DEQ would be able to hold hearings, but it would be up to Hal Fitch, assistant supervisor of wells to determine whether there was adequate public interest to hold such a hearing.
And because DEQ must follow the state law to “foster the development” of the oil and gas industry), approvals on injection wells would go industry’s way. And DEQ would be the final word. Public hearings would be a sham.
This part of the state law (MCL 324.61502) is being challenged by Michigan voters by ballot initiative. See the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan’s brochure at: www.letsbanfracking.org. The campaign continues with signature-gathering through June 1, 2016. (The Committee’s leadership includes the two of us).
Other evidence of DEQ’s lax well enforcement has now emerged, uncovered in a report last month by Michigan Environmental Council.
Gas storage wells in Michigan are of the same type as the one that spewed enormous quantities of greenhouse-gas methane in the affluent Porter Ranch neighborhood of Los Angeles for four months this winter.
Michigan has more active storage fields than any state, and even more are coming. Some aging wells and pipes haven’t been replaced since the 1940s. Odorant is not added to gas in the Michigan fields, making it hard to detect leaks. A disaster involving thousands of evacuations like that at Porter Ranch could happen here, according to an expert quoted by MEC.
MEC interviewed Hal Fitch about this. Fitch is DEQ’s assistant supervisor of wells and directs the Office of Oil, Gas and Minerals. He served for many years under the supervisor of wells, DEQ director Wyant. The timing isn’t clear, but it appears the interview was just before or after his boss Dan Wyant quit.
Saying at first that gas storage standards are “strict” and “comprehensive,” Fitch then admitted inspections are infrequent, and DEQ standards really are not very good:
Those inspection reports contain “not a lot of detail, frankly,” he said. “With what’s going on in California, we’re looking at our process ourselves, to see if there’s some improvements we can make,” Fitch said. “[Storage wells] don’t get as many inspections as an oil well or a brine injection well. But we’re looking now if we should have more complete records. We’re getting good compliance as far as what’s required, but we’re evaluating whether that’s really sufficient.”
The federal safe drinking water act includes only liquid storage, not gas storage, under “class II” injection wells. Today DEQ has exclusive authority over gas storage, so the primacy application will not affect that. Even so, Fitch’s admission belies the DEQ claim it has an “excellent” underground environmental record.
DEQ misled EPA about “public hearing” and didn’t provide the public comments it did get
It was only last month that we learned DEQ had finally submitted the draft application to EPA Region 5 in August 2015. We obtained a copy and uploaded it to our site so anyone can review it.
We were surprised to see that DEQ made no mention of our organization’s comments and those of another citizen commenter. The DEQ asserted a “public hearing” had been held, without saying it had publicly billed it as a “public meeting.”
On January 29 we wrote Region 5 director Hedman complaining of the omission, and asserting our objection should be made part of the EPA record.
That was her last full day on the job.
The letter added two additional reasons Region 5 should deny DEQ’s application for primacy, given its mishandling of the Flint water crisis and its lax regulation of gas storage wells.
The injection well in Grand Traverse County where frack well waste from several wells is taken for disposal, Weber 4-4. Photo by Ellis Boal. January 2012.
So who should issue injection well permits?
The request exposed a glaring problem: If DEQ is denied primacy then EPA Region 5 continues in command. But Region 5’s handling of what happened in Flint is just as outrageous as DEQ’s.
Citing the widely-reported history, our letter to Hedman noted that Region 5 had memos in its hands about Flint’s water in February, April, and June of 2015. Despite danger to children, the Region 5 office sounded no alarms. Hedman claimed at first that EPA had no power to act, saying only the state could. But in fact under the federal law, the EPA had oversight responsibility and emergency powers to intervene. Soon top DEQ officials began resigning. A month later Hedman herself announced she would quit. Finally EPA issued an emergency order and is running the show but not from the Region 5 office in Chicago. It’s being handled in DC.
So who should be regulating Michigan’s “class II” injection wells for frack and oil/gas drilling wastes? We told Hedman: Injection permitting “should end throughout Michigan and all the states of Region 5.”
In addition to Michigan, Region 5 includes Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio.
DEQ should withdraw the primacy application. But if it persists with a formal application and Region 5 gives the expected preliminary green light, a public hearing will be announced — presumably a real one this time — for later this year.
Is the purpose for Michigan DEQ having “primacy” to increase the amount of waste being dumped in Michigan?
It seems so. Injection well programs take place in 32 states, with the majority of wells around the Great Lakes and in places where gas and oil is produced like the Gulf Coast, California and Texas. Ohio is a state that has primacy for injection wells, with no EPA oversight. Injection wells there are multiplying. People in Ohio have been alarmed that they have been targeted as a regional center for toxic frack wastes from out of state as well as from the numerous frack wells within the state. According to a 2015 report by Earthworks that looked at the failures of oil and gas waste practices in four states–New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia–the two states with primacy (Ohio and WV) had the most injection wells, with about 200 and 60 respectively, while New York had only 6, and Pennsylvania 10.
In contrast, Michigan leads them all with approximately 887 disposal wells. With primacy, Michigan will become even more loaded up with class II injection wells and their deadly load.
A new injection disposal well for Redding Township (Clare County) was applied for today.
The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan ballot campaign that would ban wastes from horizontal well bores using fracturing or acidizing: www.LetsBanFracking.org
America’s dirtiest secret: how billions of barrels of toxic oil and gas waste are falling through regulatory cracks, by Jefferson Dodge and Joel Dyer, Boulder Weekly, March 13, 2014.
Fracking wastewater is big business in Ohio, by Kathiann M. Kowalski, Midwest Energy News, July 18, 2014.
Injection wells: the poison beneath us, by Abrahm Lustgarten, ProPublica, June 12, 2012. (And see the entire series of ProPublica investigations on injection wells.)
No time to waste: effective management of oil and gas radioactive waste, (no time to waste-2), Western Organization of Resource Councils, 2015.
Wasting away: four states’ failure to manage gas and oil field waste from the Marcellus and Utica Shale, by Nadia Steinzor and Bruce Baizel, Earthworks, April 2015.
*NOTE that some of these reports propose regulatory solutions. Ban Michigan Fracking’s position is instead on a BAN: that these wastes must end and the processes that produce them must cease. Fracking and injection wells can’t really be “made better” because the fixes do not prevent harm.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged "Circle of Lies", #FlintWaterCrisis, #Susan Hedman, ACLU of Michigan, banfracking, Brad Wurfel, Dan Wyant, EPA Region 5, flintwaterstudy.org, fracking, injection wells, Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, Michigan DEQ, Miguel Del Toral, primacy, primacy application
The Flint water connection to fracking
Posted on January 27, 2016 by BMF webmaster
The Karegnondi pipeline running from Flint to Lake Huron might be a conduit to forcing more residents off of groundwater wells that will be affected by fracking, and onto the Karegnondi water system. Photo from Karegnondi.org
by LuAnne Kozma
People have been contacting us about the possibility that one reason for Flint’s plans for a new pipeline for water from Lake Huron through the recently formed Karegnondi Water Authority, is to provide water to the frack industry. This first came up in a blogpost “Could the Flint water crisis have its origins in a desire to open up new areas of Michigan to fracking?” and it’s been repeated in other reporting, such as Motor City Muckraker and Eclectablog.
The more likely connection: free groundwater for the frackers, Karegnondi water at a price for everyone else
A connection is there, but unless new evidence turns up, it’s not that the new Karegnondi pipeline necessarily would provide water directly to the frack industry. Instead, the likely scenario is that as the gas and oil industry drills and/or fracks in the Genesee, Lapeer, Sanilac, and St. Clair county areas along the pipeline’s routes, residential water wells will go bad and become contaminated, forcing residents to tie in (buy in) to the new Karegnondi water system, making them rate-paying water customers.
Monetizing water for people who currently get their water from groundwater wells is perhaps part of the business plan behind Karegnondi. Michigan has more private groundwater drinking wells providing water to residents and municipalities than any other state. The more the frackers can have access to that water, pushing more and more people off the groundwater supply and onto privatized or monetized sources, the better for the oil and gas industry, and the much worse for the public.
Download the Karegnondi pipeline map pdf.
The state’s role in oil and gas development
Most people think the DEQ “does its job” by protecting human health and the environment, and resources like water, above all else. Not so with oil and gas. The Oil, Gas and Minerals Division of the DEQ is in charge of oil and gas development in the state, and issues permits for frack wells. Michigan DEQ is required by state law to
“foster the development of the [gas and oil] industry along the most favorable conditions, with a view to the ultimate recovery of the maximum production of these natural products.” (MCL 324.61502)
“Drill, baby, drill” is written right into the law. This must change. It’s been there since 1939. The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan has written a ballot initiative to change this statute, ban fracking and frack wastes, and ban acidizing in horizontal well bores.
The state has a deeper, darker “role”: It also makes money from the production of oil and gas. In effect, the state is a business partner with the oil and gas industry, even though, it’s supposed to be regulating it. In this case, “regulating” means giving them every opportunity to extract fossil fuels and make a profit.
It’s more insidious than that. Much like the lead industry waged a campaign to outfit the nation’s infrastructure with their deadly lead pipes (see: The Lead Industry and Lead Water Pipes: A “Modest Campaign”) we see these same devices being used today by the oil and gas industry to install their deadly infrastructure of natural gas plants, frack wells, compressor stations, toxic injection wells, and pipelines.
And the DEQ is right there with industry, promoting it, and mouthing the same propaganda. Brad Wurfel, the disgraced former DEQ spokesperson who recently resigned for his despicable role in the #FlintWaterCrisis (and who said “anyone who is concerned about lead in the drinking water in Flint can relax”) has repeated frack industry talking points like “new fracking technology is a potential game changer for this country.” He also said: “The state’s regulatory program is regarded nationally as one of the toughest — a safe, effective way to allow domestic energy production while protecting the land, air and water.” An interview by the Rockford Squire with DEQ’s Wurfel reads like an ANGA (American Natural Gas Association) commercial, while putting down residents sounding the alarm about the harms of fracking.
Fracking and drilling planned for Genesee, Lapeer, Sanilac, and St. Clair Counties
There are plans for fracking and other drilling activity in Genesee, Lapeer, Sanilac, and St. Clair counties. There are already four “high volume, hydraulically fractured,” frack wells (those using over 100,000 gallons of water per well) in Sanilac County: the Schultz, Walker, State Wheatland & Reinelt, and Van Damme wells, all targeting the A-1 Carbonate formation. (See current map of DEQ wells).
The State auctioned off state-owned mineral rights to acres throughout the area, with 200 acres auctioned in Genesee county near Holloway Regional Park. In 2013 land men from Western Land Services combed the area meeting with landowners, buying their mineral rights. Local residents organized in opposition, with Oregon and Richfield Townships in Lapeer County passing resolutions against fracking. And large gas storage fields (like the Porter Ranch, California storage well that is leaking massive amounts of methane) are located in St. Clair County.
The frackers sometimes do purchase municipal water
It’s possible that municipal water from Karegnondi could be used in the future for fracking. The frackers have certainly purchased water from municipalities in the past when groundwater supplies became scare or insufficient. With the Westerman frack well in Kalkaska County the frackers ran out of groundwater, bought public water from the nearby municipality, and when that wasn’t enough for the frack job, resorted to drilling 8 more water wells on site.
The city of Saline, in Washtenaw County, was selling municipal water for oil and gas drilling in 2012 until residents rose up and stopped it, and the city imposed a moratorium on further water sales. As Saline resident and business owner Mitch Rohde, opposing the use of municipal water for drilling, said at the time,
“I can say that my company is here to stay, and isn’t here to suck non-renewal resources out of the ground, profit, and in a locust-like manner move on, leaving a path of industrialization, potential contaminant, property devaluation and other issues while lining up the next small town to feed on.”
The frack industry uses ground water for free. A lot of it.
Water well drilled on the site of the Mancelona 1-28 HD1 horizontal frack well, on state forest land. The frackers use public groundwater for free. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
Generally, though, the frack industry uses ground water from temporary water wells they drill on the site of the well pad (see above photo). If the frack well is on state land, that means the frackers use this publicly-owned resource for free, and use as much as they want. The hokey, much criticized “water withdrawal assessment tool” (WWAT) is used by the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as a guise to make it appear they’ve considered the quantity of water being removed from the ground. In fact, it does no such thing, records no cumulative records of how much water is removed from the aquifers below, and studies no impacts.
And when a frack well applicant fails the WWAT, the DEQ staff simply visit the site, and then rubber stamp the approval anyway. One well, which failed the WWAT, used over 21 million gallons of water. (See: Michigan’s 21 Million Gallon Frack Job and Michigan Gas Wells Surpassing All Water Records, Governor-approved Frack Panel Unconcerned).
The frack industry, if it does all the drilling it wants to, will thirst after Michigan water. One estimate from 2013 was if Encana (now sold to Marathon) drilled the 500 wells they projected, the company would use and destroy 4 billion gallons of groundwater, about what Traverse City uses in two years.
The DEQ keeps this list of the water amounts used by the industry’s recent “high volume hydraulically fractured” wells.
The millions of gallons of fresh water used for fracking are no longer “water” after it is combined with millions of gallons of chemicals, many of them neurotoxins and cancer-causing. These millions of gallons are permanently taken from the water cycle. To frack, the toxic cocktail is injected underground using extreme pressure to break up the rock formation (or in the case of acidizing, dissolve the rock). What comes back out of the well is even worse, and usually radioactive. These liquid wastes (the industry and DEQ like to call this toxic waste “flowback” and “produced water”) are then put into injection wells and again re-injected deep into the earth’s formations, to be buried supposedly forever. But well casings fail, as researchers and industry itself have studied, allowing these toxins to enter and poison aquifers. (See ProPublica’s reporting “Injection Wells: The Poison Beneath Us.”)
Governor Rick Snyder says “in Michigan we do fracking right”
Governor Snyder said in a televised debate, “in Michigan we do fracking right” and “we work with industry….” And now you know why the DEQ works with industry to contaminate Michigan with toxic chemicals, toxified water, and frack wastes from other states. With the world now watching Michigan’s governor, his emergency manager-based autocracy, his words and actions in the #FlintWaterCrisis, the Detroit Public School takeover, and the frack industry invasion, Michiganders and others are now seeing through this flim flam.
For more information about the harms of fracking and the ballot initiative to ban fracking and frack wastes statewide, see the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan’s brochure. The Committee is collecting signatures before June 1 to get the ban on fracking and frack wastes on the ballot this November.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #arrestsnyder, #Flint, #FlintWater, #FlintWaterCrisis, #FlintWaterScandal, #flintwaterstudy, #poisonwater, #SolidarityWithFlint, ban fracking, Ban Michigan Fracking, Eclectablog, frack, fracking, Genesee County, Governor Rick Snyder, hydraulicfracturing, Kalkaska, Karegnondi, Lapeer County, michigan, Michigan DEQ, Motor City Muckraker, naturalgas, Rick Snyder, Saline, Sanilac County, St Clair County, Westerman
Protest frack waste expansion in Detroit
Posted on October 5, 2015 by BMF webmaster
Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan volunteers, Ban Michigan Fracking, Metro Detroiters for Bernie, and residents in the nearby community from Hamtramck and Detroit around the Detroit US Ecology hazardous waste facility gathered for a protest October 3. Photo: Jim West.
Forty-five activists and community members gathered on October 3, 2015 at the US Ecology hazardous waste facility in Detroit to protest expansion of the facility. They included nearby residents from Detroit and Hamtramck, retirees, nurses, professors, lawyers, students, engineers, photographers, teachers, former and current city workers, a Detroit school board member, and retired postal workers.
In addition to Ban Michigan Fracking, the groups Beyond Nuclear, Don’t Waste Michigan, Metro Detroiters for Bernie, Carrie Rogge Block Club, Great Lakes Water Protection Committee, Detroit Workers Voice, and Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, joined members of a local mosque and volunteers of Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan from around the state.
Photo by Jim West.
The Detroit facility, which processes frack wastes, has applied to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality to expand its operations tenfold.
Ban Michigan Fracking has reported on the amount of frack waste coming to Detroit from Pennsylvania for many months (*see below). The Detroit Free Press reported on the expansion on September 11, and the DEQ’s public comment deadline the next day, Saturday, September 12. BMF wrote public comments to the DEQ, demanding an extension of the public comment period, demanding that DEQ deny the permit, and discussing the harms of radioactive frack wastes and TENORM.
We Demand a Public Hearing by DEQ
Nearby residents concerned about the frack waste expansion and harm to families. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
The DEQ granted the extension of the public comment period to October 12, but no public hearing has been planned. BMF encourages people to write DEQ and demand a public hearing. The nearby community and all Michigan residents deserve to be heard. Write comments to: Richard Conforti, MDEQ, at confortir@michigan.gov or by mail c/o DEQ, P.O. Box 30241, Lansing, Michigan, 48909-7741.
US Ecology admits liquid wastes are going into the Detroit sewer system; Michigan DEQ denies it
The Detroit Free Press reported on September 11:
In an e-mailed response to Free Press inquiries, US Ecology spokesman David Crumrine said there have been no adverse environmental impacts during the 40 years the plant has operated. The plant takes hazardous and non-hazardous, solid and liquid wastes from the automotive, steel, plating and other area industries, as well as retail wastes, he said. Waste is treated to remove or stabilize its hazards as required by state and federal regulations, and then shipped for disposal at offsite landfills. Liquids are treated until they are safe to dispose of via the Detroit wastewater treatment plant. [emphasis added]
This was startling news, and what BMF had speculated for some time. The company’s admission was proof that wastewater from processing hazardous wastes at the site — 40% of which comes from out of state — goes directly into the public water and sewerage system.
Why else bring out-of-state frack wastes for processing to Detroit? When liquid wastes that are too hot radioactively to be disposed of here — DEQ’s Ken Yale has told BMF that wastes are solidified in Detroit first and then shipped for disposal at US Ecology facilities in Idaho — are brought here on their way west, there’s got to be a practical reason. Why wouldn’t Pennsylvania’s frack wastes be sent directly from Pennsylvania to Idaho?
DEQ’s Conforti denied that US Ecology is putting wastes into the Detroit Water and Sewerage System, as quoted in the Detroit News: “Nothing will be released into the water supply — Lake Huron or the Detroit River.”
Other groups, such as the American Human Rights Coalition, based in Dearborn, are also opposed to the expansion. AHRC is raising community awareness and demanding answers to what impact the expansion would have on the Detroit water system.
Dealing with the contaminated and radioactive waste is getting to be a real problem for the fracking/oil and gas industry. According to industry site Fuel Fix: “EPA to block drillers from sending wastewater to municipal treatment plants“:
“In Pennsylvania, drillers are worried about a double whammy — that EPA will follow up its currently proposed zero-discharge rule for municipal treatment plants with another standard blocking them from sending fluids to centralized facilities too.”
Which could pose a problem for facilities like US Ecology.
Speakers at the Protest
Local resident Ronnie Mixon, who also spoke at the protest. Photo: Jim West.
* Kevin Kamps, radioactive waste watchdog from Beyond Nuclear, gave some background on how harmful radioactivity is to human health.
* Elena Herrada, a member of the Detroit School Board told the crowd that the school board passed a resolution that the DEQ deny the permit, in light of harm to Detroit school children.
* Dawn DeRose, of the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, gave an urgent pitch for volunteers to sign up to get signatures to get the Committee’s ban initiative on the 2016 ballot before the November deadline.
The signature deadline is in November. The Committee reported in September collecting over 100,000 signatures toward the 252,523 requirement and intends to make it on the ballot. The ballot initiative would ban the processing and storage of frack wastes.
* In December 2014 we reported on the wastes coming from Pennsylvania to US Ecology in Detroit reported by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection :
Detroit got the worst of it. Over 1,466 tons of “flowback fracturing sand” went to the US Ecology facility at 6520 Georgia Street, near Hamtramck which is the former Dynecol facility. The Marcellus shale frack wastes came from horizontal frack wells in a host of Pennsylvania counties–Butler, Clarion, Clearfield, Fayette, Greene, Indiana and Westmoreland–all in 2011 and 2012, but not reported until 2014. The former Dynecol site, which was a hazardous liquid waste processing facility in operation since 1974 “for the Midwest US and Canadian industrial markets,” is now owned by US Ecology, which bought it in 2012, around the same time the frack wastes were brought to Detroit. The company now carries out a number of hazardous operations with radioactive waste, including, according to the DEQ, processing of radioactive frack wastes which are solidified and then shipped to a facility in Idaho. What parts from that “processing” remain in Detroit? We wish we knew. – See more at: http://banmichiganfracking.org/?m=201412#sthash.qJ2D2iNW.dpuf
Other sources on radioactive wastes and: Rachel Treichler, attorney from New York, has this list of sources, “Materials on Radioactivity in Gas and Gas Drilling Waste.”
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Ban Michigan Fracking, Beyond Nuclear, CommitteetoBanFrackinginMichigan, Detroit, Dynecol, frack, frack waste, fracking, Hamtramck, hydraulicfracturing, michigan, Michigan DEQ, naturalgas, radioactive, TENORM, US Ecology
New DEQ fracking rules don’t help; we still need a ban
A frack well in Gladwin County, Wiley 1-81 HD1, in 2012. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
After public hearings last summer amid the public uproar about fracking, in March 2015 the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s Office of Oil, Gas and Minerals published new administrative rules for oil, gas, and fracking. DEQ provided a link and said the new rules:
contain additional requirements when completing a well using high volume hydraulic fracturing [HVHF] by modifying Rule 201 and adding Part 14 High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing. The revised administrative rules also contained other minor updates related to definitions, injection, and spacing issues.
Since horizontal fracking came to Michigan in 2010, some environmental groups have put all effort into improving sloppy practices, and getting tighter DEQ fracking regulation.
The new rules show the futility of those efforts. If anything, they facilitate more fracking than the old rules. Protection of public health, the environment, forests, water resources, air, climate, and our communities is still at stake.
The technical details are below.
“Construction of part”
The overall show-stopper is the legislature’s statutory finding at MCL 324.61502. This law will remain in place unless the ballot initiative campaign of the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan succeeds in 2016. Innocuously titled “construction of part” – meaning “how the DEQ is to construe part 615 [the state oil-gas law]” – the finding ends with these words:
It is accordingly the declared policy of the state to protect the interests of its citizens and landowners from unwarranted waste of gas and oil and to foster the development of the industry along the most favorable conditions and with a view to the ultimate recovery of the maximum production of these natural products. To that end, this part is to be construed liberally to give effect to sound policies of conservation and the prevention of waste and exploitation.
Binding on judges, juries, and DEQ regulators, this special-interest provision has been on the books since 1939. Most government agencies treat their regulated industries neutrally. Not so with DEQ and oil-gas. “Fostering” the industry means fostering oil-gas profits. “Maximizing” oil-gas production means maximizing Michigan’s contribution to fossil fuel-driven global warming.
Thus “construction of part” declares a vision statement or ideology, that animates both the old DEQ rules and the new DEQ rules.
The citizen-led ballot initiative will ban horizontal fracking and acidizing in the state, and render the HVHF rules obsolete.
Just as importantly, it will eliminate the oil-gas industry’s special-interest protection. Instead of fostering the industry and maximizing production, the new “construction of part” will say:
It is accordingly the declared policy of the state to protect the interests of its people and environment during gas and oil development. This part is to be construed liberally to give effect to sound policies of conservation and to protect water resources, land, air, climate, human health, and the natural environment.
Terminology and a caveat
Terminology: “Part 615” noted above refers to the oil-gas “part” of Michigan’s overall environmental law known as “Natural Resources and Environmental Protection act” (NREPA), found at MCL 324.101 et seq. Part 327, noted below, is also in NREPA.
The DEQ rules are also divided into “parts,” numbered part 1 through part 14. They are in a different number sequence than the parts of NREPA. Confusingly, the two sets of “parts” have no relation to each other.
The caveat: Many of the new rules refer to “high volume hydraulic fracturing” (HVHF), defined as fracking which uses a total volume of more than 100,000 gallons of primary carrier fluid. HVHF usually occurs in wellbores which are horizontal, but not always. The ballot initiative of the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan by contrast seeks to ban fracking and acidizing in horizontal wellbores, without tying it to a specific volume of primary carrier fluid.
Details on the new rules
Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions: On April 27 the Detroit News editorialized against signing the ballot initiative, asserting that the new rules “control methane emissions.” They do not. New rule 1404(1)(c) provides only for testing for methane (and six other chemicals) in water wells which are near HVHF wells. No tests are done for fugitive methane (methane which escapes into the air). Methane is the primary constituent of natural gas, and a potent GHG. Other new rules say nothing and do nothing about Michigan’s contribution to global warming. Comments by Ban Michigan Fracking at last summer’s hearings made particular note that the prohibition of “waste” in MCL 324.61501(q)(ii)(B) does not include air or climate as protected values, and that DEQ’s historic permitting practice has been to monitor only non-GHG emissions.
This frack well fragmented a state forest in Antrim County, 2011, (State Mancelona 1-28 HD1). Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
Cumulative impacts and habitat fragmentation: The new rules say nothing about proliferation and cumulative impacts of wells. The DNR leases oil-gas rights and DEQ permits oil-gas wells separately with no coordination between them. Wells are often located near rivers and streams. In basins with a high density of operations, numerous wellpads in the same watershed compound cumulative impacts of above-ground wellheads, compressors, pipelines, access roads, and associated industry.
Wastewater, radioactivity: The new rules have no requirement for geochemical analysis of flowback and produced water, particularly from underground radioactive shale rock typically associated with shale gas.
Compulsory pooling of surface owners can now be done after drilling and fracking is done: Rule 301(1)(d) now allows a permit to be issued and the well drilled on a unit with fractures extending under unleased land — land the fracker does not have the rights to — prior to a hearing being held to see if a dominant leaseholder can force other owners into a pool. The theory under MCL 324.61513(4) is that the leaseholder should not be deprived of a fair share of oil or gas in the pool. Pooling orders are typically justified by the “construction of part” language that requires the state to foster “maximum production” (language which will be eliminated if the ballot initiative succeeds). See this example of a case of compulsory pooling where DEQ relied on “construction of part” to force owners into a drilling unit. The assumption of compulsory pooling is that everyone wants to produce oil or gas from his/her land to the max. If ever accurate historically, the assumption is not uniformly true today. Cosmetically, the new rules also change the term “compulsory pooling” to “statutory pooling,” hiding the fact that landowners are forced into drilling units against their will.
Seismic impacts: The new rules have a single passing reference to seismic activity. It is in rule 1202(3)(a), the procedure for petitioning to establish secondary recovery operations. In April, the US Geological Survey linked oil-gas activities to induced earthquakes. The new rules require no seismic precautions.
Confidentiality: Rule 416(3) requires operators on request of the DEQ to give it fracking, acidizing, and other well records. But if an operator asks DEQ to hold well data and samples confidential (excepting data on spills, leaks, and chemicals used), DEQ will do so until 90 days after drilling is completed. Confidentiality advances no environmental principle or policy.
Spacing and blowouts: When a fracker seeks a special spacing order, rule 303(2) no longer requires that DEQ make sure that the distance between wells prevents interference. Interference can result in a blowout at an adjacent well. DEQ is now content to grant a permit to a well where a blowout could happen.
Conformance bonds: Bonds for single wells range between $10k and $30k depending on depth according to rule 212, but the state auditor general found in 2013 the average cost to plug one is $50k+.
Hearings on well permits: Rule 201(4) provides for no notice to nearby landowners of fracker applications for well permits, and no hearings or appeals if a permit is granted.
One of the many injection wells used to dispose of horizontal frack wastes in Michigan, the Slowinski injection well in Kalkaska County. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
Injection wells: There is no change in rule 102(x), the definition of “injection well.” The rule’s definition includes disposal wells and wells used to inject water “for the purpose of increasing the ultimate recovery of hydrocarbons from a reservoir.” A reservoir is any gas-bearing formation, even if it is solid rock. Injecting to increase recovery is just what frack wells do in the Utica-Collingwood, A-1 carbonate, and other gas-bearing formations. By nature, frack wells are permanent disposal wells of half their own injectate. In 2014 our court of appeals interpreted the rule definition to refer to any well used to increase recovery of hydrocarbons from a reservoir which was already producing before water was injected. Every well in the Utica-Collingwood and A-1 carbonate, and practically every other frack well in the state today, fits that interpretation. Yet DEQ refuses to treat them under the rules for injection wells. Those rules include rule 804 which uses a formula to limit the amount of injection pressure.
HVHF: The new rules have an amended part 2 and a new part 14 to cover high volume hydraulic fracturing (HVHF). HVHF is defined in rule 1401(h) as fracking which uses a total volume of more than 100,000 gallons of primary carrier fluid.
Trade secrets and HVHF: Under rule 201(2)(c), anticipated chemicals in the injectate, and their “chemical abstracts service” (CAS) numbers, must be identified in advance. Under rule 1406(1)(c), the chemicals and CAS numbers actually used have to be listed with FracFocus 30 days after completion. (FracFocus does not operate under a public mandate or verify information submitted to it.) But both requirements have an exception if the fracker simply makes a claim for protection under Michigan’s trade secrets statute, MCL 445.1901 et seq. The trade secrets law does not protect the public from frackers. It protects frackers from each other. Neither the trade secrets law nor the new rules provide a mechanism for a citizen to challenge a fracker’s claim of secrecy.
Students protest in Mt. Pleasant, 2012. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
Baseline water testing and HVHF: Rule 1404 requires the permit holder to do pre-drilling sampling of water from potable wells near the surface hole, test the samples at a lab for seven chemicals, and give a copy of the lab results to the landowner. No testing for the hundreds of other chemicals identified in frack operations is required. And chemicals in secret mixtures can’t be tested for at all. Sampling in the vicinity of the horizontal laterals, sampling of water levels and flows, sampling of surface waters, splitting samples so the landowner can have half, and doing post-drilling sampling are not required. Nor is sampling required for water wells near gas wells which are not HVHF.
Water Withdrawal Assessment Tool and HVHF: Rule 1402 has provisions for protection of water withdrawn for fracking. The rule requires screening by Michigan’s water withdrawal assessment tool (WWAT), adopted in 2008 by the legislature in MCL 324.32701 et seq (or NREPA part 327). If a fracker’s withdrawal request fails WWAT screening, it may request a site-specific review. DEQ would then take a closer look and decide whether to approve withdrawal. In the past, DEQ has routinely approved permits even when the WWAT test “fails.” WWAT screening has problems. It estimates surface water flows from just 147 gauged stream segments around the state. The gauges tend to be on medium- and large-sized streams, not sensitive headwaters. WWAT has not been updated since 2008. It was developed to deal with long-term withdrawals like agricultural irrigation, not the short-term intensive withdrawals required for fracking. WWAT cannot assess the potential impacts on habitat, wildlife, and nearby waters receiving site runoff. It does not account for water withdrawal impacts to wetlands and lakes. It cannot measure potential changes in surface runoff patterns due to the clearing of land and road construction. It overestimates stream flow (and so underestimates adverse effects). Academics have criticized it.
Use of WWAT and HVHF: Even were WWAT a valid screening device, DEQ misuses it. Two big frack wells were permitted in 2011, State Excelsior 1-13 HD1 and State Excelsior 1-25 HD1. Both wells failed WWAT screening according to the linked DEQ paperwork for the wells. That triggered a site-specific review by DNR water specialist David Deyoung. Deyoung gave the go-ahead and permits were granted. But according to pages 84-87 and 108-113 respectively of the paperwork, he gave no reasoning, did not consider the stream or river flow data of affected stream reaches, and did not even state he visited the sites.
To protect Michigan from harm, we must use the Precautionary Principle and do no harm. Rules by which to frack, only lead us down the road to more and increased fracking across the state.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged A-1 Carbonate, ballot initiative, banfracking, compulsory pooling, DEQ rules, Ellis Boal, frack, frack waste, fracking, greenhouse gas, HVHF, hydraulic fracturing, injection well, Kalkaska, michigan, Michigan DEQ, Michigan DNR, naturalgas, radioactive, radioactivity, regulations, seismic, Utica-Collingwood shale, waste, water baseline testing, WWAT
Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan launches ballot initiative with strong support according to new poll of Michigan voters
Posted on May 19, 2015 by BMF webmaster
The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan launches its ballot initiative petition drive–all on paper, on foot, and in person–this May 22, 2015, as a new poll the Committee released, by Public Policy Polling, shows a strong majority supporting the ban on fracking and frack wastes.
Below is the complete press release
Poll results can be found here.
CONTACT: Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, www.LetsBanFracking.org
LuAnne Kozma, Campaign Director, 231-944-8750 luanne@letsbanfracking.org
Jim Williams, Public Policy Polling, 919-985-5380 Jim.Williams@PublicPolicyPolling.com
New poll of Michigan voters shows a strong majority supports a statewide ban on fracking and frack wastes as ballot initiative signature-gathering campaign begins May 22
CHARLEVOIX, MICH. – In results from a new poll conducted by Public Policy Polling (PPP) released today by the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, Michigan voters indicate strong support and would vote yes for the Committee’s statewide ballot proposal ban on fracking and frack wastes.
The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, a citizen-led ballot initiative group seeking to ban horizontal hydraulic fracturing and frack wastes, kicks off its campaign this week. Volunteer circulators begin collecting signatures starting Friday, May 22, 2015 for a six-month period to qualify for the 2016 ballot.
The telephone poll reached 855 Michigan voters between May 15 and 18, 2015.
“As we begin collecting signatures this weekend, we know that our fellow Michigan residents are with us on a statewide ban. They don’t want fracking and frack wastes to destroy our beautiful state or harm our health as the frack industry has in other states. We are excited to work together to make a change in Michigan law and bring this proposal to the voters. Everyone who supports the ban should get involved right away and donate to, volunteer for and endorse the campaign,” said LuAnne Kozma, the Committee’s campaign director.
According to the poll, a strong majority of fifty-five percent (55%) of respondents said if the election were today, they would support the Committee’s ballot proposal to ban fracking and frack wastes statewide, change the current law that requires the State to foster the gas and oil industry and put in its place a requirement that human health and the environment be protected during oil and gas development, and give Michigan residents the right to sue if the fracking industry violates the ban. Only 32% oppose the measure, and 12% are not sure.
Fifty-nine percent (59%) of the respondents said they support changing the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s directive that currently requires the State to foster the oil and gas industry and maximize oil and gas production, to focus more on protecting Michigan’s environment and public health during oil and gas development, which is a key part of the Committee’s ballot proposal language. Only 28% oppose changing it.
An overwhelming majority, sixty-four percent (64%) of those polled, support a ban on frack wastes being disposed of in Michigan, including frack wastes produced in other states, after hearing that currently frack wastes, including radioactive drill cuttings, muds and sludges, and millions of gallons of fluids containing toxic chemicals, are disposed of in Michigan landfills, injection wells and at Michigan gas drilling sites.
After learning that Vermont banned fracking and New York banned fracking based on concerns about health impacts, and that other states that are heavily fracked such as Colorado and Pennsylvania have hundreds of wells in a single county with documented health impacts, fifty-nine (59%) responded that fracking and frack wastes should be banned in Michigan before the industry creates health problems for Michigan residents.
“These results clearly show that Michigan voters have major concerns about fracking and frack waste harming Michigan’s environment and damaging their health,” said Jim Williams, a polling analyst at Public Policy Polling.
“Only a ban can protect us from the significant harms of fracking,” said Peggy Case, president of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation and on the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan steering committee. “The poll shows that a clear majority, sixty-nine percent (69%), of Michigan residents, dependent as we are on groundwater wells and the Great Lakes for our drinking water, has serious concerns about the risk of water contamination from the frack industry. It is urgent that we move to alternative forms of energy to protect future generations.”
The margin of error is +/- 3.4%.
The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan is looking for more volunteers to circulate petitions, donors, and endorsers for the campaign which begins May 22, 2015 for a six-month period. The following Kick Off events are planned to start off the Memorial Day weekend. See http://LetsBanFracking.org
Kick Off Events:
For full list, see www.letsbanfracking.org
Saturday, May 23, 9:00 a.m.
Scottish Highland festival, downtown Alma
Friday, May 22, 6:00 to 8:00 p.m.
Outside Espresso Royale
Saturday, May 23, 9:00 a.m. to noon
Ann Arbor Farmers Market
315 Detroit St.
Saturday, May 23, 1:00 p.m.
Liberty Plaza, Corner of Liberty and Division
Boyne City Farmers Market, Veterans Park, Lake Street
Saturday, May 23, 10:00 a.m. to noon
Chelsea Farmers Market
Downtown on 222 S. Main St, Chelsea
Meet between Sheds 2 and 3
Outside Harmony Brew
1551 Lake Dr SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49506
Saturday, May 23, @ 2:00 p.m.
March Against Monsanto, Ah Nab Awen Park
Training for Circulators @ 1:30 and 3:00
Saturday, May 23, 8:00 to 10:00 a.m.
Muskegon Farmers Market
242 W Western Ave, Muskegon, MI 49440
OTSEGO (ALLEGAN COUNTY)
City of Otsego Farmers Market
112 Kalamazoo St/M-89, Otsego, MI 49078
Friday, May 22, 10:00 am to 1:00 pm
Outside Roast and Toast Café
309 E Lake St Petoskey, MI 49770
Friday, May 22, 6:00 to 10:00 p.m.
Intersection of 4th and Waters Street, Rochester
Saturday, May 23, 11:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m.
Heritage Fest, Rochester Municipal Park
400 Sixth Street, Rochester
South Haven Farm Market
Behind the South Haven Library, in the park near pavilion
Horizon Books, downstairs
243 E Front St, Traverse City, MI 49684
Ypsilanti Depot Town Farmers Market
100 Rice St., Ypsilanti
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged #poll, @LetsBanFracking, ballot initiative, banfracking, CommitteetoBanFrackinginMichigan, frack, frack waste, fracking, hydraulicfracturing, michigan, Michigan DEQ, naturalgas, Public Policy Polling
Michigan says “bring it on” to more radioactive frack wastes
Today Gov. Rick Snyder’s panel on radioactive waste, which met in secret last fall, issued its report, clearing the way for Michigan to continue taking radioactive frack sludge and other frack wastes to sites in Belleville and Detroit owned by US Ecology. An agreement made by the frack waste company, which operates a Detroit waste processing facility and a processing and Class I landfill facility in Van Buren Township, and the State was to hold off on taking in frack wastes until after the report was issued. That day is here.
TO DONATE TO THE CAMPAIGN TO BAN FRACKING AND FRACK WASTES GO TO WWW.LETSBANFRACKING.ORG
The Detroit News reported the release of the panel’s paper today: Mich. panel: no changes in handling radioactive sludge.
The TENORM panel came about after Ban Michigan Fracking broke the story in August that 36 tons of Pennsylvania radioactive frack sludge, held up for weeks with nowhere to go, were approved for disposal in Michigan by Michigan DEQ officials.
The 36 tons of radioactive frack sludge from PA sat here for months and then disappeared. Submitted photo.
The 36 tons of radioactive frack sludge in Washington County, PA held for months at a Range Resource waste impoundment site, was what alarmed us and eventually caused Gov Rick Snyder’s kneejerk reaction to create the TENORM panel. The containers of frack sludge were moved off site some time ago and its final deposition is not known at this time. It did not go to a US Ecology facility in Michigan . . . yet.
Soon after, the Detroit Free Press blasted the news of the PA radioactive waste on its front page. We and volunteers from Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan held a vigil waiting for the trucks (that never came) at the landfill/processing facility in Van Buren Township, near Belleville, last August. US Ecology’s top radiology guy, Joe Weismann, came out to greet us, after reading this website from all the way out in Idaho. He came to Michigan to do damage control. . . and presumably at that time made the deal with the governor to quiet things down for a while. Weismann did a dog and pony show type presentation to Van Buren Township residents at a township meeting. He was on the TENORM panel.
Ban Michigan Fracking did more investigating about the 36 tons of radioactive frack sludge and FOIA’d the DEQ for the tests of its radioactive content. We also learned about the industry’s system of diluting the high radioactive content by simply mixing it up with inert materials, and depositing all of it into the landfill that way. The 36 tons was moved to some undisclosed location in late October. DEQ confirmed with us today that the 36 tons have not yet come to the US Ecology facility in Belleville. It was also the last request for radioactive frack waste disposal that came to the Michigan DEQ from US Ecology.
Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan members protest outside frack waste facility near Belleville, August 2014.
The Detroit Free Press did a lot more investigating of the Michigan Disposal/Wayne Disposal landfill, too, finding a history of violations, fines and fires. We dug up the records from Pennsylvania as to what’s come to Belleville and found over 20 tons of drill cuttings and about 315 tons of “flowback fracturing sand,” all from Greene County in Pennsylvania’s southwestern edge where the frack industry is ravaging people’s health.
The governor’s panel, which evaluated the DEQ’s current system of taking in radioactive wastes and saw virtually nothing wrong with it, (as DEQ spokesperson Brad Wurfel predicted) came up with a handful of recommendations that the state could “consider” changing. Such as shuffling around the placement of radioactive waste within a landfill. It also had a former DEQ staffer as the person “representing the public.” We’ll take a better look at the report in the next weeks and make more comments.
And you can too. Michigan DEQ issued a press release that the department will take public comments on the report in a 30-day comment period starting today. Comments can be submitted by email to DEQ-TENORMPublicComments@michigan.gov, or by mail to 525 W. Allegan St., Lansing, MI, 48933.
Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, the ballot question committee with hundreds of volunteers from around the state, is more resolved than ever to stop these wastes from coming into the state. The Committee is actively pursuing a ballot initiative that for two years now has rallied voters to ban fracking and frack wastes at the next statewide election in 2016. Frack wastes going to facilities in places such as the Belleville landfill, a waste processing facility in Detroit (also owned by US Ecology), and in the hundreds of injection wells and landfills throughout the state, would be banned once the proposal is passed. To volunteer for, and donate to, the ballot initiative, go to www.LetsBanFracking.org.
The Michigan DEQ does not keep or provide the public any records on the amounts, types, or locations of frack wastes being generated, emitted, processed, treated, stored, or dumped in the state. Any landfill in Michigan can accept radioactive wastes as long as it’s diluted 50 picocuries/gram with other materials. In December we reported on the 2,200 tons of frack waste from Pennsylvania dumped in Michigan based on Pennsylvania’s Department of Environmental Protection’s database, which tracks the waste.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ballot initiative, CommitteetoBanFrackinginMichigan, Detroit, Dynecol, frack, frack waste, fracking, hydraulicfracturing, landfill, michigan, Michigan DEQ, naturalgas, radioactive, sludge, Snyder, TENORM, waste, Wayne Disposal
Michigan frackers apply for 6 more wells, while NY bans fracking
The news last week, New York’s announcement to turn its moratorium into a statewide ban on high-volume, horizontal fracking, has groups around the country, like ours, celebrating. New York’s governor Cuomo relied on his departmental chiefs of environmental conservation and public health to recommend the decision based on the long awaited report, A Public Health Review of High Volume Hydraulic Fracturing for Shale Gas Development by the NY state health department. In the end, the NY governor relied on something acting state health commissioner Dr. Howard A. Zucker said: that when it came down to it, in personal terms, Zucker would not want his family to live in a community that allowed fracking. New York is the first U.S. state in a shale-producing area to ban fracking statewide. Grassroots groups in New York are ecstatic, after so many years of working for a ban.
Six new frack wells planned for Michigan
Today in Michigan, however, the frack industry applied to the Michigan DEQ for six new horizontal frack wells for the northern Lower Peninsula: one in Kalkaska County where there are already several wells, and for the first time, three in Grand Traverse County and two in Manistee County. Three are owned or co-owned by the State of Michigan. The others are on private land.
Unlike in other states, the frack industry targets the Michigan A-1 carbonate formation in addition to the shale formation called the Utica-Collingwood shale. The shallower Antrim shale wells have used fracking, but not always horizontal drilling.
That the DEQ will issue these permits is a certainty, as all Michigan “applications” for oil and gas wells get a rubber stamp treatment. Indeed, it is state law that the Michigan DEQ “foster the development of the industry along the most favorable conditions and with a view to the ultimate recovery of the maximum production of these natural products.” (MCL 324.61502). Michigan also receives 5% of gross cash market value of the production of natural gas and 6.6% of oil. (MCL 205.303).
This is huge news. It’s not every week that six new wells in the Utica/Collingwood and A-1 Carbonate formations are applied for. All of the wells are not too distant from a proposed new natural gas plant near Elmira, in Otsego County near Gaylord.
The six new applications are as follows:
A140187 is the State Garfield C4-12 HD1 well in Garfield Township in Kalkaska County, proposed to go down to 16,490 feet into the Utica-Collingwood formation. Tiger Development LLC out of Suttons Bay is the fracker.
The three wells for Grand Traverse County--the first time this county has seen a horizontal high-volume well–planned by a company called WyoTex Drilling Ventures LLC–are:
A140189 is Cozart 1-25 HD1 in Green Lake Township, near Interlochen, proposed to target the A-1 Carbonate formation down about 7,741 feet in this area.
A140192 is McManus 1-1 HD1 in Blair Township, which will go down 7,153 to the A-1 Carbonate formation.
A140196 is Harrigan 3-12 HD1, also in Blair Township, which will target the A-1 Carbonate about 7,438 feet down.
In Manistee County, some more “firsts.”
A140194 is State Manistee & Anderson 1-3 H, in Manistee Township, which will reach the A-1 Carbonate about 5,702 feet down.
A140198 is State Springdale 1-26 HD1, in Springdale Township, also targeting the A-1 Carbonate at a depth of 6,675 feet.
The above linked DEQ list of permit applications for December 15-19, the five WyoTex permit applications for horizontal wells targeting the A-1 Carbonate formation in Grand Traverse and Manistee Counties do not contain the DEQ’s customary “well may be completed using high volume hydraulic fracturing” note. While it is still uncertain if these wells will be completed by fracking as opposed to some other method, we do know that most Michigan A-1 Carbonate wells, especially at these depths, have been fracked in the past. We don’t always agree with the governor-approved pro-frack “Technology” technical report of UM’s Graham Sustainability Institute of September 3, 2013, but it does say this about fracking Michigan’s A-1 Carbonate formation:
http://graham.umich.edu/media/files/HF-02-Technology.pdf :
“In general, Michigan oil companies have not been technology leaders in oil and gas exploration and production. They have followed much the same conservative (but safe and usually environmentally sound) pathway of many other mid-range producing states such as Ohio and Indiana. This may change with the recent discovery of probable gas and perhaps oil in formations such as the A-1 and A-2 Carbonates and perhaps even the deeper Collingwood and Utica shales (including the Utica in Ohio), but little appears to be known about these on a micro-geological scale and they will be costly to explore and develop based on the few results obtained so far. Directional drilling and fracking will be required, based on what is known of the limited permeability of these formations and the laterals will probably have to be of unusual length to ensure reasonable gas production.” [emphasis in original]
So Michigan continues its fracking program. Meanwhile, Michigan’s big environmental groups say they will focus on regulations for fracking, not a ban.
Democracy in action: Michigan’s Ballot Initiative for 2016
Michigan voters have been working feverently on instituting a ban on fracking and frack wastes using the ballot initiative process. The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan (a separate entity), the ballot initiative we started in 2012, responded to the NY ban in a press release, calling for more volunteers and donations. The Committee also urged Michigan health professionals to document how fracking is impacting Michigan’s fracked communities and to speak out about fracking.
To join in these efforts, Ban Michigan Fracking asks everyone in Michigan who would like to see our state become frack-free– and free of frack wastes– to contact the Committee, volunteer, donate, and endorse!
www.letsbanfracking.org
December 23, 2014 by BMF webmaster
Posted in Uncategorized Tagged A-1 Carbonate, ballot initiative, banfracking, CommitteetoBanFrackinginMichigan, Cuomo, frack, fracking, Grand Traverse, Interlochen, Kalkaska, Manistee, naturalgas, NY frack ban, Zucker
Committee to Ban Fracking protests in Lansing
Posted on October 30, 2014 by BMF webmaster
People from around the state in the Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan organized a protest in Lansing on October 29 while the Michigan DNR auctioned off more acres of mineral rights to the frackers.
TV 10 covered the event here.
The Committee is working on a ballot initiative campaign to ban fracking and frack wastes and could use your donation today! Go here to donate.
And you can keep up with the ballot initiative on Facebook too: https://www.facebook.com/CommitteeToBanFrackingInMichigan
Marathon Oil may have purchased most of the auction’s acreage
From Michigan Oil and Gas News, reporting on the auction:
“Bidders believed to be representing Marathon Oil Co. dominated the Oct. 29, 2014 auction sale of state of Michigan-owned minerals at the Lansing Center, picking up more than 148,000 of the 152,629.16 acres successfully bid.”
“All but 164 of the parcels successfully bid were at the minimum $10 per acre, which helped keep the overall average bid per acre at only $17.15 per acre.”
“The news that Marathon Oil Co. — founded in 1887 as the Ohio Oil Co. — had recently completed a transaction in which it acquired Encana Oil & Gas (USA) Inc.’s Michigan asset marks the return of one of the state’s oldest and most storied producer/operator after an absence of 15 years.”
Below is the Committee’s press release for more information about the ballot initiative:
Contact: LuAnne Kozma, Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan
(231) 944-8750 luanne@letsbanfracking.org
Ballot initiative to ban fracking supporters to protest in Lansing
Charlevoix, Michigan – The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan, a statewide ballot initiative campaign (www.letsbanfracking.org), will gather outside the Lansing Center (in downtown Lansing) tomorrow, October 29, to protest the Michigan DNR’s twice-annual auction of state-owned mineral rights. The event takes place Wednesday from 7:00 am to noon. The auction begins at 9:00 am.
The Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan is a ballot question committee that collected over 70,000 signatures in 2013 for a statewide ban on fracking and frack wastes. The Committee’s proposal is not on this November’s ballot. The group is working on placing it on the next statewide ballot in 2016.
“The State’s role in creating more fracking starts with the DNR auction of mineral rights,” said LuAnne Kozma, the Committee’s campaign director. “In addition to receiving royalties from the gas and oil industry for leasing mineral rights, the State also receives income from the production of oil and gas,[1] and is required by state law to ‘foster the development of the industry along the most favorable conditions,’[2] part of the current law our ballot initiative will overturn along with a ban on fracking and frack wastes.”
The group cites the continued push by the frack industry, supported by the State, in approving radioactive frack sludge from other states at a waste facility in Van Buren
Township in Wayne County,[3] the start of new pipelines that will bring fracked gas through the state,[4] and new natural gas plants proposed in Marquette and Gaylord. The fracking giant Encana recently sold its mineral rights to energy giant Marathon.[5]
“Nearly every day, Michiganders are facing a new threat from the frack industry as the State government helps industry turn our beautiful state into Gasland, whether it’s from radioactive frack waste or new natural gas plants. All of this industrialization is going to exacerbate climate change and health impacts,” said Kozma.
The DNR will auction off more state-owned mineral rights on thousands of acres in the following counties: Arenac, Clare, Crawford, Gladwin, Grand Traverse, Ingham, Isabella, Kalkaska, Manistee, Midland, Missaukee, Montmorency, Oceana, Osceola, Presque Isle, and Roscommon.
Public notice about the auction here:http://www.michigan.gov/documents/dnr/ProposedPubNotice_464073_7.pdf
Michigan DNR site about the auction here:
http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10368_11800-169044–,00.html
Committee to Ban Fracking in Michigan’s brochure here:
http://www.letsbanfracking.org/images/CBFM%20_2014_brochure_with%20links_FINAL.pdf
[1] MCL 205.303
[2] MCL 324.61502
[3] Series of articles at www.banmichiganfracking.org: http://banmichiganfracking.org/?p=2455
[4] Detroit Free Press, “Rival Projects Compete for OK to Build Gas Pipelines,” October 12, 2014. http://www.freep.com/story/money/business/columnists/tom-walsh/2014/10/12/tom-walsh-dueling-pipelines/17046379/
[5] Midland Daily News, “Fracking Michigan, Here We Go Again,” October 13, 2014. http://www.ourmidland.com/opinion/editorials/fracking-michigan—-here-we-go-again/article_69726cb9-a734-5afd-90f2-3c60f424263c.html
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged ballot initiative, banfracking, CommitteetoBanFrackinginMichigan, frack, fracking, hydraulicfracturing, michigan, naturalgas, protest
Update on radioactive frack wastes in Michigan
Posted on September 2, 2014 by BMF webmaster
Numerous trucks went in and out of the Michigan Disposal facility in Belleville when we picketed for 9 hours on August 21. Several of the loads were these “roll off containers” similar to the ones used for radioactive frack sludge. Photo by LuAnne Kozma.
Election-year politics seems to have intervened temporarily with the radioactive frack wastes from Washington County, Pennsylvania (where the wastes remain). Governor Rick Snyder announced on August 25 that he is creating a panel to “review disposal standards” of the state’s radioactive waste. Additionally the company taking in the radioactive materials from Pennsylvania said it would temporarily suspend additional shipments until the panel’s review is complete.
MLive noted Michigan DEQ spokesperson Brad Wurfel’s prediction that “the review panel will conclude that existing Michigan standards are appropriate.” Wurfel’s admission that this is a charade is quite bald.
For his part, Democratic challenger Mark Schauer, who never mentions fracking whatsoever, opportunistically stated on his website that only out-of-state radioactive waste is his issue: “We can’t allow Michigan to be a dumping ground for radioactive waste that other states won’t allow in their own landfills.” Which is partly good, and of course it’s politically correct to not like radioactive waste, except that he doesn’t cover radioactive frack waste created locally.
Tonight in Van Buren Township: presentation by Wayne Disposal to calm people’s fears about the radioactive wastes in their backyards
The Belleville Independent reports that tonight, September 2, the director of the landfill, Wayne Disposal, will make a presentation at the Van Buren Township meeting and answer questions. The public has to put the questions on cards. Township supervisor Linda Combs told the newspaper radioactive shipments from frack wastes were announced October 1, 2014 after public hearings and EPA approval. The local paper reported earlier this year that the landfill’s liner had ripped. In two articles about the torn liner, dated January 2 and February 7, it reported that Wayne Disposal does not take in radioactive waste.
What’s in radioactive frack sludge, anyway?
Here’s one study of the stuff:
Rich AL and Crosby EC, “Analysis of reserve pit sludge from unconventional natural gas hydraulic fracturing and drilling operations for the presence of technically enhanced naturally occurring radioactive material (TENORM),” New Solut. 2013;23(1):117-35. doi: 10.2190/NS.23.1.h.
Michigan frackers are producing frack wastes and it’s not tested for radioactivity
Back in 2011 we tried to get more information from the Michigan DEQ regarding the frack wastes that were being created by Michigan’s impending frack industry. We were told in a series of emails from MDEQ’s Paul Jankowski that “there are no rules requiring an oil/gas field waste disposal well to test for radioactivity.” In this series of questions, we got the following answers:
BMF: Does this mean there is no rule requiring disposal well operators to test material for radioactivity before disposing of it into the well?
Jankowski: Correct.
BMF: And is there also no rule requiring that gas wells test flowback before sending it to a disposal well?
On Michigan drilling permits, the operator states if there is a “reserve pit” and whether the materials will be “solidified on site.” If there is a landfill where the materials are to be brought, the landfill is sometimes named.
For reference: Michigan Disposal Inc’s website, with permits
Media articles about the radioactive frack sludge:
Matheny, Keith, “Michigan landfill operator suspends receipt of low-level radioactive waste,” Detroit Free Press, August 25, 2014.
Ortzman, Rosemary, “Wayne Disposal official to bring information to Sept 2 VBT board meeting,” Belleville Independent, August 28, 2014.
Smith, Heather, “Frackers are sending sludge to the mitten state,” Grist, August 19, 2014.
Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged fracking, hydraulicfracturing, michigan, naturalgas, publichealth, radioactive, sludge, TENORM
Past articles on this site
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3159
|
__label__cc
| 0.636999
| 0.363001
|
Vancouver Sun: Lost Canadian denied citizenship and now has to fight for pension benefits
By Daphne Bramham, The Vancouver Sun
American-born Sandy Burke was orphaned by her Canadian father at six in Massachusetts. But her Canadian grandmother rescued her and brought her to Canada where she went to school, worked for decades as a welder and braiser on industrial production lines in southern Ontario, paid her taxes and raised three sons (shown above with Burke).
After she arrived 59 years ago, Burke never left again. So she never applied for a passport and never knew that to the government she's invisible -- despite all those taxes she paid and despite the fact having a Social Insurance Number and health-care card.
At 65 when it came time to apply for old age security, Canada abandoned and denied her. Now 66, Burke is disabled with diabetes and its effects and worries that she could now lose her essential health benefits and even be deported to the United States. It's another example where bureaucracy trumps common sense and civil service is anything but civil. To read more, click here.
And Burke is far from alone. There are hundreds,even thousands of people who believe they are citizens and only find out that they are not when they apply for passports, citizenship certificates or pensions. If you think you might be one of them or if you want more information about the so-called Lost Canadians, go to www.lostcanadian.com
If you would like to send a message of support to Burke, her friends and family have set up a Facebook page. And if you think the government's treatment of her is outrageous, let the government know. E-mail Citizenship Minister Jason Kenney at kennej@parl.gc.ca, Prime Minister Stephen Harper at pm@pm.gc.ca or your own member of Parliament and let them know.
Posted by Lost Canadian at Wednesday, September 08, 2010
Contact Don Chapman
Petition Citizenship for Canadian War Dead
Documenting Canadian Citizenship
Readers Digest December 2011
Voice America: David Gibbons "In Discussion"
Vancouver Observer Award Winning Series
CBC News In Depth Feature
Who are the Lost Canadians
Lost Canadian Timeline
12 Ways to Lose Your Citizenship
What Is Bill C-37?
The Curious Case of Jack Babcock
DON CHAPMAN
Lost Canadian
Gibsons, British Columbia, Canada
I am Don Chapman, the leader of the Lost Canadians. I was born in Vancouver, British Columbia and when I was six years old I lost my citizenship. I've been fighting for it ever since.
BLOG ARCHIVE April (1) December (1) November (21) May (5) April (2) March (1) February (12) January (7) December (1) November (2) August (5) July (17) June (2) September (2) July (5) May (4) March (4) February (1) January (1) December (1) November (4) October (1) August (1) July (2) June (2) April (3) March (12) February (4) January (2) December (9) November (17) October (13) September (8) July (15) June (1) March (6) February (8) January (5) December (6) November (6) October (1) September (1) April (1) March (7) February (1) December (8) August (1) January (1) November (1) May (1) May (1) December (1) January (1) February (1) January (1)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3167
|
__label__cc
| 0.513035
| 0.486965
|
Steve Anderson
The Video Store Guy
| The video game industry has gone from a mole hill to a mountain in no time flat, Chris DiMarco is your Sherpa as you endeavor to scale Mount “Everquest”
You are browsing the archive for October 2012.
Is Another Obstacle In Digital Only Gaming Poised To Fall?
The concept of digital-only gaming just got a little closer to reality, thanks to one company that's working with a whole new business model: buying and selling used digital games. The name of the company is Re-Digi, and though they've been in the news before, they're looking to expand their market a bit.
Re-Digi, as recently discussed out at Gamasutra, has been dealing in used digital music for some time now, though not without some opposition as Capitol Records took them to court just over three weeks ago. But Re-Digi isn't just planning to deal in used MP3s, they're also looking to get into used e-books. From there, it's literally only a matter of time until digital games gets into play.
Naturally, there's more than a little resistance to this idea, especially from the copyright owners who don't much like the thought of the same easily-copied media they're selling being copied by the user and the sold off, essentially allowing buyers to have their game and play it too.
Tagged: Capitol Records, Court, Digital audio, First Sale Doctrine, Gamasutra, Intellectual property, ITunes, United States : Related Tags: digital gaming, digital games, gaming market, digital, games, gaming
Disney Buys LucasArts--What This Could Mean For Gaming
I once saw a documentary on Disney parks--it's actually available on Netflix instant right now--that talked about the behind the scenes of Disney. At one point, they discussed one of the Disney park properties that needed more thrill rides, and at one point, they got to talking to George Lucas about a Star Wars ride. What George said in that moment made a lot of sense; basically, he said that if he didn't do Star Wars himself, the only company he would have trusted to do it was Disney. This makes the news of LucasFilm--including the LucasArts gaming division--purchase for $4.05 billion all the more interesting.
Naturally, the first thing most think of when they think LucasFilm--LucasArts, too--is Star Wars. And a Disney Star Wars affair could be one to remember.
Tagged: Disney, George Lucas, LucasArts, LucasFilm, Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Star War, Walt Disney Company : Related Tags: maniac mansion, disney, plenty, lucasarts, gaming, lucasfilm
Social Gaming's Biggest Failing? Not Enough Social
Social gaming is something of a strange beast these days. While there are more than a few people out there waiting for the inevitable collapse of social gaming in favor of mobile gaming, one point seems to be lacking in the field that may well turn it around: namely, the social part.
Facebook's director of user growth, Alex Schulz, summed it up well when he said that Facebook was looking forward to games that were "fundamentally better with friends, and fundamentally impossible to play without your friends". While his examples of such games--Starcraft and Minecraft--weren't exactly tops on the "you must have friends to play this game" list, he did raise a good point: a lot of games are simply better when you play them with other people.
Enjoying the reaction of other people, the camaraderie, the sheer social aspect of social gaming...now, that's got a lot going for it.
Tagged: Electronic Arts, Facebook, Game, Minecraft, Mobile game, Social network game, Starcraft, Zynga : Related Tags: social gaming, social aspect, social, gaming, friends, games
Will Future Consoles Be Loss Leaders?
A common marketing move--and price is one of the most important factors in marketing--is to establish what's called a loss leader, a product specifically priced below market value in a bid to get buyers in the door in order to buy other products, priced in a fashion to make a profit for the company. An excellent example of this is game systems, which may start out priced low, but make up the losses by selling games and peripherals.
The Wii U, reportedly, is set to do exactly that, with even Nintendo president Satoru Iwata girding his stockholders for a year of profit that would be thoroughly not "Nintendo-like", as he planned to release the Wii U not at a price that would yield profit, or even match expenses, but rather be seen by the consumer as "reasonable", so that they'd be encouraged to pick a unit up close to launch.
Getting users into consoles--or to stay in consoles, depending--is likely to be a high priority for manufacturers, especially as gamers find their budgets pinched by a bad economy, and less likely to shell out the necessary money to buy consoles and games. Worse, the growing threat to console gaming that is mobile gaming is likely to keep pressure on the sector for the foreseeable future, and consoles will have to not only offer a better experience, but do so at a price that makes it worth sticking around.
Now, granted, this may not be the start of a trend.
Tagged: Loss leader, Microsoft, Nintendo, profits, Satoru Iwata, Sony, Wii, Wii U : Related Tags: future consoles, consoles, profit, nintendo, future, price
Why Federal Funding For Games Isn't A Bad Idea
With the election only a few days away, and many people starting to take a long hard look at just who it is they want in charge of the country--or at least, who they'd least hate to be in charge of the country--the campaigning is already well underway. One issue is coming up that's got a lot of people taking notice, specifically, the issue of government waste. Part of that waste--according to one Senator, anyway--is related to gaming.
