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N.Y.C.-IBM Partnership Focuses on Students' Tech. Skills
Viral Video Embed - USE FOR EVERYTHING
A public-private effort led by K-12, college, and IBM officials at P-Tech aims to prepare students for future careers
By Sean Cavanagh
Many schools aspire to give students the skills they need to make it in the workforce. The school known as P-TECH is trying to accomplish that goal in a more direct way—by bringing the workforce to students.
The Pathways in Technology Early College High School, located in the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn, in New York City, offers an unusual variation on the public-private partnerships that have taken hold in districts in very different forms around the country.
The school has worked directly with one of the nation's best-known technology companies, IBM, and with public universities in the city, which together have helped shape a curriculum and academic approach that allows students to graduate from high school with an associate degree—and possibly with a jump-start on a job at the company or elsewhere in a technology-related field.
IBM's involvement is not limited to helping hone the curriculum. The company, with headquarters in Armonk, N.Y., is arranging to have its employees individually mentor each of the school's 230 students, providing them with everything from help with academic lessons to broader advice on career and life goals. And it has promised to give P-TECH students priority in getting jobs at the company when they graduate.
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P-TECH was founded just two years ago, and so it could be years before the program is mature enough to tell whether its grades "9-14" model is meeting its ambitions.
But school leaders and policymakers in other school districts, and at the national level, are already betting on the P-TECH design. The school's boosters include President Barack Obama, who touted P-TECH's approach in his State of the Union address this year as a model for aligning K-12 skills with employer demands.
Whether the program's model can be replicated in other parts of the country, where the pools of employers are different, remains to be seen. And it's unclear whether having one company so directly involved in shaping the focus of a school makes sense, academically, or in meeting workforce demands.
But P-TECH administrators, and college and industry officials involved in designing the school, say they already see evidence that the connection the high school provides to college and to employers is a powerful hook for teenagers.
"Having the industry piece at the end, to say to them 'this is a possibility,' is a great motivator," said Rashid Ferrod Davis, the school's principal.
The Pathways in Technology Early College High School, or P-TECH, in New York City, offers students a curriculum in core academic subjects and gives them the opportunity to earn an associate degree in applied science from the New York City College of Technology. From Left, Alec Miller, 16, Brigette Luboa, 16, work on a project during a computer graphics art class at the school.
—Melanie Burford/Prime for Education Week
P-TECH's model essentially ensures that "automatically, you are a college student," he said. "We have shortened their anxiety [about college] from day one."
New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg first announced plans to create the school that would become P-TECH in 2010. A steering committee made up of representatives from the city's department of education, IBM, the City University of New York, and the New York City College of Technology (which is part of the CUNY system) and others joined Mr. Davis in crafting the school's academic focus and structure.
The model they established created a school that offers students a curriculum in core academic subjects, but also provides them with an associate degree in applied science, in either computer information systems or electromechanical engineering technology, which is awarded by the College of Technology. The college had a major role, along with IBM officials, in drawing up the curriculum and courses.
Students at the school pay no costs, either in tuition or fees, in taking courses in pursuit of the degree. Organizers expect that students typically will complete the program in six years, though they could finish sooner.
And P-TECH officials believe graduates will be prepared to enter the workforce. School leaders also say students will be ready to pursue bachelor's degrees, if they choose that route.
P-TECH is housed on the campus of Paul Robeson High School, a public school that has struggled academically and is scheduled to be closed by the city. About 85 percent of P-TECH's students receive free or reduced-price lunches, and the same percentage is African-American.
P-TECH is part of the School Improvement Grant program, a federal effort aimed at turning around low-performing, economically disadvantaged schools. That program has a mixed record of success, despite a substantial federal investment. ("SIG Program Sees Mixed Results In First Outing, Ed. Dept. Finds," Dec. 5, 2012.)
The school has an extended day and an extended school year, features that have become increasingly common in other public school environments, including at turnaround sites and in charter schools.
Company Connections
Mayor Bloomberg, who controls the New York City school system, has given principals considerable autonomy in personnel decisions and other policies. P-TECH's Mr. Davis says that authority has helped him direct school resources to where they're needed most—such as by increasing the teaching time devoted to certain subjects (and the compensation for educators putting in extra time in those classes), particularly for students who need extra help.
IBM and university officials worked with P-TECH administrators to map the skills needed for an entry-level job in the technology industry onto the school's curriculum. Each student is also expected to follow a personalized academic pathway, based on his or her academic strengths, weaknesses, and interests.
Faculty members from the school's university partners teach college-level classes. More than 70 students at the school are taking a college course now, a number that will increase over time, said Mr. Davis.
P-TECH students watch as IBM Project Manager Mike Todd drops an egg to see if it will break, during an exercise with mentors on a field trip to an IBM facility in Poughkeepsie, N.Y.
IBM also has a more direct involvement in students' lives. The mentors provided by the company are expected to meet with students two or three times a year, and they also interact with them through an online platform established by the school.
Mentors can help students with individual assignments and projects, but the hope is that they will also shape students' thoughts about their careers, said Temeca Simpson, the IBM liaison at the school and a full-time employee of the company who works on campus.