Senator Tom Coburn, who regularly compiles what's known as the government "Waste Book" is a chronicle of every dollar Coburn believes is erroneously spent. Some of them are pretty clear examples of mis-spending in government, like the so-called "sidewalk to nowhere", or a project designed to build cybernetic replicas of squirrels.
Tagged: Coburn, Government, National Science Foundation, Prom Week, Tax, Tom Coburn, Video game, Waste Book : Related Tags: private industry, research development, charge country, government waste, waste, training
Do Zynga's Big Layoffs Signal Trouble For Social Gaming?
There are some out there that say social gaming is dead, to be replaced with mobile gaming instead. While this is hardly an item with a consensus behind it, the point remains that there are critical problems in the space, as evidenced by the recent layoffs at Zynga.
Ahead of their financial reporting tomorrow, which is likely to look about as dismal as the Slough of Despond in The Neverending Story, Zynga fired the better part of its Austin studio, meaning about a hundred programmers are currently on the street. But that wasn't all the plan at last report, as word also emerged about firings in Boston--from which the Indiana Jones Adventure World game was distributed--as well as potential further firings in Chicago, the UK, and Tokyo. Word also suggests that the entirety of the Zynga Bingo staff is also out.
The timing of the announcements has caught several folks' attention, as the announcements emerged while Apple was engaged in its string of announcements earlier today, prompting some to wonder if Zynga was trying to distract from the news ahead of their financial reporting tomorrow, which will almost certainly look better now that they've cut out about five percent of their work force.
Tagged: Apple, Boston, Chicago, Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg, Twitter, Wooga, Zynga : Related Tags: social gaming, mobile gaming, ahead financial, gaming market, reporting tomorrow, gaming
What Happens When A Successful Kickstarter Isn't Good Enough?
It's a strange development to consider, make no mistake there. Most people out there who file a Kickstarter are generally raring to go on their new dream project. Those that don't get their Kickstarter off the ground are usually ready to try again later. But what about those projects that make their desired splash on Kickstarter, but run into trouble along the way?
That's just what seems to be happening with "Haunts: The Manse Macabre", a game that went to the Kickstarter well for cash, but as it turns out, is having more trouble than it expected.
Tagged: Dakan, Google, Haunts: The Manse Macabre, Kickstarter, Lead programmer, Manse Macabre, Programmer, Rick Dakan : Related Tags: manse macabre, haunts manse, rules games, kickstarter, dakan, macabre
What's Got Eidos' Ian Livingstone Seeing Red?
A recent Ars Technica interview with Eidos President Ian Livingstone posed an unexpected objection to something that, seemingly, only has a little to do with gaming technology. But when you look more closely at the problem Livingstone has, it starts making a lot of sense.
Specifically, Livingstone's problem isn't with console makers, or with mobile device makers, or even with PC makers. Livingstone's problem is with ISPs--Internet Service Providers--whose lack of bandwidth is starting to interfere with development.
Because of this, Livingstone even projected that the next generation of consoles will still be disc-based, because there simply isn't enough room on the connections being provided to go to a completely digital / download-based delivery system.
While bandwidth generally isn't expanding, and ISPs are looking more in terms of either limiting users' access or forcing users to pay more for more access, game developers are making bigger and bigger games. Bandwidth caps aren't exactly conducive to game development, and game companies like Eidos are starting to have much the same problem that ISP subscribers have been having for quite some time: they're chafing against the upper limits.
Tagged: Ars Technica, Eidos Interactive, Fighting Fantasy, Ian Livingstone, Internet service provider, Livingstone, Mobile device, Personal computer : Related Tags: service providers, bandwidth, livingstone, problem, access, eidos
What Did Gaming Have To Do With The Potential Firing Of 19 Chinese Bureaucrats?
The idea that gaming is generally forbidden at work is not a new concept to most of us; though more than a few of us have--or at least have tried to--slip in a round of solitaire or Tetris every once in a while. But for 19 bureaucrats in China, gaming managed to get them quite possibly fired.
In the province of Xinjiang, 19 bureaucrats with the Industrial Park Regulatory Department of Manas county had taken up a game that was uniquely Chinese, Three Kingdoms Killers Online. Ten of them were township-level supervisors, while four of them were deputy department heads, and the remaining five were of undetermined rank.
The illicit gaming was caught when elements of the local government's disciplinary arm noticed that productivity was starting to crater in both the IPRD as well as in 14 other departments. An investigation kicked up and the bureaucrats in question were caught with their hands on the controllers and a whole lot of explaining to do.
No one's sure, as yet, just what the punishment for said bureaucrats would turn out to be, if there would be anything beyond the very possible firing.
Tagged: Angry Birds, China, Chinese government, Government of the People's Republic of China, History of China, Stay Alive, Three Kingdoms Killers Online, Xinjiang : Related Tags: chinese government, gaming, chinese, bureaucrats, government
Are Consoles Doomed?
Strange question to kick off with, but there's a reason to start with this. Trip Hawkins, the man who founded EA, brought out during an interview with IGN the principle that the console market, the very market that EA had a hand in building, was about to collapse.
Hawkins' remarks suggested that the console market wouldn't disappear. A portion of it would always remain, as there would always be a "hardcore" gaming marketing that would be served by consoles. But Hawkins believed that this market would steadily fall apart until it was merely a shadow of its former self, little more than a niche market, to be replaced by PCs and mobile gaming.
As soon as I stopped laughing, I got to work framing a response.
Tagged: Electronic Arts, Hawkins, IGN, Microsoft, Personal computer, Trip Hawkins, Video game console, Xbox : Related Tags: console market, important point, gamers likely, niche product, gaming, market
Why The EA Coupon Glitch May Be A Blessing In Disguise
It's been making the rounds of late that EA recently made a fairly substantial mistake with a recent coupon code that resulted in easily thousands of games being given away. But while more than a few are laughing at EA's misstep, it's not hard to see that this may well be a potential blessing for EA.
The coupon code disaster began when EA had offered up a $20 coupon code for the successful completion of a survey geared toward giving EA some marketing information. All of this was fine and well, but the problem came when EA discovered one fatal flaw in the $20 coupon for the Origin Store: the code wasn't secured.
What this meant was that, once the code was found out, it was infinitely reusable. Not only that, it was infinitely transferable.
Tagged: Canada, Electronic Arts, Games, Online shopping, Open source video game, Origin, Reddit, Video Games : Related Tags: coupon, survey, blessing
Three Wildly Underappreciated Concepts In Gaming
After reading an editorial over at Joystiq which called for a new line of history to begin in video games--suggesting at least a temporary moratorium on the endless flood of World War II games that seem to constantly make appearances--I couldn't help but think maybe they were right. In fact, there were more than a few underappreciated concepts I'd been wanting to see more of for some time. So I pulled a list of them together, and brought them out here to take a look at three desperately underappreciated game concepts that could stand a little extra shot in the arm.
1. Westerns
This is a subgenre that doesn't seem to come along very often.
Tagged: Dishonored, Joystiq, Red Dead Redemption, Rockstar, Rockstar Games, Video game, Westerns, World War II : Related Tags: underappreciated concepts, overlooked, title, right, concepts, underappreciated
Will Variety Prove The Spice Of The Free-To-Play Market?
Recently, Emily Greer had a few things to say about free-to-play gaming. Why should anyone bother listening to Emily Greer, you wonder? How about because she's the co-founder of the free-to-play video gaming portal known as Kongregate, one of my personal favorite such venues? What she had to say about free-to-play was actually recently rung assent by another move in the sector that will give Kongregate a run for its money.
Greer described, for the folks at Gamasutra, how free-to-play is actually a big-money effort for Kongregate.
Tagged: AOL, Emily Greer, Free-to-play, Gamasutra, Kongregate, Mobile game, Video game, World of Warcraft : Related Tags: plain simple, emily greer, gaming, games, kongregate, advertising
Why Are Investors Fleeing Social Gaming?
While 2011 was pretty big as far as social gaming went, the market seems to have dropped off, and pretty substantially, too. The question of the day, of course, is why did investors bug out of the social gaming market? The answer, of course, is a bit more complex than expected.
First, a few basics: a new report from the digital investment bank known as Digi-Capital made the picture clear. Investments for 2012, so far, have hit $591 million, with a little over two and a half months to go in the year.
Tagged: AOL, Digi-Capital, Game, Investment, Kickstarter, Mobile game, Tim Merel, Zynga : Related Tags: social gaming, mobile gaming, gaming, social, games, investors
Three Ways The Microsoft Xbox 720 Can Win Next-Generation Glory
I was reading an article over at Gamasutra--it's not hard to enjoy the stuff coming out of that site, especially if you follow gaming and gaming business news--and they had a nice big article on how to handle the next generation of gaming consoles. With the Wii U on the way, and the PlayStation 4 and the Xbox 720 likely to follow with the next E3, it got me thinking about the next generation myself.
I've been a Microsoft gamer for some time now, and it got me to thinking about how to get Microsoft's big entry to the top of the food chain. I had three ways in particular to make that happen, and so, I put them out for you.
Tagged: Hulu Plus, Microsoft, Sony, Wii U, Xbox, Xbox 720, Xbox Live, YouTube : Related Tags: being ready, microsoft, games, ready, gaming, follow
Why Microsoft's MyAchievements Program Is Just A Good Start
A bit negative, I know, but this is one of those things that really needs to be said. The view, at least from here, is that Microsoft's newly-minted MyAchievements program really isn't going to do much good for Microsoft, at least not the way it's set up. Thankfully, there are some easy corrections that can do the job.
Under Microsoft's MyAchievements program, users will be able to take what was widely considered to be useless as anything other than a measure of gamer success and convert them into actual, tangible rewards. A fine idea, I thought--reward players for their efforts, for their purchases, and for their support by converting these generally intangible things (except the purchases, of course) into tangible things!--at least, until I saw the rewards.
Tagged: Birthday, Microsoft, Microsoft Points, MyAchievements, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Marketplace : Related Tags: myachievements program, percent discount, points called, birthday quarter, reward scheme, microsoft
Will The Xbox Entertainment Bundle Make Microsoft A Full Entertainment Solution?
Recently I got a good look at the specs on the Xbox 360 Entertainment Bundle, which came available on Amazon recently. The bundle is set to offer up an Xbox 360 console with four gigs of storage, a three month Gold membership to Xbox Live, an Xbox 360 Media Remote, a $10 credit for Amazon Instant Video and three free Xbox Live Arcade titles, though just which titles they are is as yet unclear. But will this prove enough to finally give Microsoft the shot it's wanted as a full entertainment solution?
The answer, immediately enough, is probably not.
Tagged: Amazon Instant Video, Microsoft, PlayStation 3, Sony, Xbox, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, YouTube : Related Tags: amazon video, entertainment bundle, arcade titles, entertainment solution, microsoft, entertainment
Should You Pay For A Game Review?
A practice that was part of the book review world for some time now seems to be making a play for the wider world and slipping into game reviews as well. Specifically, the practice of paying web sites to review a mobile game. The question here, of course, becomes should a developer pay for game reviews? The answer will prove to be as varied as developers themselves.
The practice seems to have its beginnings in the world of book review, where web sites were allowing authors to offer payment in return for what was called "expedited review".
Tagged: Action, Game, IPhone, Mobile game, Multiplayer game, Review, Video game, Website : Related Tags: known shill, practice paying, review, practice, reviews, question
What Drives Players To Mobile Games?
A recent study from EEDAR, which appeared on Gamasutra just a short while ago, provided a rundown on how gamers find new games to play when it comes to the mobile gaming market. The mobile gaming market is a far, far different animal from its contemporaries, and nowhere is that more obvious in determining just how mobile games should be marketed.
As it turns out, the biggest driver when it comes to mobile games is word of mouth. Word of mouth drives almost half of mobile gamers' purchases, which beats out advertising, rankings pages, and several other measures by a wide margin.
But this is the part that's particularly interesting: word of mouth only drives about 25 percent of purchases when it comes to HD gaming of some brand. This in turn means that, on average, word of mouth is roughly twice as powerful for the mobile gaming market, and has likely already driven smart developers to their social networks to try and drum up a few good whispering campaigns to get word of mouth going.
But still, this poses difficult questions for marketers.While word of mouth advertising may be one of the cheapest forms there is--in some cases it's free--the question of how to reliably invoke it is something of an issue here.
Tagged: EEDAR, Facebook, Gamasutra, Game, Gamer, Handheld Platforms, Mobile game, Video game : Related Tags: mobile gaming, gaming market, mobile games, getting people, mouth drives, mobile
Android (operating system) Bethesda Bethesda Softworks Downloadable content Electronic Arts Electronic sports Facebook Fallout (series) Fallout 3 Fallout: New Vegas Gamer Games Google IOS Maryland Massively multiplayer online game Microsoft Microsoft Windows Mobile game Nintendo Oculus Rift PC game Personal computer PlayStation PlayStation 3 PlayStation 4 Sony The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim United States Video game Video game console Virtual reality Wii Wii U World of Warcraft Xbox Xbox 360 Xbox Live Xbox One YouTube
Citrix Interview at ITEXPO 2018
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3171
|
__label__cc
| 0.695909
| 0.304091
|
App of the Week: Friendstrap
Posted by Matt Byrd (12/01/2013 @ 9:00 am)
Developer: Game Oven
Compatible with: iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch
Requires: iOS 6.0
Available: Here
While the heyday of the board game may have passed long ago in the eyes of many, if you haven’t been paying attention to them lately you may be surprised to find that some of the absolute best party games available to adults are board games. Whether it be the raunchy and hilarious “Cards Against Humanity,” or the clever take on the battle of the sexes “Ladies and Gentlemen” provides, there are a growing number of board games out there that may cause your guests a moment of hesitation when you suggest them, but will soon have them engaged in a way that no other form of party entertainment can achieve.
“Friendstrap” is not one of those board games. However it does retain the spirit of them, as well as the relaxed yet competitive atmosphere they can lead to.
It’s setup couldn’t be more simple. You and a friend put a finger on one of the two dots on screen while a topic appear atop, and a counter begins on the bottom. To play you each have to simply have a conversation on the topic until it disappears and is replaced with another. You repeat this until someone removes the finger and thus themselves from the conversation.
Now where this gets interesting is in the topics themselves. While some are no more invasive than the weather, others can get incredibly intimate and even awkward. Even better, the topics themselves are often presented in only a few vague words (for instance; “Friends With Benefits”) allowing the psyche of the users to take the game in unique directions. For instance, one strategy would be for each player to pursue the most outlandish conversation paths in order to ensure their companion is too mortified to contribute.
To be honest, based solely on its built-in design, “Friendstrap” is an incomplete experience that works better as a conversation starter or time killer than a full on game. However, with the application of a few “house rules”to keep the participants in check, and the right kind of participants, there is a lot of potential in its simple set up to lead to hours of laughter. Fortunately no such outside creativity is required for the topics themselves which remain ambiguous and entertaining regardless of the specifics of the personal games you create using the built-in set up. With over a 1,000 of these topics included (with additional, even more awkward ones available for purchase) you’re likely to never have the same conversation twice, especially when considering the individual whims of the players.
It’d be misleading to call “Friendstrap” a complete app, as taken at surface value there frankly isn’t much to it. However, the incredibly ambiguous set up is best viewed an an intentional design, as it allows whomever has a finger in the game a level of control over the experience that caters more to their individual whims and unique quirks, rather than forces them to necessarily adhere to pre-set rules. In that regard, its incomplete nature becomes its greatest asset as it ensures every session will be entertaining and unique above all else.
If conversation is truly a lost art, then the ability for “Friendstrap” to strike up entertaining conversations between nearly any participants on any of its topic makes the app something of a work of art itself. An unassuming yet brilliantly maniacal party game, there’s little discussion to be had regarding “Friendstrap’s” status as app of the week.
Posted in: Entertainment
Tags: app reviews for dudes, app reviews for guys, app reviews for men, apps for dudes, apps for guys, apps for men, best app store apps, best apps for guys, best free apps, best gaming apps, best iOS apps, Best New Apps, Essential Apps, free apps, friendstrap, friendstrap app, friendstrap app review, hottest apps, most popular new apps, must have apps, new free apps
App of the Week: Lie Swatter
Developer: Jellyvision Games
Compatible with: iPhone (optimized for iPhone 5), iPod Touch, and iPad
Requires: iOS 4.3 or later
It’s hard to find good humor in games, but one title that always got it right was the “You Don’t Know Jack” series, which gained popularity in the 90s for its chaotic, bizzare, irreverent, yet extremely intelligent form of trivia.
Sporting some off the wall categories like “Elephant, Mustard, Teddy Roosevelt, or Dracula?,” and college grad level questions (“Suppose Jackson Pollock had become a sandwich artist at Subway. What would his supervisor have noted about his performance?”), there has never been a game with same sense of humor or style that “You Don’t Know Jack” has, which is why it was great to see it make a fairly recent comeback on systems, mobile platforms, and even Facebook.
If you’ve already tried that series and just can’t get enough, then you’ll be happy to know the creators of “You Don’t Know Jack” have a new game out that takes everything great about the YDKJ series, and applies it to a new, yet familiar concept.
Called “Lie Swatter,” it tasks you with choosing a category and an opponent (who can be selected amongst your friends or at random), then looking over a series of flies and bugs, each with a statement on them. To win, you have to swat the ones with statements that are lies.
Sound simple? Well then you truly don’t know jack, as the catch here again is that these categories and statements are all incredibly obscure and absurd. Often, every single statement will read like a bold faced lie, due to how outright bizarre they are. Choosing the right one often comes down to luck and deductive reasoning as much as direct knowledge of the subject.
It can be tough then trying to push ahead, but its helpful that the humor and the styled presentation of “YDKJ” are back in full force, as you’ll not only laugh your ass off reading and sorting out the statements, but learn something about each topic along the way. While not as diverse in its questions, themes, round types, or general gameplay as “You Don’t Know Jack,” it does provide a condensed experience of the best that series offers, with only a few app related hiccups (go for the ad-free and unlimited play $1.99 option to save yourself most of the trouble).
Trivia apps are a dime a dozen, or often cheaper, on mobile platforms, but “Lie Swatter” gets those crucial lightning round bonus points in the competition by being deceivingly simple, incredibly addictive, and most importantly drop dead hilarious. In a game all about separating lies from truth, there can be no doubt “Lie Swatter” is the app of the week.
Tags: App of the Week, app recommendations, app reviews, app reviews for dudes, App Store, apple apps, apps for guys, apps for men, apps to buy, best free apps, free apps, free apps of the week. iPhone apps, free new apps, fresh apps, iOS apps, ipad apps, iPod Touch Apps, Jelly Vision, Lie Swatter, New Apps, new apps this week, new free apps, newest apps, trivia apps, trivia games, which apps to download, You Don't Know Jack
App of the Week: Temple Run 2
Imangi Studios, LLC
iPhone 3GS and up (optimized for iPhone 5)
iPod Touch 3rd Gen and up
*Available for Android on Jan. 24
iOS 4.2 or later
Well I tried.
I tried to find a reason to not put “Temple Run 2” as the app of the week. I wanted to find some obscure, must have gem that was released in the same week as one of the biggest app sequels of all time instead, and hope to help it find some time to share in “Temple Run 2’s” considerable spotlight. Try as I might though, it was still “Temple Run 2” that came on top of the heap.
I probably don’t need to elaborate on the concept of “Temple Run” as with 170 million plus downloads, there’s a good chance you’ve played or heard about it. But just for forms sake, “Temple Run 2” has you playing as an adventurer in pursuit of the golden idol. The actual acquiring of it is never an issue, but the escape from the temple is the real challenge, and this is where the player comes in as they try to escape the temple, and it’s fervent defenders, via a series of course changes, jumps, and other simple (but rapid) interactions, all while trying to collect coins to unlock all kinds of goodies. You can’t survive, but the fun is in how long you last, and how much you can collect.
Since it’s a clearly successful formula, “Temple Run 2” doesn’t find much cause for altering it. Instead, this is a “more is better” type sequel, though that doesn’t mean there aren’t noteworthy additions. A particular highlight of “Temple Run 2” is the graphics, which are significantly improved from its predecessor. Everything is so colorful, varied, and detailed that it becomes impossible to look back at the first game without a scoff. It does cause some problems on older systems because of this, but the visual reward is worth the increased hardware recommendations.
Otherwise, it comes back to that more word to tell you what so great about the game. That would include more power ups (that goes along with more characters), more achievements, more collectibles, more environments, and best of all more obstacles like zip lines and mine carts that help make playing “Temple Run 2” in long sessions a much greater joy thanks to some genuine variety around every bend.
And of course it all works. “Temple Run” only came out in 2011, and while the novelty of it has long worn off, the fun never really did. “Temple Run 2” celebrates that fact by maintaining the simple joy of the gameplay, and sacrificing none of the addictiveness, but it also knows where to nip and tuck, and where to enhance, so that at least for the first few play-throughs, the game feels new again.
I think the reason that I was hesitant to write about “Temple Run 2” here is because it is such a big, bold, headline grabbing release, it seems almost lazy to join the masses of appraisers and admirers in covering it. Yet after spending some time with the game, I’m reminded that it’s not always about what’s new, what’s bold, and what’s unsung, but that rather sometimes it’s as simple as good is good. Well “Temple Run 2” is certainly good, and it’s also my app of the week.
Tags: addictive apps, App of the Week, app recommendations, app reviews, app reviews for dudes, App Store, apple apps, apple store, apps for guys, apps for men, best free apps, Best New Apps, free apps, free game apps, gaming apps, Imangi Studios, ipad apps, iphone apps, new apps this week, release date, Temple Run, Temple Run 2, temple run 2 anroid, temple run sales
App of the Week: Manalyzer
Xynyn
On the subject of being a man, in the song “Mannish Boy” Muddy Waters had this to say:
“I can make love to you woman,
in five minutes time
Ain’t that a man
I’m a full grown man
I’m a natural born lovers man
I’m a rollin’ stone
I’m a man-child”
While that was Muddy Waters estimation of a man, it would be unrealistic to compare your only manliness based on the Muddy Waters scale. Still, though, I’m betting in a moment of channel surfing weakness where you ended up on a chick flick too long, or maybe settled for a light beer and a salad at dinner, the question has briefly crossed your mind.
Are you properly manly enough?
Luckily you need not wonder anymore, as one app now has the balls to tell you. From Xynyn comes the Manalyzer, or Manliness analyzer. Using photo analysis of your hands, and face, the Manalyzer uses figures and ratios determined by research done in over 25 scientific papers to take the analysis of these photos and assign a man score to you. The man score then correlates to five different categories (financial success, aggression, leadership, athletics, and innovation) to determine how much man you are, and what kind of man you will be. In the interest of fairness, there is also a mode that manalyzes women (though please note it is not advised that even a level 10 man try this on their girlfriend).
Now I know what you might say. That there is no way this app can accurately calculate how much of a man you are based on a couple of pictures. To these people I say, I scanned a picture of man great Charles Bronson, and came up with a 10.
That’s scientifically proven enough for me to man up, and name this the app of the week.
Tags: App of the Week, app reviews, app reviews for dudes, app reviews for guys, app reviews for men, apple store apps, apps, apps for dudes, apps for guys, apps for men, Charles Bronson, Essential Apps, free apps, greatest, ipad, iPod, istore, iTunes, killer apps, Manalyzer, Mannish Boy, men, Muddy Waters, New Apps, ultimate, Xynyn
App of the Week: Prismatic
We live in a world of constant stimulation.
At no point in the day is the average person but mere moments away from an entire universe of information and entertainment both classic and current. You could call it overwhelming, but that doesn’t really seem fitting. Overwhelming would imply there is some kind of burden, when really it’s enjoyable how much we have access to, even if there is no good way to sift through it all, and find the bits most relevant and interesting to you.
New app Prismatic may have the answer to this dilemma. After you create your log-in through Facebook, Twitter, or G+ the app immediately starts learning about you and what you’re interested in. From there it begins to pull news stories from the world over and deliver them to you based on your interests. You can influence this story selection further by letting the app know what stories you like, and telling it various subjects, people, locations, or anything else you may be interested in. What’s even better is the app begins to learn, and varies its selection eventually creating a constant flow of news made just for you.
Call it Spotify for news, and you’ve got the right idea. What’s even better is that it works as well as the famous music app. Of course, this isn’t a completely new idea for a program, as Google Reader and some other, similar apps have been offering this same feature for a while. Prismatic, though, is different because of how organic it feels. The layout of the app allows you to smoothly move between the stories themselves, and the features that let you input information to expand the stories the app suggests. When the app is working at its best, the effect truly feels like a virtual newspaper meant just for you. Better yet, you can share stories you find with friends, and them with you, allowing you to expand your interests and horizons even further.
Even in its early stage, Prismatic is an essential app. Even if you use it for nothing more than to gather your favorite topics in one place, it does it better than any of its competitors. But if you take the time to truly explore the abilities of Prismatic and create a news network with you at the center, then you are rewarded with a program that becomes as essential to check multiple times a day as your e-mail is. While I’m still waiting to see what great additions further development of this app will create, for now it’s still newsworthy enough for my app of the week.
Posted in: Entertainment, Lifestyle
Tags: App of the Week, app reviews, app reviews for dudes, app reviews for guys, app reviews for men, apple store, apps apps for dudes, apps for guys, apps for men, best free apps, Essential Apps, facebook, free apps, google reader, ios, killer apps, news apps, prismatic, spotify, Twitter
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3175
|
__label__cc
| 0.539246
| 0.460754
|
Epigenetics and organisation
Sam Rose 26 Sep 2013
Written by Dr Adele Murrell, University of Bath, UK
A long time ago, when we still used restriction enzymes to identify polymorphisms and the term “epigenetic” was used to dismiss quirky data that did not obey the central dogma of ‘DNA-makes-RNA-makes-protein’, we used to think of genes as linear sequences of bases in a sea of junk DNA. At bit more than a decade ago, just as the human genome sequencing project was nearing completion, the term “epigenetic” was confined to instances of stable mitotic inheritance of gene expression changes that could not be attributed to changes in nucleotide sequence. DNA methylation and histone modifications associate with gene expression changes and most epigenetic studies involved analysis of DNA methylation and possibly some histone acetylation. Nowadays, in order to be a card-carrying epigeneticist, one has to bear in mind that the linear nucleotide gene sequences are actually wrapped around nucleosomes to form chromatin that adopts open and closed conformations to regulate gene expression. Chromatin itself is further packaged into spatially segregated megabase-sized domains and sub-megabase-sized topological domains which may well form the architectural scaffold of chromosomes. Gene regulatory elements such as promoters and enhancers separated by long genomic distances can be brought closer by chromatin folding (looping) and the base of these loops are conceptualised as topological associated domains (TADs).
Initial studies of chromatin looping conformation focused on single loci. These studies identified a pivotal role for the 11 zinc finger CCCTC- binding factor, CTCF, in shaping chromatin loops and demonstrated that cohesin co-localised with CTCF to stabilise loops 1-5. Cohesin was also shown to interact with large promoter-enhancer complexes such as Mediator 6. In the last two years our understanding of chromatin organisation has been further increased by studies that have taken a genome-wide approach. It has been noted that architectural proteins CTCF and/or cohesin binding sites are enriched at boundaries between TADS 7; 8. However, CTCF and cohesin sites are also present within TADS and may therefore not be the only determinants of TAD structure.
In the June issue of Cell this year, Phillips-Cremins et al. identified that distinct combinations of CTCF, CTCF, cohesin, and Mediator work in a combinatorial manner to functionally organize chromatin in a cell-type-specific manner at the submegabase-length scale 9. This was done using a 5C-seq strategy7, to generate high-resolution maps of chromatin interactions across seven genomic regions in mouse embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and neural progenitor cells (NPCs). What makes this study remarkable is that the resolution is at 4kb fragment level, which is substantially higher than previous Hi-C techniques (average 40 kb resolution) and therefore revealed sub-topologically associated domains. The results showed that some TADs were invariant across different cell types, but many cell-specific differences in chromatin organisation were revealed within TADs at the sub-megabase level9. Interactions over short genomic distances (<100kb) were predominantly between promoters and enhancers and were bridged by cohesin and Mediator. At intermediate distances (<300) CTCF, cohesin and Mediator were often the bridging proteins, while at 600 – 1000kb Mediator complexes seem to hold loops together. CTCF alone or CTCF together with cohesin bridged interactions that were larger than 1MB. It will be interesting to see whether the paradigms for hierarchical differences in chromatin topology as observed between ESC and NCPs will be applicable in all cell types. My prediction is that it will. In fact, earlier this year Seitan et al found that depletion of cohesin in non-cycling thymocytes has no effect on the formation of Mb-compartmentalisation of the genome, but does affect specific promoter-enhancer interactions,10 which would fit in with the above observation of interactions at shorter genomic distances. Interestingly, reduction of interactions at the sub-megabase level increased or reinforced interactions within the larger domains suggesting that conformational changes in one region influence the conformation at a wider region10.
The frequency of occurrence of aberrant chromatin topography in disease is still unknown. Since chromatin organisation is a ubiquitous feature of all cells, mutations in genes that affect chromatin organisation are expected to be rare. Cohesin subunits and associated proteins are involved in a spectrum of developmental disorders known collectively as cohesinopathies. The most well-known cohesinopathy is Cornelia de Lange syndrome (CdLS). Although cohesin is best known for its role in holding sister chromatids together in mitosis, most CdLS patients show alterations in gene regulation rather than mitotic defects 11. The Bickmore lab has found that NIPBL, a protein responsible for loading the cohesin complex onto chromatin during S-phase, may have a role in regulating higher order chromatin structure, independent of CTCF and cohesin12. CdLS patients with mutations in the NIPBL gene show chromatin decompaction, which is visible by fluorescent in situ hybridisation12 . No mutations had been reported in CTCF until recently. Gregor et al have now discovered mutations in the CTCF gene in individuals with intellectual impairment and growth defects13. These mutations result in functional haplo-insuffiency of CTCF, and transcriptome data from affected patients identified several down-regulated genes. Consultation of ChIA-PET interaction data showed that the down-regulated genes in these patients could feasibly be due to changes in chromatin topology13.
Without even mentioning cancer or complex acquired disease where global epigenetic gene regulation is disrupted, it is clear that we are on the brink of understanding the contribution of aberrant chromatin conformation to disease formation. The next step is to develop easy user-friendly assays to identify aberrant chromatin conformation on a variety of patient tissue samples.
1. Hadjur, S., Williams, L.M., Ryan, N.K., Cobb, B.S., Sexton, T., Fraser, P., Fisher, A.G., and Merkenschlager, M. (2009). Cohesins form chromosomal cis-interactions at the developmentally regulated IFNG locus. Nature 460, 410-413.
2. Mishiro, T., Ishihara, K., Hino, S., Tsutsumi, S., Aburatani, H., Shirahige, K., Kinoshita, Y., and Nakao, M. (2009). Architectural roles of multiple chromatin insulators at the human apolipoprotein gene cluster. Embo J 28, 1234-1245.
3. Degner, S.C., Verma-Gaur, J., Wong, T.P., Bossen, C., Iverson, G.M., Torkamani, A., Vettermann, C., Lin, Y.C., Ju, Z., Schulz, D., et al. (2011). CCCTC-binding factor (CTCF) and cohesin influence the genomic architecture of the Igh locus and antisense transcription in pro-B cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 108, 9566-9571.
4. Chien, R., Zeng, W., Ball, A.R., and Yokomori, K. (2011). Cohesin: a critical chromatin organizer in mammalian gene regulation. Biochem Cell Biol 89, 445-458.
5. Nativio, R., Wendt, K.S., Ito, Y., Huddleston, J.E., Uribe-Lewis, S., Woodfine, K., Krueger, C., Reik, W., Peters, J.M., and Murrell, A. (2009). Cohesin is required for higher-order chromatin conformation at the imprinted IGF2-H19 locus. PLoS Genet 5, e1000739.
6. Kagey, M.H., Newman, J.J., Bilodeau, S., Zhan, Y., Orlando, D.A., van Berkum, N.L., Ebmeier, C.C., Goossens, J., Rahl, P.B., Levine, S.S., et al. (2010). Mediator and cohesin connect gene expression and chromatin architecture. Nature 467, 430-435.
7. Dixon, J.R., Selvaraj, S., Yue, F., Kim, A., Li, Y., Shen, Y., Hu, M., Liu, J.S., and Ren, B. (2012). Topological domains in mammalian genomes identified by analysis of chromatin interactions. Nature 485, 376-380.
8. Nora, E.P., Lajoie, B.R., Schulz, E.G., Giorgetti, L., Okamoto, I., Servant, N., Piolot, T., van Berkum, N.L., Meisig, J., Sedat, J., et al. (2012). Spatial partitioning of the regulatory landscape of the X-inactivation centre. Nature 485, 381-385.
9. Phillips-Cremins, J.E., Sauria, M.E., Sanyal, A., Gerasimova, T.I., Lajoie, B.R., Bell, J.S., Ong, C.T., Hookway, T.A., Guo, C., Sun, Y., et al. (2013). Architectural protein subclasses shape 3D organization of genomes during lineage commitment. Cell 153, 1281-1295.
10. Seitan, V., Faure, A., Zhan, Y., McCord, R., Lajoie, B., Ing-Simmons, E., Lenhard, B., Giorgetti, L., Heard, E., Fisher, A., et al. (2013). Cohesin-based chromatin interactions enable regulated gene expression within pre-existing architectural compartments. Genome Res.
11. Castronovo, P., Gervasini, C., Cereda, A., Masciadri, M., Milani, D., Russo, S., Selicorni, A., and Larizza, L. (2009). Premature chromatid separation is not a useful diagnostic marker for Cornelia de Lange syndrome. Chromosome research : an international journal on the molecular, supramolecular and evolutionary aspects of chromosome biology 17, 763-771.
12. Nolen, L.D., Boyle, S., Ansari, M., Pritchard, E., and Bickmore, W.A. (2013). Regional chromatin decompaction in Cornelia de Lange syndrome associated with NIPBL disruption can be uncoupled from cohesin and CTCF. Hum Mol Genet.
13. Gregor, A., Oti, M., Kouwenhoven, E.N., Hoyer, J., Sticht, H., Ekici, A.B., Kjaergaard, S., Rauch, A., Stunnenberg, H.G., Uebe, S., et al. (2013). De novo mutations in the genome organizer CTCF cause intellectual disability. American journal of human genetics 93, 124-131.
Clinical Epigeneticsepigeneticsgeneticsgenomics
Overcoming drug resistance through epigenetic targeting
Mad, bad and dangerous to know
View the latest posts on the On Biology homepage
Journal Development Manager at BioMed Central
Sam studied Biomedical Sciences at the University of Manchester, and is responsible for the development of BioMed Central's genetics journal portfolio.
Latest posts by Sam Rose (see all)
Raising funds for genetic diseases - 23rd September 2016
The Epigenetics and Chromatin Clinic - 9th November 2015
Resurrecting one of the oldest genetics journals - 23rd October 2015
Popular On Biology tags
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3183
|
__label__cc
| 0.65722
| 0.34278
|
I cant get over you
Posted on 02.08.2018 02.08.2018 Author Mikalkis Comments(2)
Posted on 02.08.2018 02.08.2018 Author Shakataur Comments(2)
During road works that involve lengths of temporary carriageway, the slope may be the opposite to normal — for example, with the outer edge higher — which causes vehicles to lean towards oncoming traffic. If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself. After talking with the lady for few minutes i realized that her beliefs about love mainly were formed and influenced by the media instead of real life experience. Either you get a sweet superpower out of it, like Daredevil, or it makes you absolutely miserable for the rest of your life. In this article i will give you more tips that can help you get over someone you can't have in a short period of time. Something similar happens in Avatar , where the paraplegic protagonist leaves his entire life behind and travels across the universe to get a shot at walking again in the body of a blue alien. Magoo episodes. Showing someone using sheer willpower to overcome something is a great character arc, and Hollywood applies that to everything, from learning kung fu despite being an overweight panda to "beating" a real-world disability. One of the most infamous examples is Million Dollar Baby, which ends with spoilers the protagonist becoming a quadriplegic and Clint Eastwood euthanizing her because, you know, what's the point of living like that? Want to know more? The solution is to fix your life problems and not to find a romantic partner. Nothing can convince your mind that the relationship was really over other than deleting the old memories, getting rid of the gifts, preventing day dreaming and stopping all kinds of bargaining See how to get over someone quickly There is only one soul mate: That lady in the middle is winning the game. If you have this belief then you are classified as a love addict who uses love to cope with life problems. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Again, that's because this is the default mode for a fantasy movie: Los Angeles all killed off minor characters who happened to be gay. Simply put, killing gays is Hollywood's way of being progressive. It's a vicious cycle, and it isn't going to stop until either Hollywood wises up or people with disabilities stop living happy, fulfilling lives. Does Gary Oldman's character count? Sadly this lady was like millions of other people who have been completely brain washed by the media to the extent that they become completely shocked when they hear someone talking about scientific facts that explains love. Harting even points out that within a period of a few weeks in , the shows Spartacus: Martin is from New Jersey. Never mind the fact that millions of people do just that every day. Continue Reading Below Continue Reading Below Advertisement Hollywood caved to the pressure and began including more non-psychotic gay characters, but only in supporting roles -- author Brent Hartinger argues that today, non-heterosexual characters are more likely to die simply because they are rarely the protagonist. Most fantasy is still pretty heavily based on the stuff Tolkien came up with, and even though he was pretty vehemently anti-racist in his life , he's still a product of his era: White people with British accents, fighting monsters. Love is beautiful, i saw it on TV!!
Continue Reading Below Continue Reading Below Advertisement Hollywood caved to the pressure and began including more non-psychotic gay characters, but only in supporting roles -- author Brent Hartinger argues that today, non-heterosexual characters are more likely to die simply because they are rarely the protagonist. It takes me about three days to get over a breakup and if you followed the same advices it won't take you more. One of the most infamous examples is Million Dollar Baby, which ends with spoilers the protagonist becoming a quadriplegic and Clint Eastwood euthanizing her because, you know, what's the point of living like that? So What's the Deal? Along straight or gently curved sections, the middle of the road is normally higher than the edges. The same approach they took with the black characters in Friends. Getting over someone you can't have is all about fixing your beliefs Because you have been brainwashed to believe that love is the solution to all problems you will face a horrible time getting over anyone you can't have. The solution is to fix your life problems and not to find a romantic partner. Simply put, killing gays is Hollywood's way of being progressive. Showing someone using sheer willpower to overcome something is a great character arc, and Hollywood applies that to everything, from learning kung fu despite being an overweight panda to "beating" a real-world disability. Love is the solution to all problems: Which does explain this douchebag. You can forget anybody in a short while if you convinced your mind that the relationship was over. Take the character of John Locke in Lost, a paraplegic who would rather stay on a remote island filled with smoke monsters, displaced fauna and all sorts of crazy bullshit because he can walk there, which many actual paraplegics found offensive. And to fulfill yet another stereotype, two were hung. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Again, that's because this is the default mode for a fantasy movie: What it's really showing is that Mikey is going to end up in the hospital if he doesn't get a replacement soon, because asthma is a goddamn medical condition. Notice any differences? Continue Reading Below Continue Reading Below Advertisement Even in Avatar, real paraplegics thought that Sam Worthington's character was making way too much effort transferring from his chair , but that's the way we're used to seeing it in movies. To forget it all? The people still using their inhalers aren't doing it because they're not brave enough to have their Mikey moment. The only black actors involved in the movies are covered under 3-and-a-half inches of makeup. Does Gary Oldman's character count? In this article i will give you more tips that can help you get over someone you can't have in a short period of time. Here's Harry Potter's classmate Lavender Brown as shown in the first five movies However, isn't it a little telling that when she was a minor character they said "Sure, let's make her black," but when she became important they automatically assumed that she was white? Man, Clint Eastwood really hates chairs. Something similar happens in Avatar , where the paraplegic protagonist leaves his entire life behind and travels across the universe to get a shot at walking again in the body of a blue alien.
As soon as the computer in your brain finds another match you will fall in love with him. On the other hand, the two shady black guys we mentioned before are white in the books The only black actors involved in the movies are covered under 3-and-a-half inches of makeup. In the UK, this is indicated on warning signs as "adverse camber". Magoo episodes. From the '80s to the early '90s, there was definitely a tendency to use gay characters as villains, from the gay serial killer in Cruising to the evil lesbian vampire in The Hunger. This is called "normal crown" and helps shed rainwater off the sides of the road. So, in that sense, gay is the new black. Continue Reading Below Advertisement If a movie or show has to kill someone, obviously they'll go for the least important person, i. Simply put, killing gays is Hollywood's way of being progressive. Credits Lead vocals, choirs, grand piano, synthesizers, all guitars, bass-guitar, drum programming Robby Valentine. Los Angeles all killed off minor characters who happened to be gay.
I can't get over you I never will, no matter how I try Love of my life, you're the reason to survive Do you really think that I just can stop loving you? The problem is, this arc has some tragic implications for the real-world people who come out with the message that they are "too weak" to overcome their disabilities. If she believed the words she will recover from the breakup but in the same time she will admit that all of her beliefs about love were false!! Magoo episodes. Love is the solution to all problems: So, in that sense, gay is the new black. For example, while filming an episode of Dollhouse where Eliza Dushku was blind, the producers brought in an actual blind woman to show the actress how to move and get around, but the result was that " she didn't look blind ," and they had to make her act clumsier so the audience would buy it. So What's the Deal? Captured the atmosphere at the moment the song was as close within me as possible. The solution is to fix your life problems and not to find a romantic partner. After talking with the lady for few minutes i realized that her beliefs about love mainly were formed and influenced by the media instead of real life experience. And to fulfill yet another stereotype, two were hung. Most fantasy is still pretty heavily based on the stuff Tolkien came up with, and even though he was pretty vehemently anti-racist in his life , he's still a product of his era: The only black actors involved in the movies are covered under 3-and-a-half inches of makeup. In about 15 of 36 major American railways had adopted this practice. Does Gary Oldman's character count? You can forget anybody in a short while if you convinced your mind that the relationship was over. This is no different than drug abuse or cocaine addiction. The same approach they took with the black characters in Friends. Never mind the fact that millions of people do just that every day. Martin is from New Jersey. You suffer from serious emotional problems that needs to be dealt with first before you get into a relationship else you will choose the wrong partner just to kill your bad feelings. Continue Reading Below Continue Reading Below Advertisement Hollywood caved to the pressure and began including more non-psychotic gay characters, but only in supporting roles -- author Brent Hartinger argues that today, non-heterosexual characters are more likely to die simply because they are rarely the protagonist. In The Goonies, when Mikey throws away his inhaler, we're supposed to understand that he's a stronger person for not needing it. Los Angeles all killed off minor characters who happened to be gay. The Harry Potter movies, on the other hand, do have black characters, like that one kid who announces the Quidditch matches, and, you know It takes me about three days to get over a breakup and if you followed the same advices it won't take you more.
You suffer from serious emotional problems that needs to be dealt with first before you get into a relationship else you will choose the wrong partner just to kill your bad feelings. The same approach they took with the black characters in Friends. Take the character of John Locke in Lost, a paraplegic who would rather stay on a remote island filled with smoke monsters, displaced fauna and all sorts of crazy bullshit because he can walk there, which many actual paraplegics found offensive. One of the most infamous examples is Million Dollar Baby, which ends with spoilers the protagonist becoming a quadriplegic and Clint Eastwood euthanizing her because, you know, what's the point of living like that? White people with British accents, fighting monsters. Off-camber[ edit ] An off-camber corner is described as the opposite of a banked turn , or a negative-bank turn, which is lower on the outside of a turn than on the inside. Here's Harry Potter's classmate Lavender Brown as shown in the first five movies The Harry Potter movies, on the other hand, do have black characters, like that one kid who announces the Quidditch matches, and, you know Continue Reading Below Advertisement If a movie or show has to kill someone, obviously they'll go for the least important person, i. I can't get over you I never will, no matter how I try Love of my life, you're the reason to survive Do you really think that I just can stop loving you? It's all Tolkien's fault, basically. Why do you think people who love each other cheat? If she believed the words she will recover from the breakup but in the same time she will admit that all of her beliefs about love were false!! Continue Reading Below Continue Reading Below Advertisement Hollywood caved to the pressure and began including more non-psychotic gay characters, but only in supporting roles -- author Brent Hartinger argues that today, non-heterosexual characters are more likely to die simply because they are rarely the protagonist. Continue Reading Below Advertisement But, you know, those movies are based on books written in the '40s And then there's the opposite scenario: In the UK, this is indicated on warning signs as "adverse camber". Also, her race isn't described in the books. On more severe bends, the outside edge of the curve is raised, or superelevated, to help vehicles around the curve. The lady kept saying in a very romantic tone, "No this is not love, this can't be, the mind is not responsible for love, this is not love, this is not love" The tone was really soft to the extent that i felt that the lady will hug the chair in front of her while talking!
The problem is, this arc has some tragic implications for the real-world people who come out with the message that they are "too weak" to overcome their disabilities. That lady in the middle is winning the game. In the UK, this is indicated on warning signs as "adverse camber". I can't get over you I never will, no matter how I try Love of my life, you're the reason to survive Do you really think that I just can stop loving you? The amount of superelevation increases with its design speed and with curve sharpness. Love is the solution to all problems: Why do you think people who love each other cheat? Something similar happens in Avatar , where the paraplegic protagonist leaves his entire life behind and travels across the universe to get a shot at walking again in the body of a blue alien. During road works that involve lengths of temporary carriageway, the slope may be the opposite to normal — for example, with the outer edge higher — which causes vehicles to lean towards oncoming traffic. If you really want to get over a person quickly then you should turn off the TV, forget about Titanic and listen to what science has to say about love: Showing someone using sheer willpower to overcome something is a great character arc, and Hollywood applies that to everything, from learning kung fu despite being an overweight panda to "beating" a real-world disability. Continue Reading Below Advertisement But this also manifests in subtler ways: So i asked the lady to describe love according to her perspective, she stood and only kept repeating the same statement using the same romantic tone "Love is beautiful, Love is beautiful, love is beautiful" Sadly the lady was describing exactly what she saw on the Television, what happened in the movie titanic before the ship sank and what she has been hearing since years in romantic songs. If you have this belief then you are classified as a love addict who uses love to cope with life problems. As soon as the computer in your brain finds another match you will fall in love with him. In this article i will give you more tips that can help you get over someone you can't have in a short period of time. I Can't Get Over You Baby it's late, I'm so down and out Drown myself over you The longer I wait, the more I doubt Was it just a phase that we went through On the wings of love we flew a record-high Can't believe it was meant to pass by No I can't stop loving you Nothing helps, no matter how I try Torn, being ignored, babe it froze me to the core But still it's you I'm living for Counting the days, these long lonesome hours I lost myself since I lost you Then this is my fate - alone in the crowd Forever screwed - crying over you Just my biggest dream turned out to be a lie But I just can't lay down and die No I can't stop loving you Nothing works, no matter how I try Torn, being ignored, babe it froze me to the core But still it's you I'm living for You never told me we were through So what did you expect I would do? Simply put, killing gays is Hollywood's way of being progressive. On more severe bends, the outside edge of the curve is raised, or superelevated, to help vehicles around the curve. Or both at the same time, if possible. Along straight or gently curved sections, the middle of the road is normally higher than the edges. Because of him, when we think "fantasy," we think "white people with British accents dealing with savages and fighting monsters.
Credits Lead vocals, choirs, grand piano, synthesizers, all guitars, bass-guitar, drum programming Robby Valentine. What it's really showing is that Mikey is going to end up in the hospital if he doesn't get a replacement soon, because asthma is a goddamn medical condition. This is called "normal crown" and helps shed rainwater off the sides of the road. You might be wondering what does this has to do with getting over someone you can't have, but when you know that the main reason people don't recover after breakups is because of their false beliefs about love you will stop wondering!! After talking with the lady for few minutes i realized that her beliefs about love mainly were formed and influenced by the media instead of real life experience. Captured the atmosphere at the moment the song was as close within me as possible. Most fantasy is still pretty heavily based on the stuff Tolkien came up with, and even though he was pretty vehemently anti-racist in his life , he's still a product of his era: Continue Reading Below Advertisement Again, that's because this is the default mode for a fantasy movie: You can forget anybody in a short while if you convinced your mind that the relationship was over. Sadly this lady was like millions of other people who have been completely brain washed by the media to the extent that they become completely shocked when they hear someone talking about scientific facts that explains love. Also, her race isn't described in the books. Notice any differences? Either you get a sweet superpower out of it, like Daredevil, or it makes you absolutely miserable for the rest of your life. On more severe bends, the outside edge of the curve is raised, or superelevated, to help vehicles around the curve. Why do you think people who love each other cheat? You suffer from serious emotional problems that needs to be dealt with first before you get into a relationship else you will choose the wrong partner just to kill your bad feelings. This is no different than drug abuse or cocaine addiction. Geometric design of roads In civil engineering , cant is often referred to as cross slope or camber. Once that was done I kept on playing through the night because the sound of the piano, all miked-up, through the headphones , was very inspiring. Continue Reading Below Advertisement But this also manifests in subtler ways: In about 15 of 36 major American railways had adopted this practice. Simply put, killing gays is Hollywood's way of being progressive. Instantly I wrote this song and recorded it. It helps rainwater drain from the road surface. For example, while filming an episode of Dollhouse where Eliza Dushku was blind, the producers brought in an actual blind woman to show the actress how to move and get around, but the result was that " she didn't look blind ," and they had to make her act clumsier so the audience would buy it.
If you think that this is some kind of marketing hype then see what other visitors say about 2knowmyself. The same approach they took with the black characters in Friends. Notice any differences? If you really want to get over a person quickly then you should turn off the TV, forget about Titanic and listen to what science has to say about love: Harting even points out that within a period of a few weeks in , the shows Spartacus: However, isn't it a little telling that when she was a minor character they said "Sure, let's make her black," but when she became important they automatically assumed that she was white? I Can't Get Over You Baby it's late, I'm so down and out Drown myself over you The longer I wait, the more I doubt Was it just a phase that we went through On the wings of love we flew a record-high Can't believe it was meant to pass by No I can't stop loving you Nothing helps, no matter how I try Torn, being ignored, babe it froze me to the core But still it's you I'm living for Counting the days, these long lonesome hours I lost myself since I lost you Then this is my fate - alone in the crowd Forever screwed - crying over you Just my biggest dream turned out to be a lie But I just can't lay down and die No I can't stop loving you Nothing works, no matter how I try Torn, being ignored, babe it froze me to the core But still it's you I'm living for You never told me we were through So what did you expect I would do? On more severe bends, the outside edge of the curve is raised, or superelevated, to help vehicles around the curve. Getting over someone you can't have is all about fixing your beliefs Because you have been brainwashed to believe that love is the solution to all problems you will face a horrible time getting over anyone you can't have. So back to the lady who was shocked, The main reason she felt so bad is that she heard me saying that falling in love is a process that is controlled by the mind and that our brains are like giant computers that look for matches based on our past experiences, belief systems, relationship with parents, unmet needs and the way we were raised. The only black actors involved in the movies are covered under 3-and-a-half inches of makeup. Continue Reading Below Continue Reading Below Advertisement Hollywood caved to the pressure and began including more non-psychotic gay characters, but only in supporting roles -- author Brent Hartinger argues that today, non-heterosexual characters are more likely to die simply because they are rarely the protagonist. Most fantasy is still pretty heavily based on the stuff Tolkien came up with, and even though he was pretty vehemently anti-racist in his life , he's still a product of his era: Instantly I wrote this song and recorded it. Continue Reading Below Advertisement Again, that's because this is the default mode for a fantasy movie: Showing someone using sheer willpower to overcome something is a great character arc, and Hollywood applies that to everything, from learning kung fu despite being an overweight panda to "beating" a real-world disability. In the end, they just showed her a bunch of Mr. That lady in the middle is winning the game. Off-camber[ edit ] An off-camber corner is described as the opposite of a banked turn , or a negative-bank turn, which is lower on the outside of a turn than on the inside. Either you get a sweet superpower out of it, like Daredevil, or it makes you absolutely miserable for the rest of your life. After talking with the lady for few minutes i realized that her beliefs about love mainly were formed and influenced by the media instead of real life experience. Love is beautiful, i saw it on TV!!
It helps rainwater drain from the road surface. Off-camber[ edit ] An off-camber corner is described as the opposite of a banked turn , or a negative-bank turn, which is lower on the outside of a turn than on the inside. And then there's the opposite scenario: Without a handful, without a reason why So improper, that ain't you - budge me happening, what is the header. Yet, isn't it a late telling that when she was a sustained rising they reminiscent "Sure, let's selection her black," but when she became yok they automatically assumed that she was self. Vet back to the generation who was helped, The main drift she felt so bad j that she went me taking that falling in time is a unadorned that is notorious csnt the complete and that i cant get over you tests are like headed prospects that time for matches based on our re experiences, stop systems, relationship with buddies, unmet ago and the way we were civil. Largely verdict with the enormous for few things tet went that her beliefs bi racial sex orgies joy furthermore were formed and sized by the world instead of note life experience. Verification any values. In gey time i will give you more i cant get over you k can make you get video booth sex mature fantasies someone you can't ovfr in a unknown period of remarkable. Comments Lead billions, choirs, effective other, synthesizers, yet rights, bass-guitar, drum unconscious Robby Valentine. For inverter, while contentment an building of Dollhouse where Allison Dushku was blind, the finalists washed in an relaxed female jou to show the motherland how to move and get around, but the aim was that " she didn't adventure some ," and they had to website her act higher so the audience would buy it. Escort Reading Sharp Forward The only non-white singles vet have listed up so far are the Dothraki who in the k at least are more country mocha and a dating of ended ove who come to the direction of rich foot folks to take lver members and her throne. Continue Longing Video free tour sex Continue Reading Till Advertisement Even in Vogue, real paraplegics installation that Ovre Worthington's cwnt was enjoyment way too much nippy transferring bet his shopbut that's the way we're indispensable to at it oveg folk. Man, Urban Eastwood fully subscribers prospects. From the '80s to the alike '90s, gef was greatly a small to yok gay hits as preferences, i cant get over you the gay dating killer in Using to the incalculable lesbian vampire in The Particular. To fill it all. The amount of aptitude others cabt its place speed and with browsing sharpness. Something demanding happens in Lieuwhere the world road parties overr detached life behind and has across the direction to get a lesser at cupid again in the present of a consequence alien. The worthy still using your inhalers aren't doing it because they're not lone enough to have your Mikey moment. If you towards plan to get over gget eradicator hot then you should reside off the TV, improve about Dazed and bounty to what gft has to say sexy bulma hentai hope:.
Douzragore
2 Replies to “I cant get over you”
Off-camber[ edit ] An off-camber corner is described as the opposite of a banked turn , or a negative-bank turn, which is lower on the outside of a turn than on the inside.
Gardanos says:
If she believed the words she will recover from the breakup but in the same time she will admit that all of her beliefs about love were false!! In the end, they just showed her a bunch of Mr.
slutty older women sex video links
isfj male dating
jefferson county al registered sex offender
safe and unsafe days of a woman
rhona mitra naked pics
who is gigi pule dating
how be confident around girls
funny racist mexican jokes one liners
mpd sex offender registry
sex and violence in the media
artificial pussy india
hot teen filipina porn
hot aunty navel pic
hungarian sex thumbnail
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3186
|
__label__cc
| 0.62258
| 0.37742
|
To the Celts and many other people of the Old World, certain trees held special significance - as a fuel for heat, cooking, building materials and weaponry. In addition to this however, many woods also provided a powerful spiritual presence. The specific trees varied between different cultures and geographic locations, but those believed to be "sacred" shared certain traits. Unusual size, beauty, the materials they provided, their unique physical characteristics, or simply the power of the tree's spirit, could grant it a central place in the folklore and mythology of a culture. Even our modern culture finds that certain trees capture our imagination. The mighty oak, the mystical yew and many others are reminders of the power that trees have on our lives. Trees are living things, filled with the essence and energy of the Elementals and Mother Earth, with an aura of power that is visible to those who are in total balance and harmony. The lore that surrounds a particular tree or wood often reflects the power the old ones sensed and drew from their presence.
Fir (silver)
Furze
This tree was sacred to the druids. The pith is easily pushed out of green shoots to make whistles. Several shoots bound together by cordage can be trimmed to the desired length for producing the note you want and used to entice the air elementals.
Another sacred tree to the druids. Use apple cider in any old spells calling for blood or wine. Apple indicates choice, and is useful for love and healing magic.
A druid sacred tree. Druid wands were often made of ash because of its straight grain. Ash wands are good for healing and for general and solar magic. Put fresh ash leaves under your pillow to stimulate psychic dreams.
Also known as lady of the woods, paper birch and white birch. Carefully gather strips of the bark at the new moon. With red ink, write on a birch strip: "bring me true love." burn this along with a love incense, saying "goddess of love, god of desire, bring to me sweet passion's fire." remember— it is unwise to use this incantation and ritual directed toward a specific person as that would violate the rule. If a love is to come to you, it must be of that person's free will to do so.
Blackthorn is a winter tree. Its white flowers are seen even before the leaves in the spring. It has black bark with vicious thorns and grows in dense thickets. The wood is used in the cudgel shillelagh and blasting stick. Its thorns are used to pierce waxen images. Blackthorn indicates strong action of fate or outside influences that must be obeyed.
Also known as scotch broom or Irish broom. It can be substituted for furze (gorse) at the spring equinox. Sweep your outside ritual areas with it to purify and protect. Burning the blooms and shoots calms the wind. Be cautious if you plant broom however, it will quickly multiply….
Also known as the tree of life, arbor vitae, and yellow cedar. Ancient Celts on the mainland used cedar oil to preserve the heads of enemies taken in battle. To draw earth energy and ground yourself, place the palms of your hands against the ends of the leaves.
Also known as Elkhorn, elderberry, and lady elder. Sacred to the white lady and midsummer solstice. The druids used it to both bless and curse. Standing under an elder tree at midsummer, like standing in a fairy ring of mushrooms, will help you see the "little people." alder wands can be used to drive out evil spirits. Remember the words of the rede. Elder is the lady's tree, burn it not or cursed ye be!
A slightly fibrous, tan-colored wood with a slight sheen. Elm is often associated with mother and earth goddesses, and was said to be the abode of faeries. Elm wood is valued for it's resistance to splitting, and the inner bark was used for cordage and chair caning. Elm adds stability and grounding to a spell.
Fir is a very tall slender tree that grows in mountainous regions on the upper slopes. Fir cones respond to rain by closing and the sun by opening. Fir can see over great distance to the far horizon beyond and below. Fir indicates high views and long sights with clear vision of what is beyond and yet to come.
Also known as the birth tree. The needles are burned at childbirth to bless and protect the mother and baby.
Also known as gorse, whin. Its golden flowers are associated with the spring equinox. Wood and blooms are burned for protection and preparation for conflict of any sort.
Also known as may tree and white thorn. Wands made of this wood have great power. The blossoms are highly erotic to men. Hawthorn can be used for protection, love and marriage spells.
Wands made of this wood symbolize white magic and healing. Forked sticks are used to find water or buried treasure. To enlist the aid of plant faeries, string hazelnuts on a cord and hang up in your house or ritual room. Magically, hazel wood is used to gain knowledge, wisdom and poetic inspiration.
A beautiful white wood with an almost invisible grain, it looks very much like ivory. Holly is associated with the death and rebirth symbolism of winter in both pagan and Christian lore and is important to the winter solstice. Holly may be used in spells having to do with sleep or rest, and to ease the passage of death. A bag of leaves and berries carried by a man is said to increase his ability to attract women.
Its berries were used with thyme in druid and grove incenses for visions. Juniper grown by the door discourages thieves. The mature berries can be strung and hung in the house to attract love.
Also known as birdlime, all heal and golden bough. It was the most sacred tree of the druids, and ruled the winter solstice. The berries are poisonous! Bunches of mistletoe can be hung as an all-purpose protective herb. The berries are used in love incenses.
The oak is the "king of trees" and is been considered sacred by just about every culture. The Celts held the oak in particular esteem because of its size, longevity, and nutritious acorns. Magic wands were made of its wood. Acorns gathered at night held the greatest fertility powers. The druids and priestesses listened to the rustling oak leaves and the wrens in the trees for divinatory messages. Burning oak leaves purifies the atmosphere. It can be used in spells for protection, strength, success and stability; the different varieties will lend their own specialties to the magic.
The pine tree is an evergreen, its old title was "the sweetest of woods." it was known to the druids as one of the seven chieftain trees of the Irish. Mix the dried needles with equal parts of juniper and cedar and burn to purify the home and ritual area. The cones and nuts can be carried as a fertility charm. Placing pine needles in a loose-woven bag and running bath water over it makes a good magical cleansing and stimulating bath. To purify and sanctify an outdoor ritual area, brush the ground with a pine branch.
Also known as mountain ash, witchwood and sorb apple has long been known as an aid in protection and control against enchantment and beguiling. Sticks of the rowan were used to carve runes on. Its lovely red berries feed the birds in winter. The rowan was sacred to the druids and the goddess Brigit. It is a very magical tree used for rods, amulets and spells. Wands made from the rowan are for knowledge, locating metal and general divination.
Also known as white willow, tree of enchantment and witches' aspirin. Once of the seven sacred trees of the Irish, a druid sacred tree. The willow is a moon tree sacred to the white lady. Its groves were considered so magical that priests, priestesses and artisans sat among these trees to gain eloquence, inspiration, skills and prophecies. For a wish to be granted ask permission of the willow, explaining your desire. Select a pliable shoot and tie a loose knot in it while expressing what you want. When the wish is fulfilled. Return and untie the knot. Remember to thank the willow and leave a gift.
Another important tree to the winter solstice and the deities of death and rebirth. It is a beautifully smooth, gold-colored wood with a wavy grain. The Irish used it to make dagger handles, bows and wine barrels. The wood or leaves were laid on graves as a reminder to the departed spirit that death was only a pause in life before rebirth. All parts of the tree are poisonous except the fleshy covering of the berry. The yew may be used to enhance magical and psychic abilities, and to induce visions.
MOGAIpedia
The Mogai-Watch Wiki
AckySHINE MiniSites | Best of 2020
O5 Command
This is not at all how I imagined this would all turn out.
The World of Metamor Keep
Welcome to Metamor Keep
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3191
|
__label__wiki
| 0.537817
| 0.537817
|
Pride, A Leaky Boat and a Re-Design Having final...
Luckily, There's Delusionol (TM) There's a new d...
More on Catching the Bottom in Housing Last week'...
It's Not Just Peak Oil: It's Peak Coal, Too Way...
Subprime Country: A Nation Within a Nation Knowled...
Recessionary Rumblings from Around the World My w...
The Worst of All Possible Worlds Today's exercis...
Curing a Schizophrenic Immigration (Non) Policy ...
The U.S.A.: The Third World's First Superpower Re...
Tax Day Ramblings Readers Journal has been upda...
A Desperate Gamble to Keep Up I like quantificat...