The mentors help students understand "where they could potentially be in four, five, six, seven years," said Ms. Simpson, a former teacher.
For one of those mentors, Karen Thompson, the pairing with a student named Nyaisa Galloway, 16, gave her the chance to tutor a teenager on the skills needed to land a good job, and to succeed in it—knowledge that many young people too often lack, she said.
Ms. Thompson, a project manager at IBM, said she's given the P-TECH student advice on issues ranging from test preparation to the importance of getting a college degree. She's also determined to convey a more personal message to the student, who, like Ms. Thompson, is African-American.
"I want her to understand that there's nothing off limits to her," said Ms. Thompson. And if the teenager wants to pursue a career in a math, science, or technology field, she will know "what that really entails, and 'these are the steps I should take.' "
The student she's paired with said the idea of obtaining a college degree through P-TECH was a major attraction to her, as was the opportunity to get experience in hands-on, technical fields. Ms. Galloway says her adult mentor has urged her to prepare academically—and to persist.
"The first thing she says is never give up," said Ms. Galloway, who is in her second year at the school. "Always work toward your goals."
When students complete the program, they will be first in line for jobs at IBM, said Stanley S. Litow, the company's vice president for corporate citizenship and corporate affairs. While the company can't legally make a promise to hire students, it will place a strong value on their degrees, he said.
IBM also wants to see the P-TECH model grow. It has developed a "playbook," a written guide designed to help schools replicate the model.
A number of policymakers have committed to testing that approach.
Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo has announced plans to establish 10 new schools modeled after P-TECH around New York state; New York City officials plan to establish two of their own.
The 403,000-student Chicago school system opened five such schools last year.
In Idaho, the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Foundation, a Boise philanthropy, has said it will give financial support to proposals from districts, community colleges, charter schools, and other applicants to create schools based on the P-TECH blueprint. Some of those schools could be located in rural communities, and they could receive awards of up to $5 million apiece.
Obama Touts Partnership
In his address to Congress in February, President Obama pointed to countries such as Germany that have created arrangements between schools and industries that provide high-school-age students with strong technical training. Schools like P-TECH offer a promising domestic version of that school-to-work alignment, he said.
"We need to give every American student opportunities like this," Mr. Obama said.The president's German example is apt, in that the P-TECH model is akin to the arrangements found in education systems in that country and other parts of Europe, where employers have taken a strong role in providing technical training to secondary students, said Greg Butler, the senior director of education strategic partnerships at Microsoft Corp., in Redmond, Wash.
In some cases, employers in Germany and other countries go so far as to stage classes and offer students training on job sites, said Mr. Butler, who is also chairs the board of directors for the Partnership Brokers Association, a London-based organization that seeks to arrange partnerships between public- and private-sector groups.
Student Dahneisha Chisolm, 16, works in a geometry class at P-TECH.
Mr. Butler also likened P-TECH's integration of the private sector into the curriculum to the approach used in many U.S. community colleges, where advisory boards often work with college officials to make suggestions about how curricula and courses can be adapted to meet local workforce demands.
But the P-TECH model is also a reflection of how public-private partnerships have evolved over time, Mr. Butler said. Fifteen or 20 years ago, many schools' and companies' favored brand of partnership was to have a business sponsor a program or education effort—an arrangement that was not likely to help schools with their core academic challenges, he said.
Over time, K-12 partnerships have become much more focused, Mr. Butler said, with businesses providing schools with specific services or expertise. Companies might directly provide workforce preparation, or supply employees who have scientific or technical skills to teach courses or help educators with their classes.
In effective partnerships, schools and businesses are "co-creators" of ideas, each accountable for making sure a project's goals are met, Mr. Butler said. In that situation, if a school project fails, it's as much of a blow to the company as if one of its products falls short, he said.
Mr. Butler said P-TECH carries that kind of implicit accountability for IBM, in that the company "is putting its name out there" and has a vested interest in making sure the school's graduates "aren't coming up dry," as measured by success in college and the job market.
Potential Downsides
David T. Conley, a professor of educational policy at the University of Oregon, in Eugene, also likened P-TECH's work to that of European-style work-training programs for students, as well as to U.S.-based career academies, which are typically schools organized around business themes that combine academic coursework with job skills.
While partnerships between businesses and schools in the United States are common, the distinction at P-TECH is that the connection between the school and the employer is especially direct, on many levels, said Mr. Conley, who has extensively studied the skills needed to prepare students for college.
But there are potential downsides to a partnership like the one arranged at P-TECH, Mr. Conley said.
One risk is that individual companies such as IBM will have too much influence in shaping the academic focus of a school to meet their own workforce needs, he said, at the expense of students' focusing on other areas that might prepare them for a broader range of careers.
A second problem, Mr. Conley said, could emerge if schools like P-TECH encourage teenagers to stick to one particular career path and academic focus, even if they decide after a few years that the chosen path isn't for them. The pressure on students to hold to their original plan can be implicit rather than direct, he said.
"The exit path out of these programs can be problematic," Mr. Conley said. Even if school officials strive to avoid creating inflexible options for students, "there's a tension when you have a technical focus and you want to get a [more] general academic focus in there."