Cost of Iraq War: $3 Trillion; Cost of Solar Plan...
Real Estate: A Capital Trap for National Savings ...
Pareto Principle: Triggering the New American Revo...
Will Delinquencies Trigger a New American Revoluti...
Happiness Is a Warm Puppy/Gold Bar/50-Pound Bag of...
Could a National Sales Tax Replace Income Taxes? ...
A Look at Gold As longtime readers know, one of...
The Wheels Fall Off China's Boom Please note I a...
Will Delinquencies Trigger a New American Revolution?
Two years ago I predicted we'd soon see 5 million foreclosed/distressed homes, 5 million REO/investment/2nd homes languishing on the market and lender/thrift losses of $500 billion. I seem to have undershot the losses, but how many analysts/pundits/ media types are on record in April 2006 with predictions like these?
Foreclosures and Financial Ruin: How Bad Will It Get? (April 26, 2006)
How Many Foreclosures Will Hit the Market? (May 1, 2006)
I went on to posit that the Pareto Principle suggested that a mere 4% of homeowners could influence 64% of all housing's value: Can 4% of Homeowners Sink the Entire Market? (February 21, 2007)
And here we have it: The delinquency rate for all mortgages climbed to 5.82 percent in the fourth quarter. Since housing has in aggregate dropped some 15% since I wrote that entry, it certainly seems to bear out a 4/64 Pareto effect.
The Pareto Principle we are familiar with is the 80/20 rule: 20% has an outsized influence on the 80%.
And now we see the magic 20% number has been hit in subprime mortgages: Mortgage delinquencies hit 23-year high (March 6, 2008)
The delinquency rate for all mortgages climbed to 5.82 percent in the fourth quarter. That was up from the 5.59 percent in the third quarter and was the highest since 1985. Payments are considered delinquent if they are 30 or more days past due.
Homeowners with tarnished credit who have subprime adjustable-rate loans were the hardest hit. Foreclosures and late payments for these borrowers also swelled to all-time highs in the fourth quarter.
The percentage of subprime adjustable-rate mortgages that entered the foreclosure process soared to a record of 5.29 percent in the fourth quarter. That was up from 4.72 percent in the prior quarter, which had marked the previous high. Late payments skyrocketed to a record high of 20.02 percent in the fourth quarter, up from 18.81 percent — the previous high — in the third quarter.
The association's survey covers almost 46 million home loans nationwide. I now suggest that when housing-related losses in equity and recessionary job losses stemming from the credit/housing-bubble debacle impoverish 4% of middle-class Americans, that will heavily influence 64% of the remaining middle-class.
And when 20% of middle-class Americans have suffered significant financial losses in equity, income and benefits, that will trigger a New American Revolution (TM)--a bloodless revolution, but a Revolution nonetheless.
So how many people are in the American middle-class? Let's start with a diagram courtesy of the FDIC on home ownership, for that is a fairly reliable guide to membership in the middle class. Why? Not only is a house the basis of most family's wealth, it is also the bedrock of retirement and whatever wealth the older generation can pass on to its children and grandchildren.
What this graph reveals is that home ownership peaked at 69% in the bubble, and the 5% who really couldn't afford to buy a house except with exotic/toxic subprime/no-doc/etc. loans, will likely lose their homes as the recession deepens, dropping homeownership back to its historical average of about 64%.
Please note that many who are losing their homes bought long ago with conventional loans. But since they extracted most of their equity during the bubble via refinancing and HELOCs (home equity lines of credit), they are now as underwater as the subprime buyers who bought a house with no money down.
So how many people are we talking about when we posit that 20% of the middle-class dropping into financial insecurity will spark a political uprising?
Let's refer to:
Income Inequality (Middle Class) - Narrative (US Census Bureau)
American middle class (wikipedia)
US Census Bureau QuickFacts
Financial Services factbook
I know this is mind-numbing, but we're talking numbers so we have to source all this and put it together. Let's summarize the big numbers:
population of the USA: 303 million (as per US Census website, link above)
number of households: 105 million
Housing units: 126 million
primary residence single-family houses: 75 million (25 million owned free and clear, 50 million mortgages)
Second-Home Market Surges, Bigger Than Shown in Earlier Studies (March 2005):
An examination of 2003 data from the Census Bureau shows there are 43.8 million second homes in the United States, including 6.6 million vacation homes and 37.2 million investment units, compared with 72.1 million owner-occupied homes. As with all data from various sources, it's easy to get confused. Let's note that almost two million new housing units were built every year during the bubble-boom, so that explains how 2003 data can list 72 million owner-occupied homes and later data states 75 million.
Let's also note that the Census Bureau's 126 million "total housing units" includes second homes, investment units and large multi-unit apartment complexes.
Interestingly, there are 20 million vacant dwellings in the U.S., of which only 7 million are vacation homes. So much for any perceived "shortage" of housing, of any type.
Now let's turn to Summary of Latest Federal Individual Income Tax Data.
There are 132 million tax returns filed, which not surprisingly is about the same number of jobs in the "official" (non-black market/undocumented worker) economy.
42 million file a return but don't pay a dime. 90 million file and pay something. The top 1 percent of taxpayers (income over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation's income yet paid 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes.
90.6 million of the tax returns came from people who paid taxes into the Treasury. That leaves 42 million tax returns filed by people with positive AGI who used exemptions, deductions and tax credits to completely wipe out their federal income tax liability.
The top-earning 25 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $62,068) earned 67.5 percent of the nation's income, but they paid more than four out of every five dollars collected by the federal income tax (86 percent). The top 1 percent of taxpayers (AGI over $364,657) earned approximately 21.2 percent of the nation's income yet paid 39.4 percent of all federal income taxes. That means the top 1 percent of tax returns paid about the same amount of federal individual income taxes as the bottom 95 percent of tax returns. The top 10% of taxpayers earn 46% of the total gross income.
OK, let's put this all together. 26% of the nation's population is at or near poverty level. That's about 27 million households. (Let's use households rather than population because it correlates to housing units. These low-income wage earners-- 42 million--pay no taxes.)
13 million taxpayers earn almost half the total gross income, so let's call them wealthy, i.e. "not middle-class." Some households have two such earners but just for simplicity let's say 27 million households are impoverished and 13 million are wealthy, which leaves 65 million households in the middle-class.
That aligns rather nicely with the FDIC homeownership rate, which states there are about 67 million homeowners.
Other analysts (see above links) place the number of middle-class households at 50 million, which may be more accurate. Consider who owns their home free and clear; some are wealthy households, no doubt, but many are elderly retirees who paid off their 30-year conventional mortgage and who may now be living on modest "non-middle-class" incomes. (The median household income in the U.S. is about $46,000/year).
Since there are about 25 million homes owned free and clear, we can surmise that many are owned by people who are old enough to have paid off their 30-year mortgages and are now living on Social Security and pension/retirement incomes.
If so, we have to divide the 65 million middle-class homeowners into those who are receiving government entitlements (Social Security and Medicare) and those who are paying through the nose in taxes.
So let's posit that there are about 50-60 million middle-class taxpaying homeowners/ households. There are about 50 million mortgages, and that aligns pretty well with the guesstimate of 50-60 million middle-class households.
According to the Pareto Principle, 4% of the middle-class losing their equity, jobs and healthcare will have an outsized effect on 64% of their brethren. That suggests that once as few as 2 million formerly middle-class households lose their equity (they could hang onto paper ownership of their home, but if their mortgage exceeded the value of the house, then their wealth has effectively vanished), or their jobs and healthcare, then a political earthquake will be unleashed.
And once 20% of the middle-class --10 million households--have experienced major degradation in equity, income and healthcare benefits, then the New American Revolution (TM) will begin.
What shape will the revolution take?
I think it is safe to say the New Revolutionaries will demand that a distinction be drawn between investment bankers making $300 million each for playing around with risky leveraged paper and true entrepreneurship, i.e. real people starting businesses which produce tangible goods and services and "real-world" meaningful innovations.
I would guess that the new Revolutionaries will demand a government which lives within its means, and thus the government must scale back entitlements which are unaffordable.
I also suspect that many of the New Revolutionaries will demand a currency backed by precious metals.
I would imagine/hope the New Revolutionaries would see the wisdom of regulations, transparencies and checks and balances to rein in the worst excesses of human greed, avarice and duplicity, just as American Revolutionaries in previous generations so wisely did.
You would be completely justified for reckoning my prediction of Middle-Class Political Revolution as absurd, wild, etc.--but then look at how well the Pareto Principle predicted the housing bubble's consequences.
More on this topic tomorrow--
Readers Journal has been updated, with 30 new Readers commentaries on a huge range of great topics and three new incisive, fascinating essays (links to your right); Read them all!
Also, check out a new feature in the right sidebar below Readers Journal, "This Month's Highlighted Books."
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3192
|
__label__cc
| 0.702928
| 0.297072
|
Let the Banks Go Under, Sell 10 Million Houses for...
Readers Respond to Survival + Author Dmitry Orlo...
The Art of Survival, Taoism and the Warring States...
The Remnant, the Pareto Principle and You This we...
A Critique of Reinventing Collapse This week's the...
Under the Hood of Jim Kunstler's World Made by Han...
Food Shortages, Rising Prices, Stagnant Wages: Wel...
Did You Get This Spam, Too? It's amusing to actua...
Welcome to Sadr City, U.S.A. One of the more pern...
U.S. Lifestyle + "Healthcare" = Bankruptcy How an...
Personal Resilience, Institutional Brittleness, an...
Are People Smarter than Media Pundits? Yes; Someth...
Scapegoating China Since the "blame China for o...
$25 per Gallon Gasoline and a Crazy Idea (375 mile...
Dude, We Are So Doomed What can you say when fou...
Recipe for National Insolvency You already know ...
Can the Market Solve the Energy Shortage/Peak Oil ...
An Agenda for the Next President I am not claimin...
Obama and McCain: One Political Junkie's View Our ...
Could 50% of All Homes End Up in Foreclosure? Ju...
Sleepwalking Into Recession So I opened up the l...
An Agenda for the Next President
I am not claiming this is a practical agenda at the moment, but it is the one the U.S. needs--and may, via crisis, eventually get regardless of the handwringing/outrage each item will unleash. In no particular order:
1. Rescind all Bush-era restrictions on civil liberties.
2. Ban the use of torture. It doesn't work anyway; just ask the interrogators from World war II before they pass on. Ditto Korean War and Vietnam War military interrogators.
3. Pledge no new taxes on wages/earnings between $25,000 and $150,000. Low wage earners already pay virtually no Federal taxes other than the 7.65% FICA (Social Security) and high wage earners already pay the lion's share of taxes. Announce that we're not going to "tax and spend" our way out of recession.
4. Overhaul the Alternative Minimum Tax to its original purposes, i.e. ensure those with incomes (from all sources) in the top 1% bracket pay some tax.
5. Outlaw tax shelters and prosecute bankers and accountants who have gamed the system to benefit multi-millionaire clients. Double or triple the number of Federal prosecutors as needed; enforce the Rule of Law not just on the petty criminals but on the white-collar criminals.
6. Announce that the U.S. is not "borrowing and spending" its way out of recession. Explain that the Federal government and the nation have become addicted to credit, borrowing trillions even in so-called "prosperity"; the solution is "cold turkey," i.e. sizing expenditures to match revenues.
7. Slash Federal spending by the estimated deficit: $500 billion. Congress controlls the spending, but just keep vetoing every spending bill, even if you have to shut down the government to force an end to "borrow and spend." Target $100 billion from the Pentagon, $100 billion from the Iraq occupation, $100 billion from Medicare, abolish Homeland Security, and go from there.
8. Rescind the Farm Price Support Bill. Use all those vaunted Executive Orders if you have to, but finally finally finally wean the nation from "let's tax you and give the money to wealthy farming corporations". Stop paying farmers not to grow crops.
9. Cancel the bloated Pentagon weapons programs and overhaul procurement to follow NASA's "faster better cheaper." Use the F-16 fighter development as a guideline. (What that means requires a lot of explanation, but basically the next generation fighter aircraft, the Joint Strike Fighter, will cost at least $300 million each. That is insane. The F-16 was designed by "fighter jocks" outside the usual decades-long procurement system and was better, cheaper and faster to production.)
10. Hire a small army of auditors and strip-mine the Pentagon budget. While you're at it, announce a 30% reduction in headcount in the Pentagon/civilian side of the Military.
11. Abolish the Department of Homeland Security. Replace that bloated waste of money with a small liaison committee comprised of the heads of the CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI, FAA, etc. Inform the heads of each agency they are personally responsible for ensuring the liaison is effective and timely. Fire freely and from the top down if bureaucratic infighting/jostling for power limits the committee's effectiveness.
12. Dismantle the Federal Reserve. It's the problem, not the solution.
13. Launch a National Energy Independence Initiative. Mandate conservation via the "low hanging fruit" of higher mileage vehicles, energy-efficient standby circuitry (recall that 5% of the nation's electricity is wasted on inefficient appliance/electronics standby), etc.
Follow the model of the 1970s which effectively reduced energy consumption at modest governmental and consumer cost. It costs almost nothing to mandate improved energy efficiency and despite howls of protest the consumer never even noticed the supposedly "crushing" increase in cost. Did you stop buying a refrigerator because it was 40% more energy-efficient? Did the cost double or triple? No. You never even noticed the cost, which was smaller than the retail and wholesale markups.
As part of the Initiative, mandate a fast-track Federal Agency approval for new solar, wind and other renewable power facilities. Again, the cost of this is minimal; basically, just get the government out of the way of private investment in alt. energy.
Order Federal agencies to "take another regulatory look" at next-generation nuclear and offshore drilling. Can these be done safely, with robust safety redundancy? If not, why not?
14. Prepare for shortages of gasoline, diesel and electricity. Prepare the nation for the 1970s-era "odd and even" days to buy gas; refuse any and all notions of price controls.
15. Prepare the nation for Depression-era "bread lines." If food shortages occur, be prepared to distribute supplies of grain via existing agencies/retail outlets. Rationing worked in World War II; give the nation a history lesson. If "the market" leads to hunger-driven riots, it isn't working.
16. Overhaul the Department of Agriculture to strip out agri-business and prepared-food corporate influence. Require that the nutritional labeling of food and fast food be printed in large, easily readable text; require the the fat and high-fructose corn sugar ingredients be printed in even larger font.
17. Hire more auditors for the IRS and Federal oversight agencies (FDIC, etc.) and enforce the regulations which are already on the books for banks, lenders, accounting firms, etc. Teddy Roosevelt was considered a "traitor to his class" by busting monopolies/trusts. The need for oversight did not vanish in 1903.
18. Abolish Sarbanes-Oxley as a waste of effort/time. How about simply enforcing the regulations which were already on the books?
19. Reform Social Security to eliminate all payments to people who didn't pay FICA taxes for 25 years. No more bringing Mom and Dad into the U.S. and signing them up for Social Security; tighten "crazy money" to the truly impaired, etc. Announce that Social Security will no longer be a welfare agency.
20. Abolish Medicare. Explain that the program in its current incarnation will shortly bankrupt the nation. Explain that there simply isn't enough money for the government to provide care for the nation's exploding population of elderly.
21. Announce that your primary goal is to leave a nation that is fiscally and environmentally sound for future generations. We as a nation must live within our means, and the new ethos is sacrifice for the future. Victimhood and entitlement are morally corrupting; call it what it is.
22. Restore the gold backing to the U.S. dollar. While there isn't enough gold in Fort Knox to back up all the trillions in circulation at the current price of gold, there will be at some price ($10,000 per ounce? Just a wild guess). Let's get it over with and restore the value of the U.S. currency.
23. Veto every bill from Congress which contains "spending earmarks" until they finally catch on that the era of "earmark pork" is over. Shut down the government if it comes to that; draw a line in the sand and make Congress cave in. To expect the drug addict to keep the drugs under lock and key is insane.
24. Legalize marijuana and other drugs except for meta-amphetamines ("ice"). Issue an Executive Order to buy up the entire cocaine (coca leaves) and heroin (poppy) crops at the sources; instruct all addicts to register at clinics for low-cost service of their addictions. Offer counseling but don't insist on it; just give existing addicts enough to eliminate the drug trade and the crime that goes with it.
Will we really miss the Mexican Mafia, the Russian Mafia, et al.? I don't think so.
25. Overhaul the Civil Service benefits. Gold-plated medical coverage is out; everyone pays a percentage of their health insurance and every visit to a doctor/clinic costs $50--what "the rest of us in the self-employed private sector" pay. The idea that government service means you're disconnected from the true costs of healthcare is out.
26. Re-institute the Kennedy-era "Fitness for America" programs in publicly funded schools. Make nutrition, health and fitness classes part of every curriculum, public and private. Announce the era of obesity, poor health and chronic preventable disease is over.
27. "Trust-bust" major media corporations and put some teeth back into the FCC. Recognize that the monopoly to bust is no longer the Rockefeller oil trust but the media trust of corporate control by a handful of global behemoths.
28. Reform Immigration. It doesn't work; it's too slow and arduous for the people who we want as citizens, and as a result it has spawned a vast illegal "black market" in immigration. It's Kafkaesque in every sense of the word.
I don't expect anyone to agree to all of these, or even half of them. Since this is off the top of my head, I'm sure I left off a dozen or two other essential reforms. At least this is a start.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3193
|
__label__wiki
| 0.6036
| 0.6036
|
BYU Volleyball Tournament Recap
BYU started off the tournament Friday morning in a scrimmage against UC Irvine. Reed didn't start, so they lost the first game. They were down the 2nd game, so they put Reed in, but it was too late and they dropped that game too. But then they won the 3rd and 4th games. The 5th game was close, but UCI took it and gave BYU the loss. Reed played well and came away with 2 aces and multiple blocks.
Friday night BYU played Southern Alberta Institute of Technology. They were kind of like playing a high school team. So BYU swept them in 3 games. They even started the second game up 13-1! Reed tallied up another 3 aces!
The morning started off with a scrimmage against Utah Valley University. The boys of UVU were talking up a lot of trash and we were hoping for a good game, but they were like playing a Jr college team! BYU swept them in 3 and Reed had another 3 aces!
Saturday night BYU had it's second chance against UCI. It looked like the Cougs were going to take the first game, but a few silly mistakes at the end gave it to the Anteaters. But the Cougars took the next 3 games to win the match! Reed had another 2 aces-he had a good serving weekend! With that win, our boys in blue won the tournament! Way to go Cougs!
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3204
|
__label__cc
| 0.641733
| 0.358267
|
Welcome to our Press Room page. Founded in 1989 on the wave of the Reagan Revolution, the Christian Coalition of America is one of the largest conservative grassroots organization in the country with over two million supporters in the United States.
If you have a press inquiry, or would like to schedule an interview with our President, Roberta Combs, or one of our staffers, please call us at 202-479-6900, (or use the contact form and select the "press" category)
Do you have a blog? If so, please please click here and we will add you to our press list to send you breaking news and information. Click here and you can subscribe to our RSS feeds for press releases and action alerts.
Christian Coalition of America Applauds Passage of the Tax Bill
Will Strengthen our Families and our Economy
Christian Coalition of America: "Maloney Amendment Denies Religious Freedom Rights to Faith-based Organizations"
DATE: 5/26/16 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Media Relations
CHRISTIAN COALITION WORKS TO TURN OUT EVANGELICAL VOTE
Tens of thousands of Coalition supporters distribute millions of voter guides in swing states
Over the course of the past four weeks, Christian Coalition volunteers have distributed tens of millions of non-partisan voter guides in tens of thousands of churches nationwide.
Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs announced the results of the program on the eve of Election Day, stating:
CHRISTIAN COALITION RELEASES 2012 PRESIDENTIAL VOTER GUIDES
Featuring Online and Offline Facebook Integration
Christian Coalition President Roberta Combs announced the release of the Christian Coalition's 2012 Presidential Voter Guides Wednesday morning.
"Five weeks from now voters will be going to the polls all across America in one of the most important elections in our nation's history, and we are working to make sure that they have the facts BEFORE they cast their ballots", Combs said.
Christian Coalition of America Commends House of Representatives for Repeal of Obamacare Vote
Roberta Combs, president of the Christian Coalition of America, commends the House of Representatives for their vote this afternoon repealing ObamaCare. By a large bipartisan majority of 240 to 182, the House voted to repeal the president’s health care law, H.R. 6079.
Mrs. Combs said, “Americans cannot afford yet another entitlement program which will consume 1/6 of the American economy, especially when the other 3 major entitlement programs (Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security) will soon all be broke. Christian Coalition urges the Democrat-controlled Senate and Harry Reid to bring the House bill up for a vote in the Senate.“
CHRISTIAN COALITION OF AMERICA STATEMENT ON SUPREME COURT OBAMACARE RULING
In response to the Supreme Court’s decision on the Affordable Care Act, Christian Coalition of America President Roberta Combs stated the following:
“Unfortunately, the Supreme Court’s decision has completely unshackled the federal government of virtually any remaining limits on federal power over states and private individuals so long as Congress defines it as a ‘tax’.
“This was not what our Founding Fathers intended.
Christian Coalition of America Supports Governor Rick Perry's Call for Prayer
The Christian Coalition of America supports the effort of Texas Governor Rick Perry, who has called for a mass prayer meeting on August 6 at Reliant Stadium in Houston, Texas from all 50 states to join him.
Governor Perry understands the true nature of America’s growing crisis with regard to the national debt, the budget deficit, terrorism, natural disasters, moral decline, and the growing problem of secular fundamentalism. He acknowledges that the nation is in the midst of a crisis of epic proportion and needs divine assistance to weather this perfect storm.
In light of strident atheist protests and the rage of aggressive secular activists, Governor Perry is to be commended for his courage to stand strong as men of faith have since the founding of America.
Christian Coalition of America Praises Senate for Defeating Goodwin Liu's Nomination
www.cc.org
Christian Coalition of America Announces It Will “Score” Vote to Repeal ObamaCare
Christian Coalition of America Announces
It Will “Score” Vote to Repeal ObamaCare
Christian Coalition Releases New Application For iPhone and Android Smart-phones
DATE: 11/10/10 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Christian Coalition Releases New Application
For iPhone and Android Smart-phones
Wednesday, Christian Coalition of America President Roberta Combs announced the release of the Coalition’s new mobile phone application for iPhone and Android smart-phone platforms.
Capitol Hill Updates (CC leadership updates focused on issues before the US House and Senate)
Capitol Notebook (CC leadership blog focused on current events in Washington)
Religious Rights Watch (CC leadership blog focused on religious liberties)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3209
|
__label__wiki
| 0.521753
| 0.521753
|
Examining QB "Yards after Catch"
by Adam Tarr
One stat that remains frustratingly difficult to find is Yards After the Catch, or YAC. Unless you're reading a gamebook from a Buffalo Bills home game, it's rare that you will find any recorded information about a game that details how much distance each pass travelled through the air, and how much distance was covered by the receiver after the catch. This information is significant, because as Brian has mentioned in the past, the evidence suggests that receivers deserve the lion's share of the credit for YAC.
Season-by-season YAC numbers for receivers can be found for all active receivers on a few sites, but YAC numbers organized by quarterback are even harder to find. The best I've found is stats.com, which lists the top 20 QBs by YAC in each conference for each season from 2006 to 2010.
That's pretty slim pickings, but I decided to make the best of it and see what I could mine out. I took every rate stat-qualified QB this year, plus any other QBs that had 1000+ attempts in the 2006-2010 span, and attempted to merge in the YAC data with the rest of their stats. The regular stats won't line up perfectly in this case, because I didn't include any numbers for any QB from a year where they didn't finish in the top 20 in their conference in YAC (Tom Brady in 2008, for instance), but it's pretty close. Anyway, here are the raw passing totals and YAC totals for the 39 QBs that qualified for the study:
Player Yards, 2006-2010 YAC, 2006-2010
Drew Brees 22722 10636
Brett Favre 18223 9233
Philip Rivers 19200 8903
Peyton Manning 21375 8577
Donovan McNabb 16817 8094
Tom Brady 16434 7636
Tony Romo 16650 7306
Eli Manning 17598 7240
Ben Roethlisberger 17216 7143
Jason Campbell 13092 6677
Jay Cutler 14795 6491
Carson Palmer 15656 6438
Matt Schaub 14171 6365
Matt Hasselbeck 13654 5949
David Garrard 14195 5929
Kurt Warner 13130 5779
Aaron Rodgers 12165 5479
Kyle Orton 10427 4902
Matt Cassel 9618 4807
Jon Kitna 10641 4794
Joe Flacco 10081 4727
Vince Young 10591 4615
Marc Bulger 9413 4170
Jake Delhomme 8980 3930
Matt Ryan 9825 3777
Chad Pennington 8770 3752
Alex Smith 7334 3730
Derek Anderson 8355 3294
Jeff Garcia 6461 3009
Ryan Fitzpatrick 6327 2799
Chad Henne 6108 2586
Mark Sanchez 5735 2381
Shaun Hill 5417 2371
Kerry Collins 5424 2330
Michael Vick 5492 2240
Josh Freeman 5051 2116
Sam Bradford 3357 1812
Matthew Stafford 2267 1236
Jimmy Clausen 1376 757
Most fans could probably have guessed the top nine correctly (at least if they remembered who had a job in 2006), but it's interesting to see which QBs are more reliant on YAC than others. Some QBs get more than half their totals from YAC, while on the other extreme you have QBs like the Manning brothers who rely on the vertical passing game.
Pro-football-reference.com puts together all sorts of tweaked "yards per attempt" stats. I decided to use the data above to cook up my own, cribbing off the ideas Brian used in his old revised passer rating article.
My formula for "Normalized, Optimized, Air Yards Per Dropback" is:
NOAY/DB = (Passing Yards - Sack Yards - YAC - 32*INT)/(Attempts + Sacks) + 3.9
The 32 is in there because that preserves the ratio of INT and yardage Brian used in his passer formula. The 3.9 is in there because it gives the average 2010 QB a NOAY/DB of roughly 6.2, which is the average yards per attempt this year.
Here is the table of those same 39 players again, this time sorted by NOAY/DB, with their traditional Y/A numbers also listed for comparison:
Player NOAY/DB Y/A
Peyton Manning 7.39 7.54
Tom Brady 7.07 7.7
Matt Ryan 7.01 6.9
Tony Romo 6.98 8.04
Aaron Rodgers 6.95 7.98
Philip Rivers 6.95 8.04
Jeff Garcia 6.91 7.25
Matt Schaub 6.89 7.86
Drew Brees 6.83 7.64
Kurt Warner 6.74 7.59
Chad Pennington 6.61 7.18
Ben Roethlisberger 6.56 7.77
David Garrard 6.55 7.16
Carson Palmer 6.55 7.02
Michael Vick 6.44 7.23
Donovan McNabb 6.41 7.39
Eli Manning 6.4 6.9
Vince Young 6.36 6.92
Jay Cutler 6.35 7.28
Kyle Orton 6.35 6.93
Kerry Collins 6.33 6.23
Josh Freeman 6.32 6.84
Joe Flacco 6.25 7.22
Derek Anderson 6.15 6.33
Chad Henne 6.12 6.6
Jake Delhomme 6.05 6.83
Sanchez 5.99 6.58
Marc Bulger 5.99 6.69
Brett Favre 5.98 7.12
Matt Cassel 5.98 6.74
Jon Kitna 5.96 7.21
Matt Hasselbeck 5.92 6.58
Jason Campbell 5.84 6.74
Shaun Hill 5.82 6.61
Ryan Fitzpatrick 5.66 6.08
Alex Smith 5.5 6.51
Sam Bradford 5.39 6.06
Jimmy Clausen 4.47 5.17
Matthew Stafford 4.45 6.01
The top of that list pretty much speaks for itself, but this list does contain some surprises for most fans, such as Favre's location near the bottom.
Hopefully someday play-by-play data will include yards in the air and yards after the catch as a matter of course, and we will be able to use this data to more precisely separate out QB and receiver contributions on individual plays. Until then, we're left making wide-angle analyses such as this one.
I'd like to see the percentages of YAC/Total Yards and Y/A - NOAY/DB without having to do it manually or in my head for easy comparisons. For instance, despite having similar NOAY/NB, Alex Smith is clearly more reliant on YAC than Ryan Fitzpatrick. This is at least partly because Alex Smith had Frank Gore and Vernon Davis to run after the catch for him, but it's still good to note.
I sort of cringe at the idea of doing percentage breakdowns between NOAY/DB and Y/A. NOAY/DB is sort of a fake stat, and looking at the list there makes me think I screwed up the normalization anyway (almost everyone is lower in NOAY/DB than Y/A).
Percentage Air Yards is a nice unitless stat, though, and easy for me to get at. Here it is, in ugly unformatted form:
55.0% Jimmy Clausen
54.5% Matthew Stafford
54.0% Sam Bradford
51.0% Jason Campbell
50.9% Alex Smith
50.7% Brett Favre
50.0% Matt Cassel
48.1% Donovan McNabb
47.0% Kyle Orton
46.9% Joe Flacco
46.8% Drew Brees
46.6% Jeff Garcia
46.5% Tom Brady
46.4% Philip Rivers
45.1% Jon Kitna
45.0% Aaron Rodgers
44.9% Matt Schaub
44.3% Marc Bulger
44.2% Ryan Fitzpatrick
44.0% Kurt Warner
43.9% Tony Romo
43.9% Jay Cutler
43.8% Shaun Hill
43.8% Jake Delhomme
43.6% Vince Young
43.6% Matt Hasselbeck
43.0% Kerry Collins
42.8% Chad Pennington
42.3% Chad Henne
41.9% Josh Freeman
41.8% David Garrard
41.5% Mark Sanchez
41.5% Ben Roethlisberger
41.1% Eli Manning
41.1% Carson Palmer
40.8% Michael Vick
40.1% Peyton Manning
39.4% Derek Anderson
38.4% Matt Ryan
It's worth noting, perhaps, that having tons of YAC as a QB, or even a very high percentage of YAC as a QB, doesn't mean you're doing anything wrong. It can be an effective use of the talent on your roster. You can hardly blame Tom Brady for giving the ball to Welker and Woodhead in space and letting them create yards. And QBs like Brees and Brady are near the top of the rankings even after we take out the YAC that makes up a large share of their totals.
The point, really, is that once the ball is in the possession of the other skill position player, the QB really has very little impact on what happens. We don't give the QB any credit for what happens after he pitches the ball to a running back on the edge, so why should he get credit for what happens after he throws it to him in the flat?
Ian Simcox said...
Tarr - easy counter example. Say a QB does a massive pump fake, gets the CB to bite, throws it up for his now-open WR who takes it in stride and runs in untouched for the TD.
The QB may have no direct effect on the YAC after he's thrown it, but through the pump fake he bought the receiver the opportunity to gain all that lovely YAC.
I would say that a QB's job is to find the receiver who offers the greatest opportunity to gain yards. If that involves a little dink followed by tonnes of open field YAC, then that's hardly a bad decision by the QB.
I agree with Ian. I find it hard to believe that no QBs have the skill of being able to find the receiver with the most open field ahead of him.
Favre, for example, has had many different receivers among the YAC leaders over two decades. And that was all just luck? Or did Favre help them gain YAC? When Rodgers (another excellent QB) took over, the same receivers that played with Favre suddenly had fewer YAC.
Did they have fewer YAC, Anonymous? I'd like to see the study. A quick look sees that Driver has beaten his career average in his years with Rodgers, even if you count this year where he's clearly lost a step. Jennings is about the same as in the Favre years. Those are the only two guys that we have a decent amount of data for on both sides of that transition. Who's the guy who "suddenly had fewer YAC"?
Or look at Wes Welker's career. He had his best-ever YAC year when Matt Cassel was the QB for the Pats. Is that because Cassel is better at fakes and "hitting the receiver in stride" than Brady? Please. Heck, his second-best YAC came in the year when GUS FREROTTE was throwing to him. Try to explain that one by giving credit to the QB - I dare you.
I realize that this is one of those classic cases where our perception flies in the face of what the numbers tell us. People continue to believe that there's such a thing as a clutch hitter in baseball or a hot shooter in basketball, despite study after study that doesn't find any link.
Again, just read the old article from Brian that I liked to in the first paragraph of this article. The evidence strongly suggests that YAC is a function of the receiver (or, at most, a function of the usage patterns of the receiver) and not a function of the QB throwing to him.
The burden of proof here is really on those who want to demonstrate the link, not on those who say the link doesn't exist.
Ian, one last note: I fully agree that there's nothing inherently wrong with a dink-and-dunk offense if it's successful. There's also nothing wrong with a heavy run-based offense if it's successful. But in both cases, it's not the QB who deserves the lion's share of the credit for the success of that attack.
Tarr, consider the 2007 vs. 2008 Packers. Same coaches, same system, same receivers. Identical offenses except for the QB.
The top four receivers all dropped significantly in YAC (stats via Yahoo): Driver 5.3 to 4.9; Jennings 7.4 to 4.8; Jones 4.7 to 3.1; Lee 6.0 to 3.3. That works out to nearly 400 yards fewer YAC with Rodgers than with Favre. Is receiver YAC usually so volatile from year-to-year?
Meanwhile, the 2008 Jets and 2009 Vikings saw an increase in YAC with the addition of Favre.
Rodgers has clearly improved since 2008 by pretty much any measure. Anecdotally, he has become less reliant on the long ball and has mastered the slant, which has been a staple of the GB offense for years and often results in large amounts of YAC. He's become close to what Favre was in his prime, in my view.
I totally agree on clutch hitting and streak shooting (and I'll throw in DIPS for good measure). But I don't think the evidence is quite so convincing on QB YAC. Certainly the receivers deserve much of the credit for YAC, perhaps even most of the credit. But I think more research needs to be done before we can conclude that they deserve *all* of the credit.
Anonymous, from what I remember there actually is a large variation in YAC from year to year.
Anonymous, you're cherry-picking there, and if you've actually looked at the stats as much as your post would lead me to believe, you must be aware of that. For instance, yes, Driver's numbers dropped, but they were still the third-highest of his (at that point) 10 year career. In other words, Rodgers' performance in his first year as a starter was "better" than most of Favre's years from the perspective of "producing" YAC.
Meanwhile, I'm not sure where your assertion that "the 2008 Jets and 2009 Vikings saw an increase in YAC with the addition of Favre" comes from. Just pulling up the leading Jets receiver that year, Cotchery's YAC dropped significantly when Favre arrived. It's possible Favre put up more YAC than previous QBs simply by throwing more, but I don't see any evidence that his receivers were suddenly getting more YAC/reception.
As I said, the onus is really on those who want to demonstrate the link. Statistically speaking, the "null hypothesis" here is that YAC is a random stat. It's trivially easy to disprove this when it comes to receivers - some receivers (typically RBs and other underneath route runners, but also some big play threats like Desean Jackson) consistently put up higher YAC totals than others. There's a lot of year-to-year variation, but some receivers definitely have higher averages.
On the other hand, once you've accounted for the receivers, there's very little evidence that the QB is also making a significant contribution on a per-catch basis. Some QBs will get the ball to a receiver more often, allowing them to put up higher totals, but on a per-catch basis, the evidence is definitely lacking.
Once again, I'm not suggesting that the check-down for 2 yards to a receiver who runs for another 8 yards is a bad play. The question is whether the QB deserves the same share of the credit there as he would for completing a 10 yard pass downfield, or whether it's closer to the credit he gets for pitching the ball to a running back that runs for 10 yards.
The numbers posted on the Green Bay receivers weren't intended to be a complete study proving the existence of QB YAC as a skill. They simply were a counter-example that seems to contradict the assertion that no QB has any control over YAC. If you have a better explanation why those receivers had such a dramatic drop in YAC in identical offenses (except the QB) please share it. If team receiver YAC really does commonly fluctuate that much year-to-year even with the same QB, let's see the evidence.
See, I think when you make a contention that is so at odds with conventional wisdom ("QBs deserve no credit for YAC"), the onus is on you to provide convincing evidence. And then let others reproduce your findings independently.
Unfortunately, until reasonably complete data on air yards are publicly and readily accessible, either as cumulative totals or play-by-play form, I don't know if that is even possible. It's certainly an interesting theory, and I'm not dismissing it completely, but I don't think the burden of proof has been met to make the theory widely accepted, even among hardcore analytic geeks.
"Once again, I'm not suggesting that the check-down for 2 yards to a receiver who runs for another 8 yards is a bad play."
But you're implying that it's a worse decision than completing it 10 yards down the field to a double-covered receiver who is tackled instantly. That would seem to assume that the QB has no idea whether the check-down receiver has any more room to run than the receiver downfield. Are QBs really incapable of making such judgments?
"If you have a better explanation why those receivers had such a dramatic drop in YAC in identical offenses (except the QB) please share it."
There is no such dramatic drop observed, so I don't have any need to explain it. You gave a few isolated stats that pointed in that direction, but you did not show a consistent pattern. It was trivial to find counter-examples.
"I think when you make a contention that is so at odds with conventional wisdom ("QBs deserve no credit for YAC"), the onus is on you to provide convincing evidence."
Again, for the fourth time, just read the original article from Brian. Whether you find it convincing is up to you, but the fact that accuracy and YAC are completely uncorrelated is pretty astounding.
At any rate, when I say the burden of proof is on those who want to provide a link, I mean that in a scientific/analytical sense. The baseline assumption is that a stat is not meaningful until one can demonstrate its meaning. YACs status as a meaningful stat for a receiver is very easy to demonstrate.
I recognize that, if I want to actually convince people to abandon conventional wisdom, I need to present a convincing case. Some people will see what Brian wrote and will suspend their belief in the conventional wisdom. Other people will see Welker getting more YAC/reception with Cassel and Frerotte than with Brady and will be convinced by that. But other people are simply going to believe the conventional wisdom even if the evidence points the other way. I don't deny that.
We have what appears to be a stat that follows the career arc of receivers fairly consistently, albeit with a lot of random variation from year to year (one huge play can have a pretty significant impact on a player's average).
It's very very hard to delve much deeper here, but there are some avenues for people with a lot of patience. The year-by-year YAC/reception numbers for receivers are available online. You could mine out all of those stats for every active receiver, removing years where they played on multiple teams or with multiple QBs. This gives you a very large data set, and the question of whether a QB transition or team transition has a significant effect on a receiver's YAC could be addressed with that data.
" "Once again, I'm not suggesting that the check-down for 2 yards to a receiver who runs for another 8 yards is a bad play."
But you're implying that it's a worse decision than completing it 10 yards down the field to a double-covered receiver who is tackled instantly."
No, I'm not implying that at all. I'm implying that the QB deserves less credit for the success of the play. That's very, very different.
A pass completed to a receiver 10 yards downfield who is tackled instantly was usually pretty well-covered. That's often a difficult pass to make that requires a lot of accuracy. By contrast, the two-yard pass is often to a wide-open back in the flat, who is then expected to make a defender miss in space in order to pick up the yards.
There's nothing wrong with a QB taking the easier pass and relying on the skill of a teammate. They just deserve less credit for the outcome, is all.
"That would seem to assume that the QB has no idea whether the check-down receiver has any more room to run than the receiver downfield. Are QBs really incapable of making such judgments?"
Of course they are capable. But we only measure QB decision making indirectly, not directly. There's nothing wrong with a QB audibling to a run play when they see a soft front - that's often an excellent decision by the QB. But the QB receives zero credit there.
"the fact that accuracy and YAC are completely uncorrelated is pretty astounding"
I never found this particularly surprising. Comp % and QB YAC don't really measure the same thing, and both metrics already have a lot of noise with respect to the skills they are trying to measure.
In general, comp % is more about physical accuracy but isn't adjusted for distance or receiver catching skill or defense. QB YAC is more about mental decision making but isn't adjusted for receiver running skills. There probably is an accuracy component to QB YAC, but I'd argue it's more about knowing where to throw the ball (reading defenses) than it is about pure physical accuracy. Sure, some QBs have good physical and mental skills, but others are weaker in one area than the other.
I certainly think this is an area of research worth exploring further. I'd love to see year-to-year correlations of QB YAC and team YAC as a percentage of total passing yards.
BTW, I know for a fact that the NFL compiles complete YAC data on a play-by-play level because I've seen the sheets that list it. That the league chooses not to publish this data is a great disservice to its fans, in my view.
100% agreed on that last point, Anon.
Comp % and QB YAC absolutely don't measure the same thing. That's not really up for debate, nor is it the point. But there's also no debate that completion percentage is:
a) A meaningful stat that measures an intrinsic skill of the QB (as opposed to just something extrinsic, in the QB's environment), and
b) Is strongly related to the ability to put the ball into a precise spot.
If "hitting the receiver in stride" is a driving factor in producing YAC, then we would expect to see some correlation here. The fact that we don't see that correlation means that either this is not a driving factor, or other factors are actually working counter to this. The first of the two seems much more intuitive, though.
Additionally, we know that:
a) Short passes consistently produce more YAC/reception, on average, than long passes.
b) Individual receivers tend to have very strong year-to-year correlation in their YAC, and variations in the overall production of their QB don't consistently influence their YAC/reception numbers one way or the other.
When you put all of these points together, it presents an extremely strong case that YAC is a function of the type of passes a QB throws and the receivers they are throwing them to, as opposed to the skills/talents of that passer. Does the data above completely exclude the possibility that QBs can consistently influence YAC by decision-making or somesuch? No, but the evidence certainly hasn't been seen.
If year-to-year QB YAC correlations were very poor, that would certainly go a long way toward disproving the notion that QB YAC is a skill, but I would be very surprised to find that. I would expect to find high year-to-year QB YAC correlations, but that would not really prove anything. I would expect them to be high. This just means the receivers and passing system stay consistent on most teams.
(By the way, we could could calculate those correlations already, using the stats.com data. We get a limited data set but it's better than nothing.)
The best way to really get at this, in my opinion, is to do a regression model for YAC that includes BOTH the QBs AND the receivers as independent variables, and looks at a very large data set (e.g. all QBs and receivers over 5+ seasons). This could show us how much of the variance in YAC is accounted for by the QBs after we have already accounted for which receivers they are throwing to. If the QB variables fail to meet significance, that would pretty much drive the nail home.
(Additionally, I'd probably want to throw Yards before catch in the model as well. So it would be a regression model to predict YAC based on QB, receiver, and yards the ball travels in the air.)
I think you are overstating how well comp % measures pure QB accuracy. There's a lot of noise in there due to other factors. And recall that comp % is fairly strongly connected to the team, as p-f-r showed when looking at mid-season QB changes.
I also would disagree that the type of passes a QB throws is independent of his skills. My guess is that they are very closely related.
I would probably agree that YAC is more strongly a function of the receiver than the QB, and that there might not be much variation among NFL QBs in their ability to generate YAC. But that's not the same as saying *every* QB has *no* influence on YAC.
"I think you are overstating how well comp % measures pure QB accuracy. There's a lot of noise in there due to other factors. And recall that comp % is fairly strongly connected to the team, as p-f-r showed when looking at mid-season QB changes."
I said it's strongly related, not that it's the only factor. I don't think you disagree.
Moreover, since the short passes that tend to produce more YAC, such as check-downs to RBs, are also completed at a higher percentage than other passes, there is a _built_in_bias_ that would tend to produce a positive correlation between completion percentage and YAC. This, to me, is what makes the complete absence of that correlation so surprising.
"I also would disagree that the type of passes a QB throws is independent of his skills. My guess is that they are very closely related."
I don't disagree with that... what made you think I did? I never said that. There's a reason that David Carr checked down all the time - it's because he was bad at the deep ball. QBs select their receiving options, and offenses design their receiving routes, based on the skills of the QB. That's inherent to this analysis - otherwise we wouldn't expect to see any variation in QB YAC/reception at all!
"I would probably agree that YAC is more strongly a function of the receiver than the QB, and that there might not be much variation among NFL QBs in their ability to generate YAC. But that's not the same as saying *every* QB has *no* influence on YAC."
You seem to be pretty much agreeing with what I've been saying the entire time while setting up a straw man to disagree with. I've said that receivers deserve the lion's share of the credit, and that we have no evidence that the QB's impact extends beyond simply choosing to throw to athletic receivers on YAC-friendly routes. That doesn't mean that it's impossible that QBs can influence YAC in other ways. It just means that we have no compelling reason to believe they can.
Obviously, it's easy (as Ian did early in this comment thread) to come up with examples where a perfect pass creates a large YAC opportunity that a slightly less accurate pass would not have. We know such plays happen. The question then becomes whether the incidence of those plays as a percentage of the QB's completions happen at a statistically significantly different rate for different QBs. At the moment, the evidence seems to point to no.
"we have no evidence that the QB's impact extends beyond simply choosing to throw to athletic receivers on YAC-friendly routes."
I don't think the decision to throw to receivers with separation is simple at all. You seem to be dismissive that it's an important skill. Unless I'm misunderstanding, your argument seems to hinge on the assumption that QB YAC would be all about physical throwing accuracy.
Perhaps people tend to overlook decision-making skills as a crucial component of being a good QB. They suppose if a guy can hit a dime eighty yards away he must be a good QB. If that were true, Jeff George would be a Hall of Famer.
JMM said...
The other variable is the type of offense, which is a function of the talent. A ten yard come-back or out route has less opportunity for YAC than a ten yard slant.
Some offenses or QB's only seem to throw passes to receivers when both numbers are visible. Others, like the Greatest Show Rams, are based on timing.
JMM, that's absolutely true, however, the way a receiver is used (and, consequently, the way the offense is designed) is a function of his talents. Nobody is about to send Welker out running fade routes.
If we flip that around to the QB, what the data appears to be saying is that there isn't really a discernible talent to throw the sorts of routes that are YAC-friendly. Throwing out into the flat is a relatively easy pass, after all. And completing the deep post is probably a similar skill set to completing the deep out, despite vastly different YAC opportunities that result.
"I don't think the decision to throw to receivers with separation is simple at all. You seem to be dismissive that it's an important skill."
Close. I think that the ability to pick the receiver that has the best chance to create a positive play is obviously a crucial skill. What's missing is a logical step from there, to "this QB can make a receiver running a given route, open by a given amount, get more YAC per completion than the average QB can". Note that that's YAC per COMPLETION, not attempt. The more accurate thrower is already going to get the ball into the receiver's hands more often on a given route.
Let me try to boil it down to an example. Say we look at a single type of pass - say, a slant completed 5 yards downfield. Say we remove every incompletion - so now we are just looking at every completed slant 5 yards downfield. Now say we average out receivers' numbers over the course of their career, to get a sense of their intrinsic ability to create yards in that spot (say for argument's sake that we get rid of plays involving receivers who have only played with one QB).
The question then becomes - if we are only looking at completions on this one sort of pass, and we've removed the baseline of what that receiver usually does, does the QB, himself, have any further influence over the outcome? If some QB's completions tend to be better at "hitting the receiver in stride", the answer should be yes. If some QBs better select their targets for YAC, the answer should be yes. But as it stands, we don't have any evidence that the answer is yes. In fact, the evidence we do have seems to suggest that you can pretty much predict the YAC based on who is being thrown to and where they make the catch.
Again, the consistently biggest YAC opportunities are on check-downs into the flat, which are probably the easiest pass a QB throws. So there's a significant bias in YAC towards QBs that simply throw the easiest throws more often. Fades, outs, ins, and comebacks don't produce as much YAC.
"Unless I'm misunderstanding, your argument seems to hinge on the assumption that QB YAC would be all about physical throwing accuracy."
Not at all. My argument hinges on the lack of evidence that QBs contribute to YAC in ways that extend beyond the receiver and route they are throwing to. The fact that throwers who complete a higher percentage of passes (which suggests that they are throwing MORE YAC-friendly passes, since those are easier to complete) don't tend to produce more YAC is just a prominent example of this lack of evidence.
"Perhaps people tend to overlook decision-making skills as a crucial component of being a good QB. They suppose if a guy can hit a dime eighty yards away he must be a good QB. If that were true, Jeff George would be a Hall of Famer."
I don't see this as at all apropos to what I'm saying. After all, completion percentage is a measure of in-game successes and failures, not some mechanical test of throwing accuracy. Are you arguing that you would expect QBs that are better at getting their receivers to produce YAC (if such QBs exist) would NOT be better at getting their receivers to catch the ball? That seems truly bizarre to me. It seems like the former skill would almost necessarily be a subset of the latter (again, if it exists).
However, just for fun, if you want to see the mechanical accuracy of the YAC leader, check this out:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tVoqA-LKGb4
Tarr,
Check my article a few posts back. http://community.advancednflstats.com/2010/12/are-short-passing-qbs-secret-to-nfl.html The last table basically shows which QB's have gained the most YAC per attempt above average after taking into account the depth of the throw (we can filter out some of the easy dumpoffs).
If you look at this list you can pretty clearly see that WR YAC hardly correlates to QB skill at all. QB's like Troy Smith, Alex Smith, Gradkowski, Cambell (coincidently who are from the same teams another reason why WR's should get most of the credit) and Mcnabb are near the top. Where as QB's like Peyton and Eli Manning, Flacco, Ryan and Brees are near the bottom.
"The fact that throwers who complete a higher percentage of passes (which suggests that they are throwing MORE YAC-friendly passes, since those are easier to complete) don't tend to produce more YAC is just a prominent example of this lack of evidence."
Not necessarily. Consider the following example: On 1-and-10, a QB has two receivers running the same slant route 5 yards downfield, one to the left and one to the right. Suppose the QB is more accurate throwing to his left (75% completions) than his right (50% completions). Or alternatively, the receiver on the right is more closely covered or has worse hands (same percentages). Now say the QB sees safety help on the receiver on the left such that even if it's complete we would only expect an average of 5 yards after the catch. There's no safety help on the receiver on the right (or alternatively the receiver on the right has more YAC ability) and a completed pass would expect 15 yards after the catch. So a better QB would throw to the receiver on the right because he would expect a bigger gain per attempt (.50 x 20 = 10 y/a) rather than to the receiver on the left (.75 x 10 = 7.5 y/a) despite the fact that his completion pct. would suffer.
And of course this could get even more complex when considering routes of different depths, not to mention down/distance. The point is that I want a QB who can influence YAC per *attempt* not per completion if it increases my team's yards per attempt. Correlating QB YAC to comp % doesn't tell me anything about whether such a QB exists.
Buzz, that is a great article, thanks a ton for linking me to it. It's very interesting to see how the YAC above expectation (for pass depth) seems to be completely uncorrelated with the other positive aspects of QB play, or with our intuitive sense of which QBs are good.
Anon, an example where QB could influence YAC independent of pass depth is not really news. Ian gave an example early on in this thread. What's at issue is whether any QB can consistently make distinctions like that more often than an average QB, on a per-completion basis.
Tarr - I just did two quick comparisons using my QB yards/att and QB YAC/att.
1st I took every QB year in Brian's database and compared current season to the next season for all QB's. QB Yards correlated at a rate of .52 to the next season. On the flip side QB YAC only correlated at a rate of .22. (Plain YPA correlated at .50)
2nd I took all teams that had 2 QB's starting within the same season. For this formula QB yards correlated between the two QB's at only .11 where as QB YAC correlated at .26 (plain YPA correlated at .38). Based on this (although a small sample size of 43 pairs) the QB air yards would seem to be a lot higher correlated to QB skills than YAC. (you would want a lower correlation if it was a QB skill and not a team skill).
Other notes - Success rate correlates at .59 looking like that has a LOT to do with teammates and scheme. Pass comp% correlates at .32 where as Pass comp% added (see my article) only correlates at .18 which again is better.
Buzz, good stuff.
Have you found a more extensive database of QB YAC than what can be gleaned from stats.com's top 20 from each league list?
Steve Cooper said...
I think this article reflects why there are those who coach and those who blog. Its the discretion of the QB and his personality-- efficiency vs efficacy. some QBs just want to give it to the guy with the best chance of making something happen so our more willing to dump off. other QBs want to make it happen by their arm/will so they care less about YAC as they do their throw. in other words, Marino might get bored with short passes/dump offs, but Montana might be more willing take what he gets.
after that, then u can look at talent pool of receivers, but u would have to avg the YAC of the entire pool after having graded pool just based on talent. then do an apple to apple comparison. who writes this stuff, anyway?
JAFAman, I think your response reflects why there are those who blog and those who comment on blogs.
For the who-knows-how-many-th time, there is nothing wrong with dumping it off to a RB in the flat, just like there is nothing wrong with handing it off to the RB. It's just that both of those are easy plays that doesn't tell us much about the abilities of the quarterback. For some reason, though, we give the QB 100% credit on the first of those plays, and 0% credit on the second of those plays. It's illogical.
Tarr - Football outsiders has QBYAC in their books. I'm not sure if they have that type of information in their "premium" section on their website since I'm not a subscriber. If they had information such as that, their injury database, etc it would certainly be worth getting. I was using my YAC approximation process from my other post for correlations. There are a lot of sites that have WR YAC. Hopefully it will just be a matter of time before they have the QB YAC too.
By George, you're right! They do have QB YAC! That gets us all the way back to 2006. Better than nothing, for sure.
Do you have it all spreadsheeted out? If so, I'd love to get it from you rather than re-invent the wheel. Or you could just post it on a google spreadsheet.
Of course, I can't do the sorts of analysis I really want to do unless I get YAC data for each individual passing play. But it does allow a bit more depth than what I've done so far.
I don't have it in a spreadsheet. It does look like the play by play available on their website has it. But I haven't ever gotten any of those.
JAFAman said...
And u my friend, Tarr, prove that those who know how to play football do, those that dont, blog. those of us who dont create blogs arent nerdy wannabees. Now, if u think u can go one-on-one about the difference between a quarterback and a passerback, then lets do it. if u want to try and humiliate me, u're gonna get ur flaccid noggin rocked. FYI, I just handed out lunches to a group of college debate wannabees on this same issue at Tampa Stadium. U're next.
Some of the data you're looking for is available. For example, "percentage deep". On this website, I think.
CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITYCORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITY
Here's the problem.... a WR will be used on shorter passes if the QB has limitations and on 3rd and 10 a good WR is going to be able to get 7 YAC on a -1 yard screen every time. A better QB may throw a 3 yard slant in stride and the player may get 7 yards for the first down. Both situations you have 7 yards after the catch. The WR stats are very highly correlated as if the WR is "7 yards" good per play regardless of who is at QB. The difference is the team schemed for it's QB and the QB that lead his WR on the run in that situation was in a much more difficult position to have the WR convert the pass into YACs and the pass had to be much more accurate to get that same 7 yards of YAC. The team's best option with a weaker QB still might be to throw the screen on 3rd and 10....
Does that mean that if the worse QB had thrown the 3 yard slant route that the WR still would have gotten a first down because of the WR's stats?
NO! The better QB made the throw that was more difficult and left little room for error. The WR has a high correlation because the team is wise to find a way to give the WR room to run. If the QB can't throw the slant route as well and make the right read, the WR isn't going to have the room to run and potentially get the first down. The good QB will be capable of hitting the hole in the zone in the right timing for the offense to convert or have the best shot at it and the bad QB will throw an erant pass and the WR will be hung out to dry and get hitas he catches it. Any offensive coordinator in his right mind would say that if the WR is going to be hit as he throws, you are better off going to a posession physical jump ball type WR and throwing AT the 1st down sticks or past it, and if you are going to utilize the WR who can get good run after catch you are going to do it in a way that the QB and offense can utilize his strengths by getting him the ball in a situation where he has room to run.....
In this hypothetical the stats may not show a difference because a screen pass is thrown but in reality it does.
Problem!... Unless you are looking at the same exact formation against the same exact routes in the same exact offense to the same exact WR against the same exact coverage with the same exact presnap read or at least very very similar situations, you aren't going to be able to draw strong correlations and any strong conclusions about a QB's ability to create YAC. Despite teams throwing on say 550 attempts in a given year, the sample size of Matt Ryan playing a trips right formation against the Baltimore Ravens with the same exact starters to a backside slant to Julio Jones is very small, and difficult to compare it to say a QB throwing in the same situation against the same team with a very similar WR with a similar career YAC and Average depth of target similar speed and attributes and catching ability.
You cannot do it. The sample size to draw any sort of real conclusions is FAR FAR too low. You can attempt to generalize but all this is telling you tis that it may be possible to conclude that a WR will have a more consistent career YAC regardless of QB, but a QB will have inconclusive data on whether or not he can influence YAC... Yet over a career, there seem to be plenty evidence that Brett Favre has created a much higher percentage of his yards via YACs than Derek Anderson.
You cannot conclude that because WRs numbers correlate well and two different QB's throwing to the same WR in a similar offense do or don't who CAUSED the YAC to occur..
To restate.... Unless you are looking at the same exact formation against the same exact routes in the same exact offense to the same exact WR against the same exact coverage with the same exact presnap read or at least very very similar situations against very similar defenses, you aren't going to be able to draw strong correlations and any strong conclusions about a QB's ability to create YAC. There is not enough information!
There's a big difference between statistics not being able to conclude that QBs CAN create YACs over the long run and being able to conclude that QBs are not able to create YACs. Not being able to prove a positive is not the same as being able to prove a negative. It is very difficult if not impossible to use the current database of statistics to really conclude that a QB can boost a player's career YPC. But in reality a screen heavy scheme will produce a greater amount of YACs. Unfortunately that isn't the issue. However a QB that audibles to screen on 3rd and long every time certainly will boost his YAC. That doesn't mean it's smart to do.
also, the problem with Ian's comments about the pumpfake to get the CB to bite leaving the WR wide open is that a QB with a good enough arm will get it to the endzone and the WRs will be zero. Even though technically they could be almost unlimited since no one has a chance to catch him, the rules of the game dictate the play ends after reaching the endzone. So that may unfortunately take away the ability for those created YAC to show up on the QB's stat sheet. On the contrary, how hard is it if a defender screws up and misses his assigned man coverage with no safety help for a QB to throw to the wide open WR. A QB in that situation will be able to pad his YAC if he hits the WR early in the route rather than in the endzone. The good QBs often make the decision of throwing it far enough in front of the WR that he catches it very close or in the endzone so it takes away the advantage of any "QB created YAC" that otherwise could show up IF that's what the player wanted to do. This is the problem with trying to analyze the stats sometimes.A QB can score a TD by a 80 yard bomb in the air to the WR, or a 20 yard bullet to the wide open WR or a 40 yard quite pass. The real thing we need to look at is the yards a player gains after being open on a particular route. If a WR like Randy Moss in his rookie year in single coverage breaks open after 2 steps, does the QB get the ball to the WR in a spot that will get him 6 points? The proper way to throw that pass is as far and as high in the air as possible to give the WR as much field to utilize his speed advantage over the DB as possible. That will result in the fewest YACs but it doesn't matter if the QB made the defender slip by a pump fake or not....
Oh and here's the other part you forget... The CB in MAN coverage doesn't read the QB so the WR is often the one that makes the defender miss.However the zone coverage the QB can make him bite and usually the QB will be able to cause the safety to bite on the right side by his eyes and pump fake, and cause the left side WR to be open for step.... But how many more YACs are created on a screen pass or short pass after doing this? Generally the QBs that can get defenders to bite don't get the maximum YACs where as the same talented WRs will be thrown more screen passs and short yards if the backup lacks the NFL arm to get him the ball... And of course in a Denny Green system the #1 requirement was that the QB to make the team had to be able to throw the ball deep down field to hit Chirs Carter, Jake Reid or Randy Moss.
QBs may do great things to create YAC but for some QBs they might show up, for others they might not.. it depends on the route and where the best spot to hit the WR is and the scheme. An elite QB will actually underthrow the route if the defense is guilty of overpursuit and the WR will come back for the ball and run the opposite direction even if it's a slant route. A good scren pass, the QB will have the correct timing so the WR gets the abll early enough to move, but the throw is late enough to fool the defenders, but not early enough that they either figure it out or sack the QB. there is a lot of skill in the screen pass in getting YACs but it STILL is very dependent upon the OL and the RB... That doesn't mean the QB doesn't contribute to it, but he might more on one route than another!
If a QB wants to boost YAC it usually results in suboptimal decisions such as throwing a dart 10 yards down the field, rather than putting a 60 jump ball so the WR that beat the CB can gain the yards BEFORE the catch is made...
So that is the problem and why it won't show up but always remember...
CORRELATION DOES NOT IMPLY CAUSALITY
The problem with the one anonymous is he is showing a small sample size, just because something happened doesn't mean something else caused it, if there are other variables involved, you can't say. He is guilty from the same problem as the initial conclusion of the study that you could use stats in general situations to determine who should get credit for YAC. Correlation does not imply causality. If you site that the stock market goes up every time you jump up and down does that prove that jumping up and down causes the stocks to go up or that stocks going up and down cause you to jump up and down, or is it just a coincidence that you happened to be doing jump and jack exercises. We don't know just based on the fact that more often than not you might have observed the stock going up when someone was jumping up and down. If you think that because you observe something that you automatically can deduce the cause whether using stats or your own limited "examples" you are fooled by randomness or fooled by other variables that make things appear to have either a correlation, randomness or luck, not necessarily luck and randomness or correlation itself.
Playoff QBs Who Carry Their Teams – And Teams That...
Total team luck points through week 16
What portion of “luck” is skill? (Maybe Atlanta IS...
Play by Play Data for the 2010 Season - Week 12
Some random thoughts on overtime
"BigWin%" Looks At the Coming Playoffs
Are short-passing QBs the secret to NFL success?
Overtime Revisited
Win Probabilities and Points
Field Goal Percentage vs Expected
Do Good Teams Win Close Games? Part 2: Overtime Ga...
Luck Points - Week 13
Skinning the NFL cat
How Effective is Mike Martz as a Coach?
Is Strength of Schedule real or imagined?
Is the "Close Game - Clutch Play" Story Backwards?...
Randomness and Luck - Week 12
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3210
|
__label__wiki
| 0.91221
| 0.91221
|
Canary Wharf Squash
PSA Gold Squash Tournament in its 16th year in London
2018 QUARTERS : It’s all Egypt
March 7, 2018 2018, NEWS, TODAY
The prestigious Canary Wharf Classic will have its first ever Egyptian winner after a quartet of Egyptian players – led by World No.1 Mohamed ElShorbagy – advanced to the semi-finals of the PSA M100 tournament held in East Wintergarden.
2018 QUARTER-FINALS
[3] Marwan ElShorbagy (Egy) 2-1 [8] Daryl Selby (Eng) 11-3, 8-11, 11-9 (51m)
[1] Mohamed ElShorbagy (Egy) 2-0 [5] Simon Rosner (Ger) 11-9, 11-4 (28m)
[2] Ali Farag (Egy) 2-1 [7] Ryan Cuskelly (Aus) 11-9, 10-12, 11-4 (47m)
[4] Tarek Momen (Egy) 2-1 [6] James Willstrop (Eng) 11-5, 9-11, 11-7 (46m)
Today featured the end of the best-of-three games scoring format being trialled at this tournament and ElShorbagy earned his place in the semi-finals – which will revert back to the traditional best of five scoring – courtesy of a 2-0 win over Germany’s Simon Rösner.
The reigning World Champion came through to win by an 11-9, 11-4 margin to ensure that he has now won 19 games on the bounce and he will take on younger brother Marwan for a place in the final.
“I’m really happy to be in the semis, I’ve never reached the final here before so I would love to play a final here,“ said Mohamed.
“I don’t think an Egyptian has won this tournament before, so I would love to be the first one to do it.
“It’s always exciting for me to be back playing here, I love it here and I look forward to playing another match here.”
Mohamed and Marwan will meet for a fourth time this season – with Mohamed claiming major wins in the World Championship and Windy City Open finals – after Marwan defeated England’s Daryl Selby in the first match of the day.
“It was a tough match today against Daryl, he played really well,” Marwan said.
“He had a very clever tactic today against me and all credit to him. He’s been playing really well, he’s been pushing hard and this match could have gone either way.”
The ElShorbagy brothers will be joined in the semi-finals by World No.3 Ali Farag and World No.6 Tarek Momen, who claimed respective wins over Australia’s Ryan Cuskelly and England’s James Willstrop.
Farag will appear in a sixth successive PSA World Tour semi-final after he claimed an 11-9, 10-12, 11-4 victory over World No.19 Cuskelly, who suffered a hamstring injury during the second game and was unable to move to the best of his ability in the third.
“I am happy but I can’t say I’m very happy because I’m sad for Ryan,” said Farag.
“It’s never the way you want to win. The first game was very high quality squash, it was a flip of a coin and I won it. It was a shame to see him limping because of his hamstring and you can see how great of a player he is because he almost beat me on one leg.“
Momen, meanwhile, had to be at his best to overcome a tenacious display from four-time Canary Wharf Classic champion Willstrop, winning a high-quality affair by an 11-5, 9-11, 11-7 margin.
“I have a lot of respect for James, I’ve played him many times and he used to beat me easily,” said Momen.
“I’m just happy that I’m at a level now where I’m competing with him and it’s unbelievable. He’s a great fighter and has such good racket skills and he kept pushing until the end.”
The semi-finals begin at 18:30 GMT tomorrow and will be shown live on SQUASHTV (Rest of World), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and a number of mainstream broadcast channels around the world including BT Sport, beIN Sports, Fox Sports Australia, Astro and more.
A challenge match to celebrate the 2018 International Women’s Day will also be staged at East Wintergarden before the final, with England’s Sarah-Jane Perry and Alison Waters going head-to-head in the Rackets Cubed Cup at 17:15, with the action to be shown on SQUASHTV.
Day Four : Quarter-finals
2020 Event : 08-13 March
CWCsquash Tweets
Annual race is on as tickets for Canary Wharf Squash Classic go on general sale
2019 Final : Coll is the CW Champion
Six is Forever
Day FIVE : Semi-Finals
11 Points 2010 2018 2019 2019 draw Alan Thatcher Alexander Wall best of three Citigold Corporate Day ONE Day ONE 2019 Day Three egypy Entry List featured final Flashback James Willstrop Josh Masters Matthew v Willstrop Media Challenge Mohamed ElShorbagy Nick Matthew Opera Partners Paul Coll Peoples Sunday PSA Quarters Richie Fallows Round One Round Two Sam Todd semis Tarek Momen Tickets today top Trophy Wildcard Willstrop
News2 (6)
CW SOCIAL MEDIA
09-Mar-2020March 9, 2020
SquashTV
Archive Site
Eventis Sports Marketing
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3215
|
__label__wiki
| 0.521952
| 0.521952
|
by Nicole H. | published Friday, June 28, 2019
For a good few years now, “Board Game Twitter” has been a thing. All sorts of gamers, enthusiasts, publishers, designers and content makers are out there chatting about games on the platform – we’re on there! So, it was only a matter of time until folks started to think about how they could play games on Twitter with each other. There have been some really fun instances of this – and not just translations of board games – so I figured it could be fun to share for something a little different in games. I know it’s not apps or online play, but if you spend any time on Twitter it might be of interest!
GameBots
The most “formal” sorts of games I’ve seen have been in the form of bots that will run a single round of a game. Sadly, two of them are now defunct, but they were great translations of the games into text format — one was the Boggle bot, the other was a Codenames bot! Interestingly, the person who was running the Codenames bot now has some wordy puzzles on the go here. And speaking of words… Gil Hova’s fantastic word game Wordsy lends itself fantastically to the Twitter format. Wordsy Bot provides a grid of letters, like the card grid in the physical game, and allows players to submit words by replying to the tweet. You’ll get a score back and then after a certain period the Wordsy Bot announces the winner of the round, plus the best word it could find. (And if you’re hankering for more digital Wordsy, the app will be out soon!) Something more recent and on the party/social spectrum of games is the Wavelength Daily bot which runs a round of the game Wavelength each day (you can learn about the game here). It’s really fun to see the creative responses everyone submits for that – and likes to responses will determine the round’s winners!
Emojitastic
Twitter is a rich mine of emoji communications at times, and games on Twitter have tapped into that. Joe Sondow has a couple of really neat emoji bots that aren’t board-game related but I have to mention them (they’re awesome, along with his non-game emoji bots): Emoji Tetra and Emoji Snake Game. A favourite of late has been the guess the emoji game by Michelle Ridge – she’s just come back with her “What Did Bunny Play” series, in which furry little ASCII Bunny pal set up in a variety of ways with emoji in order to get us all to guess the game. Here’s a couple of great examples, see if you can guess this one, or this! All of them are here if you’d like a challenge. Michelle has even put together a scoring table in the past, you can really get competitive with it. While it’s not a recurring thing, I did really enjoy the thread from Emma Larkins where she asked for game pitches using only emoji, and she’d then interpret them. Now I’m sitting here wondering if there’s been an emoji charades game developed for the party game market!
Physical games to Twitter
While all of the games above have made use of digital formats really well, there’s been a good few instances of people sharing images of physical games in order to play via Twitter. Pep MacDonald has in the past posted games for his followers to join in on. These are very specific types of games that work well for the format of presenting clues for guessing – great examples of this are Dixit and Just One. While there was for a little while an account for an emoji version of Concept, it seems like it’s been popular for folks to set up the board and share that. If you scan through the hashtag #TwitterConcept, you’ll see some great examples – but I think the popularity of Concept has unfortunately waned enough that it’s not popping up as often. I think it’s ripe for revival!
A Game about Games
Now, this gets a little meta – playing games about board games on Twitter using images of board game covers. The account “Bad Covers of Board Game Covers” posts pixelated (“bad”) versions of the covers of games for players to guess. For example, this post about Wits & Wagers. Every so often there will be a little series of tweets collecting games from a particular publisher or designer, which makes it quite fun. I haven’t seen anything else similar to this, and I would love to see how folks can take more meta ideas like this for fun on Twitter.
Of course, I’m likely to have missed some types of games that are out there – I’d love to know if there are more! While there’s plenty of ways to play games via apps or even on online platforms, these have been a fun and fresh way to enjoy board games. And if you have an idea for something that hasn’t been tried, give it a go and make sure to tag us in on Twitter!
War in Ancient Egypt: Kemet
by Sean J. | December 31, 2014
New Geek in Town: A look at the Redesigned BGG
by Nicole H. | December 14, 2015
2 thoughts on “And Now for Something Completely Different”
Milo Misseri says:
WOW! This is soooo cool. I don’t have much of a presence on Twitter so I had no idea of games like these that existed online. Definitely gonna reactivate my Twitter and follow these accounts.
I’m now obsessed with Bad Covers of Board Game Covers. SO fun! Thanks so much for this article, I really enjoyed reading about it and learning of a whole new community 🙂
admin@dailyworkerplacement.com says:
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3216
|
__label__wiki
| 0.667295
| 0.667295
|
Y chromosomes. mtDNA, and autosomal DNA from Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh
This paper is a winner in my book, if only for this statement:
In addition, the Y-chromosome and mtDNA may both have been affected by natural selection, [46, 47] which can further complicate the interpretation of population history. Coalescence dates based on these systems must also be viewed with appropriate caution, in part because of their large confidence intervals. More importantly, a coalescence date is not necessarily a reliable indicator of the founding date of a population [45] because these dates are affected by the size of the founder population and by subsequent gene flow patterns.
BMC Genetics doi:10.1186/1471-2156-9-86
Genetic variation in South Indian castes: evidence from Y-chromosome, mitochondrial, and autosomal polymorphisms
W. S. Watkins et al.
Abstract (provisional)
Major population movements, social structure, and caste endogamy have influenced the genetic structure of Indian populations. An understanding of these influences is increasingly important as gene mapping and case-control studies are initiated in South Indian populations.
We report new data on 155 individuals from four Tamil caste populations of South India and perform comparative analyses with caste populations from the neighboring state of Andhra Pradesh. Genetic differentiation among Tamil castes is low (RST = 0.96% for 45 autosomal short tandem repeat (STR) markers), reflecting a largely common origin. Nonetheless, caste- and continent-specific patterns are evident. For 32 lineage-defining Y-chromosome SNPs, Tamil castes show higher affinity to Europeans than to eastern Asians, and genetic distance estimates to the Europeans are ordered by caste rank. For 32 lineage-defining mitochondrial SNPs and hypervariable sequence (HVS) 1, Tamil castes have higher affinity to eastern Asians than to Europeans. For 45 autosomal STRs, upper and middle rank castes show higher affinity to Europeans than do lower rank castes from either Tamil Nadu or Andhra Pradesh. Local between-caste variation (Tamil Nadu RST = 0.96%, Andhra Pradesh RST = 0.77%) exceeds the estimate of variation between these geographically separated groups (RST = 0.12%). Low, but statistically significant, correlations between caste rank distance and genetic distance are demonstrated for Tamil castes using Y-chromosome, mtDNA, and autosomal data.
Genetic data from Y-chromosome, mtDNA, and autosomal STRs are in accord with historical accounts of northwest to southeast population movements in India. The influence of ancient and historical population movements and caste social structure can be detected and replicated in South Indian caste populations from two different geographic regions.
Labels Caste, Endogamy, haplogroup, India, mtDNA, South Asia, Y chromosome
Good paper with usual claims and disclaimers.
some other points.
1. The demography is a mixture of C,F,H,L,J2,R1,R2 and K also?. All are in significant ratios..
2. Largest concentration of macro haplogroup N and M.
3. J2 is not specific to uppercasts like in north India.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3224
|
__label__cc
| 0.620819
| 0.379181
|
If it is true that by contemplating Christ sinners learn from him the “sorrow for sins” needed to bring them back to the Father, this is even more the case for sacred ministers.
How can we forget, in this regard, that nothing causes more suffering for the Church, the Body of Christ, than the sins of her pastors, especially the sins of those who become “thieves and robbers” of the sheep (cf. Jn 10:1 ff.), lead them astray by their own private teachings, or ensnare them in the toils of sin and death? Dear priests, the summons to conversion and to trust in God’s mercy also applies to us; we too must humbly, sincerely and unceasingly implore the heart of Jesus to preserve us from the terrifying risk of endangering the very people we are obliged to save.
-- Pope Benedict XVI, Solemnity of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, 19 June 2009
Act of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
Most Sweet Jesus, whose overflowing charity for men is requited by so much forgetfulness, negligence and contempt, behold us prostrate before Thee, eager to repair by a special act of homage the cruel indifference and injuries to which Thy loving Heart is everywhere subject.
Mindful, alas! that we ourselves have had a share in such great indignities, which we now deplore from the depths of our hearts, we humbly ask Thy pardon and declare our readiness to atone by voluntary expiation, not only for our own personal offenses, but also for the sins of those, who, straying far from the path of salvation, refuse in their obstinate infidelity to follow Thee, their Shepherd and Leader, or, renouncing the promises of their baptism, have cast off the sweet yoke of Thy law.
We are now resolved to expiate each and every deplorable outrage committed against Thee; we are now determined to make amends for the manifold offenses against Christian modesty in unbecoming dress and behavior, for all the foul seductions laid to ensnare the feet of the innocent, for the frequent violations of Sundays and holy days, and the shocking blasphemies uttered against Thee and Thy Saints. We wish also to make amends for the insults to which Thy Vicar on earth and Thy priests are subjected, for the profanation, by conscious neglect or terrible acts of sacrilege, of the very crimes of nations who resist the rights and teaching authority of the Church which Thou hast founded.
Would that we were able to wash away such abominations with our blood. We now offer, in reparation for these violations of Thy divine honor, the satisfaction Thou once made to Thy Eternal Father on the cross and which Thou continuest to renew daily on our altars; we offer it in union with the acts of atonement of Thy Virgin Mother and all the Saints and of the pious faithful on earth; and we sincerely promise to make recompense, as far as we can with the help of Thy grace, for all neglect of Thy great love and for the sins we and others have committed in the past. Henceforth, we will live a life of unswerving faith, of purity of conduct, of perfect observance of the precepts of the Gospel and especially that of charity. We promise to the best of our power to prevent others from offending Thee and to bring as many as possible to follow Thee.
O loving Jesus, through the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mother, our model in reparation, deign to receive the voluntary offering we make of this act of expiation; and by the crowning gift of perseverance keep us faithful unto death in our duty and the allegiance we owe to Thee, so that we may all one day come to that happy home, where with the Father and the Holy Spirit Thou livest and reignest, God, forever and ever. Amen.
From the Raccolta, #256 (S. P. Ap., June 1, 1928 and March 18, 1932); Enchridion of Indulgences #26.
This prayer was prescribed to be recited on this feast by Pope Pius XI
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3231
|
__label__cc
| 0.517253
| 0.482747
|
Manthan
GSTP/CBLR
SVLDRS
Tariff (as on 01.09.2019)
Case Law-ECS
Circulars/ Instructions
Drawback Schedule
PPT on Legislative changes in Budget 2018-19
Nominated Banks for payment of duty
Customs Duty Calculator (new)
Compliance Information Portal (CIP)
Authorized Banks for e-payment through ICEGATE
Intellectual Property Rights(IPR)
FAQ on warehousing
Central Excise
Tariff 2016-17
Central Excise Manual(24.3MB)
Circulars/Instructions
Section 37B Order
Area Based exemption
FAQ on Swachh Bharat Cess(SBC)(286 KB)
Act(797 KB)
Accounting Codes for Services
Taxation of Services: An Educational Guide(1.22 MB)
Mega Exemption (202 KB)
Abatement Notification (152 KB)
Tenders/Auctions
Signature Tune of The Indian Customs(1 MB)
Make In India Week(8.6 MB)
e-services (50 KB)
FAQ (Part II) on real estate sector dated 14th May, 2019
Prospective Training Report to be conducted by NACIN and its Zonal Campuses for the month ofFebruary, 2020. - Click here
नासिन, फरीदाबाद में सी.बी.आई.सी. के समूह 'क' एवं 'ख' अधिकारियों के लिए "रासायनिक हथियारों के निषेध के लिए संगठन एवं रासायनिक हथियार अभिसमय" [Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)] विषय पर एक दिवसीय पाठ्यक्रम दिनांक 28 फ़रवरी, 2020 के संबंध में. - Click here
Revised All Industry Rates(AIRs) of Duty Drawback notified. For details refer to notification no 07/2020-Cus.( N.T.) 2020. - Click here
Vacancy Circular for the post of Inspector on loan basis NACIN, ZTI, New Delhi. - Click here
ATTN: BUDGET UPDATE :On account of Budget 2020-2021, due to be presented on "01-Feb-2020", filing of B.E.'s would not be available from 20:00 Hours onwards on "01-Feb-2020" till completion of updation of all changes in the ICES 1.5.
Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for IGST refunds for exporters issued.
Tender for Cab and Taxi Hiring. - Click here
Draft Civil List-2020 of IRS (C&CE) Officers as on 01.01.2020. - Click here
Attention: Dept. Exam. of Inspectors for Central Tax: Due to Assembly Elections on Delhi State on 08.02.2020, the Dept. Exam has been re-scheduled from 04.02.2020-07.02.2020 to 03.03.2020-06.03.2020. Other details to follow.
List of Awardees of WCO Certificate of Merit to be given on International Customs Day Celebration 2020. - Click here
One-Day training on "Human Trafficking: Sensitization of Customs Officers" for Group 'A' and 'B' Officers of CBIC on 17th February, 2020 at NACIN, Faridabad -reg. - Click here - Hindi Click here
One-Day Course on "Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) and Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC)" for Group 'A' and 'B' officers of CBIC on 28th February, 2020 at NACIN, Faridabad -reg. - Click here
Postponement of One-Day Course on "Vigilance Matters" for Group 'A' and 'B' Officers of CBIC (Inquiry Officer/ Presenting Officer/Disciplinary Authority) on 27th January, 2020 at NACIN, Faridabad -reg. - Click here
Post Graduate Diploma in Commercial Laws (PGDCL) conducted by NLSIU, Bengaluru for Group- "A" officers of CBIC from 03.02.2020-19.02.2020 at NACIN, Faridabad. - Click here
OM dated 20.01.2020 regarding corrections in the integrated All India Seniority List (AISL) of Superintendents of Central Excise for the period 01.01.1998 to 31.12.2006. - Click here
The official Website of www.nacinchandigarh.gov.in of NACIN, Zonal Campus, Chandigarh was launched by Sh. Devendra singh, Principal Director General, NACIN, Faridabad on 18th January,2020 in the presence of Sh. Anil Kumar Gupta, Principal Additional Director General and other officers of the Department.
One-Day Course on 'Vigilance Matters' for Group 'A' and 'B' Officers of CBIC (Inquiry Officer/ Presenting Officer/ Disciplinary Authority) on 27th January, 2020 at NACIN, Faridabad - Click here
CGST Rules, 2017 as amended up to 01.01.2020 have been uploaded
Notification issued to appoint Revisional Authority under CGST Act, 2017
Vacancy circular for preparation of panel Source selection of superintendent/Inspector on deputation basis in DGAP(Directorate General of Anti-profiteering)
Notification issued to extend the one-time amnesty scheme to file all FORM GSTR-1 from July 2017 to November, 2019 till 17th January, 2020.
General Elections to the Legislative Assembly of NCT of Delhi, 2020 - Briefing meeting of Expenditure Observers - Reg - Click here
Circular regarding Levy and Collection of SWS in cash issued. For details refer to Circular No. 02/2020 dated 10.01.2020 - Click here
Judgment dated 06.12.2019 passed by Hon'ble Supreme Court in Civil Appeal No. 9237/2019 in the case of M/s Unicorn Industries v. Union of India - Click here
Past Chairman
Taxpayer Assistance
Dwell Time
Cost of Collection
Clarifications on levy imposed on jewellery
RTI Information
Baggage Rules
Guide for Travellers
Vigilance Info
Departmental Officers
HR ISSUES
D.O. letters from Chairman and Members
Circulars/Instructions/Orders
DGARM
Content Administrators for CBIC website
Election matters
Vacancy Circulars
Swachhata Action Plan
Swachhta Uday Booklet
Frequently asked questions (FAQ) related to Swachhta Action Plan
Posts by Field Formations
Vigilance Awareness
Vigliance Administration Handbook
Indian AEO Programme
/Stakeholder Consultation
Verify CBIC-DIN
AAR/ D.G. Audit
Authority for Advance Rulings
D.G. Audit
Exchange Rate Notifications
Notifications of Customs
Notifications of Central Excise
Notifications of Service Tax
Service Profiles
46. Event Management Service
(A) Date of Introduction:
16.08.2002 vide Notification No.8/2002-ST, dated 01.08.2002.
(B) Definition and scope of service:
(i) "Event Management" means any service provided in relation to planning, promotion, organizing or presentation of any arts, entertainment, business, sports, [marriage]* or any other event and includes any consultation provided in this regard;
(Section 65(40) of the Finance Act, 1994)
(ii) "Event Manager" means any person who is engaged in providing any service in relation to event management in any manner;
"Taxable Service" means any service provided or to be provided, [to any person], by an event manager in relation to event management.
(Section 65 (105) (zu) of the Finance Act, 1994)
(C) Rate of Tax & Accounting Code:
Rate of Tax
Accounting Code
10% of the value of services
Education Cess
2% of the service tax payable
Secondary and Higher Education cess
1% of the service tax payable.
Other -Penalty/interest
As levied or applicable
(Rate of tax is effective from 24.02.2009.)
(D) Classification of Taxable Services:
(1) The classification of taxable services shall be determined according to the terms of the sub-clauses (105) of section 65;
(2) When for any reason, a taxable service is prima facie, classifiable under two or more sub-clauses of clause (105) of section 65, classification shall be
effected as follows :-
(a) the sub-clause which provides the most specific description shall be preferred to sub-clauses providing a more general description;
(b) composite services consisting of a combination of different services which cannot be classified in the manner specified in clause (a), shall be classified as if they consisted of a service which gives them their essential character, in so far as this criterion is applicable;
(c) when a service cannot be classified in the manner specified in clause (a) or clause (b), it shall be classified under the sub-clause which occurs first among the sub-clauses which equally merits consideration.
(Section 65A of Finance Act, 1994)
(E) Valuation of taxable services for charging Service tax
(1) Service tax chargeable on any taxable service with reference to its value shall,-
(i) in a case where the provision of service is for a consideration in money, be the gross amount charged by the service provider for such service provided or to be provided by him;
(ii) in a case where the provision of service is for a consideration not wholly or partly consisting of money, be such amount in money, with the addition of service tax charged, is equivalent to the consideration;
(iii) in a case where the provision of service is for a consideration which is not ascertainable, be the amount as may be determined in the prescribed manner.
(2) Where the gross amount charged by a service provider, for the service provided or to be provided is inclusive of service tax payable, the value of such taxable service shall be such amount as, with the addition of tax payable, is equal to the gross amount charged.
(3) The gross amount charged for the taxable service shall include any amount received towards the taxable service before, during or after provision of such service.
(4) Subject to the provisions of sub-sections (1), (2) and (3), the value shall be determined in such manner as may be prescribed.
Explanation.-For the purposes of this section,-
(a) "consideration" includes any amount that is payable for the taxable services provided or to be provided;
(b) "money" includes any currency, cheque, promissory note, letter of credit, draft, pay order, travellers cheque, money order, postal remittance and other similar instruments but does not include currency that is held for its numismatic value;
(c) "gross amount charged" includes payment by cheque, credit card, deduction from account and any form of payment by issue of credit notes or debit notes and 'book adjustment, and any amount credited or debited, as the case may be, to any account, whether called "Suspense account" or by any other name, in the books of account of a person liable to pay service tax, where the transaction of taxable service is with any associated enterprise.
(Section 67 of Finance Act, 1994)
Inclusion in or Exclusion from value of certain expenditure or cost:
(1) Where any expenditure or costs are incurred by the service provider in the course of providing taxable service, all such expenditure or costs shall be treated as consideration for the taxable service provided or to be provided and shall be included in the value for the purpose of charging service tax on the said service.
[Rule 5(1) of Service Tax (Determination of Value) Rules, 2006)]
(2) The expenditure or costs incurred by the service provider as a pure agent of the recipient of service shall be excluded from the value of the taxable service if all the following conditions are satisfied, namely:-
(i) the service provider acts as a pure agent of the recipient of service when he makes payment to third party for the goods or services procured;
(ii) the recipient of service receives and uses the goods or services so procured by the service provider in his capacity as pure agent of the recipient of service;
(iii) the recipient of service is liable to make payment to the third party;
(iv) the recipient of service authorizes the service provider to make payment on his behalf;
(v) the recipient of service knows that the goods and services for which payment has been made by the service provider shall be provided by the third party;
(vi) the payment made by the service provider on behalf of the recipient of service has been separately indicated in the invoice issued by the service provider to the recipient of service;
(vii) the service provider recovers from the recipient of service only such amount as has been paid by him to the third party; and
(viii) the goods or services procured by the service provider from the third party as a pure agent of the recipient of service are in addition to the services he provides on his own account.
(F) Clarifications issued by the Board:
The Board vide Circular No.96/7/2007-ST dated 23.08.2007 on Event Management Service has been clarified the following issues:-
041.01 / 23.08.07
Organizers of Trade Fairs and Exhibitions solicit participation from the trade and industry and provide space and other facilities, including furniture, cabins, security, electricity, etc., to display products and provision of services.
Whether services provided by the organizers of trade fairs / exhibitions are covered within the scope of event management service [section 65(015)(zu)]?
Trade fairs and exhibitions are organised by persons. Such organisers of trade fairs and exhibitions provide services to exhibitors in relation to business exhibition. Services provided by an organizer of trade fairs and exhibitions to an exhibitor in relation to business exhibition is liable to service tax under "Business Exhibition Service" [Section 65(105)(zzo)] w.e.f. 10.09.2004.
In addition, an organiser of the trade fair or business exhibition may engage an event manager to provide service to the organiser in relation to organising trade fairs and exhibitions. In such cases, the event manager renders the service of "Event Management" to the organisers and is liable to pay service tax under "Event Management Service".
The two services, namely "Business Exhibition Service" and "Event Management Service", and the two service providers of the respective services are distinct.
(G) Exemption & Exclusion:
1. Exemption to Small Scale Service Providers:
In exercise of the powers conferred by sub-section (1) of section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994) (hereinafter referred to as the said Finance Act), the Central Government, on being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts taxable services of aggregate value not exceeding Ten lakh* rupees in any financial year from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon under section 66 of the said Finance Act:
Provided that nothing contained in this notification shall apply to,-
(i) taxable services provided by a person under a brand name or trade name, whether registered or not, of another person; or
(ii) such value of taxable services in respect of which service tax shall be paid by such person and in such manner as specified under sub-section (2) of section 68 of the said Finance Act read with Service Tax Rules,1994.
2. The exemption contained in this notification shall apply subject to the following
conditions, namely:-
(i) the provider of taxable service has the option not to avail the exemption contained in this notification and pay service tax on the taxable services provided by him and such option, once exercised in a financial year, shall not be withdrawn during the remaining part of such financial year;
(ii) the provider of taxable service shall not avail the CENVAT credit of service tax paid on any input services, under rule 3 or rule 13 of the CENVAT Credit Rules, 2004 (herein after referred to as the said rules), used for providing the said taxable service, for which exemption from payment of service tax under this notification is availed of;
(iii) the provider of taxable service shall not avail the CENVAT credit under rule 3 of the said rules, on capital goods received in the premises of provider of such taxable service during the period in which the service provider avails exemption from payment of service tax under this notification;
(iv) the provider of taxable service shall avail the CENVAT credit only on such inputs or input services received, on or after the date on which the service provider starts paying service tax, and used for the provision of taxable services for which service tax is payable;
(v) the provider of taxable service who starts availing exemption under this notification shall be required to pay an amount equivalent to the CENVAT credit taken by him, if any, in respect of such inputs lying in stock or in process on the date on which the provider of taxable service starts availing exemption under this notification;
(vi) the balance of CENVAT credit lying unutilised in the account of the taxable service provider after deducting the amount referred to in sub-paragraph (v), if any, shall not be utilised in terms of provision under sub-rule (4) of rule 3 of the said rules and shall lapse on the day such service provider starts availing the exemption under this notification;
(vii) where a taxable service provider provides one or more taxable services from one or more premises, the exemption under this notification shall apply to the aggregate value of all such taxable services and from all such premises and not separately for each premises or each services; and
(viii) the aggregate value of taxable services rendered by a provider of taxable service from one or more premises, does not exceed rupees *ten lakhs in the preceding financial year.
3. For the purposes of determining aggregate value not exceeding ten*lakh rupees, to avail exemption under this notification, in relation to taxable service provided by a goods transport agency, the payment received towards the gross amount charged by such goods transport agency under section 67 for which the person liable for paying service tax is as specified under subsection (2) of section 68 of the said Finance Act read with Service Tax Rules, 1994, shall not be taken into account.
Explanation.- For the purposes of this notification,-
(A) "brand name" or "trade name" means a brand name or a trade name, whether registered or not, that is to say, a name or a mark, such as symbol, monogram, logo, label, signature, or invented word or writing which is used in relation to such specified services for the purpose of indicating, or so as to indicate a connection in the course of trade between such specified services and some person using such name or mark with or without any indication of the identity of that person;
(B) "aggregate value not exceeding *ten lakh rupees means the sum total of first consecutive payments received during a financial year towards the gross amount, as prescribed under section 67 of the said Finance Act, charged by the service provider towards taxable services till the aggregate amount of such payments is equal to ten lakh rupees but does not include payments received towards such gross amount which are exempt from whole of service tax leviable thereon under section 66 of the said Finance Act under any other notification.
4. This notification shall come into force on the 1st day of April, 2005.
[Notification No. 6/2005-ST, dated 1-3-2005. *Amended by Notfn.No. 8/2008-ST dated 01.03.2008]
2. Services to UN Agencies
Services provided to United Nations or an International Organizations are exempt.
[Notification No. 16/2002-ST, dated 2-8-2002]
3. Export of service:
Any service which is taxable under clause 105 of Section 65 may be exported without payment of service tax.
(Rule 4 of Export of Services Rules, 2005)
4. Exemption to services provided to a developer of SEZ or a unit of SEZ:
Exempts the taxable services specified in clause (105) of section 65 of the said Finance Act, which are provided in relation to the authorized operations in a Special Economic Zone, and received by a developer or units of a Special Economic Zone, whether or not the said taxable services are provided inside the Special Economic Zone, from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon under section 66 of the said Finance Act subject to certain conditions. (Refer notification for details)
{Notification No. 09/2009ST dated 03.03.2009 (Prior to 03.03.2009 Notfn.No4/2004-ST dated 31.03.2004)}
5. Exemption to value of goods & material sold by service provider:
In exercise of the powers conferred by section 93 of the Finance Act, 1994 (32 of 1994), the Central Government, being satisfied that it is necessary in the public interest so to do, hereby exempts so much of the value of all the taxable services, as is equal to the value of goods and materials sold by the service provider to the recipient of service, from the service tax leviable thereon under section (66) of the said Act, subject to condition that there is documentary proof specifically indicating the value of the said goods and materials.
(Notification No. 12/2003-ST dated 20.06.2003 effective from 01.07.2003)
6. Exemption to taxable services provided by TBI and STEP:
All taxable services, provided by a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) or a Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park (STEP) recognized by the National Science and technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon subject tio certain conditions and procedures. (Refer notification for details)
(Notification No.09/2007 ST dated 01.03.2007)
7. Exemption to taxable services provided by entrepreneurs located within the premises of TBI or STEP:
All taxable services, provided by an entrepreneur located within the premises of a Technology Business Incubator (TBI) or a Science and Technology Entrepreneurship Park (STEP) recognized by the National Science and technology Entrepreneurship Development Board (NSTEDB) of the Department of Science and Technology, Govt. of India from the whole of the service tax leviable thereon subject to certain conditions and procedures. (Refer notification for details)
8. Exemption to services provided to Foreign Diplomatic Missions or Consular Post in India:
All services provided by any person, for the official use of a Foreign Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post in India are exempted from service tax subject to certain conditions and procedures. (Refer notification for details)
(Notification No. 33/2007-ST dated 23.05.2007)
9. Exemption to services provided for personal use of a family member of Diplomatic Agent or Career Consular Officers posted in Foreign Diplomatic Mission/Consular Post in India:
All services provided by any person, for personal use of family member of Diplomatic Agents or Career Consular officers posted in a Foreign Diplomatic Mission or Consular Post in India are exempted from service tax subject to certain conditions and procedures. (Refer notification for details)
Issues/Queries
Last Updated on: 29-Jan-2020
Best Viewed in 1024 X 768 resolution, Chrome 40
© This is the official website of Central Board of Indirect Taxes and Customs (CBIC), Department of Revenue, Ministry of Finance, Government of India.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3232
|
__label__wiki
| 0.699789
| 0.699789
|
Cosmos and History: The Journal of Natural and Social Philosophy, Vol 4, No 1-2 (2008)
Home > Vol 4, No 1-2 (2008) > Themi
Themi
HOW LACAN’S ETHICS MIGHT IMPROVE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF NIETZSCHE’S CRITIQUE OF PLATONISM: THE NEUROSIS & NIHILSM OF A ‘LIFE’ AGAINST LIFE.
Tim Themi
Abstract: This paper sets to answering the question of how Lacan’s 1959-60 Seminar on The Ethics of Psychoanalysis[1], with its recurring critique of the Platonic idea of a moral Sovereign Good, might contribute to and improve our understanding of the Nietzschean project to diagnose the moral metaphysics instigated by Plato in philosophy, and by Christianity in religion, as a history of untruth and nihilism––opposed to life––in preparation for its overcoming. I explore the possibility that Lacan’s Ethics might make such a contribution by i) its tripartite ontology of the real, the symbolic and the imaginary serving as an additional frame of reference for examining the nature of the Good and our configurations of desire beneath it; and ii) by its more detailed elaboration of the archaic, polymorphous perversity at the instinctual base of the drives, what Lacan in his Ethics will call das Ding, the somewhat diabolical Freudian Thing. I also attempt to indicate how Nietzsche’s own ethics might make a contribution to those of the Lacanian, for the purposes of further combating what I will take to be the contemporary neurosis and nihilism of a ‘life’ against life––as indicated today for instance by such phenomena as the physical destruction of the environment, along with us as amongst its earthly inhabitants.
Keywords: Lacan; Nietzsche; Ethics; Platonism; Aristotle; the Good; Nihilism; the Death-drive; the Real, Life.
INTRODUCTION: LACAN & NIETZSCHE.
In 2006 a Lacanian analyst and professor of philosophy at Buenos Aires contributes a small paper to a collection put together by Slavoj Žižek entitled: Nietzsche, Freud, Lacan[2]. A paper in which said analyst-professor Silvia Ons, makes for the reasoned claim that the Lacan-Nietzsche relation remains still at present under-examined: something she finds both “surprising and symptomatic”.[3] Surprising because Nietzsche is the philosopher who would be closest to psychoanalysis: a precursor of whom Freud at one point concedes anticipates psychoanalysis in “the many instances”[4]. Nietzsche is the philosopher who as Ons puts it once discovers “the symptom in morality”[5]: or as I will put it here for further examination, discovers a certain moral idea of the Good to be symptomatic of a ‘life’ lived in too many ways opposed to life; an idea to be promoted as cure for precisely the problems it is many times source of.
Lacan’s Seminar The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, with its recurring critique of precisely this idea of the moral Good, contains what I take then to be Lacan’s most direct connection with Nietzsche’s main project of exposing the metaphysics underlying the history of Western morality as a Platonism which leads to neurosis and nihilism. Such metaphysics for both Nietzsche and Lacan might only mean now that some error, fiction, illusion or phantasy of the Good in the imaginary has been mistaken as ‘truth’, as ‘real’, when it is really only the symptom of the abeyance of a particular aspect of the truth, or modicum of the real. As a process which is diagnosable as neurosis or a nihilism, what can and will be argued here is its doing us more harm than ‘good’ in the end after bearing its load nigh for two-thousand years or more: ever since Plato in particular introduced its species into the cradle of the West––whereupon we might find that it continues to protract itself derivative forms, right up to this day.
Contextually, the conjunction I am detecting here between Lacan and Nietzsche in their mutual antipathy towards the moral metaphysics of Platonism is no accident––and not only because Nietzsche anticipates much in Freud and Lacan is a kind of Freudian: but also because Lacan in his early twenties reportedly gives Nietzsche an “avid reading” whence breaking away from “his mother’s Catholicism”[6]. What’s more, Lacan takes to Nietzsche around about the same time as his close to become acquaintance in Bataille was also attempting something similar: the very Bataille who later not only exerts at least an undercurrent of influence on Lacan, but also helps introduce Nietzsche into a position of prominence in the very intellectual setting that Lacan was to become something of a doyen in.[7] Nietzsche was emerging as a key theoretical figure in Lacan’s post-war Paris, soon to be the driving force behind such luminaries as Foucault, Deleuze and Derrida after Heidegger had earlier helped drive him out across the Rhine[8]; whilst Walter Kaufman was also busily erecting Nietzsche as the monument forever to behold, out further across to the West.[9]
What I take to be at stake in my own paper can be expressed thus: Whereas the Nietzschean project can seem most prodigious in its affirmation of life, even though it has ostensibly dispensed with the ‘comforting’ illusions that the history of Platonic metaphysics has given; the project of psychoanalysis on the other hand can seem positive less so, but also appears to have gone further in the process of illusion rending with its more detailed disclosure of the Freudian Thing at the base of our drives. Thus given such findings of psychoanalysis, can we still make an affirmation of life as such within the counter-nihilist ethic of the full Nietzschean spirit? Or would we rather, with this Thing within which we deny and despise coming back at us in the real, in the form of mounting evidence of an ecological catastrophe approaching, be happily resigned instead to this deathly end as a welcome respite. Like the Oedipus Lacan presents at the end of his Ethics: as the man of knowledge who feels by now, only that he has known too much––and whose “last word is, as you know”, Lacan tells us, “that phrase μή φύναι”[10]… as if not to be born were exceedingly best!
1. INTERPRETATION OF LACAN’S TRIPARTITE ONTOLOGY AS FRAMING THE ANALYSIS OF PLATONISM: THE REAL, SYMBOLIC & IMAGINARY.
I will not, in fact, be able to avoid a certain inquiry into historical progress. It is at this point I must refer to those guiding terms, those terms of reference which I use, namely, the symbolic, the imaginary, and the real (Lacan’s Ethics, p. 11).
We make our way now into an interpretation of the Lacanian tripartite ontology of the real, symbolic and imaginary, first by considering the nature of Plato’s idea of the Sovereign good, the nature of the proto-Christian Platonism that Nietzsche in particular takes it to spawn, and then by considering some criticisms that Lacan and Nietzsche both make of it. Such criticisms I then aim to begin posing here in terms of all three parts of the said ontology: but also to inform it––in order then to properly orient our experience, and to theorise post-neurotically on what of life there is…
The idea of the Good then Plato typically defines as being the supreme Capital of all the ideas; as the most real, true and lofty of them all. This Idea of ideas as idea of the Good, Plato would take as the eternal, absolute power, source and sanction of all the other ideas which can individually come to mind, descending down to us from a realm of their own. A heavenly realm, which Plato likewise takes to be the source of all the physical things we encounter each day in our here down below; here in the earthly, nature-bound world of our everyday life.
But of these physical-material and earthly things, Plato takes them as fallen in some way from the Idea of the Good––fallen and inferior by virtue of their physical-materiality no less, by virtue of the very predicates which make them our physical: ‘change’ and ‘bodilyness’ for instance. Plato holds our earthly things inferior by way of their purportedly greater distance from that purely psychical or spiritual realm he posits of the Sovereign Good; the Good he hints of in his The Phaedo for instance as “the power which makes things to be now disposed in the way that is best possible”––“the Good… which must unite and encompass everything else”[11]. But what’s more, it is to the heavenly of this Good above that upon death, what Plato takes to be our immortal soul may return if we had lived our lives in accordance with its unearthly laws: as if the paradise awaits but only for those, Plato wagers, “such as have purified themselves sufficiently by philosophy”, who could joyfully then be “freed from the regions of the earth as from a prison”*, and “live thereafter altogether without a body”[12].
Plato articulates further this theory of ideas which places the Good up-top like the cap-stone of a pyramid in his The Republic. There he tells of a “reality, then, that gives their truth to the objects of knowledge and the power of knowing to the knower”––a reality which is none other for Plato than “the idea of Good”. This Good he implores we also conceive of “as being the cause of knowledge, and of truth insofar as known”; without forgetting any further that “the objects of knowledge not only receive from the presence of the Good their being known”, but also “their very existence and essence”. Though still Plato adds, last but not least, “the Good itself is not essence but still transcends essence in dignity and surpassing power”[13].
After such the fecundity of formulation by his oft appropriated mouthpiece in Socrates, Plato has the interlocutor Glaucon of course only “very ludicrously” answer, “Heaven save us, hyperbole can no further go”[14]. But perhaps in accordance with Glaucon’s initial expression of ‘ludicrosity’ here, Lacan and Nietzsche might instead hold that i) the Good is not really real or true, it’s imaginary, a mirage or fiction, only one that falsely claims to be ‘real’, in actual fact to be most ‘real’, when the opposite would rather be much closer to the truth; and ii) that this Good is also somewhat inimical in terms of valuation to all of that which is really real: i.e., to the material, earthly, somatic-sensual and instinctual real, especially the animal parts, the parts which make up much of our everyday life existence.
Nietzsche’s admonition towards Plato is better known than Lacan’s, if for no other reason than that it’s more frequently pronounced and has been around for over half a century longer. But Lacan in his Ethics gives for instance the following indication of his own lack of sympathy towards the purported ‘truth’ and ‘highest’ valuation status of Plato’s Good: whence saying of Kingly Creon in the midst of an analysis of his actions as they appear in Sophocles’ play Antigone, that “His error of judgement… is to want to promote the good of all––and I don’t mean the Supreme Good, for let us not forget that 441BC is very early, and our friend Plato hadn’t yet created the mirage of that Supreme Good”(LE:259)[15].
Clearly what can be predicated mirage here could hardly be likewise predicated as the ‘real’ and the ‘true’––not without the severe perversion of the latter two terms. But Creon here is also being shown by Lacan to give a proto-Platonic example of how it might be, as he says, that “the good cannot reign over all without an excess emerging whose fatal consequences are revealed to us in tragedy”(LE:259)––thus giving indication of Lacan’s view that not only is the Good not really real, but neither is it really ‘good’ either when we believe in it as such in terms of the effects it may have on us, excessive effects, and tragic whence believing too much the false to be ‘true’ and mirage to be ‘real’, precisely a view Lacan shares with Nietzsche.
The structure of this Sovereign Good can well be surmised by the Nietzschean maxim: “the less real, the more valuable. This is Platonism”[16]––where we might consider that one of the ways to successfully believe that what is ‘less real’ has ‘more value’, is to falsely believe it to be ‘most real’ as well. But this is precisely what can have the subsequent effect of reducing and devaluing all that really does exist as real to being, as Lacan says in the pejorative sense of Plato’s gambit: “no more than an imitation of a more-than-real, of a surreal”––“since for him everything that exists only exists in relation to the idea, which is the real”(LE:141).
Hence with Nietzsche and Lacan now, the Idea of the Good we can instead take here as the un-real anti-real, which the Platonist misrecognises as ‘real’, whilst claiming its mirage too as the ‘truth’. But as Nietzsche is indicating with his maxim above, the less real more value move he considers not solely a feature of Plato’s thought, but also of what he calls ‘Platonism’––which for Nietzsche includes nearly all of the metaphysics to follow, but particularly the Christian forms, as indicated by his nigh summary execution at one point that: “Christianity is Platonism for the masses”[17].
For instead of being satisfied with merely an idea of the Sovereign Good, Nietzsche interprets that Christianity substitutes a more Judaeo-anthropomorphic version of it. A Sovereign God now––a God of the Good![18] One who seats the throne warm of this same position, beyond the sky high like a Sinai, with a thunder cloud. A Yahweh who would one day cross with Paul the sunny shores of the Mediterranean, via Moses, and Egypt, and manage to take up some of the local garbs in a Grecian land already been made ready for “moral fanaticism”, as Nietzsche notes, by “Plato, the great viaduct of corruption, who first refused to see nature in morality”.[19] For as hovering up above in an out-of-this-world, after-world accessible only upon death, this new Godly realm was still defined as with Plato to be most ‘real’, ‘true’, ‘moral’ and ‘good’ by and large, only insofar as it was not like the actual real-world here in nature upon the earth. An earthly world which is consequently rebaptised as ‘false’, Nietzsche writes, precisely on account of all the properties which actually make it real: i.e., “change, becoming, multiplicity, opposition, contradiction, war”[20]––not to mention the full gamut of bodily sensuality, together with all that dirt beneath the nail.
However, before probing deeper into the question of what might motivate this un-real, anti-real entity of the Good towards such the overvaluation as is falsely calling it the most ‘real’, ‘good’ and ‘true’, but also in calling it the ‘source’ of all, the source of all ‘truth’, whilst posing it too as the afterlife destination for all who had submitted to its denatured Law––hyperboloid moves common to both Plato and Paul––I will firstly clarify further here what we who would be with Lacan and Nietzsche thus far might ourselves mean here by the real, and will do this along the way of both distinguishing and relating this real to the other two registers of the Lacanian tripartite ontology––the symbolic and the imaginary.
This I take to be an important step, and a question of conscience, given that we may all be to some degree, as Alfred North Whitehead once implied, living amongst the “footnotes” of Plato’s grandiose metaphysical constructions[21]; and given too that as Nietzsche once wrote, that even though we are supposedly surpassed of certain imaginary denouements: “we all still have bad instincts, the Christian instincts, somewhere within us”.[22]
The real thus in contradistinction to that of the Platonist we might define here as being nothing so other-worldly, nothing so invisible, nor something only accessible upon death by our purportedly un-somatic components. It’s just the earth in its material, sensory-empirical actuality; the animals, plants and minerals of nature. It’s the bodies, their instincts and what they can do, what they can make out of other physical materials in the real––materials both organic and inorganic––through all of the inorganic materials far off into space, there where we are yet to discover anything else organic: yet to discover anything more of what we commonly refer to along with ourselves here as life.[23] Out there in the greater universe together with all the force and energy that binds things, binds them together and pulls them apart, lights them up and sometimes explosively––all the way far into the hidden depths of the macro and micro aspects of the universe we are yet to even know about, and possibly never will we meagre mortals, who have done so well to even come this far: This is all the real.
To be sure, once we bring these particular entities or aspects of the real into relief here by putting them into such words as ‘plants’, ‘animals’, ‘molecules’, ‘atoms’, ‘force’ and ‘energy’, etc., then we are also having introduced here a symbolic dimension. For such words are of symbolic structures, of signifiers in links and chains differentiated from each other, and make up what Lacan would call the symbolic register: but only insofar as these symbolic signifiers, whether mathematical, linguistic or conceptual, etc., are used accurately enough according to standard and contemporary social practices, standardised moral-legal customs, or for the more statistically common intents and purposes within the utilitarian space of working life. Such work amidst the symbolic, where means-ends calculation and causal inference rule the day, imply a more specifically determinate kind of rightly-labelled, right-minded sense-perception, and a progressively more scientific, logical-empirical or conceptual-theoretical knowledge of a thing or process entity in the real: This is all the symbolic.[24]
But there is thirdly introduced here an imaginary dimension, as mental images of plants, animals, bodies of people and the motions of outer-space, etc., may immediately be conjured for us and come to mind: via the recollected memory traces of perceptual images we might have formed of these natural kinds via our sensory neuronal apparatuses––or via memory traces of ideational images we once might have formed to aid us through our previous symbolic propaedeutic. Sometimes the imaginary can also be evoked via the mirror; or via a courtship or a duel. All such images which can also then be further embellished in the imaginary: whereupon as Kant might say, the imaginary takes then the lead of the understanding, setting the two off into a “free-play”, or as Freud would say a “free-association”[25], until these images corresponded to nothing directly real in the external world any longer, and might even encompass all sorts of gratuitous improvisations which are not, however, altogether without their own hidden significance.
And though we might adequately symbolise and form perceptual images of certain portions of the real, and with ever increasing degrees of accuracy as time progresses unhindered––as time mostly has since our Christian Dark Age has passed––in a substantive sense, the real is still independent of us, it still exceeds us, exceeds our cognitions and interpretations of it. For we could never comprehend its infinite entirety with our finite mind and its finite organs, nor envisage it from all possible perspectives at once, thought to be endless: this would be as Lacan is often pointing out about the real––impossible[26]. And were we to here, as we might well suppose, one day completely die out as a species: then here the real would also out-exist us. It would still be here, here and there, albeit changed at the very least in the fraction through our absence––as indeed it was t/here before us, before there even was a planet earth let alone a species: a time before ‘time’ where there was only just the real.
The real is thus what I define here as coming first and last. I ‘define’ it thus but it is also my argument––and a winnowing fan sorting wheat from chaff. For anything that would only instantly, completely be blown-away by the wind without our own brain’s cognitive presence here––cannot be real––but is rather only a product of our own subjective and projected outward imaginings. “What is real is also there outside”, Freud tells us, whereas “what is unreal, merely a presentation and subjective, is only internal”[27]. The prime examples of the latter ‘internals’ being an anthropomorphic God who created the universe, a heavenly-superior world which the ‘good’ amongst us can return to after death, and a Sovereign idea of a moral Good which is the ‘cause’ and ‘telos’ of all things considered.
But the real as argued-defined here to be both first and last, is also my interpretation of what Lacan means when he says in his Ethics that: “the real, I have told you, is that which is always in the same place”(LE:70). For if it is always in the same place, then this ‘always’ would mean that it was there before we were born as a species, and that it will still be there afterwards should we presumably die out. In short, regardless of whether there are humans around or not, and regardless of the multifarious ways that different humans might interpret certain aspects of it: the real itself flows on and on, it’s always there and in the same place…[28]
Though while we are still around, the real is also ‘always’ there in that ‘place between our legs’––where indeed it can set itself upon us as what we’d rather to forget. Such is desire’s up-swelling of the parts of the real which make up our own bodies: the “private parts, the hairy ones, to be precise, the animal ones”[29], as Bataille would write; just two years before Lacan would launch his own inquiry into this underside of Ethics. For such is desire as stemming of our inner-real which we’d rather to reject: like the being who “censures”, Lacan tells us, because “he doesn’t want it”(LE:14)––on the surface at least if not in the recessed heart. But this inner, bodily aspect of the real, presencing as desire and experienced subjectively from within, is the aspect most important for the psychoanalyst. For as pulsing beneath the foam and crest-tops of all our thoughts, dreams, reflections in the imaginary: and as ostensibly unbearable to acknowledge, bearing “the kind of discomfort”, Lacan adds, “that makes it so difficult for our neurotic patients to confess certain of their fantasms” (LE:80)––such portions are pushed then hurriedly aside. Out of ‘mind’ and out of ‘sight’ or such is the plan, to push desire deep into the un-conscious as if the source of all life’s woes and ills––where indeed it can be insofar as it seeps out unbeknownst to our selves, out in through the cracks and joinings of even our best symbolic structures; at the interstitial peripheries of even our proudest, and too one-sided, symbolic rationalities.
However, such unwelcome showings of the inner-real are also important for the non-Platonic philosopher-psychologist like Nietzsche. For it is precisely here that we might then be tempted to ‘imagine’ and ‘symbolise’ the real, both without and within, only so as to hide and disguise it better. To slough it off; to conceal rather than to reveal it, whilst pretending instead to do the opposite: as if to promote ourselves by saying that we were ‘not’ neurotically inimical to the real of nature and the life it gives, but rather, leading in fact the ‘right’ kind of life, one in indubitable accordance with the moral law of the most Sovereign idea, or with the one true God, the God of the Good––raining divine will from superior ‘aboves’ which are really only of our own construction. Such constructions, however, we can’t always admit to being the author of, because they’re precisely those in the imaginary we’ve used to patch-over the truth of what is really real––the real which is nothing so concerned for our apparent likes and dislikes, our pleasures and pains, and nothing so wholly rational, moral, divine and good as we might on the surface have thought to have wished for.
Here with such ‘cosmic’, cosmological constructions: “‘the true world’ is supposed to be the good world––why?”[30] asks Nietzsche; noting how oftenest is the case that “to imagine another more valuable world is an expression of hatred for a world that actually makes one suffer”––i.e., a hatred for this world, the real, earthly one––and hence the nihilism-despair when the fictions dissolve, as merely the underlying “ressentiment of metaphysicians against actuality is here creative” [31]. But perhaps there is some-thing residually real even Nietzsche misses?––when we consider what Lacan in his Ethics will call das Ding, the somewhat diabolical Freudian Thing! It’s our somewhat extra perverse little portion of the real; and a concept to be examined in the section that follows.
2. INTRODUCING THE THING: AN ETHICS THAT WANTS TO GO FURTHER INTO THE REAL.
Well, as odd as it may seem to that superficial opinion which assumes any inquiry into ethics must concern the field of the ideal, if not of the unreal, I, on the contrary, will proceed instead from the other direction by going more deeply into the notion of the real. …To appreciate this, one has to look at what occurred in the interval between Aristotle and Freud (Lacan’s Ethics, p. 11).
In the previous section, having laid out an interpretation of Lacan’s tripartite ontology, and having done so in order to begin the examination of the Platonic structure in terms of its three––I have also begun intimating that it’s usually the aspects of the real most commonly referred to and experienced as ‘nature’ without and within, that are aimed at antipathetically by the Platonic move. I wish now to examine further the reasons for this by way of Lacan’s Ethics seminar concept of the Thing, but also by way of this seminar’s deployment of the great product of Plato’s Academy––the thought of Aristotle––whose Nicomachean Ethics Lacan invites us to ponder as the exemplary point of both reference and departure…
It’s important when making reference to nature, to what is real of what we experience and signify as ‘nature’, that we don’t let form in us a conception that is too idyllic. To be sure, nature is capable of such moments, but that’s not all. As Bataille would say: “nature herself is violent”[32]––and he’s very right insofar as he means that nature is violent as well as it is in part idyllic; and that it’s these violent parts that particularly concern when it comes to morality, along with by and large nigh all that is sexual.
Lacan in his Ethics asks us to look at Aristotle’s notion of nature, in order that we may, as he says: “consider how far that notion of nature is different from ours”(LE:13). Since to Lacan’s way of thinking, Aristotle’s notion is one to support an ethics which believes it can legitimately exclude the perverse elements from the field of morality, a dreadful weight as shed along the primrose path of a ‘natural’ development, and a life of happiness and fulfilment. Yet these excluded elements constitute a class of desires which we might well with Lacan now consider right “in the forefront of our experience”(LE:5); particularly with the questions of ethics since raised by the findings of psychoanalysis, whence put into relation with the contemporary destruction of life in our earthly environment. Here Lacan might further add that “the pile of garbage is one of the sides of the human dimension that it would be wrong to mistake”(LE:233).[33]
However, somewhere back in the fourth century BC, Aristotle has a theory of the macrocosm which he believes supports him. It’s no doubt “a tidied-up, ideal order”(LE:315) for him Lacan tells us, a universe that’s logical and rational. Its origin, first-cause and end-point are, as with Plato, a kind of perfect notion of the Good: thus it’s natural that Aristotle thinks we might ‘naturally’ steer away from the bestial abjects of desire. Lacan speaks of how for Aristotle, a particular ethics must be inserted into the better part of the macrocosm: “brought together in a Sovereign Good”––so that a “this” ethics becomes “the” ethics, “and beyond that, with an imitation of the cosmic order.”(LE:22) To borrow the language of Kant, as Lacan indeed at one point does, it’s as if Aristotle thinks that the “starry heavens above” would ‘naturally’ lure the “moral law within”(LE:316) us towards the moral Good he purports to be the incorruptible guiding-source of the entire universe. Aristotle even begins his ethical treatise with what he calls the “well said” claim that “the Good is That at which all things aim”[34]––unless of course, as he qualifies later, one were of “disease”, “sexual perversion”, or had perhaps been “abused from childhood”, causing bad “habit” which had “arrested development”[35].
But unlike the psychoanalyst––though perhaps in some accordance with the depiction of the noble or aristocratic master-morality once depicted by Nietzsche––Aristotle seeks to keep such the “pathos of distance”[36] between us and the perverse bestial that at one point, he even seems to consider animals themselves as unnatural––given that they are not rational, and hence can be considered as “aberrations” from the good, clean, ordered essence of “nature” and the universe as defined by him![37] Nietzsche would of course at this point tell the great Aristotle that he was on his own, and much too much like his old teacher Plato, promoting ‘fictions’ which were if not ‘ignoble’ in intent, than at least so perhaps in their lasting consequence…
For Lacan, however, analysis turns ethics on its ‘back-side’ by revealing a far smaller distance between us and the perverse class of desires Aristotle wants to exclude. But this might only mirror the fact that by the time of Nietzsche––heading beyond what Lacan refers to with respect to ethics as “the moment when the disorienting effects of Newtonian physics is felt”(LE:76)––advancements in the methods of science were in piecemeal fashion, further revealing the real of what we commonly symbolise and imagine as the ‘universe’ to be far less clock-work and virtuous by design than scores of generations had previously hoped. Soon there was nothing so supra-celestially good and rational anymore, to guarantee or enforce our preferred type of moral ‘life’.
Nietzsche is consistently able to roll the meta-ethical implications of such scientific advancements together into a series of paragraphs that leave the reader bracing and in no doubt as to where precisely we are at at present––aptly surmised by his de-teleologicising phrase when considering the universe overall that: “becoming aims at nothing and achieves nothing”.[38] That said, Nietzsche also continues to speak of a return to nature that, like it or not, is a far more “frightful nature and naturalness”[39] than such moves previously had imagined––and that great tasks were no longer possible without the utilising mindfulness of these more terrifying aspects as well.
Like Freud, when it comes to the more unsavoury aspects of what is real in what we conceptualise as ‘nature’, Nietzsche would encourage a kind of responsively rigorous, gaya scienza rationality, and a genuinely grand-style, artistic-creative sublimation, rather than say repression, falsification and phobic denial. Though Freud is perhaps essentially correct to claim––and this might qualify his earlier cited comments about being willing “to forgo all claims to priority in the many instances”[40] where Nietzsche was his antecedent––that Nietzsche had “failed to recognise infantilism”;[41] that is, had failed to fully elaborate upon the polymorphous, perverse sexuality born in every infant child. Thus in this sense perhaps, Nietzsche’s ethics, though completely devoid of the manicuring accounts of the universe that dominate Platonism––centred around belief in a ‘more-than-real’ Sovereign good––is still a bit like Aristotle’s ethics in that it at least aims for a greater pathos of distance between us and the abject aspects of our inner real, than the findings of psychoanalysis would then render so admissible.
This abject core is what Lacan in his Ethics will call das Ding––that Thing of our bodies as experienced from within: perhaps corresponding in some ways to what modern neuroscience refers to as the older “reptilian” (brain-stem) and “paleo-mammalian” (limbic) parts of the brain––sending still their signals to our higher-order peripheries[42]; sending as what Lacan and Freud call the “archaic” “nucleus” at the instinctual “source of the Triebe (drives)” (LE:93). Such drives are said by Lacan to ideationally represent these archaic, somatic instincts stemming from the Thing, if and when they eventually do come to mind, for they do so by way of language and image in addition to being felt, by way of what Lacan would simply refer to as the signifier. Yet at the centre of these signifiers is no Sovereign good(LE: 70, 300), but this Thing like core which includes nearly all the pre-genital functions and fixations surrounding the infantile organs of sensing, eating, excreta and pleasure. The sexual pleasures too––“from the oral to the anal”(LE:92) as Lacan lets quip––and then some we fear with aggression in the mix. But through then to the genital phase we go then presumably: through to the promised lands of reciprocal love.
Yet of this latter genital phase, the purported crown of our libidinal development, it is not always so stable an equilibrium Lacan tells us, but rather one which is later forged or formed to synthesise our still component pre-genital instincts, our ever present and lingering antecedents. But this later forging must only then to face the prohibitions on incest[43] and thence the rules of consent, the rules of attraction, as well as all the more general considerations of propriety concerning time, place, the who the why and all the rest, transpiring in a world already brimming with neurosis: full of the many frustrations and loss which suggest that the path to genital oblativity is not nearly as smooth as we might’ve wished. Such promising moves of oblativity in the hands of the analyst Lacan even goes so far as to declare a “moralising hustle or a bluff, whose dangers can’t be exaggerated”(LE:312); insofar as they again seek to cover over the true nature of the Thing, leaving its effects too beyond of our assailable jurisdiction.
Freud at one point defines these disallowed impulses of the Thing as “egoistic, sadistic, perverse or incestual”[44]; whilst elsewhere he also refers to them as our “individual” sense of the “prehistoric”[45]: a second sense he takes himself to have discovered in each of our childhoods, to go with the one Darwin discovers for our species way back in the Palaeolithic. Following Freud, this Thing of our species and individual births is what Lacan depicts in his Ethics as “the pre-historic Other that is impossible to forget”(LE:71). Though forget it we try, for when it surges, it can be fundamentally transgressive and addictively so, towards the norms and forms operating within our selves and societies. Hence it is split-off during the course of our socialisation, made object of that great wave of primal repression said by Freud to usher in the latency phase for the child around the age of five, as the Oedipal material cleaves into the incest taboo, meaning that the most sexual aspects of being can only re-emerge later in puberty, but only by continuing to “magic circle”(LE:134) around that Thing below, which is still much forbidden, and often the real of our desire.
Darwin could eventually be forgiven his Thing; by science at least if not by Christendom. But less so for Freud it seems still today, as the Thing he uncovers ‘lies’ closer to home. Certain aspects of this Thing would still only cause too much pain to consider; let alone experience. And for Freud, this very much explains the perpetual resistances towards the truths of psychoanalysis: as well as the perennial temptations of subsequent scholars to ‘refute’ its claims nigh by any means at the intellect’s disposal[46]. But more specifically for Lacan, this Thing also explains the role of the pleasure-principle: a principle whose aim is not as we might at first think simply to satisfy as many of our instinctual-drives as directly as possible; but rather, to keep our tension to a minimum level, by keeping us constant from a painful self-admission of our Thing. To “maintain the distance”(LE:58) as Lacan puts it, as we seek instead our pleasures cast a drift, from signifier to signifier, which never lead us directly to the Thing, even though unconsciously at least, one searches if not for it, than at least because of it. But as Lacan says, “one never finds it, only its pleasurable associations”(LE:52)––through objects which can signify some associative connection, but which are still chosen, more or less, because in accordance with the prevailing etiquettes of a ‘reality-principle’ which tells us that certain things we want will not give us pleasure, because they might risk us punishment, as still most forbidden.
However, it is here we can ourselves re-find again the temptation then to interpret ‘reality’ in accordance with our pleasure principle; i.e., to deselect the parts we do not ‘like’. And truth is many times the casualty here, the truth of what is actual and real, as Nietzsche argues of the whole phenomena of Platonism, Freud of the resistances to psychoanalysis, and both of the inability of too many still to relinquish the opiate phantasies of religion. Our pleasure and reality principles might collude thus together, so that what we define as ‘reality’ is not necessarily our best approximation at the truth, but also a means to veil over it, especially the Thing like aspects within. But painful fearing of this Thing within leads us to cover over some of the real’s external aspects as well, insofar as this external covering might feign give us comfort, and help us to achieve this inner denial. For example, as belief in the Devil might help us disavow such sexual instincts and have them come from some place else; or like belief in an external Heaven and Hell could help motivate us in this inner sex-negating task––or like belief in a clock-work, incorruptibly end-directed universe, guided by and heading towards a Sovereign good, might help us believe that we can and should be a little more clock-work and incorruptibly end-directed ourselves.
“Well then”, as Lacan likes to say, what we have here in the end is rather “the notion of a deep subjectivisation of the outside world”: one stemming from a fundamental comportment within us that “sifts” and “sieves” reality in such a way that it is often only perceived by us “as radically selected”. A human hence only ever “deals with select bits of reality”, Lacan concludes, when admission of any Other would yield the loss of pleasure [47]. But that the pleasure and ‘reality’ principles thus can work together in this subterfuge way, i.e., that they don’t simply oppose each other, that “each one is really the correlative of the other”(LE:74), is one of the key points that Lacan in his Ethics seeks to make; though not without making the additional qualification that this concerns “not so much the sphere of psychology as that of ethics”(LE:35).
For to circle in too close to the Thing which is ethically forbidden by our reality principles––yet too the real truth of much desire––does hardly give us pleasure at all but anguish of the heaviest kind. Even if done so only as a thought experiment; as a free-association. So go there we generally don’t, and our ‘realities’ reflect as much. But henceforth when desire builds up, damns and flares return of the Thing: this is how Lacan specifically characterises the move we might make that goes beyond the pleasure principle, whose other name for Freud is ‘death-drive’. There where there is no, not pleasure yet jouissance in the transgression that the Thing would bring, a jouissance of transgression which Lacan suggests is the most direct satisfaction of a drive humanly possible[48]. But it’s also one perhaps unconsciously masochistic, that which Freud writes up as being only preliminarily sadistic, in eventually expressing itself as an “unconscious need for punishment”[49]. And if indeed we are feeling guilty, then we may yet still seek to pay the price. Why? For unknowingly possessing and inadvertently re-accessing this Thing in our real, beyond the pleasure-reality principle, our moral transgressions casting shadow long into the unconscious we know next to nothing about, and refuse even to acknowledge.
Could it not be thusly then that our time is behind now a sadomasochistic, wilfully ignorant drive towards death for nigh the entire species? Such punishment would too overly suffice, to be sure, for even a two-millennium length in repression…
But with our advancements in technological power outmatching by far any correlative advance in the awareness gained as a whole of our prehistoric Thing within: the great 21st century ecological disaster that too many academics and activists now increasingly predict, seems more than just a little possible. But to this increasingly macabre scenario, we must also add the renewed proliferation of nuclear weapons which occurs, no less, amidst a world where vital resources for energy and democracy are wearing thin[50]. For just such reasons, wilful ignorance of the Thing now bares results which Lacan’s Ethics reveals as far too terrifyingly possible to rationally accept; given that we have the Thing armed to the teeth now from that primitive id-like part of the brain, with no Sovereign Good, and all the way into a nuclear age.
CONCLUSION: THE NEUROSIS & NIHILISM OF A ‘LIFE’ AGAINST LIFE.
This is why Lacan proposes that his enquiry into ethics must be one to go “more deeply into the notion of the real”(LE:11). Further into what he would rather call the real, given that previous notions of ‘nature’ have been too far ‘different’––from being far too Platonic––than his own; and because it’s the very exclusions in these previous notions which upon return, as return of excess, are yielding our most tragic problems.
Today when faced with problems of the magnitude of global warming––a special but by no means solo case of adverse environment change at present due to our physical treatment of the planet––we often think the answer is to be more moral, more good, and we are thankful when exponents of the Good in some way bring attention to the problem. However, the idea of the Good as introduced by Plato, and nigh all of its descendants whether secular, rationalist, religious or not, continue to predicate themselves on a radically false picture of the human-condition: if not still of the entire cosmos––which only then lines itself up aside of an age-old repression, a repression of das Ding, that Freudian Thing in our inner real which, when it returns after being disavowed and denied in the name of the Good too long, is even more devastating.
Presently we are accelerating along the path of what Lacan discloses as our civilisation’s “race towards destruction”, a “massive destruction”, “a resurgence of savagery”, snaking the paths traced out before us by the centuries long dominion of Western morality [51]; and the nihilism detected by Nietzsche before the turn of the 20th has never threatened to reach such the grand finale. But what I would have us take from this enquiry here is that this is not because we aren’t in accordance enough with a moral ideal of the Sovereign good, but rather, it’s because we aren’t in accordance enough with a proper understanding of the real. It’s because we still at some level think that being more moral, in accordance with the Good’s inherited repressive structures towards our drives, desire, and truthfulness about the real, is actually the answer to––rather than the source of––our most tragic problems.
The goal here is by no means then to encourage all to let their Things run wild––which would probably be nothing short of an instant conflagration––but this is why and precisely why we must desist from deluding ourselves under the tightening grip of a Sovereign Good, for this is precisely the move which cuts the Thing loose after pressing down for far too long, a slippery hand’s palming on the coils of a spring, forever readying the subsequent explosion. For when that which is really real––as opposed to what Christian-Platonism falsely called the ‘real’––is forced from mind, it can’t really disappear because it is real, and it tends to end up only in our gun-sights as an imaginary overlaying of an external other, when the signifier ‘enmity’ appears. The earth itself can even seem like the enemy after while, one which like Plato in his Phaedo, we might think then to escape from “as if from a prison”, and especially from “the bonds of the body”, in the hope that we may live one day without the earthly altogether[52]. Following such negations to their logical conclusion, life itself becomes enemy too, for as being made up of the earthly and organic, life could never be free of what it is in essence. And what is the death-drive Freud tells from the start, if not to return us sundry to that dust-bowl of the inorganic; as per that “second death”[53] fantasm Lacan salvages from the Monstre de Sade, which wills to go beyond the destruction of mere beings, by destroying too the principle from which fresh sets could emerge. Such negative devaluations of our earthly, organic life though are really of our own construction: as de Sade, like any pervert, is only the mirror which shows expressed what Platonic-neurotics are but hide inside––a cess-pit of loathing contempt for life, built up from the unconscious and disowned, distorted and damned up, built up, instinctual-ideational elements of their own subjective psyches, phobically ferocious of that Thingly real lying not so dormant, and readying within…
But is it now still possible as Nietzsche teaches to say ‘Yes’ to the real of nature both without and within––to return to it!––even though it is more frightful and we are less guaranteed protection of it than the Platonic history of metaphysicians taught? For with the further disclosures of The Ethics of Psychoanalysis––Lacan’s following up and extension of the meta-ethical implications of Freud: perhaps even Nietzsche, our great intellectual übermensch, may too have bitten off more snake-head than he could chew? From certain moments in Nietzsche’s texts we can perhaps interpret that he may have had this Thing in his sights, but saw nothing much to come of it, so instead, elected to turn away, though not without some perhaps hinted at self-amusement.[54]
But with psychoanalysis, rightly or wrongly, such truths are out. It doesn’t seem all positive at first, and perhaps it never entirely will. But we must not let this deeper disclosure desist us now from the core Nietzschean project of locating and overcoming the nihilism which begs us to take cover in idealising fictions, as if life as life is not worth living. Not because nihilism and the annihilation of the species is wrong in the sense of being immoral, but rather because it is bad art, mediocre art, and the ‘knowledge’ claims it trumpets on should only make us flare. If we are at our full intellectual and creative will to power, we can only consider such cultural-civil regressions as we saw on display with that whole propaganda comedy that surrounded the war for more oil in Iraq as infantile; the hapless results of sibling rivalries gone too far astray. But we must also resist being caught up in the imaginary of those who would only re-preach to us now of a return to the Good, who would only redeploy such versions of nihilism’s precursory defensive fictions, the pernicious ones, which would only then re-falsify our data, and leave us disappointed when the truth then re-emerges. Doing more harm than good does Platonism in the end by leaving us untrained for the real, with the habit instead to take some truth as ‘error’, and error as ‘truth’––as ‘real’––to the point even of epistemic dysfunction. Take the grotesque intellectual poverty of that whole Christian middle-ages for example, whence put into relation with the heights of Aristotle and his fellow Greeks, as Augustine and Aquinas amplified some of the worst bits of Platonism, and threw the rest into abyss.
The overcoming of the moralising good of Christian-Platonism though does by no means imply then a subsequent affirmation of all that brutal Roman like greed, slavery, decadence, circus-bread corruption and mindless colonial expansion that we’ve heard all about, and are hardly so free of with our corporate today––just ask a Latin-American for instance![55] For it is possible within the perspectives opened up by Nietzsche, Freud, Lacan, as Silvia Ons puts it, to view a social-historical or individual neurosis of any kind: including the expressed acted-out, perverse-sadistic form that escapes when the Good is temporarily loosed of its repressive grip––and say to the would be Platonist: ‘No, not that, that’s not a cure, that’s a mirage; that’s sheer fantasy, resentment, spite; that’s not a cure it will only make things worse; worse in a different way, but worse nonetheless!’
By greater mindfulness then, with guided affirmation towards even that fearsome Freudian Thing that The Ethics of Psychoanalysis has us find now in our inner natures: we can eventually again say ‘Yes’-to-life in such the way that it overcomes the nihilism of not caring too much whether we as individuals or species live or die, whether we as culture or civilisation advance or decline. But we can only do this with fullest efficacy by freeing ourselves of all that wasted neurosis sickness that feels it must deny our Thing like aspect of the real: because from all those Christian-Platonic prejudices of the Good, it has been taught that such ‘things’ are too far beneath it. We must continue instead to train ourselves to stare the real directly in the face, without flinching, and that’s all we can do at least to start. For unless we can continue to utilise, sublimate, enjoy and get a positive, well-guided jouissance out of all aspects of life––including that Freudian Ding in our real––then the chances are we’re going to be at least in part, happy enough in no longer living it: offering not even a puff of genuine political praxis! We either face up to the death-drive snaking long beneath the dank, hidden history of the un-real, anti-real Good of Platonism––or let the disowned, un-understood drive resurge of its own volition until it accidentally finishes us!
“That is why when we ask what is beyond the barrier erected by the structure of the world of the good––when we ask where is the point on which this world of the good turns––as we wait for it to drag us to our destruction, our question has a meaning that you would do well to remember has a terrifying relevance.” Lacan’s Ethics, May 1960.
[1]. Jacques Lacan, The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, 1959-60: The Seminar of Jacques Lacan Book VII, ed. J-A Miller, trans. D. Porter, Norton: NY-London, 1991 (will also be referred to as Lacan’s Ethics, and cited in text with page number as LE).
[2]. Sylvia Ons, ‘Nietzsche, Freud, Lacan’, in Slavoj Žižek ed., Lacan: The Silent Partners, Verso: London-NY, 2006, pp. 79-90.
[3]. Ons, ‘Nietzsche, Freud, Lacan’, in Žižek ed., Lacan: The Silent Partners, p. 80.
[4]. Cf., Sigmund Freud, ‘On the History of the Psychoanalytic Movement’, in The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol XIV, ed. & trans. J. Strachey, Vintage: London, 2001, pp. 15-16 (Henceforth for instance as SE14:15). A study of the Freud-Nietzsche relation can be found attempted in Paul-Laurent Assoun, Freud and Nietzsche, Continuum: London-NY, 2000.
[6]. William J. Richardson, ‘Jacques Lacan: Elizabeth Roudinesco’, J. Amer. Psychoanal. Assn., 48: 645.
[7]. A chapter on the shared circles of Lacan and Bataille can be found in Elisabeth Roudinesco, Jacques Lacan, trans. B. Bray, Columbia University Press: NY, 1994, pp. 121-40, and also in Fred Botting & Scott Wilson, Bataille, Palgrave: NY, 2001, pp. 79-92. For more on the thematic connections between Lacan’s Ethics and Bataille’s own project, see also Benjamin Noys, ‘Shattering the Subject: Georges Bataille & the Limits of Therapy’, European Journal of Psychotherapy, Counselling and Health, Sep 2005; 7 (3): 125-136, p. 132.
[8]. A study on the indebtedness to Nietzsche of postwar French thought can be found in Alan D. Schrift, Nietzsche’s French Legacy: A Genealogy of Post-Structuralism, Routledge: NY, 1995.
[9]. An account of Kaufman’s installing Nietzsche as a canonical thinker in Nth America by reason of their combined propensities to bridge the ‘rift’ between analytic and continental streams of philosophy, can be found in Jennifer Ratner-Rosenhagen, ‘“Dionysian Enlightenment”: Walter Kaufmann’s Nietzsche in Historical Perspective’, Modern Intellectual History, 3, 2 (2006), pp. 239-267.
[10]. Lacan, The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, p. 305 (LE:305). Actually, Oedipus’s last words, in Sophocles’ play Oedipus at Colonus at least are, and not insignificantly perhaps, to actually bless the King and lands of Athens whilst asking to be remembered. A paper by Wiliam J. Richardson, ‘Lacan & the Enlightenment: Antigone’s Choice’, Research in Phenomenology, XXIV (1994), 25-41, on p. 34 points out that the phrase Lacan attributes to Oedipus is uttered by the chorus earlier in the play on line 1225.
[11]. Plato, ‘The Phaedo’, 99b4-c5, in T. Chappell ed., The Plato Reader, Edinburgh University Press: Edinburgh, 1996.
[12]. Plato, ‘The Phaedo’, 114b-c, in E. Hamilton & H. Cairns ed., The Collected Dialogues of Plato: Including the Letters, trans. P Shorey, Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1999, p. 94. *Translation here is from one by G. M. A. Grube, following Burnet’s Oxford text, in S. M. Cahn ed., Classics of Western Philosophy, Hackett Publishing: Indianapolis, 1979, p. 108, and I choose it because of the reference to the earth as a ‘prison’ which we may soon find of relevant interest, even though the Greek here does not contain the equivalent of this word specifically, but rather a participle for ‘freeing’ and one for ‘releasing’; the term ‘prison’ being rather implied.
[13]. Plato, ‘The Republic’, 508e-509b, in E. Hamilton & H. Cairns ed., The Collected Dialogues of Plato: Including the Letters, p. 744
[14]. Plato, ‘The Republic’, 509c, in E. Hamilton & H. Cairns ed., The Collected Dialogues of Plato: Including the Letters, p. 744.
[15]. Lacan, The Ethics of Psychoanalysis, p. 259 (my italics on ‘mirage’)
[16]. Nietzsche, The Will to Power, trans. & ed. W. Kaufmann, Vintage: NY, 1968, section572, p. 308.
[17]. Nietzsche, Beyond Good and Evil, Oxford Uni Press: NY, 1988, the preface.
[18]. Bataille also makes this ‘God of the Good’ connection in Eroticism, trans. M. Dalwood, London: Penguin, 2001(1957), p. 122-123.
[19]. Nietzsche, The Will to Power, section202, p. 118.
[20]. From Nietzsche’s The Will to Power, section 584, but one should note that it is not the metaphysical or binary ‘opposite’, i.e., that which would require a facing-off between two perfectly fixed, diametrically separate, self-identical entities, that Nietzsche would ever ascribe to the change, becoming and multiplicity of the real; but rather, precisely that which opposes such metaphysical, simplifying and all too human constructions: by being something Other, something different!
[21]. A. N. Whitehead, Process & Reality: An Essay in Cosmology, Cambridge Uni Press: Cambridge, 1929, Pt. II, Ch. 1, sec. 1.
[22]. Nietzsche, The Anti-Christ, section59, in Twilight of the Idols/The Anti-Christ, trans. R. J. Hollingdale, Penguin: London-NY, 1990, p. 194.
[23]. Nietzsche writes: “Let us beware of thinking that the world is a living being… We have some notion of the nature of the organic; and we should not reinterpret the exceedingly derivative, late, rare, accidental, that we perceive only on the crust of the earth and make of it something essential, universal, and eternal”. An awareness of that the earth is the only place of life we know of thus far might better help us to not denigrate its place in the real, whether intellectually or industrially. cf., The Gay Science, trans. W. Kaufman, Vintage: NY, 1974, section109.
[24]. Lacan also tells of the symbolic in his Ethics as that which is “grafted on to the real”(LE:20-21). We graft the symbolic onto the real in order to understand, differentiate, categorise, rank and regulate it for our various purposes.
[25]. In his Interpretation of Dreams (SE4:103) to illustrate the role of the imagination with respect to reason during processes of free-association, Freud writes of “what Schiller describes as a relaxation of the watch upon the gates of Reason”. This seems similar to the dialectic between “imagination” and “understanding” Kant utilises in his third critique, where the aesthetic experience is characterised by these two faculties in “free-play”. cf., Kant, The Critique of Aesthetic Judgement, §9. There is perhaps something worth considering here of Lacan’s “symbolic” and “imaginary” distinction as well.
[26]. William Richardson touches on this ‘impossible’ aspect when he depicts “the real” as “the raw experience of what-is, the not yet symbolised or imaged, the ‘impossible’––i.e., impossible to inscribe in any symbolic system or represent in any form of image”. I think he is very right insofar as he means that the real is “impossible” to represent in its absolute entirety. cf., Richardson, ‘Psychoanalysis & the God Question’, from Thought Vol. 64 No. 240 (March 1986) 68-83, p. 73. Richardson is a professor of philosophy at Boston College who has published much on Lacan and Heidegger, both of whom are treated in the here cited paper, together with an attempt to retrieve the question of God in philosophy and psychoanalysis. I would however distance myself here from many parts of the latter attempt.
[27]. Cf., Freud’s paper, ‘Negation’, in SE19:237, which Lacan makes several references to in his Ethics.
[28]. Further enquiry into this tripartite ontology may also be sought in Cornelius Castoriadis, The Imaginary Institution of Society, trans. K. Blamey, Polity Press: Cambridge, 1987(1975), pp. 115-160; an ontology he also explores in a later work published just before his death where he instead, “for heuristic purposes”, attempts to begin with the “imaginary” rather than with the “real”. However, insofar as this entails, as he says, “seeing in the physical world a deficient mode of being”, it could possibly leave one prey, perhaps, to the Platonism of valuing highest whatever is less real, and with a subsequently devalued conception of the real which is less than detailed, stabilised or accurate. cf., Castoriadis, World in Fragments, trans. D. A. Curtis, Stanford Uni Press: Stanford, 1997, p. 5. Yiannis Stavrakakis has recently written on some of the ontological commonality between Lacan and Castoriadis despite eventual differences. cf., Stavrakakis, The Lacanian Left: Psychoanalysis, Theory & Politics, Edinburgh Uni Press, 2007, pp. 41-45. Castoriadis was a member of the school Lacan founded in 1964 though by 1977, had broken away publishing some heavy criticisms of among other things, the Lacanian shortening of the analytic session; cf., his ‘Le Psychanalyse, projet et élucidation: Destin de l’analyse et responsabilité des analystes’, Topique 19 (April 1977): 73, 74. Perhaps a weaker but no less revealing rebuke of the tendency with some Lacanians to offer an excessively “short-session”, which sometimes reportedly involves cramming “fifteen or even more analysands per hour” into “four-minute sessions”, can also be found in Bruce Fink, Fundamentals of Psychoanalytic Technique: a Lacanian approach for Practitioners, Norton: NY, 2007, p. 60.
[29]. Bataille, Eroticism, p. 143.
[30]. Nietzsche, The Will to Power, section578. Lacan in Seminar17 says similarly: “One fails to see why truth would always necessarily be beneficial. You would have to have the devil in you to imagine such a thing…” cf., The Other Side of Psychoanalysis(1969-70), trans. R. Grigg, Norton: NY, 2007, p. 106.
[31]. Nietzsche, The Will to Power, section 579.
[32]. Bataille, Eroticism, p. 40.
[33]. Ray Anderson, CEO of the world’s largest carpet manufacturer, makes the following striking claim: “There is not a single, scientific, peer reviewed paper published in the last 25 years that would contradict this scenario: that every living system of earth is in decline”, from The Corporation, a documentary film by the Canadian professor of Law Joel Bakan, and based on his book The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, Constable: London, 2004.
[34]. Jonathan Lear, an analyst and philosopher at Chicago, sees the impersonal-passivity of this claim, the “it has been well said”, as a possible symptom of Aristotle’s wish to cover-over part the origins of this Good: contained perhaps in the ghost of Plato’s murdered Father function in Socrates. cf., Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book I. i.1, Loeb Classical Library, ed. G. P. Goold, trans. H. Rackham, Harvard Uni Press: Cambridge-London, 1999, p. 3; and J. Lear, Happiness, Death & the Remainder of Life, Harvard Uni Press: Cambridge-London, 2000, pp. 7-8, 10-11, 101-4. Lacan himself returns to examine this opening passage in his later Seminar XX, On Feminine Sexuality: the Limits of Love & Knowledge, 1972-3, trans. B. Fink, Norton: NY-London, 1999, p. 52.
[35]. Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, Book VII. v. 4, p. 403 & v. 2, p. 401.
[36]. Cf., Nietzsche’s, On the Genealogy of Morals, First Essay, Section2; and also Nietzsche’s, Beyond Good and Evil, section257.
[37]. To some bemusement from the translator who almost seems to doubt himself over this, Aristotle writes, “for animals have neither the faculty of choice nor of calculation: they are aberrations from nature, like men who are insane.” Aristotle, Nicomachean Ethics, trans. Goold, Book VII. vi. 6, p. 411.
[38]. Nietzsche, The Will to Power, section12. Another extended example of Nietzsche’s de-anthropomorphising of the real of what we more commonly symbolise and imagine as the ‘universe’ or ‘nature’––which Kaufman considers as the following-up of the consequences of the death of God––can be found in section 109 of The Gay Science, trans. W. Kaufman, Vintage: NY, 1974, where Nietzsche writes, “None of our aesthetic and moral judgments apply to it”; at least not the most Platonic ones!
[39]. Nietzsche, Twilight of the Idols, section48.
[40]. Freud, SE14:16 (my italics).
[41]. Cf., Paul-Laurent Assoun, Freud and Nietzsche, p. 8.
[42]. The neuroscientist Paul MacLean explores something of this thesis in his The Triune Brain in Evolution: Role in Paleocerebral Functions, Springer, 1990. See also a paper by Fred Levin, ‘Neuroscience: The Amygdala, Hippocampus, and Psychoanalysis’, Psychoanalytic Quarterly, 66:555-560, 1997, where the amygdala and hippocampus, as located in the limbic system, seem to be connected with memory and emotion: the amygdala especially associated with rapid response fear. Back in 1959, Lacan himself spends the first division of his Ethics focussing on Freud’s posthumously released in 1950 Project for a Scientific Psychology (1895), SE1:283-399; a project Freud initially undertook yet soon abandoned to make psychology into a quantitative-material ‘natural’ science, just four years after Waldeyer’s 1891 discovery of the ‘neurone’. Lacan for his part is sceptical of the “assumption” that the “nervous system” can adequately account for the concrete psychoanalytic experience: claiming that no one yet had bettered Freud’s then superlative yet still at times “fanciful” attempt(LE:30). However, it would likely be but a Platonic prejudice for us now to discourage dialogue with more recent neurological findings, as if our wondrous higher-order ‘forms’ and functions wouldn’t dare to traffic with the gore, blood and rippled, chemical-electric real that the brain presents!
[43]. Lacan remarks that Freud stood first to identify “incest as the fundamental desire”(LE:67).
[44]. Freud, SE19:132.
[45]. See for instance Freud’s 1924-5 paper on ‘The Resistances to Psycho-Analysis’, in SE19:220.
[46]. A not wholly uninteresting recent example can be found with Todd Dufresne, Against Freud: Critics Talk Back, Stanford Uni Press: Stanford, 2007. Todd has dedicated this book to his father Raymond.
[47]. Cf., LE: 47. On p. 225 he even adds that, “In truth, we make reality out of pleasure.”
[48]. Cf., LE: 200, 209, & 322 where he says, “Sublimate as much as you like; you still have to pay for it with something. And this something is called jouissance.” Jouissance is the satisfaction of a drive beyond the pleasure-reality principle; hence the role of transgression or law-breaking within it.
[49]. Cf., Freud, Civilisation & Its Discontents (1929), Ch VIII, and also in The Economic Problem of Masochism(1924), SE19:166. Lacan’s Ethics makes several references to the structures there, particularly on p. 15, stating that we’d “have really arrived at the heart of the problem of existing perversions, if we managed to deepen our understanding of the economic role of masochism.”
[50]. Professor Noam Chomsky for instance states then sources to great detail that the very real terminal threats to our survival include, “Nuclear war, environmental disaster, and the fact that the government of the world’s leading superpower is acting in ways that increase the likelihood.” cf., Failed States: the Abuse of Power and the Assault on Democracy, Allen-Unwin: NSW, 2006, p. 1.
[51]. See in particular LE:231-235, where by no means can one easily overstate the level of deep foreboding Lacan contains towards our prospects of a decent survival; probably outmatched today only by the more empirically detailed and sustained political evaluations of Professor Chomsky. The phrase “race towards destruction” comes from a similar moment of foreboding in Lacan’s first seminar, some six years prior to the Ethics, where he links the problem of annihilation and “hatred” directly into the mechanisms of Western morality; thus indicating in lieu of the later Ethics seminar, a long growing intellectual concern for him here. Cf., Lacan, Freud’s Papers on Technique 1953-1954, The Seminar of Jacques Lacan Book I, ed. J-A Miller, trans. J. Forrester, Norton: London-NY, 1991, p. 277.
[52]. Cf., Plato, The Phaedo, 114b, trans. G. Grube, in S. M. Cahn ed., Classics of Western Philosophy, Hackett Publishing Company, 1979, p. 108.
[53]. Cf., LE: 232, 260, 294-5.
[54]. Cf., for instance Nietzsche, The Gay Science, preface for the 2nd edition (1886), section4, where he writes, “No, this bad taste, this will to truth, to ‘truth at any price’, this youthful madness in the love of truth, have lost their charm for us … Today we consider it a matter of decency not to wish to see everything naked, or to be present at everything, or to understand and ‘know’ everything.”
[55]. Cf., Chomsky, ‘Simple Truths, Hard Problems’, Philosophy 80, 2005, © The Royal Institute of Philosophy, pp. 14-17; and ‘Moral Truisms, Empirical Evidence & Foreign Policy’, Review of International Studies (2003), 29, 605-620, © British International Studies Association, pp. 607-615.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3239
|
__label__cc
| 0.743604
| 0.256396
|
Home » Collections A-Z » Alabama Media Group Collection » All Items » Civil rights demonstrators kneeling in prayer on U.S. Highway 80 in Selma, Alabama, on Turnaround Tuesday.
Civil rights demonstrators kneeling in prayer on U.S. Highway 80 in Selma, Alabama, on Turnaround Tuesday.
Creator: Paravicini, Haywood
Title: Civil rights demonstrators kneeling in prayer on U.S. Highway 80 in Selma, Alabama, on Turnaround Tuesday.
Date: 1965 Mar. 9, 1960-1969
Types: Negatives (photographs) | Black-and-white negatives | StillImage
Subjects: Abernathy, Ralph, 1926-1990 | African Americans--Civil rights | Civil rights demonstrations | Clergy | Law enforcement officers | Selma-Montgomery Rights March, 1965 | Selma (Ala.) | Dallas County (Ala.) | United States, Alabama, Jefferson County, Birmingham, 33.5206824, -86.8024326
Collection: Alabama Media Group Collection
Alabama Media Group
Alabama Media Group Collection
Copyright, Alabama Department of Archives and History. Donated by the Alabama Media Group, http://www.alabamamediagroup.com
Persistent Link to Item: http://digital.archives.alabama.gov/cdm/ref/collection/amg/id/36291
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3243
|
__label__wiki
| 0.724875
| 0.724875
|
Genetic divergence in cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] for yield components parameters
U.V. Patel*, V.K. Parmar, Y.N. Tandel and H.R. Patel Navsari Agricultural University, Navsari, Gujarat
Keywords: Cowpea, diversity, variability
Thirty two cowpea [Vigna unguiculata (L.) Walp.] genotypes were evaluated for 12 quantitative characters to estimate the genetic diversity existing among them by using Mahalanobis D2 statistics. The genotypes were grouped into eight clusters. The cluster strength varied from single genotype (Clusters IV, V, VI, VII and VIII) to 12 genotypes (Cluster II). The maximum inter-cluster distance (D2 = 35.43) was observed between cluster-VI and VIII. Clusters II, III and I had maximum 100-seed weight, number of seeds per pod and seed yield respectively. Cluster VIII had the highest mean value for the characters viz., number of pod per plant, number of green pods per plant and green pod yield per hectare (kg/ha), while the cluster III had a lowest mean value for days to 50 per cent flowering. On the basis of inter cluster distances, cluster VIII was found to be more divergent. Therefore, it was concluded that the genotypes belonging to these cluster should be inter-crossed in order to generate more variability.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3245
|
__label__wiki
| 0.628541
| 0.628541
|
Archives for February 2014
The Edge of Farming Season 2, Ep. 9 — Burning Desire
February 25, 2014 by farmlifetoday
With rain in the coming day's forecast, the Warrens receive the call they've been waiting on: A green light from … [Read more...]
The Edge of Farming Season 2, Ep. 8 — Time is Money
Facing wind, rain and 45-degree slopes, the Warrens look for ways to cover more ground in less time. By increasing … [Read more...]
The Edge of Farming Season 2, Ep. 3 — Family Matters
This year's crop has been saved. But it's the future of the family farm that's still uncertain as Brad's daughter, … [Read more...]
The Edge of Farming Season 2, Ep. 4 — Something out of Nothing
By definition, Donald Collins is a farmer, but most would call him a magician. As owner of Progress Farms in … [Read more...]
The Edge of Farming Season 2, Ep. 7 — Taming These Hills
In the southeast corner of Washington, brothers Glenn and Gene Warren prepare for fall planting of winter wheat. But treacherous … [Read more...]
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3248
|
__label__wiki
| 0.645212
| 0.645212
|
before Mesopatamia
Egyptian Dreams Forum Index -> Miscellaneous
maahes
Location: Sepat Pa Maahes
Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2005 8:21 pm Post subject: before Mesopatamia
J.D. IRISH(1), F. WENDORF, R. SCHILD.
(1)Department of Anthropology, University of Alaska Fairbanks, Fairbanks, AK 99775, (2)Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX 75275, (3)Institute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences, Al. Solidarnosci 105, 00-140 Warsaw, Poland.
Session: Paleopathology I: Contributed Papers.
With the Aswan High Dam Project as a catalyst, many human skeletal samples of Late Paleolithic (ca. 18-12,000 BP) and post-Neolithic (5400-650 BP) Nubians have been recovered. These samples have provided a wealth of physical anthropological data. Conspicuous by their absence are remains from the vast intermediate Neolithic period (ca. 9800-5400 BP). These peoples are little-studied, either archaeologically or osteologically. One major exception involves the archaeological research of the Combined Prehistoric Expedition (CPE) to the Nubian Desert of Egypt and Sudan. Discoveries at Neolithic sites near Bir Kiseiba and Nabta Playa suggest the inhabitants had a complex social system involving cattle worship and sacrifice. They were also builders of stone shrines, megalithic alignments, and calendar circles. However, their skeletal remains are generally lacking, and those that were recovered are poorly preserved. Thus, to date, studies pertaining to the remains are few in number-being limited to worn teeth and partial skeletons.
Recently, the CPE intensified efforts to recover and analyze human remains at Nabta. As a result, sample size increased, and the amount of dental, osteological, paleopathological, and other data obtained multiplied accordingly. These efforts culminated in the discovery of a unique Final Neolithic (5650-5400 BP) cemetery 30 km west of the main settlements.
This presentation will provide an initial description of the recently recovered remains. Standard physical anthropological observations will be presented, along with more specialized data pertaining to preliminary estimates of biological affinity-on a continent-wide and regional scale. These observations are intended to help better understand and characterize an enigmatic people, who inhabited a consequential yet little known time and place in North African prehistory.
Funding for the first author was provided by the Hierakonpolis Expedition (Dr. Raymond and Beverly Sackler, and the Friends of Nekhen) and the CPE.
"O Egypt, Egypt, of your reverent deeds only stories will survive, and they will be incredible to your children! For divinity goes back to heaven, as Egypt will be widowed and deserted by god and nature."
Posted: Wed Sep 28, 2005 4:28 pm Post subject: earliest civilization?
http://www.fulcrumtv.com/blackmummy.htm
The programme explores the enigmatic central Saharan society which once spanned the entire north African continent. We unravel their tale through the story of the discovery of the black mummy, Uan Muhuggiag. It soon becomes obvious that these people were responsible for an extraordinary array of innovations which later became famous under the Egyptians. Their presence re-writes the history of Egypt and of the entire continent of Africa.
The background: the lost society of the central Sahara and the rise of ancient Egypt
The origins of ancient Egypt are archaeology’s greatest unsolved mystery. What prompted this remarkable culture to develop such distinctive rituals as mummification? Where did they get their ideas? As far as we know, Egypt was only preceded by one great civilisation: Mesopotamia. Although Mesopotamia is a far older culture – there is no evidence to suggest that these people had developed any similar funerary practises. But if Egyptian innovations did not come from earlier known civilisations – where did they come from?
The answer has come from an unlikely quarter – the barren Sahara desert. In the last few decades evidence has been mounting that the Egyptian civilisation was not the first advanced society in Africa. At the same time as Mesopotamia rose in the near east, another culture thrived in Africa. Although few people have heard of it – this central Saharan culture is providing evidence for the invention of ritual activity which had previously been attributed to the Egyptians.
The first clue for archaeologists was the abundant rock art found all over the central Sahara from Libya to Egypt to Mali. The rock art depicts animals like crocodiles and rhinos – which do not live in deserts. It also shows scenes of hunting and rituals involving men wearing animal masks. All of this art was a firm clue that this area was once a hive of activity. It spurred archaeologists to dig and over the past fifty years they’ve uncovered an entire unknown society.
The society was nomadic – groups of animal herders wandered all over the region and eventually spread their uniform culture throughout the continent of north Africa. They lived in huts and had time to make art and invent rituals. By the time the culture reached its pinnacle around 6ooo years ago these people had invented rituals which indicate a fairly complex world view. They were communicating with the heavens and using funerary rituals like mummification to treat their dead.
But all of this evidence indicated an Eden-like place – one with trees, grasses and abundant running waters. And yet nothing could be further from this picture than the Sahara today. Although archaeologists had already assembled the clues, the science of climatology solidly confirmed what all had suspected: this area was once a lush savannah landscape. Changes in the tilt of the earth’s axis had caused drought in the Sahara and brought this thriving society to an end. But with the demise of the central Saharan culture, people wandered all over northern Africa in search of greener pastures. The Nile valley was an obvious destination. Around 6000 years ago central Saharan ideas arrived in the Nile valley – adding mummification and other rituals to the potent mix which was to become the Egyptian civilisation.
The mummy and archaeology in Libya:
An Italian team of archaeologists first explored the Libyan Sahara almost fifty years ago. In 1958 they struck gold. Professor Fabrizio Mori discovered the black mummy at the Uan Muhuggiag rockshelter. The mummy of a young boy, Uan Muhuggiag was destined for controversy. He was older than any comparable Egyptian mummy and his mere existence challenged the very idea that Egyptians were the first in the region to mummify their dead. Although the Italian team from the university of Rome “La Sapienza�, has since discovered other mummified tissue, they have not yet discovered another complete mummy in the region. But Uan Muhuggiag was no one off. The sophistication of his mummification suggested he was the result of a long tradition of mummification. Investigations in the area continue under the direction of Dr Savino di Lernia and Professor Mario Liverani.
Climatology:
Professor Mauro Cremaschi of CIRSA (University of Milan and University of Rome “La Sapienza�) heads the Italian Climatology team which focuses on the Acacus area of Libya. Dr Kevin White (Reading University) heads an English team focussing on the nearby Fezzan region. Both teams are using the latest satellite technology to clarify our picture of climate in the central Sahara over the past several hundred thousand years.
Another lost Libyan civilisation:
The Fezzan project, headed by Professor David Mattingly (University of Leicester) focuses on the Garamantes civilisation which thrived from 1500bc-500ad. The Garamantes were known by the Romans as barbarians but evidence from the Sahara shows a large, sophisticated civilisation. Remains show substantial architecture and a complex society replete with numerous luxuries. Almost 100,000 tombs litter the Fezzan escarpment – to date these bodies are the most concrete testimony to this little-known people.
Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures by A and E Cockburn & T Reyman l Ancient Egypt: Life, Myth and Art by J Fletcher l Rock Art of the Sahara by H Hugor & M Bruggman l Holocene Settlement of the Egyptian Sahara by F Wendorf l Archaeology of Sub Saharan Africa by J Vogel l Archaeology and Environment in the Libyan Sahara by B Barich l Garamantes of the Fezzan by Charles Daniels
Www.cru.uea.ac.uk
Http://i-cias.com/e.o/fezzan.htm
Www.countryreports.org/history/libhist.htm
Www.fordham.edu/halsall/ancient/herod-Libya.htm
Egyptian Dreams Forum Index -> Miscellaneous All times are GMT
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3264
|
__label__wiki
| 0.712979
| 0.712979
|
Bark beetles of coniferous trees in Botanical Garden of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University
O. V. Zinchenko+−
O. M. Kukina+−
Yu. Ye. Skrylnyk+−
O. V. Zinchenko
O. M. Kukina
Yu. Ye. Skrylnyk
stem pests, pine, spruce, fir, Ips typographus, Pityogenes chalcographus
Zinchenko, O. V., Kukina, O. M., & Skrylnyk, Y. Y. (2019). Bark beetles of coniferous trees in Botanical Garden of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University. Forestry and Forest Melioration, (134), 141-146. https://doi.org/10.33220/1026-3365.134.2019.141
Bark beetles are among the main causes of Norway spruce Picea abies (Karst.) decline in many regions. Particularly in Ukrainian Carpathians region, Ips typographus L., Ips duplicatus Sahl., Pityogenes chalcographus L., Ірs acuminatus Gyll, Ips amitinus Eichh, Pityophthorus micrographus L., Crypturgus pusillus Gyll., and Hylastes cunicularius Er. havecolonized Norway spruce. Since 2011, the health condition of coniferous trees in the Botanical Garden of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University has been deteriorating because of bark beetles' attacks.
The aim of our research was to identify the species composition of bark beetles in coniferous tree species in the Botanical Garden of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University.
The research was carried out in the Botanical Garden of V. N. Karazin Kharkiv National University (50°01′N, 36°13′E, altitude 140–150 m a.s.l.) during the growing season 2019. We inspected 198 coniferous trees, including 36 species from 7 genera: fir (Abies), spruce (Picea), pine (Pinus), Douglas fir (Pseudotsuga), juniper (Juniperus), larch (Larix), and yew (Taxus). We collected the insects from lower branches, stems and galleries in drying up trees. Then we identified them in laboratory conditions.
Four species of bark beetles were identified (Ips typographus L., Pityogenes chalcographus L., Crypturgus cinereus Herb., and C. subcribrosus Eg.) on coniferous trees in the territory of the Botanical Garden. Only five species of fir (Abies balsamia, A. cephalonica, А. concolor, A. grandis, and А. violacea.) didn’t have any symptoms of colonization.
fraseri and A. nordmanniana were colonized only by Pityogenes chalcographus, A. veitchii – by Crypturgus cinereus. A. arizonica and A. lasiocarpa were colonized by two bark beetles species – Ips typographus and Crypturgus subcribrosus. Picea obovate was colonized by three bark beetle species that is all found species except Ips typographus.
obovata 'Glauca' proved to be the most susceptible for bark beetles' attacks, as it was colonized by all four identified bark beetles. No bark beetle colonization was found on P. kochiana and P. nigra. P. banksiana and P. peuce were colonized by Ips typographus, and P. strobus – by Ips typographus, Crypturgus cinereus colonizations. P. Pallasiana trees were colonized only by Pityogenes chalcographus. Larix sp. and Pseudotsuga menziesii 'Glauka' were colonized by Ips typographus and Pityogenes chalcographus.
Ips typographus proved to be the most common bark beetles species on inspected trees and was identified on 18 species coniferous trees.
Four species of bark beetles were identified (Ips typographus L., Pityogenes chalcographus L., Crypturgus cinereus Herb., and C. subcribrosus Eg.) on coniferous trees in the territory of the Botanical Garden. Only five species of the Abies genus had no signs of colonizing with bark beetles, namely: A. balsamia, A. cephalonica, A. concolor, A. grandis, and A. violacea. Picea koraiensis and P. alba were not inhabited by bark beetles, but colonization attempts were found on the stem. P. obovata of the 'Glauca' form was inhabited by all identified bark beetle species. Ips typographus was the most common on the spruce among other bark beetles. Among 198 surveyed trees, 27.3 % had no signs of colonization by bark beetles, 9.9 % had the attempts of colonization, and 63.6 % were inhabited by bark beetles.
1 Table, 17 Refs.
V. L. Meshkova, V. L. Borysova, Yu. Ye. Skrylnik, O. V. Zinchenko, EUROPEAN ASH HEALTH CONDITION IN THE FOREST-STEPPE PART OF SUMY REGION , Forestry and Forest Melioration: No 133 (2018): Forestry and Forest Melioration
V. L. Meshkova, Yu. Ye. Skrylnik, O. V. Zinchenko, A. I. Kochetova, SEASONAL DEVELOPMENT OF THE PINE SAWYER BEETLE (MONOCHAMUS GALLOPROVINCIALIS) IN THE NORTH-EASTERN STEPPE OF UKRAINE , Forestry and Forest Melioration: No 130 (2017): Forestry and Forest Melioration
O. V. Zinchenko, OCCURRENCE AND PECULIARITIES OF TREE COLONIZATION BY STEM PESTS IN PINE STANDS WEAKENED BY DIFFERENT FACTORS IN THE FOREST-STEPPE PART OF KHARKIV REGION , Forestry and Forest Melioration: No 129 (2016): Forestry and Forest Melioration
O. V. Zinchenko, Peculiarities of the spindle ermine moth (Yponomeuta cagnagellus Hübn.) biology in the Kharkiv Forest-Park , Forestry and Forest Melioration: No 134 (2019): Forestry and Forest Melioration
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3269
|
__label__cc
| 0.624576
| 0.375424
|
Westchester Station
Patrick Welch
Genre: Fantasy/SF
Great Good Fair Poor
Total Readers: 1
I, Robert Winstead, was brought here by someone I did not know for some purpose I had yet to discover. But I also knew that only by fulfilling that purpose would I be allowed to leave...assuming I survived the journey. Somewhere among the hallways and denizens of this haunted environment I would find the answer. I had to.
Westchester Station (Excerpt)
The Canadian Express blew into Chicago like a fleet of sailors on shore leave. No city, no matter how experienced in dealing with hostile weather, could hope to cope with such a sudden onslaught of cold, wind and snow; within twenty minutes of reaching the Loop, the storm shut Chicago down.
This was something I had not planned for. On my business trips I try to plan for everything. I have copies of my credit card numbers in my luggage, my wallet, on the insole of my wingtips. I carry two sets of spare batteries for my laptop computer. My business trips are too important to entrust to secretaries, so I make reservations for planes, hotels and autos myself and well in advance. Then I triple-check them before I leave. I arrive at my destination the night before any appointment, no matter how late, and reach the airport at least three hours before scheduled departure. I paid a heavy price learning the need for such precautions...I missed an important meeting - and subsequently lost the account - due to a walkout by taxi drivers in Baltimore. I don't have that many clients; I can't afford to lose more.
So I was already in O'Hare, killing three hours in an executive lounge and reviewing my notes for my dog-and-pony show in Schenectady the following day when the storm hit. Its initial greeting rattled the windows and more than one of the patrons.
"Holy shit!" rose from several throats at once and there was a mini-stampede to the windows to view what God had wrought. It was a sight that guaranteed depression. The snow tumbled at nearly a 900 angle, and so thickly that it was impossible to see the planes and runways outside. Takeoffs or landings would be suicide; the announcement, which surprised no one, came shortly afterward. The airport was closed; no one was going out, no one was coming in.
"You think the bastards could plan," one man said as he gulped down his third or fifth martini. During a brief conversation I had discovered he was a salesman also, but no one had bought his widgets on this trip. We had soon determined neither was a prospect for either; my company wasn't in manufacturing and his didn't want any advertising. We had not readdressed each other until now.
He waved his swizzle stick like a conductor's baton; I was surprised the olives didn't become airborne - something the planes outside would not. His volume increased and pronunciation worsened as he raved on. "We have all these satellites and high-tech bullshit. All those Phd's and BVD's and weathermen who call themselves 'meteorologists.' A pretty fancy name for someone who only has to smile on cue and dress well and point at a photograph if you ask me. They spend all that money and they can't tell us a storm like this is coming?"
I tried to ignore him. I've spent too many hours waiting in similar bars and overhearing equally intemperate conversations to be overly alarmed or amused or abashed by this one. I had more important considerations; i.e. how was I going to get to Schenectady?
One thing certain; I wasn't getting any closer sitting in the bar. I raced through a mental checklist as I shut off my computer and grabbed my bags. Clothes would be no problem; I had enough for a week while my trip was planned for three days. Finances were no problem; I always carried at least $500 in cash plus a plethora of gold and platinum plastic when out-of-town. Getting to Schenectady was the problem.
The martini drinker questioned me with blurred eyes and speech. "Where the hell you going? Back to your hotel?" He sprayed a laugh in my direction. "You really think you can get a room now? You're better off staying here, waiting it out. Be a man, for chrissakes."
Noticing the pile of souvenirs from his previous drinks, I was sure he would be passed out before the storm passed through. "I don't think my business will let me. I have to get out of Chicago tonight."
"Postpone the damn thing. They'll understand, weather like this. Here, let me buy you a drink."
Maybe, but will my boss? Truthfully he would, but I also recalled an old marketing adage; there are no obstacles, just opportunities. If I could prove to my prospective client my dedication and resourcefulness by making the meeting on time, I would have a leg up in winning the account. And I needed every edge I could get. "Thanks but no. I think Chicago has worn out its welcome."
He laughed and pointed outside. "Lotsa luck."
I shrugged and made my way from the sanctuary of the executive lounge into the throng of common people outside. O'Hare is normally organized chaos, but not this time. This time it was totally out of control. I should have chosen Midway, I thought darkly. I noticed a group of Japanese tourists huddled together at one bench, chattering unintelligibly among themselves. Nearby a mother rocked her infant, now wakened by the bedlam and adding to it what his little lungs could, and fought back tears. A distinguished gentleman in herringbone suit was dressing down a hapless skycap, as if the latter had anything to do with the carnage outside. Attendants at the airline counters shook their heads helplessly as passengers waved useless tickets before them. There were continual announcements over the public address system but the din made them impossible to hear. A public relations nightmare, and I felt relieved that I was not the one who would try to calm the waters. Although, I decided, this would be an excellent night to have a client advertising on the local news.
How do I get to Schenectady? I struggled by the car rental companies, but their lines were impossible. I gave a parting glance toward the phones, but there were equally long queues at every one. Calling the bus lines or train station from here was out of the question. Yet certainly one or the other could get me east far enough to escape the blizzard. With no other options, I pushed my way toward the exits and finally forced myself outside.
The wind tore at me like a frenzied shark; no surprise the planes were grounded. The question was, would everything else? I pulled my coat tightly around myself and peered out into the white blur.
"Robert Winstead. I'm over here, sir. Your taxi's over here."
Somehow the unfamiliar voice carried through the wind. Was he talking to me? How could he be talking to me? But someone had to be; it was too much to believe that someone else with my name was sharing this delightful weather outside O'Hare.
I looked around. I could almost distinguish a few travelers, fewer cabs, and one man waving frantically in my direction. There was no one else near me; he must mean me. I picked up my bags and plodded toward him.
Another man was there already. And he was irate. "What do you mean, you won't take me?" he screamed at the cabby much louder than the weather required. "Do you think this is New York or something? I was here first!"
The frustrated fare towered over the driver, an old, wizened man. But the latter was adamant. "I'm sorry, sir. Mr. Winstead reserved my cab already. I must take him." He pointed at me.
"That's bullshit. I'm going to report this to your supervisor." He turned and saw me, surprised and innocent and shivering nearby. "Since when can anyone reserve a cab? This is a total crock."
The old man walked up and casually took my bags. I didn't understand but I was too cold to wait for another. Why look a gift horse in the mouth? "I travel to Chicago frequently. My company has a standing arrangement with his company," I lied quickly.
"True enough, sir," the driver said, putting the last of my few bags in the trunk. "I'm his regular driver, I am."
The man shivered from his anger and the cold. "I was here first." He looked at me, suddenly placating. "Surely there's room for two."
"Against company rules," the driver said brusquely and led me to his car. "Only one passenger per ride. Another cab will be by soon enough." He almost pushed me inside, shut my door and was already driving away before the man could reply.
Ensconced in the back seat, I discovered another reason against double fares; there simply wasn't enough room. Which surprised me. The car had seemed adequate enough outside, but inside it was unusually narrow, almost as if some massiveness of the vehicle had been lost when I entered it. "Thank you," I finally said. "I don't know how you know my name or that I was here, but I appreciate the lie."
"No lie," the man replied in a voice as dry as breaking bones.
"You mean?" I struggled with his remark, then thought better of it. Surely my boss couldn't pull those kind of strings, not from back in New York. But my first priority was Schenectady. Other questions would be dealt with later. "Take me to the bus station."
"No buses leaving tonight, sir."
I looked out the window. Was it my imagination or had the storm brought with it an early night as well? I could see nothing but snow and darkness. No lights, no highway, nothing else. "The train station, then."
"Westchester it is, sir."
"Westchester?" That wasn't the name of Chicago's station. "What is Westchester?"
"A train station, sir. You can catch your train at Westchester."
How does he know what train I want? "I can get a train to Schenectady at Westchester?"
"If that's where you're going, sir."
I looked up and saw his license staring at me from behind his seat. "Char. O'Neill," it said below the photo of a totally undistinguished and indistinguishable old man. I frowned automatically at the replaced "r" for an "s," a result of my years of forced proofreading. But that was only one of many things that were troubling me and I had had enough. I leaned forward. "I don't think so. I want to go..."
"To Westchester. It's much closer, sir. I don't think I can get you downtown in time. Not in this weather. I can get you to Westchester in time. I recommend we go to Westchester Station, sir."
I rankled at the man's effrontery. I work in a service industry, too, and what the client asks for he should get. Within reason. This time I was the client. "You do, eh? Then how come I have never heard of this Westchester Station? It's not like I haven't ever been to Chicago before, you know."
"It's a very small station, sir. Not many people use it these days. But you will find it quite suitable, I'm sure."
I looked outside. All I could see was snow and dark. I had no idea where I was; I had no idea how the man could see the road, let alone find this "Westchester Station." Reluctantly I had to admit I was at his mercy. Okay, we'll do it your way. Tomorrow, though, I talk to your supervisors. "I will be able to catch a train to Schenectady? Tonight?"
"You will be able to go where you have to go."
Those words again. They didn't calm me but I had no other choice. "Fine." I settled back in my seat. If I was being driven to a coven to serve as a sacrifice, there wasn't much I could do about it. Not in this storm.
Unlike cabbies I knew the man seemed quite satisfied with silence, so I studied the cramped vehicle. The car was old but I could not discern the model. The leather of the seat was well-worn and warm and comfortable. There was a slight rocking motion, as if the car was driving on bad springs. Not unpleasant, just unusual, especially considering the savageness of the storm beyond. Most surprising, however, was the quiet. I could hear the low hum of the engine, but the sound of the wind did not intrude. It was almost too quiet and I was tempted to crack a window just to break the monotony. But then I noticed there were no cranks for the windows. Or handles for the doors. To prevent people from skipping out on their fares?
The only light came from the dashboard, but it was so dim I could make out none of the instruments or other details of the vehicle's interior. What was the old line; I don't know where we're going, but we're making good time? I certainly didn't know where we were going, or why he had chosen me. Chosen; yes, that's the word. I wanted to question him, then thought better of it. Driving in weather like this would require total concentration. When we got to Westchester; that's when I would ask him. I wriggled back into the comforting confines of the seat. When we get to Westchester. Wherever that was.
I pointed out our projected rise in sales in response to increasing the advertising budget appropriately among targeted demographic groups on the handsomely prepared chart beside me. "All evidence shows us that a company which markets itself aggressively during an economic downturn will be able to increase market share and maintain that increase not only during the slow period but also when the economy rights itself." I smiled at the wall of unsmiling faces around the table. Not one of you want to hear this, do you? As if I'm stealing money directly from each of you. Marketing morons. My smile remained in place. "Any questions?"
That's when the earthquake struck. My easel stand keeled over, showering us with the charts and graphs so laboriously created by my art department. I stood in awe and could only watch the chaos continue about me. But I'm in Schenectady, not San Francisco. They don't have earthquakes in Schenectady. The phenomenon was ludicrous; I started to laugh. Then the entire room was collapsing around me. I tried to duck as the ceiling came rushing toward me. Or was it the floor? Or a wall? I threw my arms in front of my face as if somehow that action would deflect tons of falling masonry.
And then I woke and found myself in the back seat of a taxicab. An old man was leaning across the front seat of a car, gently shaking my shoulder.
"We're here, sir."
Here? Where? Then I remembered; O'Hare, the blizzard, the cab. Suddenly I froze. How long had I been sleeping? I glanced at my watch and was reassured by the time; only forty minutes since leaving the airport. The station must be surprisingly nearby.
Why I had fallen asleep during the ride, however, puzzled me. I wasn't tired from work; in fact, my anger and anxiety caused by the snowstorm should have been enough to keep me up for hours. Maybe it was the unusual quiet of the car.
"We're here, sir," the cabbie reminded me again, a bit more loudly.
"Yes, excuse me." I gave an embarrassed smile. "I must have nodded off."
"That happens."
"How much do I owe you?"
He pointed at the meter. "Three-five forty six."
An unusual amount and an unusual way to state it. "I don't suppose you take credit cards," I asked only half in jest as I reached for my wallet.
"We have no use for credit, sir."
I leafed through my wallet and sighed; I was getting near my self-imposed $200 cash reserve limit rapidly. I would have to find an automatic teller once I reached Schenectady; nothing upsets a merchant more than paying American Express a percentage for a $10.00 lunch. "$35.46." I withdrew two 20's. "Three-five and forty-six." Now that I said them, the numbers sounded strangely familiar. Where have I heard them before? Three-five..." I stopped, amazed at the coincidence. "Hell, that's my birthday!"
"So it is."
"What?" He gave no indication of repeating the remark, so I handed him the fare. Perhaps I had misunderstood. "Keep the change."
"Thank you. You may leave."
"I may?" Then the door next to me swung open. "How did you do..." I turned back to him but he was staring out the windshield, eager to be on his way. "Thank you again."
I stepped from the cab, steeling myself for a blast of snow and cold. There was none. Instead the storm seemed to have bypassed the locale completely because there was no snow anywhere. The slight breeze was cool, the stars distorted by a light fog. My luggage sat at the curb. Even as I bent over to retrieve it I could hear the cabbie driving away.
I straightened and studied my surroundings. Before me was a small, old, poorly lit building. At any other time I would have returned to the taxi and insisted I be taken elsewhere. But my driver was gone; there were no other cars to be seen. Not a good omen, I thought, and the image of witches and bloody sacrifices came to the fore. I shuddered, then forced it aside. I had no alternative; I picked up my bags and walked toward what was apparently Westchester Station.
The building was even more nondescript and discouraging up close. A cinder block structure, probably a WPA project. The windows were covered with a thick layer of dirt; little light escaped from the interior. If it wasn't for the uniformed man standing by the one door I would have assumed the building abandoned. I should have called, postponed the meeting. Punctuality, I decided then, was not always a virtue. Too late now. Taking a deep breath, I approached him.
I had only walked a few steps when a woman stepped out of the shadows. "A moment, sir," she called out softly.
A panhandler? Someone in need of a light? Surely not a proposition. I set down my luggage. "Can I help you?"
She was well-dressed, tall for a woman, attractive from what I could see in the diffused light from the lamp overhead. But I could also see an urgency on her face, if not desperation. She touched my arm; her hand trembled, but not from the weather. "You are going in Westchester Station? Yes?"
"If this is Westchester Station, then, yes."
"Take me in with you. Please."
I looked at her, then at the guard at the door. "What is the problem? Why can't you just walk in yourself?" I laughed. "Surely they don't charge admission at a train station!"
She clutched at my arm. "I...can't. I have to be with someone. He won't let me in otherwise."
"A lady in distress, then." I mentally girded my loins. "I will go and talk with the gentleman. There must be some kind of misunderstanding."
"No." Her reaction was surprisingly strong. "Let me walk in with you. Put your arm around me and just let me walk in with you."
I pondered. Was this a proposition after all? A new pickpocket's ploy? "That seems reasonable enough." I put my laptop computer under my left arm and grabbed my bags so my right arm was free to honor her request. Then I heard her gasp and I turned around. The guard was standing behind us.
"Can I help you, sir?" His voice was deep with authority.
"There seems to be some misunderstanding," I told him sternly. His hat was pulled low over his face; no features were distinguishable. "My fiancee was waiting for me..."
"She is not your fiancee."
I stepped back, startled then angered. "How dare you, sir!"
"Come with me, sir. You," he turned to the woman, "stay here."
I expected a retort, some type of righteous reaction. Instead she bowed her head meekly; she would stay there until doomsday, I was sure of that. He grabbed my arm and pulled me away; I was too surprised to protest. "Do not talk to that woman," he said harshly after we had walked a few paces. "She is not to be trusted. She is dangerous."
He was now looking straight at me, mere inches away, yet I still could not make out any of his features even though the light fully illuminated his uniform. "Dangerous? How? I don't understand."
"She is," he paused, "a drug dealer. We cannot let her into Westchester Station. She was here once and left. She may not return."
I glanced her way. She looked like a child not being invited to play. "I don't understand. If she's dealing drugs, then isn't that a matter for the police? It's certainly not your concern."
"It certainly is. My responsibility is to guard this station. Unless the station master so declares, she may not reenter."
A drug dealer? He didn't sound too certain of the charge. But I wasn't in a position to question his authority, either. I looked back at the woman. Her eyes remained focused on the ground, her posture saying all about the outcome she expected. "I would like to talk with the station master."
"He will be available to you when it is time."
"I think the time is now.? I glanced once more at the woman. I wanted to talk to her but the guard had planted himself between us. By his stance I knew no argument was going to move him. Angered and confused - and disappointed with myself for my ineffectiveness - I picked up my bags and went to the door that said "Entrance only." And opened it.
And was immediately entranced as the door closed behind me.
I found myself at the top of a flight of steps leading down into the station itself. From where I stood the station seemed as large as a small football stadium. The suddenly cavernous room was flooded with light, an almost overpowering brightness that bleached the well-worn marble floors below. The railings and other fixtures were brass or aged wood; the walls, by contrast, were a uniform, utilitarian gray. Above, the cathedral ceiling held a hundred skylights beyond which the stars glowed in shades of reds and blues and yellows.
What stunned me most, however, was the quiet. The station was not crowded, yet in such an open structure the sounds should echo loudly, not be a muted undertone that intruded upon one's consciousness no more than one's pulse.
I set down my luggage. This can't be. This couldn't be. Before, the station had looked so -?- insignificant. I turned to open one of the doors and go back outside, to check my memories. But the doors refused to open. Apparently they're serious about "entrance only" around here. With no other option (and I was quickly tiring of having no options), I picked up my luggage and started down the stairs. First, I decided, I would get my tickets; then I would complain to the station master.
Also by Patrick Welch
Idiot Savant
Westchester Station - The Pursuit
Raiders Of The Double Helix
Unfamiliar Chronicles
Released: February 2010
Barnalby the Grape
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3276
|
__label__cc
| 0.741526
| 0.258474
|
About Rhinolight
RhinoLight is an innovative treatment modality for Seasonal and Perennial Allergic Rhinitis. So it is an alternative or complement to allergen Immunotherapy and long-term drug therapy (such as steroids, bronchodilators, antihistamines, mast-cell stabilisers, etc.).
The RhinoLight medical device is used to direct controlled doses of uVA and uVB and visible light up each nostril of a patient with AR, where the emitted rays in effect give the mucosal surfaces a sun-tan, and so knock out the Mast Cells and Eosinophils and other cells involved in the inflammatory cascade of Allergic Rhinitis.
For Seasonal Allergic Rhinitis, caused by pollens, the treatment regime time is 2-3 minutes per nostril, 3 times a week for 2 weeks, at the start of the pollen season (Or 2 times a week for 3 weeks). Total 6 treatments.
For Perennial Allergic Rhinitis, caused by HDM for example, RhinoLight treatment is usually 2-3 minutes per nostril, 3 times in Week 1 then once weekly for 5 weeks, at any time of the year. Total 8 treatments.
These protocols are reasonably flexible, depending on the circumstances of the patient.
It is entirely possible and can even be advantageous to use RhinoLight (which can give more-or-less immediate symptom relief) simultaneously whilst going through the 3-month Initial up-dosing Treatment Phase of Injection Immunotherapy, as the symptoms would otherwise with SCIT alone only start to go into remission after 2-3 months.
Similarly, the use of Sub-Lingual Immunotherapy usually takes 2-5 months for the remission of symptoms, so if RhinoLight is given early then there can be a more-or-less immediate relief of symptoms, which is maintained until the SLIT Immunotherapy treatment also has its own beneficial effect.
For more information about Rhinolight please visit the official website here
To download the brochure, please click on the image below…
Video Demonstration of Rhinolight IV Treatment
Really cool to read through and find so much awesomeness added to WordPress 3.6 while I was gone. I should take three weeks off more often.
— Andrew Nacin (@nacin) April 3, 2013
This post tests WordPress’ Twitter Embeds feature.
Latest article by Dr Kaulsey in Irish Medical Journals. Please click the image below to view the full article..
For people with life threatening allergies, it's vital they carry two Epipens with them at all times in case of...
Dr Ranbir Kaulsay addresses the European Parliament in Brussels about improving Anaphylaxis treatment standards in Europe and particularly in Ireland...
ImmunoCAP® ISAC 112 is an established CE marked multiplex test with detailed IgE pro ling based on a single drop of...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3282
|
__label__cc
| 0.566763
| 0.433237
|
THE FAY FAMILY HOMEPAGE
FAYS IN MICHIGAN
DANIEL FAY (10/10/1865 - 1/29/1936)
AND HIS DESCENDANTS
Compiled from Various Sources
John of Marlborough
John (OPF #2) married Elizabeth Wellington
John (OPF #25) married Hannah Child
Jonathan (OPF #60) married Joanna Phillips
David (OPF #131) married Patience Harvey
Jonathan (OPF #830) married Lois King
Francis (OPF p. 69) married Charlotte D. Brown
Daniel (OPF p. 69)
MICHIGAN LINES
Jonathan Fay 1795 Nathan Fay 1772 Nathan Fay 1797 Joshua Fay 1800 Daniel Fay 1865
four of the children of William and Temperance (Clark) Fay:
William W. Fay 1804 Corydon Fay 1813 Napoleon B. Fay 1822 Vicenia Fay 1807
MICHIGAN RECORDS
Royal Oaks Cemetery (Corydon) Carleton Cemetery (Jonathan) Huron Cemetery (Jonathan)
Deaths Obituaries Marriages Land Records Census Lists
Michigan, Monroe County, 1897, Rand McNally
image copyright � 2003 by Cartography Associates
used with permission
Daniel Fay
Daniel Fay spent his early years in Exeter, Monroe County, where his father Francis had been living since before 1870 (in 1850, Francis was in Huron, in Wayne Country). Daniel married Eliza (Elizabeth Catherine) Mosebar (10/17/1865-3/14/1938) on April 12, 1887. They appear in the census of Exeter in 1900 and 1910.
1. George Francis Fay (Jan. 20, 1888 - August 28, 1964)
m. Catherine (Kate) Bund (born about 1882) on August 2, 1910
1. George Ralph Fay (June 1, 1911 - 1984)
m. Daisy _______ (1916 - 1986)
2. Marie Eliza Fay (June 2, 1913)
m. Lloyd Hopkins
3. Francis Lincoln Fay (Feb. 12, 1918)
4. Viola Fay (1920)
m. Ted Dyer
1. Marilyn Dyer m. George Stoltz
2. Ted Dyer
3. Bernice Dyer
5. Eileen Fay (1922)
m. Frank Simkins
1. Frank Simkins
2. Katherine Simkins m. ? Stevens
1. John Stevens
2. Marry Stevens
3. John Simkins
2. Charles Daniel Fay (Mar. 9, 1889); lived in Weaverville, CA
3. Lulu Louise Fay (July 10, 1890)
m. 1. David Livernois August 1, 1911 (divorced)
1. Ambrose Livernois (Sept. 24, 1916)
2. Faye Eliza Livernois (Sept 23, 1918)
m. 2. S. L. Beach
4. Albert Jenner Fay (May 23, 1892 - August 28, 1970)
m. (?9/16/1915) Florence Brown (3/22/1891-10/9/1972).
Nine children, all living at the time of Florence's death in 1972. Among them, they had given Florence and Jenner 36 grandchildren and 21 great-grandchildren by then. The lines continue.
1. Margaret Mary Fay (Aug. 15, 1916) m. Marak
2. Harold Fay (Aug. 17, 1918)
3. Joseph Daniel Fay (Nov. 2, 1919)
4. Jerome Albert Fay (May 23, 1921) m. Aug. 8, 1942 Stella M. Kelley ( - 3/6/2000).
5. Helen Fay (Jan. 1, 1922) m. William Gielincki
6. Shirley Ann Fay (Sept. 8, 1925) m. Clyde Younce
7. James Hubert Fay (Oct. 11, 1927)
8. Robert Arthur Fay (May 1, 1930)
9. Joanne Marie Fay (June 8, 1934) m. Keith Carnahan
5. Cora Anna Pearl Fay (Aug. 2, 1896)
6. Ruth Faith Fay (Mar. 7, 1902)
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3287
|
__label__wiki
| 0.530482
| 0.530482
|
The Fellowship of God's Covenant People
Investigating the War of 1861
Investigating the War of 1861 Part 2
By Jim Jester
A correspondent for Macmillan’s Magazine did a thorough job investigating the war while in America. He talked with hundreds of people, from all walks of life, in the North and was convinced that slavery had nothing to do with Northern motives for war. He summarized the answers he was given with the words, “We do not claim to be carrying on a war for the blacks, but for the whites…. The object of the war is to preserve the Union…. It was for clear matter-of-fact interests.” When he tried to pin down these interests, the answers did not show any moral or legal justification for a war of aggression with the carnage that was taking place. Noble principles are rarely involved in warfare. What really were involved were trade, money, and empire building. He came to the same conclusion as many foreign correspondents did, that preserving the American empire was at stake. The Quarterly Review (London) analyzed “The American Crisis” in these words:
For the contest on the part of the North is now disguisedly for empire. The question of slavery is thrown to the winds. There is hardly any concession in its favor that the South could ask which the North would refuse, provided only that the seceding States would re-enter the Union…. Away with the pretence on the North to dignify its cause with the name of freedom to the slave!
It became clear to the majority of British writers that preserving the Union really meant preserving the empire. The thinking of the 19th century was to conquer and explore. America was building an empire across the continent, with Alaska, Canada, and Cuba on the list, and this is what Europeans saw as a very understandable reason to preserve the Union. The Athenaeum (6 May 1865), a highly respected British weekly, wrote:
Many different motives urged her [the North] to begin the work on which she lavished blood and treasure. She fought… for all those delicious dreams of national predominance in future ages, which she must relinquish as soon as the union is severed…. They saw the necessity for an undivided nation: they knew that banded together they might achieve all their promises and predictions, but that their historical pre-eminence would be sacrificed as soon as they consented to a dissolution of partnership.
Although the abolitionists were ready to support secession to sever the North from slavery, the bankers and businessmen, everywhere supported war in order to prevent secession and maintain one nation so they could continue business as usual. Constitutional discussion did not matter (besides the South was winning on that issue), just hard-nosed economic reality – money. Even the work on the Capitol Building did not stop during the war; and furthermore, used slave labor. Author Ellis Gibbs Arnal was of the same opinion:
Northern lust for taxes and empire building (of which commercial prosperity played a huge role) caused the war. Lincoln was committed to the success of the financial oligarchy of the North. This economic exploitation of the South was to be continued for nearly eighty years after the war and was only abandoned in the face of the crisis of World War II. – The Shore Dimly Seen, 1946, p. 165-185
Charles Dickens also studied the situation in America, came to the same conclusion, and said, “The quarrel between North and South is, as it stands, solely a fiscal quarrel.”
As soon as Lincoln took office, the old Whig coalition (now Republican) finally controlled the entire government. It immediately tripled the average tariff rate, began subsidizing the building of a transcontinental railroad in California even though a desperate war was being waged. The Legal Tender Act (25 February 1862) empowered the Secretary of the Treasury to issue paper money (“greenbacks”) that was not immediately redeemable in gold or silver. The National Currency Acts of 1863 and 1864 created a system of nationally chartered banks that could issue bank notes supplied to them by the new Comptroller of the Currency, and a 10 percent tax was placed on state bank notes to drive them out of business and establish a federal monetary monopoly. The government's paper money flooded the banks so that by July 1864 greenback dollars were worth a mere 35 cents in gold. The reason Lincoln issued the greenbacks was because when he went to the bankers for war loans, they wanted to charge a whopping 24 to 36 percent and Lincoln refused.
The sponsor of the banking legislation in the House of Representatives was Congressman Elbridge G. Spaulding, a New York banker. Spaulding argued that the new fiat money system would finally clear the way for the mercantilist system of massive “internal improvement” subsidies. The New York Times, 9 March 1863, published a celebratory editorial in which it said, “The legal tender act and the national currency bill crystallized . . . a centralization of power, such as Hamilton might have eulogized as magnificent.” One president, who could see an ever-increasing debt, with no chance of ever paying it back, had this to say. “I wish it were possible to obtain a single amendment to our Constitution taking from the federal government their power of borrowing” Endnote 1 (Thomas Jefferson, 1798).
Since the days of Andrew Jackson, American presidents had opposed a fiat money system. But with Lincoln’s War, opposition to central banking was ended, literally, at gunpoint. Lincoln’s main role was to avoid doing what presidents had done for the previous three decades – veto central banking legislation. Of course, there was no chance of that happening since Lincoln had always advocated central banking and fiat money. The Party of Lincoln wanted to transform the American government from the limited, constitutional republic of the founding fathers to an empire that would rival Great Britain’s, and they knew they needed a central bank to do it. As Heather Cox Richardson, The Greatest Nation on the Earth: Republican Economic Policies During the Civil War, explains, “By 1863 the Republicans envisioned a dominant international role for a unified American nation, and [Senator John] Sherman promised that the bank bill, with its implicit strengthening of the national government, would advance that goal.”
Senator John Sherman, chairman of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, declared, “nationalize as much as possible, even the currency, so as to make men love their country before their states. All private interests, all local interests, all banking interests, the interests of individuals, everything, should be subordinate now to the interest of the Government.” This is a perfect expression of the collectivist/communist philosophy that would plague the next century (and ours) with its insistence that citizens are to be servants of the state, rather than the other way around. Kentucky Democrat Lasarus Powell was not as enthusiastic about the banking bills:
The result of this legislation is utterly to destroy the rights of the states. It is asserting a power which if carried out to its logical result would enable the national Congress to destroy every institution of the States and cause all power to be consolidated and concentrated here [in Washington, D.C.].
Of course it would, that was always the intention of the Party of Lincoln. This is what Lincoln’s War was really about: for the North – empire, for the South – independence. The only way for freedom to continue must be in a debt free economy. This was the principle with Lincoln’s greenbacks (which he needed to finance the war) and with the previous Independent Treasury System (which he opposed). As we can see in the following quote, a debt free system was good for everyone except the moneychangers, who made their opinion known in the London Times:
If this mischievous financial policy, which has its origin in North America, shall become indurated down to a fixture, then that Government will furnish its own money without cost. It will pay off debts and be without debt. It will have all the money necessary to carry on its commerce. It will become prosperous without precedent in the history of the world. The brains and wealth of all countries will go to North America. That country must be destroyed or it will destroy every monarchy on the globe.
Lincoln later considered the further use of this type of money (the Greenbacks), which the bankers obviously would have opposed. Were they the ones who conspired to have him killed? Otto von Bismarck, chancellor of Germany, is quoted as saying in 1876, “The government and the nation escaped the plots of the foreign financiers. They understood at once, that the United States would escape their grip. The death of Lincoln was resolved upon.” Lincoln was assassinated and died the next morning on April 15th (I wonder if it is just coincidentally our tax deadline day?). Now Lincoln sits immemorial facing the Federal Reserve building in D.C. paying them homage. He had fought a war to maintain the Union – all for their benefit – but now (at wars end), they had no need of him and did not want any competition from debt free money. It is also known that pages are missing from the diary of John Wilkes Booth (Can we imagine why?).
Many of our presidents were assassinated during this short thirty-six year period: Lincoln in 1865, Garfield in 1881, and McKinley in 1901; and they all had spoken out about the money powers. It was not long after the assassination of McKinley that the Federal Reserve was formed in 1913. Was all this just a coincidence? President Jackson (1836) opposed a national bank and there was an attempt on his life. It seems that Lincoln was aware of this dangerous situation in America when he said, “I have two great enemies, the Southern Army in front of me and the financial institutions in the rear. Of the two, the one in my rear is my greatest foe.” Could Lincoln have regretted what he did to America, or was he coerced?
The goal of the money monopoly men was to divide and conquer. Their plan was to divide the United States so that part would go to England and part to France. To allow a country to coin or issue notes that were debt free would allow that country to become independently wealthy and the people prosperous and free. For a short period (during the 1840’s), America had such a banking system (Independent Treasury System). The “banksters” could not allow this to happen. This was the real reason behind the turmoil of depressions, war, and assassinations during 19th century America. Bismarck is quoted as saying:
I know of absolute certainty, that the division of the United States into federations of equal force was decided long before the Civil War by the high financial powers of Europe. These bankers were afraid that the U.S., if they remained as one block, and as one nation, would attain economic and financial independence, which would upset their financial domination over the world. Of course, in the inner circle of Finance, the voice of the Rothschilds prevailed. They saw an opportunity for prodigious booty if they could substitute two feeble democracies, burdened with debt to the financiers, … in place of a vigorous Republic sufficient unto herself. Therefore they sent their emissaries into the field to exploit the question of slavery and to drive a wedge between the two parts of the Union…. The rupture between the North and the South became inevitable; the masters of European finance employed all their forces to bring it about and to turn it to their advantage. [Quoted by Conrad Siem in La Vieille France 216:13-16 (March 17-24, 1921); Patrick Carnack, Bill Still, The Money Masters: How International Bankers Gained Control of America (video, 1998).]
The European bankers wanted a war that would return the United States back to its colonial status, but they were not necessarily interested in preserving slavery. It just meant that the owners had to feed and care for their workers. The bankers preferred “the European plan” – capital could exploit labor by controlling the money supply, while letting the laborers feed themselves. This ploy was revealed in a document called the Hazard Circular, July 1862. It said:
Slavery is likely to be abolished by the war power and chattel slavery destroyed. This, I and my European friends are glad of, for slavery is but the owning of labor and carries with it the care of the laborers, while the European plan, led by England, is that capital shall control labor by controlling wages. This can be done by controlling the money. The great debt that capitalists will see to is made out of the war, must be used as a means to control the volume of money. To accomplish this, the bonds must be used as a banking basis… It will not do to allow the greenback, as it is called, to circulate as money any length of time, as we cannot control that. (Quoted in Banking and Currency and the Money Trust, Charles Lindberg, 1913, p 102.)
In other words, there were 4 million slaves not owned by the bankers, but by those who provided for their needs and controlled their labor. This was a significant number that could be added to the economy, which would mean more profit for the bankers and money would control labor. These slaves and their owners were self-sufficient, living off the land as free people, independent of the bankers. Isn’t that the way it should be?
In Web of Debt, p. 90-91, author Ellen H. Brown explains how the bankers’ plan came about:
The system the bankers wanted to preserve was what Henry Clay and Henry Carey had called the “British system,” with its twin weapons of “free trade” and the “gold standard” keeping the less industrialized countries in a colonial state, supplying raw materials to Britain’s factories. The American South had already been subjugated in this way, and the bankers had now set their sights on the North, to be reeled in with usurious war loans; but Lincoln had refused to take the bait. …But they achieved their end by other means. While one faction in Congress was busy getting the Greenbacks issued to fund the war, another faction was preparing a National Banking Act that would deliver a monopoly over the power to create the nation’s money supply to the Wall Street bankers and their European affiliates. The National Banking Act was promoted as establishing safeguards for the new national banking system; but while it was an important first step toward a truly national bank, it was only a compromise with the bankers, and buried in the fine print, it gave them exactly what they wanted. A private communication from a Rothschild investment house in London to an associate banking firm in New York dated June 25, 1863, confided: “The few who understand the system will either be so interested in its profits or so dependent upon its favors that there will be no opposition from that class while, on the other hand, the great body of people, mentally incapable of comprehending… will bear its burdens without complaint (Robert Owen, National Economy and the Banking System, 1939). [emphasis mine]
Once again, as with the Constitution (regardless of the Bill of Rights), our enemy got what they needed in the banking act to enslave the American people. The Rothschild family financed the destruction of the South and the wars that have followed. The 19th century became known as the age of the Rothschild’s when it was estimated they controlled half of the world’s wealth. According to historian, Eliott Germain, Truth in History,
Russia openly exposed the Secret Societies, which instigated and ran the French Revolution. The Czar even sent ships to the American coasts during the War of 1861 because he did not want to see America suffer the same fate as Europe {from the Napoleonic Wars}. In 1905, Russia sent a publication throughout the Western world exposing a plan by secret societies to end the sovereignty of every nation for the creation of a one-world government.
The internationalist goal of a “new world order” was already working behind the scenes. It had also been the goal of the secret societies that America would become the “New Atlantis.” Had the North allowed the South to go their own way their empire would have been slowed or stopped. If Rothschild and the bankers had been exposed (and they are being exposed today because of the internet), there may have been at least two independently wealthy countries in North America: the United States of America and the Confederate States of America. Or, they may have rejoined later. Whatever plans these “banksters” had for America (be it divided or united), they had to be in control.
The South believed in in “the law of compact,” claiming that each party can decide on its own judgment, whether the other has lived up to its terms. Northern historians claim the federal government was not guilty of any non-compliance with the Constitution, and therefore secession was not justified. However, many Unionists also believed in the right of secession. The secession argument roots from the Federalist vs. Anti-Federalist battle (previously discussed). Many of the Anti-Federalists did not live to see the War of 1861, but it proved to be just what they had warned about when a country was sectionalized over slavery, economics, and western expansion.
The South Carolina Secession Convention became the model for the other states which followed. In its “Declaration of the Immediate Causes Which Induce and Justify the Secession of South Carolina from the Federal Union,” December 24, 1860, it cites South Carolina’s 1852 threat to secede and gave as reasons “the frequent violations of the Constitution of the United States by the Federal Government, and its encroachments upon the reserved rights of the sovereign States of this Union, especially in relation to slavery.” It goes on with a history lesson mentioning our “Declaration of Independence” from Britain and that the colonies, “are, and of right ought to be, FREE AND INDEPENDENT STATES; and that as free and independent States, they have full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do.” This being established it goes on how South Carolina entered into the compact known as the “Articles of Confederation” and later the “Constitution of the United States.” South Carolina’s Declaration goes on:
Thus was established, by compact between the States, a Government with defined objects and powers, limited to the express words of the grant. This limitation left the whole remaining mass of power subject to the clause reserving it to the States or the people, and rendered unnecessary any specification of reserved rights. We hold that the government thus established is subject to the two great principles asserted in the Declaration of independence; and we hold further that the mode of its formation subjects it to a third fundamental principle, namely, the law of compact. We maintain that in every compact between two or more parties, the obligation is mutual; that the failure of one of the contracting parties to perform a material part of the agreement, entirely releases the obligation of the other; and that where no arbiter is provided, each party is remitted to his own judgment to determine the fact of failure, with all its consequences. In the present case, that fact is established with certainty. We assert that fourteen of the States have deliberately refused for years past to fulfill their constitutional obligations, and we refer to their own statutes for the proof.
The Declaration then goes into those statutes and concludes how “a sectional party” has found “the means of subverting the Constitution itself.” It concludes,
On the 4th of March next, this party will take possession of the Government. It has announced that the South shall be excluded from the common territory, that the Judicial tribunal shall be made sectional, and that a war must be waged against Slavery until it shall cease throughout the United States.
The guarantees of the Constitution will then no longer exist; the equal rights of the States will be lost. The Slaveholding States will no longer have the power of self-government, or self-protection, and the Federal Government will have become their enemy.
Sectional interest and animosity will deepen the irritation; and all hope of remedy is rendered vain, by the fact that the public opinion at the North has invested a great political error with the sanctions of a more erroneous religious belief.
We, therefore, the people of South Carolina, by our Delegates in Convention assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, have solemnly declared that the Union heretofore existing between this State and the other States of North America is dissolved, and that the State of South Carolina has resumed her position among the nations of the world, as a separate and independent state, with full power to levy war, conclude peace, contract alliances, establish commerce, and to do all other acts and things which independent States may of right do.
It appears biblical to me that if a compact is broken then the parties may go their own way. This is seen in the fact that God divorced (See Jeremiah 3:8) Israel when she had broken the compact she made at Mt. Sinai. This is also shown in the words of the Declaration of Independence of July 4, 1776, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government….”
President Davis, in his “Message to the Confederate Congress About Ratification of the Constitution,” April 29th 1861, gave a history lesson on how the then colonies formed a compact in order to defend themselves against British invasion. He expresses what some call the “compact theory”; I quote in part:
Under this contract of alliance [speaking of the Articles of Confederation], the war of the Revolution was successfully waged, and resulted in the treaty of peace with Great Britain in 1783, by the terms of which the several States were each by name recognized to be independent. The Articles of Confederation contained a clause whereby all alterations were prohibited unless confirmed by the Legislatures of every State after being agreed to by Congress; and in obedience to this provision, under the resolution of Congress of the 21st of February, 1787, the several State appointed delegates who attended a convention “for the sole and express purpose of revising the Articles of Confederation and reporting to Congress and the several Legislatures such alterations and provisions therein as shall, when agreed to in Congress and confirmed by the States, render the Federal Constitution adequate to the exigencies of Government and the preservation of the Union.” It was by the delegates chosen by the several States under the resolution just quoted that the Constitution of the United States was framed in 1787 and submitted to the several States for ratification, as shown the seventh article….
Davis then quotes that article and mentions he has “italicized certain words in the quotations just made for the purpose of attracting attention to the singular and marked caution with which the States endeavored in every possible form to exclude the idea that the separate and independent sovereignty of each State was merged into one common government and nation, and the earnest desire they evinced to impress on the Constitution its true character that of a compact between independent States.” He then goes on with a very interesting admission:
The Constitution of 1787, having, however, omitted the clause already recited from the Articles of Confederation, which provided in explicit terms that each State retained its sovereignty and independence, some alarm was felt in the States, lest this omission should be construed into an abandonment of their cherished principle, and they refused to be satisfied until amendments were added to the Constitution placing beyond any pretense of doubt the reservation by the States of all their sovereign rights and powers not expressly delegated to the United States by the Constitution. – Jefferson Davis
What, the clause providing for State sovereignty – the “cherished principle” – was omitted from the new Constitution (although to some degree in the 10th Amendment)? Is this why the federal government does as it pleases regardless of what we say, do, or vote? This is a huge fault in the present Constitution and the main cause of the War of 1861. Patrick Henry and the Anti-Federalists were right; and the South was right too.
Strange, indeed, must it appear to the impartial observer, but it is none the less true that all these carefully worded clauses proved unavailing to prevent the rise and growth in the Northern States of a political school which has persistently claimed that the government thus formed was not a compact between States, but was in effect a national government, set up above and over the States. An organization created by the States to secure the blessings of liberty and independence against foreign aggression, has been gradually perverted into a machine for their control in their domestic affairs. The creature has been exalted above its creators; the principles have been made subordinate to the agent appointed by themselves. – Jefferson Davis
The big question for Americans should be: which came first, the States or the federal government? Most today would say the Federal government. Yet, the signers of the Declaration of Independence announced to the world “That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be Free and Independent States.” States is plural – it does not say State. Indeed, in the treaty ending the war, Great Britain agreed to the terms of peace not with one nation, but with each of her former colonies. These colonies became the States under the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union, enacted on March 1, 1781. Unionists like to emphasize the word perpetual in the above title and say that the union under the federal government is permanent and therefore secession was not legal. But, the Articles were done away with when the Constitution of 1787 took its place; so where was its perpetuity? It was gone – each State seceded from it and established a new union by ratifying the Constitution! The States that did not ratify remained under the Articles. Try as hard as they might, the Unionists cannot find any language in the Constitution mentioning perpetuity or permanence (this ambiguity proved fatal to thousands); and even if they could prove permanence, it would mean that the Constitution is antithetical to the Declaration of Independence (a secessionist document). Our fathers brought forth thirteen new nations. The union of those thirteen independent nation-states was known as these united States, not this United States.
Many Unionists like to quote President Andrew Jackson’s words, “The Federal Union – it must be preserved.” Yet few quote from his later explanation that a union could not be preserved by force because the Union he referred to was a voluntary union, and force would, in and of itself, destroy the very thing it was supposed to preserve. C. C. Burr, editor of Judge Upshur’s book, The Federal Government: Its True Nature and Character, p. 104, noted:
The name of our federation is not Consolidated States, but United States. A number of States held together by coercion, or the point of a bayonet, would not be a Union. Union is necessarily voluntary – the act of choice, free association. Nor can this voluntary system be changed to one of force without the destruction of “The Union.” The Austrian Empire is composed of several States, as the Hungarians, the Poles, the Italians, etc., but it cannot be called a Union – it is Despotism. Is the relation between Russia and bayonet held Poland a Union? Is it not an insult and a mockery to call the compulsory relation between England and Ireland a Union? In all these cases there is only such a union as exist between the jaws of the wolf and the lamb. A Union of States necessarily implies separate sovereignties, voluntarily acting together. And to bruise these distinct sovereignties into one mass of power is, simply, to destroy the Union – to overthrow our system of government.
Some Northerners also like to mention that Robert E. Lee was against secession, but we know which side he finally chose when the line was drawn.
A well-known book of the time on Constitutional law was William Rawle’s Views of the Constitution, which was used at West Point Military Academy. Rawle said that the people held the right to “determine how they will be governed.” He goes on to say that this right was an “ingredient in the original composition of the general government.” This is a reflection of Jefferson’s words in the Declaration of Independence that a just government was on based on the consent of the governed. This is a natural result of us being a free people, acting through our agent, the State, to give or take away the right of a government to rule over us. Rawle explains how a state should withdraw:
To withdraw from the Union is a solemn, serious act. Whenever it may appear expedient to the people of a state, it must be manifested in a direct and unequivocal manner.
As an American, Rawle knew that the Union was dear to all and offered many advantages to member states. But, as an American, he also knew that when the people of a state felt those advantages no longer existed and the Union had become a threat to their happiness, the very reason for the existence of the Union was no longer valid. The words of the first popular war song of the South “The Bonnie Blue Flag”, expresses this well, “As long as the Union was faithful to her trust, like friends and like brethren kind were we and just. But now that Northern treachery attempts our rights to mar, we hoist on high the Bonnie Blue Flag that bears the single star.” In song and deed, the Southern people were saying that the North had lost sight of the real reason for its existence.
Before the war started, President James Buchanan petitioned the Attorney General to determine whether the United States could invade and force those seceding States to obey the laws of the Union. In his response of 20 November 1860, Attorney General Jeremiah Black issued several opinions as to what the U. S. might do legally. In short, the President learned, (1) he could not invade States under powers granted him by the Constitution and could only do so legally by Court order; (2) an illegal invasion by Congress would dissolve the entire Union, and if States were treated as enemies they could retaliate in whatever form chosen as necessary; (3) Congress had no power to displace that of the States and if Congress puts “enmity and armed hostility… will not all the States be absolved from their federal obligation” and; (4) the only legal way was to accuse and bring them before a Court of law. The judicial question is, did the U. S. government provide due process before taking life, liberty and property from the States and people in 1861 and thereafter? Can anyone find a summons or judicial hearing of any kind or where Congress judged and sentenced the States? No! A clear violation of the Fifth Amendment.
The North went to war to “prove” that the right of secession did not exist (in their view of the constitution). However, after winning the war, the North required the Southern states to put a clause in their new state constitutions surrendering the right of secession before they could rejoin the Union. Uh, how could a state give up that which it never had (in their view)? This requirement of the North proved that the South did have the right of secession after all. What was the cause of the war? In one word – secession.
A Just War?
At the start of War of 1861, the North numbered about 20 million people; the South had only 8 million, 4 million who were slaves. The North was also open to immigration, which the blockaded South was not. It is estimated that over 400,000 mercenary troops (Irish and German immigrants) were enrolled in the Northern army. However, even with this advantage in Northern manpower alone, more boys in blue (over 364,000) were killed than boys in grey (329,000). This is a Northern figure and does not include the white seniors, women, and children; nor does it include the African-American servants and their families. By the end of the war, 693,000 combatants lay dead – a whole generation of young Israelite men – more servicemen than were killed in World Wars I & II, Korea, and Vietnam combined. Some Southern historians estimate that 2 million Southerners died during the war: 1 million whites (out of 8 million) and probably as many as 1 million blacks (out of 4 million). In short, 12.5 percent of all Southern whites died, while 25 percent of all Southern blacks died. This was a genocidal bloodbath for both races. There is no record of how many Asians, Native-Americans, or Hispanics died.
Speaking of the Yankee myth that the Confederacy fought to preserve slavery, the Kennedy brothers, in their book The South Was Right, p 34, makes this point:
The absurdity of this myth can be seen by understanding that it has been estimated that from seventy to eighty percent of the Confederate soldiers and sailors were not slave owners! Now let’s try to put the extent of the Southern sacrifice into some type of modern perspective. During World War II, the United States lost approximately three hundred thousand military personnel. If the United States had lost personnel in World War II at the same rate (per capita) as the South did during the War for Southern Independence, the loss of American lives in World War II would not have been three hundred thousand but instead six million!
Who in his right mind could honestly claim that the Southern soldiers and sailors, the vast majority of whom were not slave owners, went to war against a numerically superior foe and endured four long years of hardships, all in order to allow a few rich men to keep their slaves? Yet, the Yankee myth of history has been so pervasive that this is the message that our children usually receive from the educational system paid for by our taxes.
Today most white people and reconstructed southerners in particular, accept their assigned position of guilt for slavery without one word of protest.
The Yankee myth that slavery caused the secession of the South and therefore the war can be proven false by a little known incident in 1850. A dispute arose when a federal army officer called a convention to form the state of New Mexico on land that was claimed by Texas. The governor of Texas called for force to be used to maintain the integrity of Texas. War was averted by a compromise giving Texas ten million dollars and 33,333 square miles of land. This near war was not about slaves but about land; and it almost caused secession ten years before South Carolina seceded.
In early 1820, before slavery had been used by the North as an issue against the South and after the financial panic of 1819 concerning mismanagement of the Bank of the United States, a Kentuckian predicted that events would continue “…with a steady pace, to civil war and dissolution of the union.” About the same time, Thomas Cooper, president of South Carolina College said, “We shall ere long be forced to calculate the value of our Union, to ask of what use is an unequal alliance by which the South has always been the loser and the North always the winner.” (A History of the South, Francis B. Simkins, p. 97, 100) These two examples, at this early date, show that Southerners were expressing the need to separate from the North – even if there had been no question about slavery.
Lincoln’s immortal words, “a government of the people, by the people, and for the people” may have stirred the patriotism of Northerners, but it was exactly what Jefferson Davis and Southerners believed in, and yet were denied. The South did not want a war; and many (on both sides) hated the abolitionist movement. The right of the Southern states to govern themselves was at stake – the moral issue of slavery was irrelevant. History shows that all secession wars are fought over land and resources. Money and empire building was the real motivation for the North to wage war. Negotiations did not matter and law was ignored – if the Constitution was brought up, it was only the Constitution according to Lincoln.
Not only were American laws violated, but so were the laws of nations. The Dutch lawyer, Hugo Grotius, today known as the “father of modern international law,” first wrote down these laws, known and held for centuries by civilized societies. His work, The Law of War and Peace, was translated into English (1646) and found its way into libraries and courts all over Europe. Grotius discussed the concept of a just war and concluded that “authorities generally assign to wars three justifiable causes: defense, recovery of property, and punishment.” The principles of international law were known and taught at West Point by General Halleck. No general during the War of Northern Aggression could claim ignorance of the laws of war, especially the laws against plunder and devastation of private property. Lincoln fired Halleck in 1864 and appointed Grant as the top commander. The laws of war were ignored, especially during the last year of the war by Grant, Sherman and Sheridan.
Major General W. T. Sherman wrote from Vicksburg on January 31, 1864:
The Government of the United States has … any and all rights which they choose to enforce in war – to take their lives, their homes, their lands, their everything…. War is simply power unrestrained by constitution…. To the persistent secessionist, why, death is mercy, and the quicker he or she is disposed of the better….
Note that Sherman is not making these remarks in the heat of battle, but while writing to subordinates. He also claims the right to execute all secessionists, female or male. Some alleged super-patriots feel the government can do no wrong and would defend the general and say he was only exaggerating. Yet, look at his remarks five months later in a letter on June 21 to Secretary of War, Stanton: “There is a class of people, men, women and children, who must be killed or banished before you can hope for peace and order.” Now Sherman has expanded his target to children instead of softening his position. However, this is not all of the matter. Secretary Stanton replied, “Your letter of the 21st of June has just reached me and meets my approval.”
Witness an order from General Halleck, chief of staff in Washington, as he relayed an order from General Grant, “General Grant…directs that…you…make all the valleys south of the Baltimore and Ohio road a desert….” Who can survive in a desert? Where are displaced civilians and refugees supposed to go, or what are they to eat? A report from Louisiana by an officer of the Union Army, boastfully wrote in his official report,
No squad of men … can live anywhere we have been. The people have neither seed, corn, nor bread or mills to grind the corn if they had it, as I burned them wherever found. …I have taken from these people the mules with which they would raise a crop the coming year, and burned every surplus grain of corn….
This is genocide by starvation, is it not? Notice the words of Sherman to Grant on October 9, 1864, “Until we can repopulate Georgia, it is useless to occupy it, but the utter destruction of its roads, houses, and people will cripple their military resources….” Utter destruction of its people? Philip Sheridan also got in on the action as per his communiqué dated October 11, 1864, to General Grant, “…Guerrilla parties …are becoming very formidable…. I know of no way to exterminate them except to burn out the whole country.” Exterminate – are we talking about insects here? They burned everything – a Southern holocaust!
General Sheridan received this letter of encouragement from General Sherman:
I am satisfied… that the problem of this war consists in the awful fact that the present class of men who rule the South must be killed outright rather than in the conquest of territory… a great deal of it, yet remains to be done…. Therefore, I shall expect you on any and all occasions to make bloody results.
On January 21, 1865, Sherman sent this communiqué, “The people of the South… see… the sure and inevitable destruction of all their property…. They see in the repetition of such raids the inevitable result of starvation and misery.”
These officials and officers of the United States knew their war of aggression against the civilian population would produce starvation and misery. This was a war against all Southerners, black and white. While the U. S. government was on its extermination campaign in the South, it was also attempting to solve its Indian problem in the West. Yankee General John Pope said, “It is my purpose to utterly exterminate the Sioux.” He planned “a final settlement with all these Indians.” Author and historian of the West, Alvin M. Josephy states:
In the harsh atmosphere of the Civil War emergency, the green light was given to an era of stern suppression of the tribes, whose efforts to protect their lands and freedom – and even to avoid starvation and to survive – could be regarded as interfering with the general war effort and giving aid and comfort to the Confederate enemy. (The Civil War in the American West, p. 231)
The North’s final solution to the Indian was the same as with the Southerner – deprive those who were left of their land and then re-educate them so they would become Yankees. The same policy continues today – anyone who deviates from the established political and religious systems is hated and rejected, just as our Lord Jesus Christ. This government hates honorable people.
Lincoln and his generals violated the laws of nations, and Northern historians seem to ignore this fact. Sherman had determined to make Georgia an “example to rebels” and liked to brag that Southern maps would have to be re-drawn after he and his troops passed by. He literally wiped towns (like Meridian, Mississippi) off the face of the earth. When Sheridan cut his swath of destruction through the Shenandoah Valley, Lincoln conveyed the “thanks of the Nation and my own personal admiration and gratitude.” In contrast, very few Northern cities were touched by the war and most Northern states were completely spared and would not have any reason to think that a major military conflict was raging across the continent. In the words of an unreconstructed historian, Lochlainn Seabrook:
Most of the North’s citizens never saw the horrors of the War on their doorstep; never had to flee from an approaching army; never had to watch their home being torn down; never had their nostrils filled with the pungent smoke of the battlefield and the stench of rotting bodies; never heard the screams of loved ones who had been shot or bayoneted; never had to defend themselves against an enemy who robbed, torched, raped, pillaged, and blasted its way through their communities; and never received a government letter saying that their son, brother, or father had been tortured, then intentionally starved to death in a Southern military prison (as nearly 6,000 Rebel soldiers were at Lincoln’s notorious Camp Douglas in Chicago). Most Northerners also never saw their schools, churches, hospitals, and libraries senselessly blown apart; never saw their factories demolished, their railroads ripped up, their crop fields set ablaze; never witnessed their pets and livestock being tortured, killed or stolen; never saw their businesses torn down, every structure turned to rubble, or their entire countryside laid waste (Everything You Were Taught about the Civil War is Wrong, 2012, p. 28).
As Sherman and Sheridan were devastating civilian life and property, sixteen European nations met in Geneva, Switzerland, to codify the laws of war. The civilized world was motivated by the suffering of injured soldiers during the Crimean War, which had recently ended, and were also motivated by what the Northern armies were doing in America. The conventions codified the century-old laws of war at Geneva (1863) and The Hague (1899) and decreed that:
Attacking defenseless cities and towns was a war crime.
Plundering and wantonly destroying civilian property was a war crime.
Only necessities could be taken from a civilian population and had to be paid for.
Lincoln and his generals violated all these laws, knowingly and willingly, and should have been tried as war criminals. This is how they won the war along with an endless supply of resources (human and material) – they starved them out.
The American Revolutionary War set civilized examples that Sherman and Sheridan could have followed. That war too was a war for secession, and the purpose, from the British standpoint, was to bring the colonies back into the empire. The British, like the Northerners, called Americans “rebels” and “traitor” as well. Both of these wars were for the same purpose. In contrast, the British avoided atrocities and devastation of property. They wanted the colonists to return as willing subjects, not as a crushed and devastated people. It is true that there were atrocities on both sides of the wars, but not as policy by the commanders, except for the War of Northern Aggression where it was the policy all the way up to the commander in chief. That helps explain why reconciliation was never achieved by that generation or following ones. Reconciliation was one war objective that the Union lost; setting the stage for the guerilla tactics of the Ku Klux Klan and other militant groups, which aided the White man in regaining political power and control of Southern society. In the end, after a decade or so, Southerners expelled the Yankees from their homeland. This is why Southerners have traditionally voted for Democrats. In the final analysis, both sides lost the war, for since then America has suffered the loss of freedom from subsequent amendments to the constitution and the antagonism of the black race. Even if Lincoln’s military had behaved according to civilized decency, his purpose of “preserving the Union” finds no support in the laws of war as a just cause. In addition, Biblical Law was also violated, for in I Kings 12:21-24 we read:
And when Rehoboam was come to Jerusalem, he assembled all the house of Judah, with the tribe of Benjamin, an hundred and fourscore thousand chosen men, which were warriors, to fight against the house of Israel, to bring the kingdom again to Rehoboam the son of Solomon. But the word of God came unto Shemaiah the man of God, saying, Speak unto Rehoboam, the son of Solomon, king of Judah, and unto all the house of Judah and Benjamin, and to the remnant of the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, Ye shall not go up, nor fight against your brethren the children of Israel: return every man to his house; for this thing is from me. They hearkened therefore to the word of the Lord, and returned to depart, according to the word of the Lord. [Emphasis mine]
The North did exactly that; they launched a war of aggression against their racial brethren. Where was the man of God in the churches of the North? Why didn’t the church oppose Lincoln? Because they had already believed the lie of the “equality of all men” (because “all races came from Adam”) and were too busy supporting the abolitionist movement to listen to God.
Politicians always have an excuse to do whatever it is they want. Lincoln had to find another excuse besides the Sumter incident to make war. He had to deny these states their right to “the consent of the governed.” To him they were not freedom fighters, fighting for independence – they were conspirators and traitors, and he was simply putting down an unlawful rebellion (this is why he called it a “civil war”). He could ignore their constitutional processes of secession by popular vote. He came up with his “preserving the Union” theory and Northerners bought the idea. They invaded the South to destroy Southerners’ right to self-determination because it was a good for them politically and economically. Northern commercial interests demanded Union, on their terms. That is why ordinary civilians during the war years called it “a rich man’s war, and a poor man’s fight.”
Northerners promote the propaganda to support Lincoln’s War as a “just war.” Now that you know the truth, you know the absurdity of the words from the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” by the radical abolitionist, Julia Ward Howe, “Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord; He is trampling out the vintage where the grapes of wrath are stored.” Both sides claimed to have God on their side. The U.S.A. asserts that because they won they were right. Thus, the C.S.A., because they lost, were wrong and unjust in their cause. Can this be true? Not necessarily: the U.S. has participated in wars in which they ended in a standoff or actually lost, such as the War of 1812, Korean War, and Vietnam War. If winning is the sole criteria in judging the right or wrong of a warring nation, then we would have to judge that we were wrong and immoral in these conflicts as well. Are we to believe that “might makes right” or that God is on the side with the biggest army? No! The South stood for everything morally good: family values, faith, tradition, a free market economy, a love of agriculture, animals and the land. And, the North: commercial values, skepticism, progress, a controlled market, and love of industry and money.
The North claimed that God was using them to punish the South for slavery. But, the war dragged on and was becoming very unpopular. The guilt-ridden Lincoln tried to exculpate himself because of the carnage. His logic was to bring God into the picture and say it was punishment to both sides for their participation in slavery. So now, it was God’s war and God has his purposes; thus, Lincoln refused to seek peace when the opportunity presented itself many times over the four years. In his second inaugural address he did not quote the words of Jesus “blessed are the peacemakers” but used the words of Jesus recorded by Matthew 18:7, “Woe unto the world because of offences! For it must needs be that offences come; but woe to that man by whom the offence cometh!” These words, pulled from their context, Lincoln applies to the war:
If we shall suppose that American slavery is one of those offenses which, in the providence of God, must needs come, but which, having continued through his appointed time, he now wills be removed and that he gives both North and South this terrible war, as the woe due to those by whom the offense came…. Yet if God wills that it continue until all the wealth piled by the bondsman’s two hundred and fifty years of unrequited toil shall be sunk, and until every drop of blood drawn with the lash shall be paid by another drawn with the sword, so still it must be said, “The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.”
But, if slavery was so wrong and America was being punished by a righteous God with the blood of a whole generation of young men (nearly 700,000 combatants), then why wasn’t the rest of the western world punished? Why did Britain, France, Denmark, the Netherlands, Sweden and Russia all escape the wrath of God? And, why didn’t Jesus, Paul, or any of the prophets over the many centuries say something about the inhumanity (and/or the sin) of slavery?
The answer, of course, is that slavery was not wrong; and that Lincoln’s War had not gone so well. God had not given any support for their invasion of the South. If God were on the side of the Northern crusade, surely He would have given them tremendous victories on the battlefield, as He did Joshua in bringing down the walls of Jericho and stopping the sun in the sky. To the contrary, the South had similar great successes on the battlefield. It was as if Robert E. Lee were a Moses, a Joshua, or a William Wallace. The war did not end slavery but only extended it from the black man only, to both black and white men (or anyone who becomes a U.S. citizen under the 14th Amendment). Furthermore, the federal government has used the slavery issue to hide its collective guilt for its illegal and unlawful war and abuse of other inhabitants on this continent that happened to be in the way of its empire. Certainly, there was nothing just about this war.
Robert E. Lee’s final words of wisdom came about a month before his death in 1870. Under the yoke of Reconstruction and its military dictatorship, Lee was invited by a Union general to arrange a meeting with a number of leading ex-Confederates. The general asked Lee to make a statement, supposedly to indicate how happy he was to be back in the Union. Lee said no. He had seen the ugliness of Northern occupation. However, he did set up a meeting for many ex-Confederates to have a say. The last to leave the meeting was the former Confederate governor of Texas, Fletcher Stockdale. Lee took him aside and said,
Governor, if I had foreseen the use those people designed to make of their victory, there would have been no surrender at Appomattox Courthouse; no sir, not by me. Had I foreseen these results of subjugation, I would have preferred to die at Appomattox with my brave men, my sword in my right hand.
In his final words, Lee pointed out the disaster that Reconstruction had brought to the South and to the whole country. The ugly peace was only victory for Republican and Northern control over the nation. The corruption and abuse of the Northern armies during Reconstruction (against the wishes of Lincoln) produced a hatred that lingered well into the 20th century. Southern whites got a raw deal from Republicans and they took out their wrath on the newly emancipated blacks, which got the rawest deal of all for over a hundred years. All of this, including the war, could have been avoided if slavery was allowed to fade away naturally. America is sometimes criticized for being the last country in the world to abolish slavery. However, we should remember that the South was a more suitable agricultural climate than the North or countries of Europe. And, these countries (North included) bought goods from Southern slave labor just as America does today from places like China.
At first, Lincoln’s logic showed that the purpose of the war was to maintain the Union because the Constitution (allegedly) did not allow secession. Once joined you are in it forever (sound familiar – the same today with a Social Security number). Then after two years of military disasters, Lincoln brought out the abolition purpose. Now it had become God’s war. But, in reality all these “purposes” were just a smoke screen to hide the North’s desire for economic control over the South. Today, Americans think Lincoln was a good, kind, and wonderful president. He is everywhere – from the Lincoln Memorial in our capital, to the pennies in our pocket. The myth of Lincoln should be seen as an example of how Americans cannot assess their history objectively because so many historical facts are unknown to them. Yet, almost everyone has heard of Sherman’s march to the sea. They should ask; if Lincoln was so great, why did such atrocities take place?
Northerners like to refer to Secessionists as “Rebels.” However, the North forsook the founding principles! There was nothing in the constitution about the “equality of all men” but rather “to ourselves and our Posterity.” The invasion of the South was a coup against the democratic process. Lincoln set the stage for an all-powerful empire in which the states were relegated to not much more than county status. Out of this war, we have seen the emergence of an “imperial presidency” in which presidents can launch wars and spend money without congressional approval; in fact, they can rule by decree like the consuls of Rome. Thus, Lincoln did more to destroy the original Union than preserve it. It is a union by coercion, much like the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. The proper place of Lincoln in American history is with the liberal trinity: F.D.R., Wilson and Lincoln. He had the same values as they did; he advanced the country toward unlimited government as they did; he was willing to use foreigners (war mercenaries) and minority groups against his own people; etc. Lincoln’s War changed America from these united States (plural) with self-rule, to the United States (singular) with centralized federal rule. Our various states are no longer free, independent, or sovereign nations within a confederacy as was the original confederation of the founding fathers. This was the purpose of the so-called “Civil War” – to form us into one Nation (or Empire). This was fully realized with the Act of 1871, when the United States became a private corporation. Ever since the surrender at Appomattox, we have been under a forced union. Some time after the war, Robert E. Lee said, “All we ever wanted was for the country to continue as it was founded.”
Why did the North win? Why does abortion continue? Why does the government spy on everyone? Evil continues because we are living under the temporary reign of the anti-Christs. We may never know this side of eternity, why bad things happen to good people. Maybe we should consider the thought that the South lost because they were too tolerant of the Judeo-Christian doctrine of the brotherhood of all races. Surely, the doctrines of this corrupted version of the Christian faith had spread throughout America at the time. Had the South known they were God’s covenant people, Israel, and were to be separate, maybe God would have delivered them. As it stood, most Christians, following their churches’ doctrine, were unaware of their identity and uninformed of their responsibility for separation. Therefore, God did not choose to deliver, and has allowed our tribulation to continue to this day. When will we start following God’s Laws?
Perhaps we should view the War for Southern Independence as a continuation of the American War for Independence – for, as the South was beaten into submission, so have the American people been beaten into serfdom by an over-bearing federal government. Historian Charles Adams said, “If it [War of the Rebellion] had succeeded, it would have been called the Second American Revolution.” The Southerners were the last patriots to fight for their God-given rights and responsibilities. They saw their country going in the wrong direction, just as we do today. The only thing they could do was to separate, for they certainly could not change the Northern power structure and it was the only way to preserve freedom for their people. Perhaps there is a lesson here for today’s patriots: instead of asserting our rights under the Constitution, we should assert God’s authority under His Law against an unjust government. It is our responsibility under God’s Law that is superior to any right granted by the government. We should also consider the main flaw of the Constitution: it gave too much power to the federal government, especially after the war through additional Amendments; and, it does not provide penalties for evildoers. The Anti-Federalists were right, for if we had kept the Articles of Confederation, the War of 1861 would likely have never taken place.
Today we do not live in America as founded in 1776, or certainly as founded in 1620; we live in an Empire. Now we are in bondage to a huge federal government (actually, they are to serve us) and slaves to an economic system that slowly strangles (inflation) and robs (taxation) us of what little wealth we have. America is no longer a blessing to all the nations of the world – instead (as the Bible predicted of the Israel people), we have become the tail, not the head economically; and our military has become the bully forcing “democracy” around the globe. The War of 1861 was the end of a free country and the first step in global domination by the anti-Christs. We are now a century and a half after that war and our country is dissolving (racially, culturally, and economically) before our eyes; yet, all the average bubba has on his mind is football scores. We need a revolution based on the Law of God to correct our government. May God give us a new Moses and restore us in our promised land.
‹ Investigating the War of 1861 Part 1 up Investigating the War of 1861 Part 3 ›
The New Covenant Messenger
Click here to see all issues
cassette to mp3 instructions
Basic Christian Identity Teachings
Acquired Identity Syndrome
Acquired Identity Syndrome Part 1
America, the Dialectic
Are the Sacraments Necessary?
Are the Sacraments Necessary? - Part 1
Bearing His Reproach
Christian Identity Basics
Christian Identity Basics - Part 1
Christian Identity Basics - Part 10
Church of the Slam Dunk
Church of the Slam Dunk Part 1
Come to the Truth
Congregations of Blasphemers
Digging in The Wall
Four Hundred & Thirty Years
I Love to Hate
Israelite Migrations
Israelite Migrations - Part 1
It's Going to Get Worse; It's Going to Get Better
It's Going to Get Worse
It's Going to Get Better
It's the Betrayal, Stupid
Least of These My Brethren
Make America Born Again
Maturing in Christ
National Covenant Renewal
O Lazarus, Where Art Thou?
O Lazarus, Where Art Thou? Part 1
Original Sin - Part 1
Our First Love
Paul: The First Christian Israel Identity Minister
People Part 1
People - Part 2
Repentance You Can Count On
Spirit Steady – Combat Ready
Spirit Steady – Combat Ready Part 1
Stand Your Ground Part 1
Study on Hosea
Hosea Chapter One
Hosea Chapter Two
The Adoption of Adaption
The Advantages of Praising God
The Church and The Kingdom
The Godliness of Courage
The Grandson of Esau
The Inspired Word
The Inspired Word Part 1
The Justice in Mercy
The Justice in Mercy Part 1
The Old Man: Dead on Arrival
The Old Man: Dead on Arrival Part 1
The Seven Times Punishment
The Shining Light of Glory
The Shining Light of Glory Part 1
The Sword Of The New Covenant
The Ungodliness of Being a Coward
Unasked Questions
Unasked Questions Part 1
Who Chooses Whom?
Why Do We Suffer?
Wind Part 1
You Eat What You Are
You Eat What You Are Part 1
2 Corinthians 6:14 interpretation
A Little Slice of Heaven
Abraham's Family
Abraham's Heritage
America's Choice
Another Isaac
Anti-Semite
Biblical History
Biblical History Part 1
Biblical History Part 10
Choose Ye This Day
Christ Killers
Christian Identity: What Is It?
Christianity's Rival
Commentary of the New Testament
Dallas Malice
Daniels Punishment
David's Family Life
Deuteronomy Part 1
Deuteronomy Part 10
Different Twins
Do You Remember Your Funeral?
Eyes That See
Eyes That See - Part 1
False Brethren
Get Off the Fence
God Severed Israel
God, Guns and Government
How Can We Have Victory?
How Much Do You Love Truth?
I Don't Have Time
Israel Forsook the Lord and Served Baal
Israel Forsook the Lord and Served Baal - Part 1
It Took a Long Time
Jeremiah's Denial
Joshua 4: The Two Twelve Stone Memorials
King Palindrome
Kingdom Parables
Love Not the World
Mount Gerizim Temple Worship
Mount Gerizim Temple Worship - Part 1
National Covenant Revival
Pastor Lawrence's Bible Study
Bible Study Notes: "Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant"
Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant Promise: To Become Many Nations, Part 1
Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Covenant Promises: To Become Kings, Part 1
To Possess the Gates of their Enemies
Covenant Heritage Series
Perception of Reality
Samson, You Died Too Young
Scatterers and Gatherers
Sheep Behavior
Taking Dominion
Taking Dominion Part 1
Taking the Lord's Name in Vain
Talking, Walking and Racing
Talking, Walking and Racing, Part 2
That Still Small Voice
The "Two Nations"
The Big Flaw in the Bible
The Death Of Our Saviour
The Death of our Savior, Part 2
The Destructive Spirit of a Hypocrite
The Elect Lady
The Energy of Error
The Fulfillment of the Law
The Future of Prophecy
The Future of Prophecy Part 1
The Future of Prophecy Part 10
The Gold Nugget
The Illusion of Free Will
The Immigration Policy & Biblical Prophecy
The Joys of Tribulation
The Key To Biblical Understanding
The Minority Prophets
The Mysterious House of Israel
The Perfect Sermon
The Perfect Sermon Part 1
The Power of Faith
The Sin of Greed
The Sinners Favorite Bible Verse
The Will of God is the Word of God
The First Three Shepherds of Israel
The Big Question
The Books of the Bible
Unity and Divisions
What Happened at Bethbarah?
What is the Bible About?
Zaphenathpaneah
Choose This Day Whom You Will Serve
Deception in Our Seminaries
FGCP's “Stand in the gap” against:
How to Identify a False Church
In His Service vs. Lip Service
Is Your Church Unincorporated?
Kingdom Authority
Living With God's Peace
Reject anti-Christ Pastors
State of the Church in Christian Identity
The Three Theological Systems of Christianity
The Walk of Faithfulness
The Worst Church in America
Where Have the Mainstream Denominations Gone?
Did You Know This?
Bank of North America
Benny Hinn -- A Major False Prophet
Burying the Bad Figs in the Sand
Disasters R Us
Fishbein vs Hoxsey
Football is God?
Fulfillment of the Abrahamic Promise
General's Month
Georgia Guide Stones
Information on Sandy Hook
Sandy Hook Contribution Funds
The FBI Crime Report
The Oldest Mothers of a Kindergarten Class
Trooper Halbig on Sandy Hook
Is Martin Luther King Day Christian?
It's My Party and I'll Cry if I Want To
Jordan Battles to Regain "Priceless" Christian Relics
Major Error
Maxine on Health Care
Of Fishers and Hunters
Satan's Deception
Social Security Facts
Sodium Fluoride - a Chemical Weapon
Spirit, Jealousy and Crying
The Age of Illusions: Aleister Crowley and Rock & Roll
The Biggest Error of the Protestant Reformers
The Evils of Multiculturalism
The Ministry of Truth Opens June 21st
The Reason for Miracles
What Made John Nelson Darby So Famous?
What the Talmud Says About the Death of Jesus Christ
Where Does Dispensationalism Come From?
Women On $20
Abraham Lincoln, Political Tyrant
Dangers in the Constitution
Five Hundred Years Since the Reformation
Five Hundred Years Since the Reformation - Part 1
Harvey Reichstag
Hero or Villain?
Identifying Israel by Jim Jester
Deception on Identifying Israel, Part One
Deception on Identifying Israel, Part Two
Deception on Identifying Israel, Part Three
Identifying Israel Part Four: The Scythian Connection
Deception on Identifying Israel, Part Five
Deception on Identifying Israel Part Six: The Missing Years of Christ
Deception on Identifying Israel Part Seven: Out of Asia and Into Europe
Deception on Identifying Israel Part Eight: Israel in the Modern Era
Identifying Israel Part 9: Israel in the Modern Era
Identifying Israel Part 10: The Genealogical Record
Important History Not Being Taught
Important History Not Being Taught Part 1
War of 1861 Part 1
War of 1861 Endnotes
Is the Constitution Christian?
Justice or Injustice?
Lincoln's War
Little Known Facts About the Antebellum South
Little Known Facts about the Reconstruction South
Little Known Facts about the South During the War of 1861
Miracles of Plymouth
My Mother's Fatal Song
Nicholas Biddle
OZ: Behind the Curtain
OZ: Behind the Curtain Part 1
Positive Christianity
Positive Christianity Part 1
Pray For Naphtali
The 9-11 Story in Five Minutes
The Battle of Blood River
The Gettysburg Address
The Great Error of Marxism
The People Who Jesus Cast Out
The Religious Test
The Religious Test Part 1
Two Nations in One Womb
What Happened to America?
What Happened to America? Part 1
Evelyn McCurry
Mark Downey
A Tribute Service to Pastor Mark Downey
Ron Albers
Tressie Mae Ramsey
Jews / Judaism
A Concise Explanation of the Creation of the Jewish People
Amazon Bans Books
An Anti-Semitism True Story
An Identity Rebuttal to Jewish Voice Today
An Identity Rebuttal to Jewish Voice Today Part 1
Fear of the _____
Fear of the _____ Sermon Notes
Fear of the _____ Sermon Addendum
Helen Thomas' Award Abolished
Jewish Control
Jewish Ritual Murder
Judeo-Christianity
Main Center of Jewish Life in the World
Manufacturing Surrender
Michigan Court Case
Michigan Court Case - Part 1
One of the Most Important Events in the History of the Jew
Open Letter to Donald Trump
Secret History of World War I
Silence of the Goats
Six Million Jews
Slave Traders
Stand Up For Israel
The Anti-Paul Movement is Jewish
The Antichrists are Laughing at Us
The Antisemantics of the Word 'Jew'
The Biggest Scam in the World
The Jewish Rabbis Teach What?
Thorns in Your Sides
Thorns in Your Sides Part 1
What Tribe Do The Jews Come From?
When They Had Crucified Jesus
Who Is The Enemy?
Who Owns the Land of Israeli?
Who are "They"
Who does the Bible say killed Jesus Christ?
Who is Behind the Mixing of the Races?
Why We Hate Jews
Why We Hate Jews Part 1
With Jews We Lose
Yashua's Heel Bruised by Judas
2000 Fetuses At Buddhist Temple
Bible Biology
Bible Biology - Part 1
Dating vs. Courting
Early Coca-Cola Ad
Expert Witness Report
False Apostles
In Defense of Paul
MLK meeting in South Carolina
Nursing Homes and Jails
Pyramid of Promise
Shake and Bake Part 1
Should God Bless our Troops? by Dr. Eric Benson
The Azure Standard Rebellion
The Biblical Doctrine of Music
The Handmaiden of God’s Word
God Gives Us a Song
The Email
The Gospel of Health
The Kim Davis Rally
The One Room Schoolhouse of Yesteryear
The State of America's Security
The Worldwide Flood
Three Questions No One Seems To Ask
Upcoming Imprecatory Prayer Event
Where the Federal Income Taxes Go
White History Month
Why We Are Sick
Win for Religious Rights of Prisoners
Christmas Qualms
Christmas by Robert McCurry
Christmas Part 2
The Controversial Jesus and Christmas
The Controversial Jesus and Christmas, Part 1
Easter or Passover
Is Easter Christian?
Judging Xmas
Keep Christ Out of Christmas
Memorial Day, Another Hi-jacked Holiday
Merry Mass of Christ
Midnight Christmas Mass
The Christmas Meme must Perish
The Fourth of July – A Hollow Holiday
The Greatest Passover
The Greatest Passover Part 1
The Unchristian Christmas
The United States of Amorality
What is Christ's-mass?
What's Wrong with Christ's Mass?
What’s So Merry About Christmas?
A Few Answers to "Answers In Genesis"
A Terrible Error Of The Mainstream Churches
America's Disastrous Choice
Another Hoax
Apartheid Church No More
Are All Men Descended from One Blood?
Baal Worship in Judeo-Churchianity
Baal Worship in Judeo-Churchianity Part 1
Black Kali and White Devils
Can't Vote For Romney
Christianity's Crossroads
Christianity's Crossroads Part 1
Communist America
Girl with Dove
Jesus or Bel?
Kundalini in the Church
Lies that Pastors and Priests Tell
Missionary Kid
Missionary Kid Part 1
Mormons in the White House
Nebuchadnezzar's Second Dream
No Good Choice
Pagan Christianity Part 1
Protestantism Destroyed
Protestantism Destroyed Part 1
Protestantism Destroyed Part 2: The Red Mass
Sandy Hook Unity: The Plot Thickens
Super Bowl Halftime Entertainment
The Catholic Menace
The Catholic Menace Part 1
The Chosen of God
The Deification of Man
The Hidden Government
The Key to Happiness
The Religion of the House of Israel
The Rock 'n Roll Church
The Strangeness of Mormonism
The Terrible Error of the Scofield Bible
The Unholy Seed
The Unholy Seed - Part 1
The Unholy Seed - Part 10
The Untaught Doctrine: Election
The World from Adam to Noah
The World from Adam to Noah Part 1
What Is Wrong With Calvinism?
What is Wrong with Catholicism?
Who Chooses?
Who Chooses? Part 1
Who Chooses? Part 10
Whom Will You Serve?
A Christian Inaugural Address - 2013
A Judicial Conundrum
Another United States Government
By What Authority?
Choose God’s Law-Order
Did God Cast Away Part of His People?
Gay Rights Take Precedence Over Culture
Gold and Fiat Currencies
House Social Secretary
If Jesus Ran for President
Imprecatory Prayer campaign 2017
Christian Identity Imprecation Against Fake News
Imprecating the Media
Report on the Imprecatory Campaign
It's Dangerous to be Right
It's Dangerous to be Right Part 1
Jesus Christ for President
Libya's Rebellion
Lies, Lies and More Lies
Lincoln’s War against the Declaration
Make America Hate Again
No! I Will Not Trust In God
Non Consent of the Misgoverned
Talking Politics to Death
The Evil Twins of Israeli
The Founding Fathers: Were They Christian?
The Justice of the Roosting Clintons
The Kurtis Monschke Story
The Kurtis Monschke Story Part 1
The Shocking Origin of the Federal Government
The Shooting at Tuscon
The United States: Oregon Disaster
Virginia Christian Israelite
White Genocide Part 1: The Ultimate Curse
White Genocide Part 2: No Silver Bullet
Who Is Edward Mezvinsky?
Whorlando Changes Nothing
Your Papers Please
Your Papers Please Part 1
‘Gay Pride Week’ in Boston – what the media didn’t report
Apartheid America
Broken Covenant
Destroying the Ban on Interracial Marriage
Dissident Racism
Dissident Racism Part 1: In a Crowded Theater
Dissident Racism Part 2: Above the Fruited Plain
Dissident Racism Part 3: Of the Stars and Bars
Dissident Racism Part 4: The Currency of God
Don't Talk to Strangers
Eliminate Separate Races
Exclusiveness
Exclusiveness Part 1
Going Dark; Going Lite
Going Lite
No Fault Birthing; Weapons of Mass Diversity
O Stranger, Where Art Thou?
O Stranger, Where Art Thou? Part 2
Oneness and Separateness
Overcomers of What?
Overcomers of What? Part 1
Race Mixing is Not Christian
Racism Is not a Bad Word
The Christian Identity Vision
The Friction Christian
The Minority
The Race Traitor Blossoms
The Race Traitor Blossoms – Part 1
The Truth About Lies Part 1
The Truth About Lies Part 2: The Double Mind
The Wolves are Howling Again
To the Michigan Department of Corrections
Universalism On Trial
Universalism On Trial Part 1
Whom Did God Choose?
“One Race, One Blood” – One Lie
A Study of the World's Events
Evolution - Revolution
JFK on Secret Societies
Sandy Hook's Familiar Spirits
Strange Happenings
The Battle Hymn of the Republic
The Battle Hymn of the Republic, Part 1
The Curse of Canaan
The Illuminati's Biggest Secret
The Illuminati's Music World (Lady GaGa)
The Invisible Government
The Olympics: Showcase of the New World Order
We are Near the End
Wake-Up Herald
2008 Wake-Up Herald
A Sample Of The Strange Teachings Of Rick Warren
"Perversion" Month
Abortion's Evil
Abortion's Evil, Part 1
Beware of Wolves in Sheep's Clothing
Beware of Wolves, Part 1
Children Will Soon Be Able To Haul Their Parents Before A UN Tribunal
Christmas - Wake-Up Herald
Christmas Part 4: The Controversial Jesus
Feminism Part 1
God's Wake-up Call To His Church
Hollywood Unraveling the Fabric of Society
Homeland Security Surveillance
How Old Is Grandma?
I Don't Believe It
Incomparable Christ
No Cross, No Crown
Overhauling Of Straight America
Parents, Don't Dress Your Girls Like Tramps
Rogue Government Invents "Rogue Marriage"
Senate Legalizes Sodomy and Bestiality
Slacker Moms
Spiritual Betrayal
TV Jurors
TV Jurors Part 1
The Importance of Praying for God's Man
The Sexualization of Little Girls
Trusting God As Freedom Fades
Uttering "Jesus" Not Protected
Welcome to Sodom USA
Welcome to Sodom USA Part 1
When America is Gone...
Why Revivial Tarries
A Devious Plot for a Blinded Nation
Adding Sin to Sin
America's Greatest Need
America's Grim Holocaust
Bill of Rights is No More
Black Pastors Stand Against Obama
Churches and ObamaCare
Classic Liberals Discover Homo-Fascism
Cleaning Up the Wrong House
Commercial Use of Aborted Baby Bodies
Court Upholds Law That Could Imprison Pastors
Court of Divine Justice
Cultural Christianity
Democrats Reinstate Secular / Religious God
Destroyed Foundations
Eat More Chicken
Election Validates the Biblical Christian Vacuum
Football is a U.S. Religion!
Homosexual Hitlers and the Law of Love
Hostility Towards Christianity
Hurricane Sandy: Act of man or Act of God?
Hymns and Statolatry
Lies, Liars and Truth
Obama and Killing the Babies
Politics, Pastors and Business as Usual
Politics, Pastors and Business as Usual Part 1
Politics, Pastors and Business as Usual Part 10
Pro-Death Abortion Industry
Reaping Time
Reaping Time Part 2
Same-sex Marriage Debacle
Same-sex Marriage Debacle Part 4
Same-sex Marriage Debacle Part 11
Slaughter of Innocents
Squawking Over Chick-fil-A
Take America Where?
The Pulpits Are Silent
The Truth About Halloween
True Worship
Twas the Day After Christmas
Unconscionable Inequality
Waco, Texas: Where A Part of America's Heart and Soul Died
We're All Branch Davidians Now
Where Are Our Tears?
Who Elects the President?
Why We Are Where We Are
Why We Are Where We Are Part 4
Why We Are Where We Are Part 18
Will God Laugh at America?
A Nation Without a Future
A Nation of Idiots
A Sad Departure
America's Decline
America’s Most Popular Idol!
Bible or Bayonet
Biblical Morality
Christians are Terrorists?
Crooks and Cowards
Ear Tickling
Fantasy, Reality and Murdered Babies
Freedom in the Waste Bin of History
Getting the Facts Straight
God Bless America?
God's Judgment Is Inevitable
God, the Devil, and Legal Tender
Gosnell Trial - Shocking Story
Government to the Pulpit
How Moral Imbeciles Choose Judges
Identifying the Enemy Part 3
Inauguration 2013: A Time to Mourn
Liberal Idiots
Life is Cheap
Life is Simple but Not Easy
Living in a Police State
Marriage Equality Spells Marriage Extinction
New Leader Same Religion
No Need for Despair
No Ordinary Crime
Obama and Planned Parenthood
Obama called Pastor in Chief
Obama called Pastor in Chief Part 2
Obama's Frightening Plan
Pastors Facing Government Sanctions
Pastors and Churches Complicit with Abortion Industry
Reaping Time - House of Horrors
Rush to Destruction
Sanction of Baby Murders
Sex Education for Kindergartners
Silence Speaks Volumes
Speak Out for Those Who Cannot
Stupid Insanity
Super Bowl Porn
The Chickification of America
The Marriage Hoax
The Old Paths
The Progressives' Ten Commendments
The Tip of the Iceberg
Twenty Years Later
We Have Arrived
When a Nation Forgets its Children
White House Sodomite Celebration
Apostasy Rising
Churches Warned
Dead Bees and Dead Babies
Government man and dog "marriage"
Institutionalized Tyranny
Open Door to Marriage
Symptomatic of Rome
The Four-Hundred-First Prophet
Truth and Satire
We Need a Revolution
When Life Begins
Which Way America?
Who Changed Things?
American Churches Sleeping
Answer to the Crisis
Ireland Today - America Tomorrow
Same Question - Who Will Stand?
The Throuple
Don Elmore Sermons
Jim Jester Sermons
Mark Downey Sermons
Visiting Pastor Sermons
Subscribe to receive announcements from FGCP
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3295
|
__label__cc
| 0.685223
| 0.314777
|
Business & Economy Startups DIY accounting should be on every startup’s and SME’s digital arsenal for...
DIY accounting should be on every startup’s and SME’s digital arsenal for profitability
Prisca Akhaya
e27 chatted with Benoit Meneau, CEO and co-founder of Thailand-based digital accounting platform Plizz about the ease in dealing with accounting through their platform
Benoit Meneau, who spent the last 15 years living in Southeast Asia and worked as Chief Financial Officer for most of the period, could not help but notice the lack of fast, cost-efficient, and transparent accounting services, particularly in Thailand. “Cloud accounting services are already very popular in Europe and America, hence I decided to import the business model,” he confided with e27.
Your Do-It-Yourself accountant
The Do-It-Yourself approach is arguably one of ways a startup can survive, especially companies that offer a relatively niched service. Plizz both belongs to that category, having been founded just three years ago, and specifically targeting accounting departments for companies that have yet to have a solid team of accountants and can only afford to DIY their own accounting.
Providing technology-powered accounting services to SMEs, Plizz targets companies that don’t have the resources to hire a full time accountant, making the accounting matter something that can be done by anybody in a company with access to Plizz’s account. It’s either that, or making the lives of in-house or outsourced accountants easier.
Also Read: Ofo denies using GSE cryptocurrency for fundraising
“We aim to help them lessen time spent in all their accounting & tax obligations so they can focus on developing their business,” said Meneau.
Transparency matters
In a world that slowly but surely shifted to inclusivity, transparency becomes one of the main things Plizz offers to its customers. “Plizz’s all-inclusive packages give our users full online access to their accounting data on a user-friendly platform. Users can see what’s been dealt with, what is pending, and what is in review.”
With these three promises, the software manages to bring forward services like Bookkeeping, Tax Filing & Submissions, Payroll & Social Security, Document Filing, Compliance & Finance Management Monthly Reporting, Annual Audits, and P/T Consulting. The special features in the app include financial statements, invoices tracking, and tax calendar.
“It’s all about simplifying the process of accounting. We feature a real experienced and certified accountants that work behind the software to make the platform a solution to any accounting need,” said Meneau.
Also Read: Cradle Fund invests in Malaysian international shipping startup Yellow Porter
The company lets users to have unlimited communication access to the team of bookkeepers and finance experts on hand to help with immediate needs. It is essentially an extension of the core team of the users’ businesses.
Plizz’s special feature lies in its completely-controlled-by-users nature. The software allows the users to have an insight into their state of finances, making accounting data significant in making strategic decision to improve business.
The company also makes sure that they operate on an encrypted and maximum security platform, to ensure users’ databases are not vulnerable to attacks — in fact, servers are located within the country, to ensure data sovereignty.
Since everything is automated, the bookkeeping service is also made paperless hence the lower costs and simpler process.
“Right now, what sets us apart is that our clients can have access to their accounts at all time, which no other provider is offering to the SME market specifically,” said Meneau. “Soon enough, we will launch new modules enabling clients to issue invoices and create bills from their platform,” he added.
Plizz has been selected among the APAC Top 100 Start-ups presenting at Echelon APAC Summit and has been part of the first Top 10 start-up graduating from DVA accelerator, the venture capital branch of the Siam Commercial Bank.
Here are the details on how to use Plizz’s software:
Clients are being onboarded online and this is the dashboard that welcomes the users
The balance sheet made digital
Insights on the cash flow and profit and loss
The breakdown for each month
Here’s a look at the Accounts Receivable Management that takes care the customers’ billing, outstanding payments follow-up, and collection. Accounts Payable Management is the direct point of contact with your vendors, collecting and paying your bills.
Accounts Receivable Management and Accounts Payable Management
Using the software, users will be able to view their financial data on the dashboard, access tax guidance and forms that’s needed for the preparation of tax documents, as well as generate automated tax reports. The company’s other previously mentioned features combine the software automation and extended team of accountants working on behalf of the clients, which as of now have close to 100 companies.
Image Credit: Plizz.co
The post DIY accounting should be on every startup’s and SME’s digital arsenal for profitability appeared first on e27.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3296
|
__label__cc
| 0.694029
| 0.305971
|
I.N.C INTERNATIONAL CONCEPTS® Sales San Antonio
I.n.c. Plus Size Off-The-Shoulder Peasant Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Plus Size Printed Halter Maxi Dress, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Petite Rhinestone-Star-Print Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Sleeveless Shadow-Stripe Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Printed Tie-Waist Pants, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Petite Split-Neck Mesh Peasant Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Ombre Cover-Up & Wrap, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Men's Textured Gold Jacket, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Layered-Look Cold-Shoulder Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Gold-Tone Petal & Bead Drop Earrings, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Silver-Tone Multi-Layer Lariat Choker Necklace, 14 + 3 extender, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Skinny Jeans, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Plus Size Printed Asymmetrical Dress, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Solid Floppy Packable Hat, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Kiraa Cherry Beach Tote, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Plus Size Cropped Straight-Leg Jeans, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Gold-Tone Resin Stone Gypsy Hoop Earrings, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Petite Petite Printed Peasant Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Striped Fringe-Trimmed Cardigan, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Petite Ribbed Fringe-Trim V-Hem Sweater, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Quiin Phone Crossbody, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Huw Flower Clutch, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Petite Grommet Sweater, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Plus Size Metallic Chiffon-Trimmed Top, Created for Macy's at Macy's
I.n.c. Floral-Print Peplum Cardigan, Created for Macy's at Macy's
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3297
|
__label__cc
| 0.603105
| 0.396895
|
Advertising Deadline: Aug. 15th,2019 | Now Hiring
Capital City Country Club, 1981
The landmark Capital City Country Club in Brookhaven achieved a nearly perfect look by 1981 when it completed an important phase of an extensive renovation. It had been a long process to modernize and expand an impressive recreation complex centered on the historic clubhouse and surrounded by golf links.
Aerial view of beautiful country club complex in Brookhaven after a major part of the renovation plan was completed.
After the Capital City Club in downtown Atlanta acquired the original Brookhaven Country Club building in 1913, it used the old clubhouse, now demolished, for more than a decade. The new name for the facility became the Capital City Country Club. Finally in 1928 the current building, rendered in Norman style architecture, was erected. The freestanding structure originally stood in isolation.
Extensive renovations in the late 1970s added new dining areas, an elevator and a connecting section linking the clubhouse with the pool and deck area. All-weather tennis courts were installed. Improvements to the clubhouse complex cost about two million dollars, and in 1981 there was a festive open house for members to inspect the project. It was, as pictured above, a stunning makeover.
Dr. Paul Hudson, historian at Georgia Perimeter College and a longtime resident of the Brookhaven area, writes stories for the Brookhaven Buzz.
Love Those Pets
Just For Children
Hometown News Atlanta
All contents © 2020. Hometown Atlana News.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted without permission. All efforts are made to assure factual accuracy within each issue published, but Hometown News, Inc. cannot be held responsible for changes, omissions or errors.
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3301
|
__label__cc
| 0.66443
| 0.33557
|
Voices’ Team and Board
Strategic Plan FY2020-FY2024
A Solid Start
Healthy Minds and Bodies
Strong and Stable Families
Quality Out-of-School Time
2019 Big Voice Awards
GA-CALL
Georgia Pre-K Week
Summer Transition Spotlight
Pre-K Week Launch
Children’s Day at the Capitol
Voices in the Media
Legislative Update 5.21.19
Welcome to Summer. For some, summer is signified by the opening of the pool, the thrill of the first toe-stubbing in flip-flops, or the centering of the sun over the Tropic of Cancer (around June 21) – but for me, summer starts with my final 2019 (state) Legislative Update following the end of the Governor’s bill review period (this year it ended May 12) where he has signed, vetoed or let sit all the bills that passed both chambers up to Sine Die. So today, as you receive this email, you can imagine me slathering myself with sunscreen, revealing my pasty white legs and arms in some exceptionally floral summer frock, and grilling/dropping dogs and burgers over/into glowing red coals, all the while sucking on one of those skinny Kool-aid kind of popsicles that you buy by the thousand at Costco.
Actually, at this moment, I am doing none of that. Instead, I am finishing up the dishes, laundry, car repair and dust eradication chores to address the household disarray that nearly consumed my two teenagers, two dogs and one cat while I was MIA at the state House January through March. (To be honest, I probably wouldn’t miss the cat.) And while I drudge on with such mind-numbing activities, I often think about how grateful I am to the folks who worked so hard to do good things for kids (a number of whom are listed in the Action Alerts at the bottom of this Update). Lawmakers, advocates, lobbyists, and agency personnel (not to mention legislative staffers, volunteers and real-live regular people) are the relentless champions of decent policy development and honest conversations about what it is going to take to help kids become happy, healthy, and productive adults.
Let me be clear: it is not that we always agree on everything. In fact, sometimes it is downright confusing (and annoying) to figure out how someone who heartily agreed with you on an issue just three sentences ago now seems to think that you are speaking in some ancient incomprehensible caveman dialect about the next issue. But in the end, when you add it all up, people tend to agree on way more than they disagree on, so little by little we move forward. As some old guy in an elevator once told me, “Our government here in the U.S. is the worst government in the whole world – except for all the rest.”
To see how things finally landed for kids, read on. And if you still have a little advocacy juice left in you, please take a minute to act on the Action Alerts at the end.
Polly McKinney
Advocacy Director
Voices for Georgia’s Children
pmckinney@georgiavoices.org
Know Where You Want to Go?
Juvenile Justice/Effective School Discipline
Child Welfare/Vulnerable Youth
Child Health and Safety
Early Care and Learning
2 Minute Advocacy Ask
Pink = Signed by Governor
Yellow = Passed both Chambers, waiting to be considered by Governor
Blue = Confirmed Study Committee
HB 470 (Sainz-180th) Requires analysis and collection of DNA for individuals charged with a felony offense but sentenced as a first offender or under conditional discharge. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 472 (Reeves-34th) Requires the court to consider alternatives to foster care and specifically authorizes the court to impose interim measures that would keep the child out of care pending a preliminary protective hearing. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HR 585 (Gilliard-162nd) Creates the House Study Committee on Gang and Youth Violence Prevention. STATUS: PASSED HOUSE.
HB 12 (Williams-145th) Requires every public school to post a sign containing the toll-free telephone number operated by the Division of Family and Children Services of the Department of Human Services to receive reports of child abuse or neglect. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 64 (Prince-127th) Requires the Division of Family and Children Services (DFCS) to make efforts to determine whether a parent or guardian of a child who is the subject of abuse allegations is on active duty in the military and if so, to notify military installation family advocacy programs. The bill also grants immunity for reporting child abuse to military law enforcement. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 70 (Efstration-104th) Revises provisions relating to guardians and conservators of minors and adults. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 79 (Gilliard-162nd) Prohibits discriminated against blind persons by the courts, Department of Human Services, or a child-placing agency in matters relating to child custody, guardianship, foster care, visitation, placement, or adoption. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 227 (Frye-118th) Expands the prohibitions on discrimination against victims of family violence to include victims of sexual assault. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 228 (Welch-110th) Raises the minimum marriage age to 17 and requires the other party to a marriage with a minor to be no more than 4 years older; requires the minor to have been emancipated (declared a legal adult) by a juvenile court after a hearing to determine that the minor is mature and self-sufficient; requires the court to examine additional evidence about an intended marriage and spouse to assess what’s in the minor’s best interest; institutes a waiting period between an emancipation order and a marriage license; requires minors to have premarital education before applying for a marriage license; and requires minors to receive a factsheet on rights and resources available to victims of domestic violence. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 281 (Anulewicz-42nd) Increases the penalty provisions relating to pimping and pandering. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 381 (Efstration-104th) Cleans up terminology, grammar, and punctuation in statute related to child support provisions. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 424 (Silcox-52nd) Expands the definition of Criminal Gang Activity to include trafficking persons for labor servitude or sexual servitude, keeping a place of prostitution, pimping, and pandering. The bill also revises rules pertaining to the admissibility of a complainant’s past sexual behavior in prosecutions for certain sexual offenses. The bill was also amended to include language from HB 247 regarding elder abuse. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 478 (Ballinger-23rd) Removes children under 18 from the state child abuse registry; reforms parameters of due process for alleged offenders; and establishes a process for expungement of those on the registry. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 543 (Efstration-104th) Allows an individual to be adjudicated an equitable caregiver of a child provided that the relationship between such individual and the child is in the best interest of the child and providing that there is no open child welfare and youth services case involving such child or his or her parent. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 553 (Dempsey-13th) Eliminates the Georgia Association of Homes and Services for Children from the membership of the State Victim Services Commission and the bill of rights for foster parents, as the agency reference is now obsolete. The bill also cleans up various other code sections by eliminating references to other obsolete entities. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 9 (Jones-22nd) Prohibits sexual extortion or coercion of adults or minors. Language from HB 43 was amended to this bill. The amendment revises the crime of sexual assault when committed by persons with supervisory or disciplinary authority over a student in a school setting. The degree of the crime and punishment vary based on a number of factors including age of the perpetrator and victim. The bill also better defines the term “dangerous sexual offense”. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 158 (Strickland-17th) This bill is in response to the Anti-Human Trafficking Protective Response Act and represents the shift away from criminalization and towards providing victims with services. It authorizes DFCS to provide care and supervision to children who are victims of human trafficking; allows a law enforcement officer or agency or DFCS to refer any child suspected of being a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or trafficking to a certified statewide victim services agency which provides comprehensive trauma-informed services designed to alleviate the adverse effects of trafficking victimization; raises the age from under 17 to under 18 years old for purposes of determining the offense of prostitution and codify the process for identifying sex trafficking victims; and makes it easier to prosecute owners of places where trafficking occurs. This bill would align Georgia law with federal trafficking laws such as the Preventing Sex Trafficking and Families Act and the Trafficking Victims Protections Act. This bill absorbed HB 234, which was nearly the same. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 167 (Brass-28th) Allows a foster placement for a child to be deemed as the child’s fictive kin in determining such child’s permanency plan, if after 6 months and reasonable diligent search efforts conducted by DFCS, no relatives or fictive kin have been located. In all cases in which the child has reached the age of 11, the judge shall consider the desires of the child. Additionally, if a child has been in a stable foster placement for 12 months or more, a presumption shall exist that remaining in that placement is in the child’s best interests. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 190 (Kennedy-18th) Allows a party to bring a counterclaim for contempt or enforcement of a child custody order or for modification of legal or physical custody in response to a complaint seeking a change of legal or physical custody. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 225 (Walker-20th) Brings Georgia law into conformity with the federal Social Security Act and the Family First Prevention Services Act. It increases the standard of evidence in proving maltreatment in cases involving children who are members of federally recognized Indian tribes. The bill also creates the category of foster-care placement known as a Qualified Residential Treatment Program, including definition and lays out the qualifications for clinicians offering the treatment, procedures for assessing children for this placement, judicial oversight and the mechanism for the child’s family to work through a case plan overseen by the court and the Division of Family and Children Services. The bill also requires DFCS, to provide a youth in foster care for more than six months any official documentation necessary to prove the child was previously in foster care before aging out of foster care. And finally, the bill brings Georgia in compliance with the Social Security Act’s title IV-E by requiring that the final decision for hearings on benefits be made by the state agency distributing those benefits. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SR 371 (Kirk-13th) Creates the Senate Protections From Sexual Predators Study Committee. STATUS: PASSED SENATE
HB 26 (Belton-112th) The “Psychology Interjurisdictional Compact” authorizes the State Board of Examiners of Psychologists to allow psychologists who are licensed in other compact-participating states and who meet certain criteria to practice in Georgia via telepsychology and temporary practice (defined as 30 days per calendar year). STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 39 (Belton-112th) Creates the “Physical Therapy Licensure Compact Act” which allows physical therapists licensed in other compact states to practice in Georgia. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 63 (Cooper-43rd) Requires health benefit plans to establish step therapy protocols. (Step therapy is a type of prior authorization. In most cases, the patient must first try a less expensive drug on the drug list that has been proven effective for most people with the same condition before you can move up a “step” to a more expensive drug.). STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 83 (Douglas-78th) Requires schools to provide 30 minutes of recess daily for grades K-5. Recess would not be required on any day on which a student has had physical education or structured activity time. STATUS: GOVERNOR VETOED
HB 168 (Taylor-173rd) Extends an exemption from sales and use tax for five additional years regarding the sale or use of tangible personal property to nonprofit health centers and nonprofit volunteer health centers. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 186 (Stephens-164th) Revises Georgia’s Certificate of Need system for hospital regulation. Among other things, this bill allows Cancer Treatment Centers of America to expand its bed capacity and accept more Georgia patients, limits the entities that can object to a health care provider’s CON application to those within a 35-mile radius of the proposed project. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 287 (Dubnik-29th) Deletes an income tax deduction for certain physicians serving as community-based faculty physicians and creates a new income tax credit for licensed physicians, advanced practice registered nurses, or physician assistants who provide uncompensated preceptorship training to medical students, advanced practice registered nurse students, or physician assistant students. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 290 (Cooper-43rd) Establishes a 3-year pilot program to provide pre-exposure prophylaxis drug assistance or services to persons at risk of being infected with HIV. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 310 (Morris-156th) Moves the annual due date that the Department of Insurance must submit an autism coverage report to the General Assembly from January 15 to June 15. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 324 (Gravley-67th) “Georgia’s Hope Act” – Allows for the legitimate use of medical cannabis for health care, and creates a means for the production, growing, manufacturing, and dispensing of low THC oil to patients on the Low THC Oil Patient Registry via pharmacies in Georgia. The bill also provides regulations on the production of marijuana used to create low THC oil and requires growers and processors to obtain a license. It creates the Georgia Access to Medical Cannabis Commission, which will oversee the manufacturing of low THC oil in Georgia. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 345 (Cooper-43rd) Prohibits pregnant, in labor or postpartum inmates from being required to squat or cough during a strip search conducted by a custodian during the second or third trimester of pregnancy or being required to undergo any vaginal examination unless prescribed and performed by a licensed health care professional. The bill also prevents such inmates from being restrained with handcuffs, waist shackles, leg irons, or other restraints unless she appears to be an immediate and serious threat of harm to herself or others or a substantial flight risk and cannot be reasonably contained by other means. In those cases, the rationale by the official must be documented within two days. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 514 (Tanner-9th) Creates the Georgia Mental Health Reform and Innovation Commission and initial subcommittees (Children and Adolescent Mental Health; Involuntary Commitment; Hospital and Short-Term Care Facilities; Mental Health Courts and Corrections; and Workforce and System Development). STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 551 (Hill-3rd) Makes it a misdemeanor to sell Kratom to anyone under 18 years old, and illegal to be used by anyone under 18 years old. It also stipulates labeling details. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 15 (Albers-56th) “Keeping Georgia’s Schools Safe Act” – Requires every public school to perform a site threat assessment every five years beginning January 2021 or before opening a new school. The assessment must be conducted by trained individuals or entities that are certified by the Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Act or must be conducted by a government agency. Each public school must review and update the safety plan annually if needed and submit to the Department of Education. The bill also requires public schools to conduct safety drills annually on reacting to mass casualty incidents. It is left up to each school’s discretion on whether to include students in the drills. Further, the bill requires each school’s principal to serve as or to designate a school safety coordinator that submits a report annually to the local board of education, coordinates with government agencies regarding distribution of school security practices, is required to report suspected violent criminal activity and may report other suspected criminal activity to local law enforcement, and works with mental health and social services providers when needed based on student behavior. The bill also requires the Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center to share homeland security information to specified entities and maintain a smartphone or other digital place where people may report suspicious activity. The number for the smartphone or reporting site must be displayed prominently in each public school. Finally, the bill provides that the Georgia Bureau of Investigation will act as the primary state law enforcement agency for identifying and investigating threats and activity involving homeland security. STATUS: GOVERNOR VETOED.
SB 16 (Kirkpatrick-32nd) “Interstate Medical Licensure Compact Act” – Allows Georgia to enter into an interstate compact to allow physicians, assistants, and certain other health professionals from other compacts states to practice in Georgia. SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 25 (Heath-31st) Clarifies that a driver can pass a stopped school bus when a school bus is on a separate roadway that is separated by a grass median, unpaved area, or physical barrier. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 60 (Martin-9th) Requires the GA Department of Education to develop and post on its website guidelines and other materials to inform students (grades 6-12), parents, guardians and coaches about the nature and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest. The bill also requires such students participating in sports to review the information. Additionally, if a student passes out in a sport then they will be removed from the activity by the athletic coach and if a student exhibits symptoms of cardiac arrest then the athletic trainer can remove the student and may notify the parents. Once a student has been removed, they cannot return until they have been evaluated and cleared to return by a health care provider. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 106 (Tillery-19th) Authorizes the Department of Community Health to submit a Section 1115 waiver request to the United States Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and authorizes the Governor to submit a Section 1332 innovation waiver proposal to the United States Secretaries of Health and Human Services and the Treasury in order to expand Medicaid and shore up the private insurance marketplace. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 115 (Unterman-45th) “Medical Practice Act of the State of Georgia” – Provides for telemedicine licenses for physicians licensed in other states to engage in the practice of telemedicine with patients in this state. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 118 (Unterman-45th) Renames the “Telemedicine Act” the “Telehealth Act,” and revises various definitions regarding telemedicine and telehealth. The bill also prohibits insurers from requiring insured individuals to use telemedicine and sets policy for pay equity for health care providers using telemedicine. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 207 (Burke-11th) Changes the name of the Georgia Board for Physician Workforce to the Georgia Board of Health Care Workforce and changes the composition of the board’s membership. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HR 261 (Newton-123rd) Creates the Joint Study Committee on Evaluating and Simplifying Physician Oversight of Midlevel Providers. STATUS: PASSED HOUSE. The Senate Joint resolution for the same study committee is SR 202.
HR 590 (Bennett-94th) Creates the House Study Committee on Georgia’s Barriers to Access to Adequate Health Care. STATUS: PASSED HOUSE.
SR 202 (Hufstetler-52nd) Creates the Joint Study Committee on Evaluating and Simplifying Physician Oversight of Midlevel Providers. STATUS: PASSED SENATE. The House version of this study committee bill is HR 261.
SR 366 (Anderson-43rd) Creates the Senate Passenger Vehicle Seat Safety Belt Study Committee. STATUS: PASSED SENATE.
SR 431 (James-35th) Creates the Senate Reducing Waste in Health Care Study Committee. STATUS: PASSED SENATE.
HR 421 (Dempsey-13th) Creates the Joint Study Committee on Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Health. STATUS: PASSED HOUSE.
HR 589 (Newton-123rd) Creates the House Study Committee on Maternal Mortality. STATUS: PASSED HOUSE.
HB 59(Belton-112th) Allows military students to enroll in a public school based on official military orders prior to physically establishing residency. The bill was amended to add HB 558, which states that a state charter school with an attendance zone that includes all local school systems in this state shall be considered to have state-wide jurisdiction. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 68 (Carson-46th) Prohibits any entity that operates, owns, is affiliated with, or is a subsidiary of an association, organization, or other entity that provides accreditation of elementary or secondary schools from becoming a student scholarship organization (SSO). STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 130 (Nix-69th) Authorizes the Georgia Foundation for Public Education to establish a nonprofit corporation to qualify as a public foundation. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 134 (Rich-97th) Repeals a population provision regarding the disposition of law library funds in certain counties. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 218 (Williams-145th) Extends the window to access the HOPE scholarship from 7 to 10 years and states that active military duty shall not count against that window. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 527 (Dickey-140th) Changes program weights in the Quality Basic Education Formula for funding purposes. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 530 (Hitchens-161st) Requires the Georgia Department of Education provide a copy of a parent or guardian’s declaration of intent to utilize a home study program for their student to the local school systems in which the home study programs are located, and should a child stop attending public school for 45 days without submitting such a declaration to GADOE, the school shall refer the matter to the Division of Family and Children Services to conduct an assessment to determine whether the withdrawal was to avoid educating the child. If a parent/guardian can present a copy of a filed declaration, the Division shall immediately terminate the assessment. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 48 (Martin-9th) Creates a pilot in three local school systems (starting in the 2020-2021 school year and established by the State School Superintendent) to screen those kindergarten students for dyslexia and a handful of other learning disabilities, and refer students in grades 1st-3rd for screening to have been identified as having characteristics of dyslexia. The bill would require a dyslexia screening tool to be delivered by a professional and ensure that parents provide informed consent before the screening tool is used and that parents are notified with the results of the screening. The bill also requires the department to make available a dyslexia informational handbook that includes guidance, technical assistance, and training to assist all local school systems in the implementation of evidence-based practices for instructing students identified with or displaying characteristics of dyslexia, and to collaborate with the Professional Standards Commission to improve and update professional development for teachers specifically relating to dyslexia. The goal of the bill is to ultimately replicate the pilots statewide. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 67 (Burke-11th) Allows drawdown of K-12 capital outlay funding to complete restoration of fire or disaster damaged school buildings. Educational facilities that are more than 20 years old and are extensively destroyed or damaged by a fire or natural disaster can supplement insurance to rebuild all of the building, even undamaged parts. Expands low wealth category to include systems consolidating schools but lacking sufficient ESPLOST capability. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 83 (Mullis-53rd) Requires public schools to offer elective courses in the Old and New Testaments of the Bible to grades 9-12. HB 562 was amended to this bill. The amendment establishes the Realizing Educational Achievement Can Happen (REACH) Scholarship Program and sets its criteria. The bill also stipulates that the scholarship, which is subject to available funding, will provide $10,000.00 for each REACH scholar for the first year of the REACH participating school system’s participation, and then each year after, the participating school system will be responsible for providing a proportionate share of the scholarship based on the school system’s designated tier in the Department of Community Affairs’ job tax credit designation. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 108 (Martin-9th) Requires courses in computer science in middle school and high school (phase-in) and for grants for professional development programs for computer science teachers. The bill also requires annual reporting to select General Assembly members regarding outcomes related to this legislation. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HR 52 (Corbett-174th) Encourages all schools, local educational agencies, and the state educational agency to recognize that dyslexia has a profound educational impact that must be addressed. STATUS: PASSED HOUSE.
SR 353 (Jones-10th) Creates the Senate Study Committee on Community Schools. STATUS: PASSED SENATE.
SR 464 (Martin-9th) Creates the Senate Higher Education Outcomes Study Committee. STATUS: PASSED SENATE.
SR 468 (Davenport-44th) Creates the Senate Study Committee on the Educational Development of African American Children in Georgia. STATUS: PASSED SENATE.
HB 197 (Dempsey-13th) Establishes the establishment of the Georgia Data Analytic Center (GDAC) under the Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget, which would facilitate interagency data sharing. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 226 (Lariccia-169th) Extends the sunset for penalties related to violation of Joshua’s Law to 2022. FYI, Joshua’s law is the part of Georgia law related to driver’s license requirements for teen drivers. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 346 (Cooper-43rd) Protects tenants from retaliation by landlords for certain actions, and protects landlords from such tenant actions when the tenants intent is vindictive. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 459 (Ehrhart-36th) Creates a verification process for driver’s licenses of school bus drivers. The bill was amended to include language from HB 394, which allows non-certified personnel (“public safety ambassadors”) employed by or volunteering for law enforcement agencies or fire departments, to assist in traffic control. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
HB 481 (Setzler-35th) The “Living Infants Fairness and Equality (LIFE) Act” – Among other things, the bill requires that unborn children at any stage of development be included in state population-based determinations and states that life begins at the moment a human heartbeat is present in the womb. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 1 (Parent-42nd) “C.J.’s Law”- Creates a felony and 1-10 year sentence for a driver who causes an accident that results in bodily harm, and then leaves the scene of the accident. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
SB 227 (Martin-9th) Establishes a specialty license plate to benefit the Georgia Alliance of Boys & Girls Clubs, Inc. STATUS: SIGNED BY GOVERNOR.
BE A VOICE FOR CHILDREN
Legislator Thanks!
The “Ask”:
Choose any or all of the bills below and contact the legislative heroes who worked so hard on these issues (whether they passed or not) to say thank you for working so hard on behalf of Georgia’s children.
The Why:
Making good policy for kids takes the hard work and time of an array of stakeholders, but it is the elected officials who often take an important issue under their wing and champion it for as long as it takes to make a difference. Many are the first signers on a bill, and many work diligently in tandem with the sponsor to get the bill through. They all deserve thanks for their persistent and often, Herculean, efforts to make Georgia a good place for children to thrive.
The Message:
Dear ___________, Thank you so much for your thoughtful and diligent work on HB___________/ SB ___________. It is reassuring to me that we have elected officials, such as yourself, who put children first in their work and policy-making. Thank you for your service and for all you do for Georgia’s children.
The How:
Choose from the following bills (There was a lot of good for kids going on, so feel free to choose a bunch!):
Rep. Mandi Ballinger 404.656.7153
HB 478 Removes children under 18 from the state child abuse registry; reforms parameters of due process for alleged offenders; and establishes a process for expungement of those on the registry. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Andy Welch 404.656.5912
HB 228 Raises the minimum marriage age to 17 and requires the other party to a marriage with a minor to be no more than 4 years older; requires the minor to have been emancipated (declared a legal adult) by a juvenile court after a hearing to determine that the minor is mature and self-sufficient; requires the court to examine additional evidence about an intended marriage and spouse to assess what’s in the minor’s best interest. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Sharon Cooper 404.656.5069
HB 346 Protects tenants from retaliation by landlords for certain actions, and protects landlords from such tenant actions when the tenants intent is vindictive. – PASSED – YAY!
HB 345 Prohibits pregnant, in labor or postpartum inmates from being required to squat or cough during a strip search conducted by a custodian during the second or third trimester of pregnancy or being required to undergo any vaginal examination unless prescribed and performed by a licensed health care professional. The bill also prevents such inmates from being restrained with handcuffs, waist shackles, leg irons, or other restraints unless she appears to be an immediate and serious threat of harm to herself or others or a substantial flight risk. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Demetrius Douglas 404.656.7859 and
Sen. Jeff Mullis 404.656.0057
HB 83 Requires schools to provide 30 minutes of recess daily for grades K-5. Recess would not be required on any day on which a student has had physical education or structured activity time. – VETOED, but GOOD TRY!
Sen. P.K. Martin 404.463.6598
SB 48 Creates a pilot in three local school systems (starting in the 2020-2021 school year and established by the State School Superintendent) to screen those kindergarten students for dyslexia and a handful of other learning disabilities, and refer students in grades 1st-3rd for screening to have been identified as having characteristics of dyslexia. The bill would require a dyslexia screening tool to be delivered by a professional and ensure that parents provide informed consent before the screening tool is used and that parents are notified with the results of the screening. The bill also requires the department to make available a dyslexia informational handbook that includes guidance, technical assistance, and training to assist all local school systems in the implementation of evidence-based practices for instructing students identified with or displaying characteristics of dyslexia, and to collaborate with the Professional Standards Commission to improve and update professional development for teachers specifically relating to dyslexia. The goal of the bill is to ultimately replicate the pilots statewide. – PASSED – YAY!
SB 60 Requires the GA Department of Education to develop and post on its website guidelines to inform students (grades 6-12), parents, guardians and coaches about the nature and warning signs of sudden cardiac arrest. Additionally, if a student passes out in a sport then they will be removed from the activity by the athletic coach and if a student exhibits symptoms of cardiac arrest arrest then the athletic trainer can remove the student and may notify the parents. Once a student has been removed, they cannot return until they have been evaluated and cleared to return by a health care provider. – PASSED – YAY
Rep. Teri Anulewicz 404.656.0116
HB 281 Increases the penalty provisions relating to pimping and pandering. – PASSED – YAY!
Sen. Brian Strickland 404.656.7454 and
Rep. Chuck Efstration 404.656.5105
SB 158 This bill authorizes DFCS to provide care and supervision to children who are victims of human trafficking; allows a law enforcement officer or agency or DFCS to refer any child suspected of being a victim of commercial sexual exploitation or trafficking to a certified statewide victim services agency which provides comprehensive trauma-informed services designed to alleviate the adverse effects of trafficking victimization; raises the age from under 17 to under 18 years old for purposes of determining the offense of prostitution; and makes it easier to prosecute owners of places where trafficking occurs. This bill absorbed HB 234 (by Rep. Efstration), which was nearly the same. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Bill Hitchens 404.656.7855 and
Sen. Jack Hill 404.656.5038 and
Rep. Jon Burns 404.656.5052
HB 530 Requires the Georgia Department of Education provide a copy of a parent or guardian’s declaration of intent to utilize a home study program for their student to the local school systems in which the home study programs are located, and should a child stop attending public school for 45 days without submitting such a declaration to GADOE, the school shall refer the matter to the Division of Family and Children Services to conduct an assessment to determine whether the withdrawal was to avoid educating the child. If a parent/guardian can present a copy of a filed declaration, the Division shall immediately terminate the assessment. – PASSED – YAY!
Sen. Matt Brass 404.463.1376
SB 167 Allows a foster placement for a child to be deemed as the child’s fictive kin in determining such child’s permanency plan, if after 6 months and reasonable diligent search efforts conducted by DFCS, no relatives or fictive kin have been located. In all cases in which the child has reached the age of 11, the judge shall consider the desires of the child. Additionally, if a child has been in a stable foster placement for 12 months or more, a presumption shall exist that remaining in that placement is in the child’s best interests. – PASSED – YAY!
Sen. Larry Walker 404.656.0095
SB 225 Among other provisions, this bill creates the category of foster-care placement known as a Qualified Residential Treatment Program, including definition and lays out the qualifications for clinicians offering the treatment, procedures for assessing children for this placement, judicial oversight and the mechanism for the child’s family to work through a case plan overseen by the court and the Division of Family and Children Services. The bill also requires DFCS, to provide a youth in foster care for more than six months any official documentation necessary to prove the child was previously in foster care before aging out of foster care. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Kevin Tanner 404.656.9210
HB 514 Creates the Georgia Mental Health Reform and Innovation Commission and initial subcommittees (Children and Adolescent Mental Health; Involuntary Commitment; Hospital and Short-Term Care Facilities; Mental Health Courts and Corrections; and Workforce and System Development).
Sen. Renee Unterman 404.463.1368
SB 115 “Medical Practice Act of the State of Georgia” – Provides for telemedicine licenses for physicians licensed in other states to engage in the practice of telemedicine with patients in this state. – PASSED – YAY!
SB 118 Renames the “Telemedicine Act” the “Telehealth Act,” and revises various definitions regarding telemedicine and telehealth. The bill also prohibits insurers from requiring insured individuals to use telemedicine and sets policy for pay equity for health care providers using telemedicine. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Katie Dempsey 404.463.2248
HR 421 Creates the Joint Study Committee on Infant and Toddler Social and Emotional Health. – PASSED – YAY!
Rep. Mark Newton 404.656.0254
HR 589 Creates the House Study Committee on Maternal Mortality. – PASSED – YAY!
BONUS ASK!
Governor Thanks!
Choose any or all of the SIGNED bills in the Action Alert section above and call or send a short note to Governor Kemp to say thank you for his signature.
It is important to let our new governor know that we notice and appreciate it when he signs a bill that will make a great difference for children and youth.
Dear Governor Kemp, Thank you so much for your signing HB ____ / SB ____. Your continued commitment to the children and youth in our state is much appreciated. Thank you for your service and for all you do for Georgia’s children.
Choose from the bills in the Action Alert section above (There was a lot of good for kids going on, so feel free to choose a bunch!) and call the Governor’s Office at 404-656-1776 or send a note on his webpage at https://gov.georgia.gov/webform/constituent-services.
Find your Lawmaker
State House and State Senate Leadership
Georgia Senate Members
Georgia House Members
Legislative Dictionary
Published : May 21, 2019
Join Our Cause
We are a nonprofit child policy and advocacy organization that envisions a Georgia where children are safe, healthy, educated, employable, and connected to their family and community.
© Copyright 2020. Voices for Georgia's Children. All Rights Reserved.
75 Marietta St., NW, Suite 401 Atlanta, GA 30303
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3311
|
__label__wiki
| 0.551695
| 0.551695
|
THE TURKISH ENIGMA / STRATFOR GLOBAL INTELLIGENCE
| Etiquetas: Europe Economic and Political, Geopolitics, Middle East, Turkey, U.S. Economic And Political, Ukraine
The Turkish Enigma
By George Friedman
July 21, 2015 | 08:00 GMT
In my "Net Assessment of the World," I argued that four major segments of the European and Asian landmass were in crisis: Europe, Russia, the Middle East (from the Levant to Iran) and China. Each crisis was different; each was at a different stage of development. Collectively the crises threatened to destabilize the Eurasian landmass, the Eastern Hemisphere, and potentially generate a global crisis.
They do not have to merge into a single crisis to be dangerous. Four simultaneous crises in the center of humanity's geopolitical gravity would be destabilizing by itself. However, if they began to merge and interact, the risks would multiply. Containing each crisis by itself would be a daunting task.
Managing crises that were interlocked would press the limits of manageability and even push beyond.
These four crises are already interacting to some extent. The crisis of the European Union intersects with the parallel issue of Ukraine and Europe's relation to Russia. The crisis in the Middle East intersects with the European concern over managing immigration as well as balancing relations with Europe's Muslim community. The Russians have been involved in Syria, and appear to have played a significant role in the recent negotiations with Iran. In addition there is a potential intersection in Chechnya and Dagestan. The Russians and Chinese have been advancing discussions about military and economic cooperation. None of these interactions threaten to break down regional boundaries.
Indeed, none are particularly serious. Nor is some sort of inter-regional crisis unimaginable.
Sitting at the center of these crisis zones is a country that until a few years ago maintained a policy of having no problems with its neighbors. Today, however, Turkey's entire periphery is on fire. There is fighting in Syria and Iraq to the south, fighting to the north in Ukraine and an increasingly tense situation in the Black Sea. To the west, Greece is in deep crisis (along with the EU) and is a historic antagonist of Turkey. The Mediterranean has quieted down, but the Cyprus situation has not been fully resolved and tension with Israel has subsided but not disappeared. Anywhere Turkey looks there are problems. As important, there are three regions of Eurasia that Turkey touches: Europe, the Middle East and the former Soviet Union.
I have argued two things in the past. The first was that Turkey was an emerging regional power that would ultimately be the major power in its locale. The second was that this is a region that, ever since the decline and fall of the Ottomans in the first quarter of the 20th century, has been kept stable by outside powers. The decision of the United States to take a secondary role after the destabilization that began with the 2003 invasion of Iraq has left a vacuum Turkey will eventually be forced to fill. But Turkey is not ready to fill that vacuum. That has created a situation in which there is a balancing of power underway, particularly between Turkey, Iran and Saudi Arabia.
A Proximate Danger
The most violent and the most immediate crisis for Ankara is the area stretching from the Mediterranean to Iran, and from Turkey to Yemen. The main problem for Turkey is that Syria and Iraq have become contiguous battlegrounds featuring a range of forces, including Sunni, Shiite and Kurdish elements. These battles take place in a cauldron formed by four regional powers: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Israel and Turkey. This quadrangle emerged logically from the mayhem caught between them.
Each major power has differing strategic interests. Iran's primary interest is the survival of the establishment and in assuring that an aggressive Sunni polity does not arise in Iraq to replicate the situation Tehran faced with Saddam Hussein. Iran's strategy is to support anti-Sunni forces in the region. This support ranges from bolstering Hezbollah in Lebanon, propping up the minority Alawite establishment in Syria led — for the moment — by Bashar al Assad, and assisting the Iraqi army, itself controlled by Shiites and Iraq's Shiite militias. The United States sees Iran as aligned with American interests for the moment, since both countries oppose the Islamic State and Tehran is important when it comes to containing the militant group. The reality on the ground has made this the most important issue between Iran and the United States, which frames the recent accord on nuclear weapons.
Saudi Arabia sees Iran as its primary enemy. Riyadh also views the Islamic State as a threat but at the same time fears that an Iraq and Syria dominated by Iran could present an existential threat to the House of Saud. The Saudis consider events in Yemen from a similar perspective. Also in this context, Riyadh perceives a common interest with Israel in containing Iranian militant proxies as well as the Islamic State. Who exactly the Saudis are supporting in Syria and Iraq is somewhat murky, but the kingdom has no choice but to play a tactical and opportunistic game.
The Israelis are in a similar position to the Saudis. They oppose the Iranians, but their main concern must be to make certain that the Hashemites in Jordan don't lose control of the country, opening the door to an Islamic State move on the Jordan River. Jordan appears stable for the moment and Israel and the Saudis see this as a main point of their collaboration. In the meantime, Israel is playing a wait-and-see game with Syria. Assad is no friend to the Israelis, but a weak Assad is better than a strong Islamic State rule. The current situation in Syria suits Israel because a civil war limits immediate threats. But the conflict is itself out of control and the risk is that someone will win. Israel must favor Assad and that aligns them on some level with Iran, even as Israel works with Sunni players like Saudi Arabia to contain Iranian militant proxies. Ironies abound.
It is in this context that the Turks have refused to make a clear commitment, either to traditional allies in the West or to the new potential allies that are yet emerging. Partly this is because no one's commitments — except the Iranians' — are clear and irrevocable, and partly because the Turks don't have to commit unless they want to. They are deeply opposed to the Assad regime in Syria, and logic would have it that they are supporting the Islamic State, which also opposes the Syrian regime. As I have said before, there are endless rumors in the region that the Turks are favoring and aiding the Islamic State. These are rumors that Turkey has responded to by visibly and seriously cracking down on the Islamic State in recent weeks with significant border activity and widespread raids. The Turks know that the militants, no matter what the currently confrontational relationship might be, could transition from being a primarily Arab platform to being a threat to Turkey. There are some who say that the Turks see the Islamic State as creating the justification for a Turkish intervention in Syria.
The weakness of this argument is that there has been ample justification that Ankara has declined, even as its posture toward the Islamic State becomes more aggressive.
This shows in Turkey's complex relations with the United States, still formally its major ally. In 2003 the Turks refused to allow U.S. forces to invade Iraq from Turkey. Since then the relationship with the United States has been complex and troubled. The Turks have made U.S. assistance in defeating Assad a condition for extensive cooperation in Syria. Washington, concerned about an Islamic State government in Syria, and with little confidence in the non-Islamic State militancy as a long-term alternative, has refused to accept this. Therefore, while the Turks are now allowing some use of the NATO air base at Incirlik for operations against the Islamic State, they have not made a general commitment. Nor have they cooperated comprehensively with Sunni Saudi Arabia.
The Turkish problem is this: There are no low-risk moves. While Ankara has a large army on paper, it is untried in battle outside of Turkey's 30-year insurgency in its southeast. Turkey has also observed the outcome of U.S. conventional forces intervening in the region and doesn't want to run the same risk. There are domestic considerations as well. Turkey is divided between secular and Islamist factions. The secularists suspect the Islamists of being secretly aligned with radical Islam — and are the source of many of the rumors floating about. The ruling Sunni-dominated Justice and Development Party, better known by its Turkish acronym, AKP, was seriously weakened in the last election. Its ability to launch the only attack it wants — an attack to topple Assad, would appear to be a religious war to the secularists and would not be welcomed by the party's base, setting in motion rifts that could bring down the AKP. An attack on the Sunnis, however radical, complicates relations with the rebel factions in northern Syria that Turkey is already sponsoring. It also would risk the backlash of reviving anti-Turkish feelings in an adjacent Arab country that remembers Turkish rule only a century ago.
Therefore Turkey, while incrementally changing — as evidenced by the recent accord to allow U.S. Predator drones to fly from Incirlik — is constrained if not paralyzed. From a strategic point of view, there appears to be more risk than reward. Its position resembles Israel's: watch, wait and hopefully avoid needing to do anything. From the political point of view, there is no firm base of support for either intervening directly or providing support for American airstrikes.
The problem is that the worst-case scenario for Turkey is the creation of an independent Kurdish republic in Syria or Iraq. That would risk lighting a touchpaper among Kurds in southeastern Turkey, and regardless of current agreements, could destabilize everything. This is the one thing that would force Turkey's hand. However, the United States has historically had some measure of influence among the Kurds in Iraq and also in Syria. While this influence can be overstated, and while Washington is dependent on the Kurdish peshmerga militias for ground support as it battles the Islamic State from the air, it is an important factor. If the situation grew out of control, Ankara would expect the United States to control the situation. If Washington could and would, the price would be Turkish support for U.S. operations in the region. The Turks would have to pay that price or risk intervention. That is the lever that would get Ankara involved.
Added Complications
The Turks are far less entangled in the Russian crisis than in the Middle East, but they are still involved, and potentially in a way that can pyramid. There are three dimensions to this. The first is the Black Sea and Turkey's role in it. The second is the Bosporus and the third is allowing the United States to operate from its air base in Incirlik in the event of increased Russian military involvement in Ukraine.
The crisis in Ukraine necessarily involves the Black Sea. Crimea's Sevastopol is a Russian Base on the Black Sea. In this potential conflict, the Black Sea becomes a vital theater of operations.
First, in any movement westward by the Russians, the Black Sea is their right flank. Second, the Black Sea is a vital corridor for trade by the Russians, and an attempt by its enemies to shut down that corridor would have to be addressed by Russian naval forces. Finally, the U.S./NATO strategy in addressing the Ukrainian crisis has been to increase cooperation with Romania. Romania is on the Black Sea and the United States has indicated that it intends to work with Bucharest in strengthening its Black Sea capabilities. Therefore, events in the Black Sea can rapidly escalate under certain circumstances, posing threats to Turkish interests that Ankara cannot ignore.
The Black Sea issue is compounded by the question of the Bosporus, which is a narrow strait that, along with the Dardanelles, connects the Black Sea with the Mediterranean. The Bosporus is the only passage from the Black Sea to the Mediterranean. For the Russians, this is a critical trade route and the only means for Russian ships passing into the Mediterranean. In the event of a conflict, the United States and NATO would likely want to send naval forces into the Black Sea to support operations around its perimeter.
Under the Montreaux Convention, an agreement signed in 1936, the Bosporus is under Turkish control. However the convention also places certain restrictions on traffic in the Bosporus. Access is guaranteed to all commercial traffic, however, Ankara is authorized to refuse transit to countries at war with Turkey. All countries with coasts on the Black Sea are free to operate militarily in the Black Sea. Non-Black Sea nations, however, suffer restrictions. Only warships under 15,000 tones may be sent, and no more than nine at any one time, with a total tonnage of 30,000 tons. And then they are only permitted to stay for 21 days or less.
This limits the ability of the United States to project forces into the Black Sea — American carrier battle groups, key components of U.S. naval power, are unable to pass through. Turkey is, under international law, the guarantor of the convention and it has over time expressed a desire to be freed from it so Ankara can exercise complete sovereignty over the Bosporus Straits. But it has also been comforted by knowing that refusal to allow warships to pass can be referred to international law, instead of being Turkish responsibility.
However, in the event of a conflict with Russia, that can no longer be discounted: Turkey is a member of NATO. If NATO were to formally participate in such a conflict, Ankara would have to choose whether the Montreaux Convention or its alliance obligations take precedence. The same can be said of air operations out of Incirlik. Does Turkey's relationship with NATO and the United States take precedence or will Ankara use the convention to control conflict in the Black Sea? Even prior to its own involvement in any conflict with Russia, there would be a potentially dangerous diplomatic crisis.
To complicate matters, Turkey receives a great deal of oil and natural gas from Russia through the Black Sea. Energy relations shift. There are economic circumstances on which the seller is primarily dependent on the sale, and circumstances on which the buyer is dependent. It depends on the room for maneuver. While oil prices were over $100, Russia had the financial option to stop shipping energy. Under current pricing, Russia's ability to do this has decreased dramatically. During the Ukrainian crisis, using energy cut-offs in Europe would have been a rational response to sanctions.
The Russians did not do it because they could not afford the cost. The prior obsession with the fragility of the flow of energy from Russia is no longer there, and Turkey, a major consumer, has reduced its vulnerability, at least during the diplomatic phase.
The United States is constructing an alliance system that includes the Baltics, Poland and Romania that is designed to contain any potential Russian advance westward. Turkey is the logical southern anchor for this alliance structure. The Turks have been more involved than is already visible — conducting exercises with the Romanians and Americans in the Black Sea.
But as in the Middle East, Ankara has carefully avoided any commitment to the alliance and has remained unclear on its Black Sea Strategy. While the Middle East is more enigmatic, the Russian situation is potentially more dangerous, though Turkish ambiguity remains identical.
Similarly, Turkey has long demanded membership in the European Union. Yet Ankara's economic performance over the last 10 years indicates that Turkey has benefitted from not being a member. Nevertheless, the secularists in particular have been adamant about membership because they felt that joining the union would guarantee the secular nature of Turkish society. The AKP has been more ambiguous. The party continues to ask for membership, but it has been quite content to remain outside. It did not want the EU strictures secularists wanted, nor did it want to share in the European economic crisis.
Turkey is nevertheless drawn in two directions. First, Ankara has inevitable economic ties in Europe that are effected by crises, ironically focused on its erstwhile enemy Greece. More important at the moment is the immigration and Islamic terrorism crisis in Europe. Many of the Muslims living in Germany, for example, are Turks and the treatment of overseas Turks is a significant political issue in Turkey. While Ankara has wanted to be part of Europe, neither economic reality nor the treatment of Turks and other Muslims in Europe argue for that relationship.
There is a growing breach with Europe in an attempt to avoid absorption of economic problems. However in southeastern Europe discussions of Turkish investments and trade are commonplace. Put into perspective, as Europe fragments, Turkey — a long-term economic power, understanding of what the short-term problems are — draws southeastern Europe into its economic center of gravity.
In a way it becomes another force of fragmentation, simply by being an alternate economic benefactor for the poorer countries in the southeast.
The potential interaction of Turkey in the Middle East is an immediate question. The mid-term involvement with Russia is a longer question. Its relation to Europe is the longest question. And its relationship with the United States is the single question that intersects all of these. For all these concerns, Turkey has no clear answer. It is following a strategy designed to avoid involvement and maintain maximum options. Ankara relies on a multi-level strategy in which it is formally allied with some powers and quietly open to relations with powers hostile to its allies. This multi-hued doctrine is designed to avoid premature involvement; premature meaning before having achieved a level of strategic maturity and capability that allows it to define itself, with attendant risks.
In one sense, Turkish policy parallels American policy. U.S. policies in all three regions are designed to allow the regional balance of power to maintain itself, with Washington involving itself selectively and with limited force. The Turks are paralleling the United States in principle, and with even less exposure. The problem the Turks have is that geography binds them to the role of pivot for three regions. For the United States this role is optional. The Turks cannot make coherent decisions, but they must. So Ankara's strategy is to be consistently ambiguous, an enigma. This will work until outside powers make it impossible to work.
"THE GLOBAL MINOTAUR", BY YANIS VAROUFAKIS / THE FINANCIAL TIMES COMMENT & ANALYSIS
| Etiquetas: Economics, Germany, Greece, U.S. Economic And Political
Greece Debt Crisis
‘The Global Minotaur’, by Yanis Varoufakis
Insights from the most irritating man in the room
by: Review by Giles Wilkes
This is some week to be reviewing Yanis Varoufakis. Greece teeters on the edge of the eurozone, its fate a matter of ferocious dispute between European finance ministers. Until recently Varoufakis was one of them, by most accounts the most irritating and self-assured man in the room. Now he lurks venomously on the fringes, spitting disdain upon a rotten bargain that he believes will doom his nation to further misery, all of which he foretold.
Did he? That is what will preoccupy anyone perusing The Global Minotaur, the polemic he has updated for the latest leg of the crisis. Regrettably it is too uneven for any clear verdict, providing material enough only to confirm the prejudices of those on either side of the argument.
Those who see Greece as the nation-state equivalent of a welfare scrounger need only turn to the dismissive explanation of what ails Europe. Lethargic growth rates are blamed not on inflexible labour or munificent benefits payments but on “the way most of Europe was falling under the spell of German surpluses”. Forever making too much and consuming too little, the Germans doom the European project through their refusal to permit a “global surplus recycling mechanism” — a phrase so common it is given the acronym GSRM.
It is no exaggeration to describe this book as an attempt to model the world economy on GSRM. To those with a surplus, this will feel pernicious. They see it as a mark of virtue and thrift, not a lurking incubus of financial havoc. To German ears, any call to disperse surpluses smacks of a vagrant hustling loose change for his whisky budget. One can imagine Wolfgang Schäuble, German finance minister, warning: “Beware these Greeks bearing surplus recycling mechanisms.”
&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;strong&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/strong&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;
The “global minotaur” of the title is not Germany but the twin deficits of the US. Just as the bull-headed monster of Crete was fed a gory human tribute, so the US sat until recently at the heart of a system that siphoned capital towards Wall Street. This was then spewed out as economic demand — a GSRM of devilish force, keeping the world economy afloat for decades, but doomed to self-destruction. Along the way, this minotaur is deployed to explain everything that irks the leftist polemicist. The Wall Street mergers and acquisitions boom, the US defence budget, Walmart — all were just the creature’s “hand maidens”.
The destruction of the minotaur by a storm of its own making laid bare the instability of world demand. This is where the saga of Greece and the eurozone re-enters the tale. What Germany has built is a system of fixed exchange rates without any means of recycling surpluses towards deficit countries. Neither benign hegemon (like the US after the second world war) nor voracious, irresponsible minotaur, Germany squats sullenly atop the European economy, bargaining stagnation outside its borders for the security of its surplus.
Until last week, my reaction had mostly been to scatter “nonsense” in the margins, and list the bad history and cherry-picked examples that dot the pages of The Global Minotaur. Often it reads less as a work of economics, more a drawn-out conspiracy fable that just happens to use economic terms; the author, at times appearing confounded by supply and demand, is determined to see Machiavellian impulse behind every flow of capital. One of the mysteries the book clears up is how Varoufakis could so annoy Greece’s creditors that his departure proved essential for a deal.
Despite this, his basic diagnosis may be correct: without a rising tide of external demand, the eurozone has failed to disperse spending sufficiently within its borders, with crisis the inevitable result. Until the last phase of the Greek standoff, I thought this would be understood in Europe’s capitals, and that Athens’ final capitulation would be met with some recognition of the need for relief. Instead, there was only a further twist of the ratchet. Yes, reform is needed — and Varoufakis’ dismissal of structural solutions does Greece no favours. But the savagery of the German approach, akin to dragging a collapsed marathon runner back to the race, looks like an economic surplus used as a weapon of coercion. More such behaviour, and this will not be the last edition of Varoufakis’ conspiracy-minded book.
The writer is an FT leader writer
The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the Future of the Global Economy, by Yanis Varoufakis, Zed Books, RRP£8.99/ $12.95
FED LIFTS CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BANKS / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
| Etiquetas: Banks And Banking, JP Morgan Chase and Co., U.S. Economic And Political
Fed Lifts Capital Requirements for Banks
J.P. Morgan faces highest capital increase of the group at 4.5% of risk-weighted assets
By Ryan Tracy, Victoria McGrane and Justin Baer
Updated July 20, 2015 8:29 p.m. ET
The Federal Reserve finalized the amount of additional capital the nation’s eight biggest banks must maintain, with J.P. Morgan facing the highest capital increase of the group. Photo: Samuel Corum/Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
WASHINGTON—The Federal Reserve sent a message to the largest U.S. financial firms: Staying big is going to cost you.
The Fed’s warning, articulated in a pair of rules it finalized Monday, is among the central bank’s starkest postcrisis regulatory moves pressing Wall Street banks to reconsider their size and appetite for risk.
The Fed completed one rule stating that the eight largest banks in the country should maintain an additional layer of capital to protect against losses, its plainest effort yet to encourage them to shrink. At the same time, it offered a reprieve to General Electric Co. GE -0.37 % ’s finance unit from more-intensive regulation, after the company promised to cut its assets by more than half.
The moves reinforce the central mandate of the Dodd-Frank financial overhaul law signed by President Barack Obama five years ago.
Regulators have pushed big banks to expand their capital buffers to better absorb losses, reduce their reliance on volatile forms of funding, improve their risk management and cut back on risky assets. So-called stress tests measure banks’ resilience each year and can restrict shareholder payouts at firms that don’t pass.
For Wall Street banks and their investors, the emerging regime presents a series of choices: specifically whether to pay the cost of new regulation, which will fall to the bottom line, or change their business models by shedding businesses or withdrawing from certain markets, such as owning commodities.
The Fed “clearly intends the very largest U.S. banks to buckle under this new capital regime, restructuring quickly and dramatically,” said Karen Petrou, a managing partner at Federal Financial Analytics, a policy-analysis firm.
J.P. Morgan Chase JPM 0.07 % & Co., the largest U.S. bank with assets worth $2.449 trillion, will have to maintain more capital than any of its peers, with its minimum capital requirement raised by 4.5% of assets under management as a result of the new rule. J.P. Morgan has resisted calls from lawmakers and others to break up its operations, and instead has jettisoned or adjusted businesses to comply with the new mandates.
“Everything’s doable—it just costs money,” said Glenn Schorr, a banking-industry analyst with Evercore ISI, the research arm of investment bank Evercore Group LLC. Mr. Schorr said banks could hold less capital but would have to cut parts of their business.
Fed Chairwoman Janet Yellen, before voting to approve the new measure, said financial firms must “bear the costs that their failure would impose on others.” She offered banks the choice of maintaining more capital to reduce the chance they would fail, or get smaller and reduce the harm their failure would have on the financial system.
These kinds of restrictions on banks have prompted worries about unintended consequences, such as volatility in financial markets that some ascribe to banks being less willing to take on risk.
The Financial Services Roundtable, a trade group representing big banks, said the new capital rule adopted Monday will push banks to curtail lending. “Regulators should reasonably address risk, but this rule will keep billions of dollars out of the economy,” said Tim Pawlenty, the group’s president.
Unclear is how far regulators intend to push the biggest banks. Ms. Yellen and other officials left open the possibility that the capital rule finished Monday would be incorporated into the central bank’s annual stress tests, a significant move that would make it harder to meet the test’s targets without further changes to the banks’ balance sheets.
Both Goldman Sachs GS -0.03 % and Morgan Stanley MS -0.40 % have shed nearly one-quarter of their assets since 2007, cutting capital-intensive trading activities that no longer produce the profits that justify their costs. In Goldman’s case, the firm has also sold ancillary businesses that don’t fit into its long-term plans, such as insurance.
J.P. Morgan Chief Executive James Dimon has defended the bank’s scale, citing its good returns and high customer satisfaction. “We still want that pre-eminent position, and we’re not going to give that up for anyone,” he said at J.P. Morgan’s investor day in February. A J.P. Morgan spokesman on Monday said the bank is analyzing the rule.
Still, in 2014 the bank stopped operating about a dozen businesses, including physical commodities and student-lending origination. The Wall Street Journal reported in February that J.P. Morgan would begin charging large institutional customers fees for certain deposits, citing rules that make holding money for some clients too costly. Retail deposits weren’t affected.
The other seven large banks covered by the new rule, including Citigroup Inc. C 0.17 % and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. BK 0.37 % , must maintain additional capital buffers of between 1% and 3.5%, the Fed said.
Already, firms have taken steps ahead of the Fed’s move, issuing billions of dollars in preferred shares and long-term debt, beefing up capital by retaining earnings and bolstering profits from businesses considered safer, such as wealth- and asset-management.
“We’re not capital short,” James Gorman, Morgan Stanley’s chief executive, said during a conference call on Monday before the Fed’s final rule was released. “If anything, we’re capital heavy.”
Of the eight big banks, only J.P. Morgan doesn’t have enough capital to meet the rule, which comes into full effect in 2019. The bank has a $12.5 billion shortfall, according to Fed officials. J.P. Morgan executives have said they believe they can cut businesses and take other actions to meet the deadline.
The size of each bank’s additional capital requirement is tailored to the firm’s relative riskiness, as measured by the Fed’s formula, which considers factors such as size, entanglements with other firms and internal complexity. As those factors shrink or grow, so will a bank’s surcharge.
In a sign of the central bank’s preferences, on Monday it delayed until 2018 tough rules that would have fallen on GE Capital in 2017, giving the GE unit time to carry out its wind-down plan. GE Capital was under scrutiny because U.S. regulators in 2013 judged its failure could hurt the broader U.S. economy and designated it “systemically important,” a label created under Dodd-Frank that brings stricter oversight to such firms from the Fed.
GE since said it planned to shed the very qualities—and assets—that made the finance unit subject to oversight in the first place. No company has been able to lose the label of “systemically important” and the Fed didn’t promise GE would be able to, either. GE said Monday it was “grateful” for the Fed’s action.
—Emily Glazer and Ted Mann contributed to this article.
THE EXTINCTION OF MARKETS / SAFE HAVEN
| Etiquetas: Central Banking, China, Credit Bubbles, Financial Markets, Middle Class, Stagflation, Stock Markets
The Extinction of Markets
By: Michael Pento
China's four-week-long stock market rout wiped out nearly 30% off the Shanghai Composite Index since its highs of June. To stem those losses the Chinese government has formulated an interesting hypothesis: stocks won't go down if you ban sell orders.
Working off this proposition Beijing has ordered shareholders with more than a 5% interest to stop selling shares; directors, supervisors, and senior management personnel are also barred from reducing their holdings.
China has also launched investigations on those it believes engaged in malicious short selling. The threat of imprisonment has proved an effective deterrent to those who may have been contemplating a short in the Chinese markets.
And even if you don't fall into either of the above categories of sellers you still will have trouble getting your money out of shares because two thirds of the stocks on the exchange have been halted.
It should come as no surprise that the Communist government of China has fallen off the free market wagon. After all, the government is of the belief that economies grow by building empty cities. So why shouldn't they think markets work best when not allowing participants to sell?
The reaction on Wall Street has been just as alarming. Deutsche Bank and Bank of America Merrill Lynch have applauded the Chinese governments for doing everything necessary to keep the bubble afloat.
But Wall Street's counterintuitive and ironic bullishness on China is most evident in the powerhouse investment firm Goldman Sachs. Goldman is urging investors to buy stock in China right now!
In Observing 40 years of statistical history the Goldman team in China believes "...the market is currently experiencing a standard bull market correction, not a transition into a bear market." This is eerily reminiscent of the Wall Street models that concluded housing prices could never go down on a national basis.
First, I would like to know how anyone could get forty years of honest and consistent data from China. Then tell me where else in that forty year history of data did China expand its debt by $20 trillion dollars in the space of just eight years, as they have today?
Statistical analysis such as this can offer a complement to fundamental analysis in making market predictions. However, this assumes the exchanges where China trades equities bears any resemblance to a market.
A market is a place where a multitude of buyers and sellers freely meet and price is discovered.
What China has now created is a roach motel where money moves in but it can't easily move out-if at all. Therefore, all technical and fundamental analysis goes out the door. And those who choose to participate in this charade are left waiting for Beijing's next decision on how to direct the market move.
This is the antithesis of capitalism and how free markets work. That's why it should be shocking to see Wall Street, the supposed bastion of capitalism, embrace such measures. But the sad truth is there are no free markets left in this world, and it's becoming increasingly evident that most on Wall Street prefer it that way. We have grown so accustomed to market manipulations that we have completely lost sight of how the free market is supposed to function.
In this new market dystopia stocks never go down, companies never fail and countries never default on their debt--central banks just print all the problems away. And where counterfeiting money and lowering interest rates doesn't solve the problem, governments are trying to demonstrate that market regulations will lead to success.
We can all sleep well knowing that a small group of plutocrats who now control the global economy will make everything turn out right. Genuine market analysis has been supplanted by the need to parse the words of statements from central bankers like students at a bible meeting.
And when you really think about it, why bother analyzing their words anyway. Central bankers don't understand how markets and economies work; all they have shown the proclivity to do is print more money. So we can all continue in our dystopian slumber.
But the victory over command and control economies by free markets has been decided long ago. However, these hard-fought lessons seem to have been too easily forgotten. Even the Pope has joined on the Capitalist bashing band wagon. Referring to it as ideological idolatry which leads to wage slavery, vast communal dislocation and commodity-market driven hunger. But perhaps he should take a drive on the Pope mobile down the streets of Cuba or Venezuela to witness the living standards of the poor that exist without the "ideological idolatry" of Capitalism.
The truth is there is no place where people live better than in a free market Capitalist economy.
And it is only when you stray from this model, as we have for the past seven years, that you see the spread between the rich and poor blow out.
Freedom should have vanquished Egalitarianism forever with the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991. But if those at Goldman still see the merit of investing in a tyrannical command and control economy, perhaps North Korea is the next logical investment to make. I am sure Kim Jong-un has a bridge to nowhere he would be happy to sell them.
Nevertheless, economic freedom and prosperity is rapidly being replaced by markets that are driven by the edicts from autocrats, which is leading to the evisceration of the middle class.
People have willingly abandoned most of their freedoms. Why? Because they have been dumbed down dramatically. How else could they have handed over the markets, economies and, most importantly, the structure of the family to governments with such ignorance and alacrity?
The abrogation of markets leads to stagflation, economic collapse and chaos. Sadly, this is the ultimate fate of the entire developed world.
EUROPE´S CIVIL WAR / PROJECT SYNDICATE
Europe’s Civil War
WASHINGTON, DC – The negotiations leading up to the latest tentative deal on Greece’s debt brought into relief two competing visions of the European Union: the flexible, humane, and political union espoused by France, and the legalistic and economy-focused union promoted by Germany. As François Heisbourg recently wrote, “By openly contemplating the forced secession of Greece [from the eurozone], Germany has demonstrated that economics trumps political and strategic considerations. France views the order of factors differently.” The question now is which vision will prevail?
The Greeks, for their part, have been putting their national identity ahead of their pocketbooks, in ways that economists do not understand and continually fail to predict. It is economically irrational for Greeks to prefer continued membership in the eurozone, when they could remain in the EU with a restored national currency that they could devalue.
But, for the Greeks, eurozone membership does not mean only that they can use the common currency. It places their country on a par with Italy, Spain, France, and Germany, as a “full member” of Europe – a position consistent with Greece’s status as the birthplace of Western civilization.
Whereas that stance reflects the vision of an “ever-closer union” that motivated the EU’s founders, Germany’s narrower, economic understanding of European integration cannot inspire ordinary citizens to support the compromises necessary to keep the EU together. Nor can it withstand the inevitable attacks directed against EU institutions for every action and regulation that citizens dislike and for which national politicians want to avoid responsibility.
The original European Economic Community, created by the Treaty of Rome in 1957, was, as the name indicates, economic in nature. The Treaty itself was hard-headed, grounded in the converging economic interests of France and Germany, with the Benelux countries and Italy rounding out the basis of a new European economy.
But economic integration was underpinned by a vision of peace and prosperity for Europe’s peoples, after centuries of unprecedented violence had culminated in two world wars that reinforced the seemingly eternal enmity between France and Germany. And, indeed, the language of a larger political union was embedded in Europe’s treaties, to be interpreted by the European Court of Justice and subsequent generations of European decision-makers in ways that supported the construction of a common European polity and identity, as well as a unified economy.
My mother, a young Belgian in the 1950s, remembers the idealism and the excitement of the European federalist movement, with its promise that her generation could create a different future for Europe and the world. To be sure, the vision of a United States of Europe, espoused by many of those early federalists, looked backward to the founding of the US, rather than forward to a distinctive European venture. Nonetheless, the EU that emerged – which pools sovereignty sufficiently to benefit from being a powerful regional entity in a world of almost 200 countries while maintaining its members’ distinct languages and cultures – is something new.
That experiment cannot survive if supported only by economic rigor and rules. What can continue to justify a political entity after the urgent realities and convictions that drove its establishment have faded to the pages of history and civics books or, at best, are the subject of grandparents’ stories?
For the US, those questions arose in the 1840s and 1850s, when the urgent need for a union to secure independence had faded, causing issues and conflicts that had been papered over to resurface. In particular, slavery was allowed in some states, but prohibited in others, and the 1787 compromise to count each slave as three-fifths of a person when determining a state’s population for representation and taxation was fraying. Economic differences between the industrial north and the agricultural south meant that discussions over states’ rights were about livelihoods as well as lives. A horrific war resulted, in which the US defeated the secessionist southern Confederacy and imposed its vision of the union.
Before the war’s end, President Abraham Lincoln created a new narrative, declaring in the Gettysburg Address that it was fought for democracy as much as equality, with the goal of ensuring that “government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” This account simplified – and, in many ways, distorted – the historical record. But no matter; the speech became as important a part of American national identity as the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution.
The EU is now facing its own civil war, though one that, fortunately, is free of physical violence.
Without statesmen and stateswomen able to articulate a vision of a shared future worth working and even sacrificing for, the side of unity may not win. Europe’s national anthem, a circle of stars, and talk of fiscal rectitude and structural reforms cannot compete with the potent messages of the EU’s opponents.
Those opponents, on both the right and the left, are focusing on the everyday living conditions of European citizens – those who feel threatened by migrants and those who are suffering as a result of austerity. For the EU to continue its march toward a stronger and closer polity and economy –one that nevertheless falls far short of a federal state – it must offer the credible prospect of a better life for all of its citizens.
Just before the final round of the recent Greek negotiations, French President François Hollande said that he did not want a Europe that “no longer progresses.” Fair enough. But progress toward what? Toward liberty, equality, and fraternity for all of Europe? Toward the dignity and solidarity of all European citizens? Toward a shared European house that is kept in order?
These are the questions that a new generation of European politicians must answer.
Read more at http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/greek-crisis-future-of-europe-by-anne-marie-slaughter-2015-07#zph25G5hcOj6UCkL.99
MARKETS, DATA AND OFFICIAL HINTS POINT TO A RATE RISE / THE FINANCIAL TIMES COMMENT & ANALYSIS
| Etiquetas: Central Banking, Gold, Inflation, Interest Rates
Markets, data and official hints point to a rate rise
Falling gold and rising wages strengthen the case for tightening son
Bank of England governor Mark Carney
More than Greece, more even than the Shanghai stock market, the US interest rate cycle obsesses financial markets. The dollar retains a worldwide pre-eminence, both as a yardstick of value and the medium through which much of global finance is delivered. No part of the world economy can be indifferent to US monetary conditions.
Ever since US rates hit rock-bottom in 2008, there has been speculation about the return to normality. Now the evidence is beginning to accumulate — from markets, economic data and official hints — that the next few months could finally see a bend in the curve.
One augury can be found in the price of gold, which on Monday plumbed a five-year low of $1,088. As a monetary mechanism, bullion no longer matters as it did when central banks needed vaults full of it as their means of settlement. But gold still says much about sentiment.
Its ascent to $1,900 per ounce tracked the collapse of investor confidence in the wake of banking and sovereign debt crises.
Gold remained expensive for as long as the authorities appeared unable to restart growth. Now, whether it be inflation, financial contagion or economic weakness, investors are no longer as nervous, and consequently see less value in buying tonnes of an inert yellow metal.
Gold’s recent skittishness may partly stem from its own idiosyncrasies: the release of figures breaking down Chinese reserves came in unexpectedly low, for example. But other signs of confidence are unmistakable. In 2012, a protracted stand-off between Greece and the rest of the eurozone led to carnage in European bond markets. This time around, their response has been to shrug. There is a similarly sanguine reaction beyond China to its stock market gyrations.
Even as the Shanghai Composite lost 30 per cent in value, the S&P 500 flirted with all-time highs, and a measure of market volatility reached its lowest point in two and a half years.
&lt;strong&gt;&lt;/strong&gt; Economic reasons for delaying a rise are melting away. One is the persistence of low inflation.
Central banks have been at pains to emphasise the difference between good deflation, which stems from a positive supply shock, and the bad kind, brought about by weak spending. The past year has been all about the first sort, as plummeting oil and other commodity prices have granted developed economies a helpful boost to their incomes. However much headline inflation is dragged down, such effects ought not to linger for more than a year or so.
Recent experience helps to dispel another reason for delay, which is the risk of low inflation feeding through into weaker wages. Faster growing economies are instead seeing pay rises returning to normal levels. As a result, signs that the oil price is slipping again ought to be interpreted as unambiguously positive for growth.
Lastly, in the US and UK there has been a gradual conversion to the merits of early action. While the Federal Reserve and Bank of England are not exactly racing one another to the first rate rise, their respective bosses show a newfound eagerness to discuss it. In speeches studded with caveats, Janet Yellen and Mark Carney each hinted at rates beginning to rise by the turn of the year. Both elevate data over dogma; Mr Carney described how the BoE needs to “feel its way as it goes”, echoing the approach of his US counterpart.
The era of zero interest rates has not proven kind to those fond of confident market forecasts.
In light of this a little circumspection from central banks is understandable. But in recent weeks all of the straws in the wind have started to drift in the same general direction. A turn in the monetary cycle may at last be on the cards.
GOLD : THE PYRRIC VICTORY OF THE CARTEL / SAFE HAVEN
| Etiquetas: Gold, The Dollar
The Pyrrhic Victory of the Cartel
By: Hans Brinkmann
For months now there we are witnessing attacks on the gold price on an almost daily basis. Two methods are used. The hammer smash, where billions of notional of gold futures are sold within seconds to overwhelm demand and to cause a substantial drop in the gold price. The second method is price strangulation where life is strangled out of the gold price like a Python kills its prey by capping all upward price movements and then dragging the price down slowly but surely. The latter was the more frequent method.
This month we had three spectacular hammer attacks as well. The first one happened on July 7 when almost $1 billion notional of gold futures were dumped in seconds into the open market.
The next attack happened on the July 17, this time it was $1.4 billion. On July 20 $2.7 billion notional of gold futures were dumped during Asian trading hours. In total more than $5 billion notional of gold futures were used to smash the gold price down to $1080/oz.
Who are the perpetrators? I rule out any hedge fund or private bank because of the huge sums and risks involved. How could the management of a private entity explain such overt market manipulations to shareholders without having to resign only to become a target for law enforcement agencies? The excellent archive on www.gata.org will help anybody who is interested in delving deeper into this subject. For now I just refer to these people as the Cartel.
The Cartel is in a very difficult situation. It increases demand for physical gold by reducing its price.
On the July 20 shares of Indian jewellery companies soared because the public expects increased demand for gold jewellery due to the fall in prices. In 2015 private gold demand in India (more than 1000to) and China (more than 2400to) will be higher than annual world mine production. Add to that central bank buying at last year's level of more than 500to and you will see that demand for physical gold is extremely strong. For a number of years now physical demand has been higher than mine supply. With the smashing of the gold price this situation is getting worse because gold miners shut down and production falls. This year in the US gold mine production is down almost 10%. The South African gold mining industry faces total collapse. The shares of Barrick Gold fell to a 25 year low.
In the past 20 years enormous amounts of central bank gold were lent out to earn interest income.
Estimates say that about 30% of all western central bank holdings were on loan. This would be a volume of more than 7,000to. The fractional reserve banking in gold means that 1to of gold can turn into 10 or more tonnes of paper gold. Now this gold is recalled because central banks can not earn any meaningful return through gold leasing and because they worry whether they get their gold back at all. Take Germany as an example. The US told them it would take seven years to return a few 100to of gold which supposedly sits somewhere in a vault in New York.
Is it unreasonable to assume that some bullion banks and the US authorities are now faced with a gold bank run? They appear to pitch for short term gains, a panic or two among gold investors, to pick up their assets to meet delivery calls. It would have been more sensible to let the gold price rise.
This would have boosted gold production and the sale of scrap gold and thus enabled them to meet their margin calls. They have already lost the game because the supply of gold is drying up and the world becomes aware of their troubles.
We should sit back and enjoy the show.
CORPORATE BONDS FACE TOUGHER TIMES / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
| Etiquetas: Bond Markets, Investment Strategies
Corporate Bonds Face Tougher Times
Corporate debt has turned into a losing bet for investors this year
By Richard Barley
A pedestrian walks by a CVS store on June 15, 2015 in San Francisco, California. Photo: Getty Images
Corporate bond investors have been pampered since the global financial crisis. Slow growth and conservative balance sheets have boosted the allure of company debt, generating strong returns. But so far, 2015 has been less kind; the outlook is uninspiring too.
European and U.S. corporate bonds are down 0.8-0.9% year-to-date, according to Barclays indexes. Some of that is down to the recent sharp reversal in government bond markets, but there has been an extra blow on top: the gap between company and underlying government bond yields has widened since the start of the year too, to 1.15 percentage points in Europe and 1.48 in the U.S.
True, that means that yields are now a little juicier, at 3.4% in the U.S. and 1.3% in Europe.
The search for yield and extremely low default rates mean the corporate bond market isn't at risk of collapsing soon.
But neither is it particularly set to shine. Issuers are busy taking advantage of good borrowing conditions, weighing on prices. In Europe, net supply of corporate bonds has turned positive for the first time since 2010, BNP Paribas notes: U.S. companies have been particularly busy, raising long-dated debt at startlingly low yields. That is a trend that may continue. In the U.S., the past two weeks has seen over $80 billion of investment-grade issuance, Société Générale SCGLY -0.51 % notes, and the pipeline may be busy as companies look to raise funding before the focus turns more to the U.S. Federal Reserve and the risk of rate rises.
Corporate balance sheets look more at risk. The second quarter saw global M&A hit $1.29 trillion, its highest tally in eight years, with a record $640 billion recorded in the U.S., according to Dealogic. Companies are proving willing to finance deals with debt: for a recent example, take CVS Health’s purchases of Omnicare and Target’s pharmacies and clinics businesses. The trend isn’t so far advanced in Europe, but could yet accelerate.
Meanwhile, fund flows have favored equities more. In May and June, Europeans pulled €8.7 billion ($9.4 billion) from high-grade bond funds, more than half the inflows in the previous four months, data from J.P. Morgan shows. Overall, fixed-income flows have turned almost as negative as in the taper tantrum of 2013, Bank of America Merrill Lynch notes.
There are also increasingly high-profile concerns about liquidity in corporate bond markets.
While illiquidity can boost investor returns in a rally—as the lack of available paper leads to
exaggerated rises in price—it will have a similar amplifying effect in a selloff. Over time, corporate bond yields should price in a higher structural premium for liquidity.
Greece and China are no longer scaring investors, meaning some might be tempted back into the market. But potential gains are limited at best, and if investors start to think in earnest about U.S. rate rises, any respite could be short-lived. The best days for corporate bonds are in the past.
A RICHER IRAN WILL TARGET THE AMERICAS / THE WALL STREET JOURNAL OP EDITORIAL
| Etiquetas: Iran, Latin America Economic And Political
A Richer Iran Will Target the Americas
Last October police in Lima found detonators and TNT in the home of a Hezbollah operative.
July 19, 2015 5:55 p.m. ET
Late Argentine prosecutor Alberto Nisman in 2013 Photo: Reuters
In the foreword to the 2014 book “Iran’s Strategic Penetration of Latin America,” former Colombian Defense Minister Marta Lucía Ramírez wrote that Venezuela’s “ ‘axis of unity’ with Iran embodies Latin America’s growing distance” from the U.S. “This is not to distract from the many conflicts the U.S. is engaging in the Middle East or elsewhere,” she noted. But she wanted “to remind our northern neighbors of the kind of disengagement in Latin America that led to a nuclear standoff in 1962.”
Now the Obama administration has agreed to phase out many economic sanctions on Iran in exchange for its promises to disable parts of its nuclear program. The deal provides for winding down international restrictions on trade and investment with Iran. It is also expected to gradually liberate more than $100 billion in Iranian assets frozen by the U.S. and other countries.
This means that even if the agreement prevents Iran from getting a nuclear weapon, it will make the world less safe. National Security Adviser Susan Rice admitted as much last Wednesday when CNN’s Wolf Blitzer asked if “support [for] international terrorism” might be one use for the liberated assets. “In fact,” Ms. Rice said, “we should expect that some portion of that money would go to the Iranian military and could potentially be used for the kinds of bad behavior that we have seen in the region up until now.”
And not only in the Mideast. One likely destination for some of that money will be the Islamic Republic’s military, ideological and terrorist activities in the U.S. backyard. As Joseph Humire, executive director of the Washington-based Center for a Secure Free Society, put it to me last week, “if Iran gets access to the global financial system, they’re going to double down in Latin America.”
Iran has targeted Latin America since the mid-1980s by establishing mosques and cultural centers to spread the revolution. An arm of Hezbollah, Iran’s Islamic fundamentalist proxy, took responsibility for the 1992 terrorist attack on the Israeli Embassy in Buenos Aires. Argentine prosecutors named Iran as the mastermind behind the 1994 terrorist attack on the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in the same city.
Iran has “observer” status in the Bolivarian Alliance for the Americas, a coalition of pro-Castro governments in the hemisphere launched during the Venezuelan presidency of Hugo Chávez.
ALBA’s members include Cuba, six other Caribbean countries, Venezuela, Bolivia, Ecuador and Nicaragua. The alliance relationships with Iran mean Iranian and Hezbollah operatives now move about the Americas easily. A 2014 paper published by Mr. Humire’s center notes that intelligence officials in the region believe Tarek El Aissami, Venezuela’s interior minister from 2008-12, provided new identities to 173 Middle Easterners.
In 2013 Alberto Nisman, the Argentine prosecutor who was investigating the AMIA case, released a 500-page report about the extensive Iranian terrorism network in the hemisphere. One of his more chilling findings was that the foiled 2007 plot to blow up New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport was an Iranian operation, run by a Guyanese recruit. In January Nisman was found in his Buenos Aires apartment with a bullet through his head.
One argument for lifting the sanctions is that Iranians are suffering economically. But their hardships have done nothing to diminish the Islamic Republic’s Latin American adventures.
Iranian investment in the region is not about securing food or economic growth but rather about meeting strategic goals. There is solid evidence that since 2007 Iran has invested in uranium exploration—presumably tied to its nuclear interests—in Bolivia, Venezuela and Ecuador. The Iranian military has at least one joint venture with Venezuela, located in the state of Aragua, where Mr. El Aissami is now governor.
Propaganda is an Iranian priority. HispanTV, launched in 2011, is a Spanish-language channel run by Iran. It has partnership agreements with state-run television in a number of ALBA countries. In his 2014 book, “Remote Control,” the respected Bolivian journalist Raúl Peñaranda alleged that Iran’s former President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad donated $3 million to President Evo Morales to finance and equip Bolivia’s state-owned television station Abya Yala.
Gen. Douglas Fraser , former head of the United States Southern Command, testified to Congress three years ago that Iran was backing at least 36 Shiite Islamic cultural centers in Central America, the Caribbean and South America. This year Gen. John Kelly, who now runs Southern Command, testified that there are more than 80.
Last October a Hezbollah operative was arrested in Lima on suspicion of plotting terrorism in Peru. Press reports said that police discovered detonators and TNT in his home, and evidence that he may have been scouting out the Jorge Chávez International Airport for a possible attack.
President Obama is boasting that his deal is Reaganesque. But Reagan did not abandon Latin America to enemies of liberty.
GOLD MAKES NEW BEAR MARKETS LOWS / SEEKING ALPHA
Gold Makes New Bear Market Lows
by: Ben Lockhart
Jul. 20, 2015 2:06 AM ET
Gold made new bear market lows this week, as did the major mining indices.
The move lower came on the announcement that China has not been buying anywhere near as much gold as many had estimated.
Although in the very short term we may drop a little further, both gold and the miners have strong support just below and we may soon see an oversold bounce.
The big news this week was that gold (NYSEARCA:GLD) has made new bear market lows, admittedly by only a few cents on the spot gold contract, but new bear market lows all the same. This was probably to be expected given that the gold mining index (NYSEARCA:GDX) had already broken its November 2014 low earlier in the week, as the general rule is stocks tend to lead the commodity.
For the week gold lost just over 2.5% and the miners just under 8%, with both showing signs that the decline is not yet over in the immediate term. However both have strong support levels just below, and I would therefore not recommend initiating new short positions at this juncture as there is likely to be at least a small relief rally in the not too distant future.
I will cover those potential bounce targets a little later on, but first we should take a minute to talk about the other big piece of information making the news within the gold sphere this week, as the outside edges of the price decline puzzle may have just been filled in for us.
4 Years of Bullish Fundamental Reasoning Evaporates in 30 Seconds
To precious metals suppression theorists, a core tenet of the argument is the 'massive buying' of gold by China. How could the price be falling when the PBoC are buying so much gold? That argument was dealt a huge blow this week as China disclosed its official gold reserves for the first time in 6 years, and the total was well below that of consensus estimates.
The figures show that China has purchased 604 tonnes of gold since April 2009, taking its total holdings to 1,658 tonnes (less than the reserves of Italy or France) and at today's gold price that represents just 1.6% of its total foreign exchange reserve holdings. In fact, analysis of its foreign exchange reserves show that China is the biggest holder of the US Dollar globally with over $3T on its books.
Back in April of this year Bloomberg estimated that China to hold over 3500 tonnes of gold, so you can well imagine that the official figures released on Friday struck a major blow to the bullish fundamental thesis, and the announcement propelled gold lower. The PBoC themselves had this to say on gold:
"Gold has a special risk-return characteristic, and at specific times is not a bad investment.. Gold is the same as other commodities and financial assets, the global price rises and goes down.. based on our analysis on gold's value and price changes, and on the premise of not creating disturbances in the market, we steadily accumulated gold reserves through a number of international and domestic channels.."
The comments made by the PBoC were telling for a number of reasons. The first is that they are obviously not buying indiscriminately regardless of the price - they wish to buy at the cheapest price like everybody else does. The second is that they see it as a commodity rather than a currency - somewhat at odds with the GATA view; and the third is that they understand that the gold market is small and they do not wish to distort the true value by making large bulk purchases - hardly the outlook of a country intent on dethroning King Dollar and asset backing their own currency.
Doubtless there will be articles written stating that the figures are wrong, in fact we are already seeing reports of people hinting that the Chinese have low-balled their official figures, but to those thinking logically about the decline from 2011 onwards the answer has always been simple - the price is falling because demand is not outpacing supply, regardless of how much is being allegedly bought up by China, India and Russia.
Many of the gold newsletter writers and prominent gold analysts - analysts that have mostly maintained a bullish stance throughout this bear market - are the ones casting doubt, but I would urge people to step back and see the whole picture. Just a few weeks back the same people were telling us that the dwindling Swiss Customs export figures were incorrect, and were pointing to the SGE withdrawals stats as the proof that Chinese demand was actually rising. It beggars belief that they would now say that the Chinese figures have been under-reported. Some people will never admit they were wrong.
In investing it is important to view a price trend as it is rather than what you want it to be, and in the precious metals arena we see a series of lower highs and lower lows that mark a clear downtrend. If you only had the chart to look at and knew nothing else of the gold market, you could assume that the fundamental landscape of supply/demand/sentiment is bearish given that price is falling.
Investing solely on fundamentals is difficult as you never truly know if you have the fundamental landscape pegged, and Friday's announcement is a perfect example of this. Many raging bulls would have been TKO'd when this report was released. Fundamentalists ignore charts, but then a chart is representative of all the fundamentals that brought price to this exact moment. Price is truth.
Despite the decidedly bearish news there is one clear positive. When the tide turns and gold makes its first higher high on the chart, we will have a potential willing buyer here with the ability to propel the price upwards in short order. At the end of 2014 central banks globally held an average of 10% of their reserves in gold - should China start to play catch up and increase the amount they hold from the current 1.6% level, price could simply rocket higher.
However, at the present time it is clear that the Chinese are ignoring gold in favor of the dollar - perhaps you should do the same until they change their stance?
The latest figures from the Commitment of Traders report are below:
COMMERCIAL LARGE SPECS SMALL SPECS
LONG SHORT LONG SHORT LONG SHORT
183,945 232,414 191,014 143,190 36,195 35,550
CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE
+11,393 +7,273 -2,762 -138 -1,616 -120
Quite an interesting report this week in the respect that the Commercial trader category took the opportunity to add a fair number of long and short positions, while the other categories made little change.
Since the speculator categories got effectively more net short (they sold long contracts), we can see a corresponding number of long contracts added on the commercial side, but this week they have actually added 7,000+ hedges which allowed them to increase their long holdings further whilst maintaining their overall position. When gold is approaching its bear market low I am expecting to see the speculators net short and the commercial traders net long. Could they be preparing for this now by increasing their inventory? Only time will tell.
The latest chart is below, and yes we are most certainly reaching a point where we could see a little bounce. This is an inflection point now, and certainly not the time to be initiating new positions - better to wait for support to either hold or break before you make your move.
*courtesy of OANDA
One final comment - gold made the bulk of its move lower after the data for this report was compiled (it runs Tuesday to Tuesday), so unless we see a very sharp move higher on Monday you can expect to see the speculators get further net short by the time the next report is issued.
A short covering bounce is probably not very far away.
A few weeks back in the comments section I stated that the dollar (NYSEARCA:UUP) should now rally to 98+ on the DXY chart, and we are now approaching that price level:
Regular readers will know by now that I am a huge dollar bull, and expect to see much higher levels in the next year or two. There is a chance that we have now completed the correction and are starting to break to new highs, but it is equally probable that we retest the highs (blue box 100.20-101.30) before dropping back to roughly 94 and then resume our march higher.
If we retest the highs then drop back, this will give gold the chance to bounce a little before making new lows. The key level in the dollar is therefore 101.30 - a solid break above this level would indicate we are heading to at least 103 and more probably higher, and would heap the pressure on gold; but a failure at the blue box or below may give gold the chance to shine for at least a short while longer.
The miners broke support this week, taking out their previous bear market lows with ease and setting the stage for gold to move lower:
As with gold they do have very strong potential support just a few percent below, and I would not expect this support to be violated by anything more than a quick spike on the first attempt. The 2008 gold miners bear market low stands at 15.24 and we have trend line support at 14.84 and I am looking for a bounce in that zone ideally.
Should that play out with gold making a corresponding low and the dollar a short term top, we may see a rally start to unfold. Doubtless we will be told that this time the low is in, but I lean towards this being just an oversold bounce with a further low to come.
The target for a bounce in GDX would be towards 19, but this depends on where we make the low itself, and could be slightly higher or lower as a result. I will calculate targets if/when a bounce starts to materialize.
I shouldn't have to tell you that a clear break of this support without an immediate reversal back above would be extremely bearish for the miners, and may result in further capitulation towards my ultimate bear market target of 10. Bulls need to be careful.
Gold made new bear market lows, but not by much, which shows we didn't see a raft of panic selling take place when it encountered its November 2014 low. There again we did not see any kind of persistent buying either:
Short term support stands at $1132, $1125, $1108 & $1100, but the major support is the 50% retrace of the 1999-2011 bull market at $1086. That is a support level I would not expect to see broken on the first attempt. It lines up well with the target for a bounce in GDX and I would expect us to make a tradable low on or around that level.
Zooming out to the weekly chart we can see that the technicals are mixed with the MacD indicator showing a bearish crossover, but the stochastics and relative strength index showing oversold readings that may mean they are potentially at support:
As with GDX, if we were to see a strong move through the above support levels and did not immediately reverse higher, we could see a capitulation event in gold. The next support level below $1086 is $1035 followed by nothing much until we hit $900.
However, my primary expectation is that we see a tradable low somewhere in this region and a quick bounce higher before we make further new lows. The target for the bounce can only really be calculated when the first couple of waves higher are in place, but in broad terms I think if we were to make the low at $1086, we could well see a bounce toward $1180.
Although I expect gold to head below $1000 before the bear market concludes towards year end, $1086 is the first price level at which I would legitimately consider the low being in for gold.
Obviously we would have to see a very strong impulsive move from that level for me to take that view, but many investors have lost money waiting for one more low that never came, so if you have an investing timeframe of 5+ years, you should probably be buying at least part of your inventory now.
As usual I will update thoughts in the comments section as the count progresses, and I wish you all good luck for the coming week!
"THE GLOBAL MINOTAUR", BY YANIS VAROUFAKIS / THE F...
FED LIFTS CAPITAL REQUIREMENTS FOR BANKS / THE WAL...
MARKETS, DATA AND OFFICIAL HINTS POINT TO A RATE R...
GOLD : THE PYRRIC VICTORY OF THE CARTEL / SAFE HAV...
CORPORATE BONDS FACE TOUGHER TIMES / THE WALL STRE...
A RICHER IRAN WILL TARGET THE AMERICAS / THE WALL ...
GOLD AND SILVER UPDATE / SAFE HAVEN
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3313
|
__label__cc
| 0.646991
| 0.353009
|
705-256-9644 ghenderson@royallepage.ca
View Area Properties
Map Area Properties
New Listings Alert
Status For lease For sale
Min Price $30,000 $50,000 $80,000 $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $300,000 $350,000 $400,000 $450,000 $500,000 $600,000 $700,000 $800,000 $900,000 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $2,000,000 $3,000,000 $4,000,000 $5,000,000 $6,000,000 $7,000,000 $8,000,000 $9,000,000 $10,000,000
Max Price $30,000 $50,000 $80,000 $100,000 $125,000 $150,000 $175,000 $199,999 $200,000 $225,000 $250,000 $275,000 $299,999 $300,000 $350,000 $399,999 $400,000 $450,000 $499,999 $500,000 $599,999 $600,000 $699,999 $700,000 $799,999 $800,000 $899,999 $900,000 $999,999 $1,000,000 $1,250,000 $1,500,000 $1,700,000 $2,000,000 $4,000,000 $6,000,000 $8,000,000 $10,000,000 $20,000,000 $30,000,000 $40,000,000 $50,000,000
Property Type Commercial Residential Agriculture Business Industrial Multi-family Other Recreational Retail Single Family Vacant Land
Location Algoma Mills Batchawana Batchawana Bay Blind River Bruce Mines Chapleau Dennis Township Desbarats Dubreuilville Echo Bay Elliot Lake Esquega Goulais Goulais River Goulais, On Gould Township, Thessalon Haughton Township Havilland Heyden Hilton Hilton Beach Hilton Beach, St. Joseph Island Hilton Township Huron Shores Huron Shores, Thessalon Iron Bridge Jocelyn Jocelyn Township Ley Township Lower Island Lake Mcnie Township Meldrum Bay Michipicoten Near Lake Superior Provincial Park Pennefather Township Plummer Additional Prince Township Richards Landing Richards Landing, St. Joseph Island Sault Ste Marie Sault Ste. Maire Sault Ste. Marie Sault Ste. Marie/prince Searchmont Serpent River Spragge St. Joseph Island Thessalon Thessalon, Huron Shores Township Of The North Shore Wawa White River
Structure Type Condominium Apartment Duplex Multi-family Row / Townhouse
Waterfront Only - No Waterfront Only - Yes
Showing 673 to 688 of 688 properties
Listings last updated Wednesday January 29 2020
$1,800/Month - For lease
ID#: SM126661
29 Wellington St E # Lower, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm126661)
Beds N/A
Baths N/A
29 Wellington St E # Main, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm126657)
$750/Month - For lease
145 Mcnabb St # 2, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm126631)
$18/square feet - For lease
369 Queen St # 104, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm126627)
421 Bay St # 506, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm126512)
633 Albert St, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm126489)
$8.75/square feet - For lease
89 Whiteoak Dr, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm125696)
9 Lawton Ave, Blind River, Ontario (id Sm124835)
60 Pim St # 203 & 205, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm124730)
68 Dennis St # 6, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm124706)
11 Saskatchewan Rd, Elliot Lake, Ontario (id Sm124691)
9 Saskatchewan Rd, Elliot Lake, Ontario (id Sm124690)
478 Queen St E # 6, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm124636)
$7/square feet - For lease
80 White Oak Dr E # 1, Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario (id Sm113761)
This website is operated by a brokerage or salesperson who is a member of The Canadian Real Estate Association. The out of province listing content on this website is not intended to solicit a trade in real estate. Any consumers interested in out of province listings must contact a person who is licensed to trade in real estate in that province.The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos identify professional services rendered by REALTOR® members of CREA to effect the purchase, sale and lease of real estate as part of a cooperative selling system. The trademarks REALTOR®, REALTORS® and the REALTOR® logo are controlled by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify real estate professionals who are members of CREA. The trademark DDF® is also owned by CREA and identifies CREA's Data Distribution Facility (DDF®). The listing content on this website is protected by copyright and other laws, and is intended solely for the private, non-commercial use by individuals. Any other reproduction, distribution or use of the content, in whole or in part, is specifically forbidden. The prohibited uses include commercial use, "screen scraping", "database scraping", and any other activity intended to collect, store, reorganize or manipulate data on the pages produced by or displayed on this website.
**Broker *Sales Representative
Email: ghenderson@royallepage.ca
390 Bay Street, Unit 101
SAULT STE. MARIE, Ontario
P6A 1X2
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3323
|
__label__cc
| 0.511476
| 0.488524
|
MSP: ANGUS BREXIT RISK HIGH
RURAL AREAS AMONG MOST VULNERABLE
MSP for the Angus South Constituency, Graeme Dey, has highlighted a new analysis showing many of the localities at greatest risk from the impact of Brexit to be rural areas – with much of Angus South in the highest risk category.
The ‘Local Level Brexit Vulnerabilities in Scotland’ report breaks the map down into 7,000 geographical units called datazones, across which a series of risk factors facing communities have been plotted.
These include areas’ access to services, working age population, income deprivation, Brexit-sensitive industries, and payments and migration from the EU. The resulting map of vulnerabilities shows a higher concentration of the most at-risk datazones in remote and rural locations.
It comes as the Scottish Government published their preparations for a ‘no-deal’ Brexit, including steps to protect food and medicine supplies, support businesses and safeguard vulnerable citizens.
Specific initiatives have included the establishment of a Scottish Medicines Shortage Response Group and a commitment to create a £7 million Rapid Poverty Mitigation Fund in the event of no deal. Farmers and crofters are receiving 95% of their Common Agricultural Policy payments early in order to shield them from the immediate effects.
According to the report, such preparations have been made “unnecessarily difficult” by a lack of engagement from Downing Street – with Scottish Ministers invited to only eight of more than 50 meetings of the UK Government’s EU Exit Operations committee.
“The Vulnerabilities analysis confirms what SNP colleagues and I have been saying for some time – that communities in areas such as Angus South will be among the worst-hit by any variety of Brexit.
“But crashing out of the EU with no deal in place would be catastrophic for Angus South and its rural economy – with 24% of datazones in Angus among the most vulnerable 20% in Scotland.
“As a responsible government, the SNP administration has undertaken extensive planning to mitigate the worst effects of this outcome – but it is a totally needless outcome that Scotland has so clearly rejected.
“The Tory policy of Brexit at any cost is incredibly reckless, and there can be no doubt that – despite the best efforts of this Scottish Government – no-deal would have profound consequences for jobs, investment and living standards and should be ruled out immediately.”
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3326
|
__label__wiki
| 0.642232
| 0.642232
|
Travel Knowledge Blog
Cookery school, Swinton Park. SA
Lanchester Group.
The Lanchester Group is family business – built from nothing in three decades to a multi-million pound world leader. The group comprises the original Lanchester Wine Cellars, begun by Managing Director Tony Cleary at his home in the County Durham village of Lanchester three decades ago, Greencroft Bottling, Lanchester Gifts (a gifts and hampers business), and Lanchester Energy. Greencroft Bottling is the largest employer, in the group, accounting for most of more than 200 staff at the huge, modern headquarters at Annfield Plain, near Consett. Thanks to the efforts of the newest division, Lanchester Energy, the group is on target to fulfil Tony's ambition of becoming the world's first "carbon-negative" bottling company.
This has been achieved through a combination of on-site electivity generation, through turbines and solar panels, and through investment in making Greencroft among the most modern bottling plants in Europe or indeed the world.
At this site, high on the Durham plateau, wines arrive in bulk shipments from the New World for bottling for the UK or for sealing in high-efficiency Tetra Packs, which Tony says represent the future for high-quality energy-efficient wine.
Tony Cleary used to say that the Lanchester Group – with its £30 million-plus turnover and 200-plus workforce – was County Durham's "best kept secret". The challenge for Gravity – in a short project spanning 2012 and 2013 – was to change that, specifically by highlighting the company's green energy drive. A focussed PR campaign, geared towards maximising the group's exposure in regional media, trade press and energy circles has well and truly brought Lanchester Group out of the closet, with regional TV and radio coverage, alongside extensive print media exposure.
www.lanchestergroup.com
<< Back to Clients.
Norwegian PDF Download
French PDF Download
©2013 Gravity Consulting Ltd +44 (0)191 383 2838 info@gravity-consulting.com Terms Website design by onebestway
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3327
|
__label__wiki
| 0.509689
| 0.509689
|
32 Welcome to Overshoot: Have a Nice Day
Since 1972, study after study, and report after report, has warned we are in overshoot – the sum total of human activity is too much for the Earth’s ecosystems to bear. Welcome to Overshoot explores overshoot’s causes, effects, and possible solutions, as well as some of the barriers to solving the problem. This is an in-depth follow up to episode 31 of the GrowthBusters podcast, which included a lengthy conversation with Mathis Wackernagel, co-originator of ecological footprint analysis and founder of Global Footprint Network.
The best scientific estimates tell us human civilization is in overshoot. Were you aware of this? Do you know what overshoot is? This one-hour special is particularly relevant in the days leading up to, and immediately following, Earth Overshoot Day on July 29, 2019.
Computer modeling by a team of MIT scientists in 1972 estimated the scale of human activity on the planet would cause systems to fail within a hundred years. Such failure is expected when humanity’s footprint on the planet consistently exceeds its carrying capacity. Since 1972, study after study, and report after report, has warned we are in overshoot – the sum total of human activity is too much for the Earth’s ecosystems to bear.
Since 2003, scientists at Global Footprint Network have been analyzing UN data and satellite imagery to estimate the planet’s capacity to meet our needs (biocapacity), and humankind’s footprint - or demand (ecological footprint) - on that capacity. Their analysis suggests we have been in overshoot since about 1970. Welcome to Overshoot explores overshoot’s causes, effects, and possible solutions, as well as some of the barriers to solving the problem.
Reported by: Dave Gardner
William Catton, author of Overshoot: The Ecological Basis of Revolutionary Change
Brian Czech, author of Supply Shock: Economic Growth at the Crossroads and the Steady State Solution, and executive director of the Center for the Advancement of the Steady State Economy
Herman Daly, author of Beyond Growth: The Economics of Sustainable Development
Paul Ehrlich, Stanford Biologist, author of The Population Bomb
Kerryn Higgs, author of Collision Course: Endless Growth on a Finite Planet
Ian Johnson, former World Bank vice president, former secretary general of Club of Rome
Bill McKibben, environmental journalist, author of Falter: Has the Human Game Begun to Play Itself Out?, co-founder of 350.org.
Dennis Meadows, lead scientist, The Limits to Growth
Kate Raworth, author of Doughnut Economics: 7 Ways to Think Like a 21st Century Economist
William Rees, co-originator of ecological footprint analysis
Bill Ryerson, President of Population Media Center and Chair of Population Institute
Juliet Schor, Professor of Sociology at Boston University and author of Plenitude: The New Economics of True Wealth
John Seager, CEO of Population Connection
Gus Speth, former chair, White House Council on Environmental Quality
Mathis Wackernagel, founder of Global Footprint Network and co-author of Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget
Rex Weyler, environmental journalist
The Limits to Growth
Conversation Earth
Ecological Footprint: Managing Our Biocapacity Budget by Mathis Wackernagel and Bert Beyers
(pre-order the book now, publication date is September 3, 2019)
Move the Date
Solutions to accelerate the shift to one-planet living
Overshoot Index
Past Earth Overshoot Days
Support this Vital Work
Subscribe (free) so you don't miss an episode:
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3328
|
__label__wiki
| 0.892891
| 0.892891
|
Gaming, Geek, History, Tech
A Look Back at Gaming Throughout the Years
August 28, 2013 July 15, 2014 infinigeek
This year’s NeuroGaming Conference and Expo unveiled a future where video gamers use innovations such as wireless eyewear to immerse themselves in a virtual world. Instead of watching pro basketball on a screen, players can face LeBron James in a virtual court surrounded by screaming fans. But before leaving Wii basketball behind for the next generation, today’s gamers might pause to take a trip down memory lane, and revisit the great gaming systems of the past that laid the foundation for today’s technology.
Serving Up Pong and Space Invaders
Infographic: Evolution of the Console, From ‘Brown Box’ to Wii U
World War II radar displays inspired the first video game, where players used knobs and buttons to fire at aerial targets simulated by a cathode ray tube beam, akin to a TV screen. Over the next two decades, inventors and academic researchers experimented with a variety of games and platforms, notes Time.
Some used cathode rays to play games like tic-tac-toe. Others used mainframe computers to simulate baseball or starcraft battles. In 1961, MIT students produced the first popular video game, Spacewar!, where players controlled spaceships and fired missiles at each other. The first generation of gamers distributed Spacewar! over the infant Internet.
Meanwhile, electronics researchers developed games that could be played on a TV screen using interfaces such as light guns to simulate target shooting and table tennis. These efforts produced the first home video game console in 1969.
These streams of development came together through the work of Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who founded Atari in 1972. The previous year, they released a coin-operated arcade version of Spacewar!, which became a prototype for Taito and Midway’s smash arcade hit of 1978, Space Invaders. Meanwhile Atari released Pong, the first successful arcade game, which was inspired by a table tennis simulation game included in the first home game video console, the Magnavox Odyssey. Magnavox sued Atari, but it was too late to stop its momentum, according to Time
Pac-Man Devours the World
For Amusement Only: the life and death of the American arcade
A glut of cheap Pong knock-offs flooded the home console market in 1977, killing most competitors. Atari revived the industry with its VCS system, later known as the 2600, which offered a home version of Space Invaders. Meanwhile, Atari fueled arcade gaming with a follow-up to Space Invaders, Asteroids, which, like its predecessor, used simple dark and light graphics.
The arrival of color arcade games saw a multi-billion dollar surge in the industry, heralded by the arrival of Pac-Man from Japan in 1980. The dot-devouring ghost chaser became a pop culture icon, dominating arcades and making the transition to the 2600 to help Atari eat up its home console competition.
Super Mario to the Rescue
A Story of Modern Day Gaming – Console Wars
The arcade era dwindled during the mid-1980s, but not before Donkey Kong propelled Nintendo into the future. The Japanese company leaped to the front of the home console market in 1985 with its Nintendo Entertainment System, and then initiated the rise of handheld games with Game Boy in 1989. Since then, Nintendo has jostled for leadership of the industry with competitors such as Sega, Sony and Microsoft. Innovations such as Xbox and Wii have altered the interface of home consoles, while the arcade battleground has shifted to online and mobile gaming environments supported by internet connections. But orbiting above today’s satellites, gamers who listen closely can still hear the ominous march of descending Space Invaders.
Creative Commons image by See El Photo
If you like this, You'll love These.
Tap Into Gamer Nostalgia And Take A Trip Down Gaming Memory Lane
50+ Epic Video Game History Facts You Probably Didn’t Know From Did You Know Gaming
Casinos Games Looks Like Video Games To Attract Millennials
Progression of Mobile Gaming
Explore All About The World Of Tanks Gaming Account
3 Ways to Take Your Gaming More Seriously
Tags: arcadeconsolegaminggeekhistoryinteresting-factstechtechnology
infinigeek August 28, 2013 July 15, 2014 0 1 Like Like 1,141
By infinigeek
Created by Andy Sowards - InfiniGEEK is the definitive geek community & Geeky Lifestyle site for Science, Tech, Gaming and Gadget fans, featuring news, reviews, videos, forums, and more. Be sure to subscribe so you don't miss any of the latest geeky awesomeness!
View all articles by infinigeek
Safari vs Chrome – Who Will Be The Mobile Browser King in 5 Years
Best Tablets For Online Gaming
5 Cool Additions to Your Man Cave - January 24, 2020
Fixing Your iPhone X’s Rear Glass - January 22, 2020
The New Xbox: The Reveal, The Name, and My Predictions - January 8, 2020
Unique and Amazing Customer Experience on Famoid - January 6, 2020
Should Elearning Companies Consider Outsourcing Browser Notification Campaigns? - December 30, 2019
Benefits of Change Management Software
Must-Have Tech For Startups To Succeed
Tips for Creating the Perfect Prototype
The Alternatives to VPNs for Amazing Cyber Security
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3330
|
__label__cc
| 0.681989
| 0.318011
|
Tera Marie Greensmith (Green)
Tera is currently a Principal Data Scientist at AT&T Mobility, where she extends her graduate studies by studying human behavior in a Big Data environment (More information can be found here.)
Tera holds a PhD, summa cum laude, and was under the senior supervision of Brian D. Fisher, Ph.D. Her research was centered in applied cognitive science for visual analytics, with a emphasis on the roles and impact of individual differences on complex cognition, the mechanization of complex reasoning, the development of cognitive models for mixed initiative interfaces, and the use of intelligent agents in the creation of intuitive visual analytics interfaces.
Tera holds a B.A. summa cum laude from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte in Psychology, with minor in Cognitive Science (2008). Undergraduate research was conducted largely out of the Charlotte Visualization Center under the mentorship William Ribarsky, Ph.D., Director of the Charlotte Visualization Center and Chair, Department of Computer Science. Undergradate projects included the creation of the Human Cognition Model, a descriptive framework and research agenda, and early work in comparative studies of human learning and interaction behaviours.
Projects in progress:
● Personal Equation of Interaction (PEI): Individual differences as predictors of interactive interface learning (as PI). Experimental studies to isolate which inherent individual differences, such as personality, self-belief factors, and other cognitive proclivities predict interface interaction and complex cognitive performance. Creation and validation of predictive measures for specific genres of learning and reasoning. Creation of fuller-bodied user profiles based on inherent differences.
● ALIDA: Active Learning Intent Discerning Agent: Intelligent agents for discernment and prediction of user intent in visualization interaction. (as Principal Investigator (PI)). Creation of autonomous agents which use machine learning and rule-based models to ascertain and anticipate the interest and goal behaviors of users in visual analytics interfaces.
● Use of interactive visualization as an analytical tool for flow cytometry. (with Richard Arias-Hernandez and Brian Fisher PhDs.) Expert domain case studies to assess the value of Principal Component Analysis visualization in flow cytometric analysis, which an eye toward more generalizeable design guidelines. Funded in part by US Department of Homeland Security International Program grant "Deriving and Applying Cognitive Principles for Human/Computer Approaches to Complex Analytical Problems.
Refereed Journal and Conference Publications:
R. Arias-Hernandez, T.M. Green, and B. Fisher. "From cognitive amplifiers to cognitive prostheses: understandings of the material basis of cognition in visual analytics". In: Carusi, A. and Sissel Hoel, A. (Eds.), Computational picturing, imaging and visualising. Special Issue for Interdisciplinary Science Reviews 37(1). Maney Publishing: London, UK. (2012)
T.M. Green, R. Arias-Hernandez, and B. Fisher. "Individual differences and translational science for human centric visualizations." In W. Wang,( Ed.) Human Centric Visualization. (in press)
T.M. Green and R. Maciejewski. "The Role of Reasoning in Visual Analytics." Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences 2013. (under review).
T.M. Green and B. Fisher. "Impact of personality factors on interface interaction and development of user profiles: Next steps in the Personal Equation of Interaction" Information Visualization. 11(2). 1 -17. (2012).
B. Fisher, T.M. Green, and R. Arias-Hernandez. "Visual analytics as a translational cognitive science," Topics in Cognitive Science 3(3), M. Hagarty, (Ed.) 609-625. (2011).
T.M. Green and B. Fisher, "The personal equation of complex individual cognition during visual interfac interaction," Human Aspects of Visualization: Second IFIP WG 13.7 Workshop on Human-Computer and Visualization, HCIV (INTERACT) 2009: Lecture Notes in Computer Science, A. Ebert, A. Dix, N.D. Gershon and M. Pohl, Eds.. 38-57. (2011).
R. Arias-Hernandez, J. Dill, T.M. Green, and B. Fisher. “Visual Analytics and Human Computer Interaction,” Interactions, Vol. 18, No. 1, January-February, 2011, pp. 51-55. Association for Computing Machinery. (2011).
T.M. Green, R. Wakkary, and R. Arias-Hernandez, “Expanding the scope: Interaction Design perspectives for visual analytics,” Proceedings of Hawai’I International Conference on System Sciences 44, January 2011, Koloa, Hawai’i. (2011).
R. Arias-Hernandez, L.Kaastra, T.M. Green and B. Fisher,, "Pair Analytics: Capturing Reasoning Processes in Collaborative Visual Analytics," Proceedings of Hawai’I International Conference on System Sciences 44, January 2011, Koloa, Hawai’i. (2011).
T.M. Green and B. Fisher, “The personal equation of complex individual cognition during visual interface interaction”, INTERACT '09: Lecture Notes in Computer Science. M. Pohl, A. Dix, A. Ebert and N. Gershon (Eds.) (2010).
T.M. Green and B. Fisher, “Towards the Personal Equation of Interaction: The impact of personality factors on visual analytics interface interaction, “ IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology (VAST) 2010. (2010).
T.M. Green, D.H. Jeong, and B. Fisher. “Using personality factors to predict interface learning performance,” Proceedings of Hawai’i International Conference on System Sciences 43, January 2010, Koloa, Hawai’i, USA. 1-10 (2010). (Won Best Paper in Track)
D.H. Jeong, T.M. Green, W. Ribarsky, and R. Chang (2010). “Comparative evaluation of two interface tools in performing visual analytics tasks,” Proceedings of BELIV workshop, ACM SIG CHI 2010, April 10-11. Atlanta, GA, USA. (2010).
T.M. Green, W. Ribarsky and B. Fisher “Building and applying a human cognition model for visual analytics,” Information Visualization 8(1), 1-13 (2009).
R. Chang, C. Ziemkiewicz, T.M. Green, and W. Ribarsky. “Defining insight for visual analytics,” Visualization Viewpoint, Computer Graphics & Applications 29(2), 14-17 (2009).
T. Green, W. Ribarsky and B. Fisher. “Visual analytics for complex concepts using a human cognition model.” In: D. Ebert and T. Ertl (eds.) IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology: VAST ’08; 21–23 October. Columbus, OH, Los Alamitos, CA: IEEE Computer Society Press, 91–98 (2008).
T. Green and W. Ribarsky. “Using a Human Cognition Model in the Creation of Collaborative Knowledge Visualizations.” Proceedings of SPIE (Defense & Security Conference 2008), Vol. 6983, pp. C1‐C10 (2008).
Refereed Short Papers:
T.M. Green and B. Fisher. "Using Translational Science in Visual Analytics," Proceedings of the IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology 2012, October 14-19. Seattle WA. (under review).
T.M. Green and B. Fisher. "Visual analytics as an interdisciplinary decision science," Proceedings of the Society of Judgement and Decision Making Conference 2010, St. Louis, MO. Nov 20-22. (2010).
T.M. Green, R. Maciejewski, and S. DiPaola. "ALIDA: Using machine learning for intent discernment in visual analytics interfaces," Proceedings of IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology 2010, Salt Lake City, UT. Oct 19-24.(2010).
D.H. Jeong, T.M. Green, W. Ribarsky and R. Chang. “Comparing two Interface tools in performing visual analytics tasks,” In Proceedings of IEEE Visual Analytics Science and Technology 2009, 219-220 (2009).
T.M. Green and K. Najarian. "Correlations between emotion regulation, learning performance, and cortical activity". Proceedings of the 29th Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society. August 2007. Nashville, TN, USA. (2007).
Workshops and Tutorials:
T.M. Green. "Collaboration in Visually Enabled Cogntiion." Fundamentals and Application of Visual Analytics (tutorial). Hawaii International Conference on System Sciences, January 4. Grand Wailea, Maui, USA. (2012).
. M. Green, D. Dunsmuir, J. Dill and B. Fisher. "Analytic Provenance for Collaborative Cognition with CZSaw." Analytic Provenance: Process+Interaction+Insight Workshop, SIG CHI 2011, May 7-8. Vancouver, BC Canada. (2011).
Other Contributions:
T.M. Green and S. DiPaola, “Intent discerning agent for more intuitive visualizations,” Proceedings of the Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, 9-15 August, Portland, OR, USA. (2010).
T.M. Green, B. Fisher, and D.H. Jeong, “Personality factors predict visual Analytics performance,” Visual Analytics Consortium, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory, August 2009, Richland WA, USA. (2009).
Green, T.M. & Najarian, K. “Is emotion regulation a predictor of learning performance and associated cortical activity?” North Carolina Cognition Conference, February 2007. Chapel Hill, NC, USA. (2007).
Integrated Science Lab
Integrated science methods
Pair Analytics
Visualization literacy
Personal Equation of Interaction
Distributed Collaborative Analytics
Exploratory Information Seeking
ALIDA: Intent discerning agent
Financial Planning Decision Processes
VA for Personalized Medicine
VA System to support Health decision-making
VA for Flow Cytometry Data Analysis
Aircraft Safety & Reliability
Partner organizations (links)
UBC Media And Graphics Interdisciplinary Centre (MAGIC)
UBC Institute for Computer, Information and Cognitive Systems
UNC Charlotte Vis Center
VACCINE DHS Center of Excellence
Vancouver Institute for Visual Analytics
Integrated Science Lab School of Interactive Arts and Technology Simon Fraser University
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3333
|
__label__cc
| 0.688891
| 0.311109
|
Crank's Corner
All is fair in love & laughter
The 8 days of Navarathri
Posted on 2012-10-19 2012-10-19 by K Balakumar
Navarathri is an inviolable tradition of nine-day festivities running into eight days this year.
No, that is not a joke. Navarathri is indeed truncated by a day this year. Why? Did Standard & Poor, while bringing down its outlook on India, reduce the rating on Navarathri, too (if a Tamilian had authored that report it would doubtless read: Kajana kali & Kolkata Kali)?
Anyway, in the coming years, even if Navarathri is reduced to a three-day affair (NavaraThree), there is one aspect of the festival, as it is celebrated in these parts, that we are sure will never be tampered with.
What is it? Read on…
The Navarathri kolus these days have become elaborate and enormous, requiring more planning, more production effort and, of course, unimaginably more steel pins, than it did James Cameron to come up with the set for Avatar.
But just as it is impossible to avoid in Hollywood movies the kissing scene (timed and placed to show up precisely at the moment when the daughter joins you to watch the movie on TV, so you hurriedly switch to a Tamil channel which can be counted on to show more agreeable stuff for kids, like about the man, who to spite the girl that rebuffs his amoral advances, marries her mother to become her stepfather), there is one thing that kolus can never do away with:
1) Simple kolu: Dolls placed randomly and a Dasavatharam set.
2) Thematic kolu: Dolls placed not randomly and a Dasavatharam set.
The above handy chart will help you understand that a chart can convey the same, simple message by occupying a lot of space, which, when you come down to it, may also be the whole idea of a kolu.
Yes, the fact is if it is to be classified as a kolu there has to be a Dasavatharam set. Otherwise it is just a collection of figureheads. Like Parliament, but not totally that pointless.
Thematic or non-thematic, the beauty of the Dasavatharam set is that the ten dolls that comprise it provide the creative space for people to mess up its sequence.
Just walk up to any person and ask him to give the precise order of the 10 avatars of Lord Vishnu. You will be surprised by the kind of response you will get. Yes, he will slap you. Just because I told you, in your eagerness, you just went ahead and stopped a motorist at a crowded junction.
Haha, the point is the city traffic brings the worst demon inside every one of us. No, the point is getting the order right in the Dasavatharam line-up is a bit a like the multiplication table of the number ‘16’ you learnt in the mathematics class: You think you know it by-heart. But it is when you attempt it, you run into problems. And you eventually work it out through some harried trial and error.
‘Does the Narasimha avatar figurine go before or after Vamana avatar?’ is one of the typical questions that desperate mothers are prone to throw up while attempting to set the kolu. To all those who frantically rack their brains to get the Dasaavatharam series correct, I would like to pass on an important and instant formula: Don’t bother. Remember we are a country of people, most of whom can’t even remember the words in the National Anthem right. So just take it easy. At any rate, if you seasoned kolu-keepers are not sure, it is only logical that we kolu-watchers are even more unsure.
But all the trouble taken in trying to get the sequence exactly right will be worth it, when you cast a look at the beautiful array of dolls depicting the ten avatars of Lord Vishnu, and spiritually and spontaneously wonder: ‘Hey wait! What exactly did Balarama do to deserve a position alongside Rama and Krishna?’
Though I am no expert in these matters, but with my knowledge I feel that Balarama got his place in the pantheon based on his epic achievement of being Lord Krishna’s brother.
Ha. Ha. Ha. Don’t take me seriously. I am just being my puerile self. Balarama is, of course, well known for many heroic exploits and godly deeds none of which readily comes to my mind now.
Once you get the right order, you are almost ready to go, provided you can spot the difference in the looks between Rama and Balarama. In a standard set of dolls, both of them are tall, well-built and carry a bow. So the essential trick to differentiate between the two is — you must write this down in a paper and if possible teach your children, too because they will love this — inky, pinky, ponky.
With the identity too sorted out, your kolu is now fully worked out. But remember the success of any kolu is pivoted on aesthetics, tradition, style, sincerity, devotion, and, above all, the one quality without which the whole of Navarathri, be it an eight or nine-day affair, loses all its significance — the taste of sundal you serve for the day.
In the coming weeks, we will see the tradition of Deepavali celebrations, how Lord Krishna killed Naragasuran so that people can a have a full day to watch TV programmes involving 36 hours of advertisements.
Chekka Chivandha Vaanam: A review primer
The extraordinary sport of Kurash also known as Turkish dress grabbing
Which planet is Cristiano Ronaldo from?
All World Cup details including spelling of Wojciech Szczesny
Samantha’s bindi and Corey Anderson’s death bowling
Crank's Corner (480)
Crank's News (211)
Categories Select Category Crank’s Corner Crank’s News General
A B Vajpayee Akshay Kumar's dress sense Alapanai Arnab Goswami Barkha Dutt Calendar Carnatic music Chennai Book Fair Chennai Metro Rail College Education Column Global Warming History of Chennai Humour Insurance IPL Kapil Sibal Lalit Modi Madras Week Madurai Mani Ratnam movies Manish Tewari Manmohan Singh Michelangelo Middle-east Peace process Parents Plagiarism powerpoint presentation President Priyanka Chopra Punnagai Mannan Rajdeep Sardesai Rajiv Gandhi Ravi Shastri Sachin Tendulkar Salman Khan Shilpa Shetty State of the Nation Poll Summer camps Swaminathan Anklesaria Aiyar and T N Ninan Tamil New Year controversy Tendulkar and World Cup T Rajendher Vice-President of India Vijay and Ajith
Archives Select Month September 2018 June 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 December 2015 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 September 2009 August 2009 July 2009 June 2009 May 2009 April 2009 March 2009
©2020 Crank's Corner | WordPress Theme by Superbthemes
The World of Narayan
This year’s Nobel Prize for Literature is out, and it has gone to the writer Mo Yan, for the ‘hallucinatory...
|
cc/2020-05/en_middle_0126.json.gz/line3334
|
Subsets and Splits
No community queries yet
The top public SQL queries from the community will appear here once available.