Mr. Davis, P-TECH's principal, responded that his school's students will be exposed to a range of skills, including those identified in city and state standards, not just those favored by IBM.
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While he said in an email that "theme-specific high schools need to be true to the vision and mission of their themes," he added that his responsibility, as P-TECH evolves, is to ensure that students who want to leave the program by their fourth year have the skills to gain admission to a college of their choice.
The school's academic focus is "bigger than IBM," Mr. Davis said, and will deliver instruction that gives students useful workforce skills and the ability to make it in college without remediation.
At the same time, "many of the skills that IBM's skills-mapping bring are the same that are needed to be successful at the college," he said.
He added: "Students are not being steered into dead-end technical skills."
Coverage of the education industry and K-12 innovation is supported in part by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Vol. 32, Issue 29, Pages s4, s5, s6
Published in Print: April 24, 2013, as Industry Shapes Goals and Tech Focus at N.Y.C. School
“Internships Help Students Prepare for Workplace,” January 30, 2013.
“School Project Blurs Line Between Public, Private,” January 9, 2013.
“Ed. Dept. Analysis Paints Mixed Picture of SIG Program,” December 5, 2012.
"New Network Forms to Encourage Pathways from Education to Careers," (College Bound Blog) June 19, 2012.
“India Pushes Public-Private Ed. Partnerships,” April 18, 2012.
“'College for All' Confronted,” February 9, 2011.
“Beyond a Focus on Graduation,” June 11, 2009.
“Teachers Helped to Mine Vocational Classes For Math,” February 7, 2007.
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Automated License Plate Readers (ALPRs)
Body-worn Cameras
Cell-Site Simulators/IMSI Catchers
Drones/Unmanned Aerial vehicles
Tattoo Recognition
Iris Recognition
Spot the Surveillance VR
About the SLS Team
Surveillance cameras are one of the most ubiquitous and recognizable technologies used to watch us as we move about our daily lives. Networks of cameras are installed by government agencies and by local businesses, but the distinction blurs with the development of real-time crime centers that access both public and private video feeds. Camera technology is growing in sophistication: some cameras are capable of 360-degree video or infrared vision. Some models can be equipped with real-time face recognition or license plate recognition software. Since many are also being connected directly to the Internet, the camera networks have also proven easy targets for malicious attackers.
Recognizing the Types of Cameras
Here is a visual guide to some of the types of surveillance cameras you may encounter day-to-day. This is not an exhaustive list, and it's important to note that some cameras may incorporate multiple features described below.
Photo by Mike Katz-Lacabe (CC BY)
Bullet cameras are compact and tube-shaped. The camera, lens, and housing are all packaged within in a cylindrical-style body. These cameras face one direction and sometimes have infrared LEDs for use in low light. Bullet cameras are used both indoors and outdoors.
Dome cameras inside the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and outside a storefront in Union Square
Dome cameras are typically used for indoor surveillance, and are often mounted on ceilings. The camera’s dome shape is designed to make it difficult to tell which direction the camera is facing. Dome cameras come with many optional features. Some have infrared light for night vision, some have tamper-resistant features, and some have varifocal lenses, allowing operators to adjust the focal distance of the camera lens.
PTZ (Pan Tilt Zoom) cameras
Most surveillance cameras are fixed cameras—they face just one direction. PTZ cameras are remotely controlled, and allow the operator to pan (move left or right), tilt up and or down, or zoom closer or farther away in order to follow people as they move. This lets operators zoom in on specific areas or track specific movements. The cameras can also run patterns or turn to a preset position.
Mobile Surveillance Towers/Poles
A 'Mobile Utility Surveillance Tower' at San Diego Comic-Con and a mobile surveillance pole in New Orlean's French Quarter
Not all surveillance cameras are static. Law enforcement agencies often acquire mobile surveillance units, such as manned towers that can be raised 25-feet in the air and unmanned trailers that can extend a pole with PTZ cameras in all directions. These systems are often used to establish situational awareness at public events and in high-traffic commercial areas.
FLIR dual-sensor thermal camera at the White House with pan-tilt-zoom capabilities
Most video captures images in the natural light or infrared spectrums. Thermal cameras can also capture video of a person's movements based on body temperature. These cameras are not always distinguishable from conventional security cameras, however the brand name FLIR is often a tell-tale sign that the camera is capable of thermal imaging.
Automated license plate readers
Automated license plate readers (ALPRs) are computer-controlled camera systems that capture license plate numbers, as well as photographs of the vehicles and sometimes drivers and passengers. ALPR cameras include fixed cameras, often mounted on traffic lights, telephone poles, or other locations. They also include mobile cameras, which are typically attached to police patrol cars. Some agencies have mobile ALPR trailers that they can move to targeted locations.
Read more about automated license plate readers.
Cameras often broadcast footage over the Internet, allowing operators to monitor security camera feeds remotely. In some cases, surveillance systems are paid for and operated by the cities themselves. But in other cases, residents and businesses share surveillance camera footage with police officers.
In 2019, EFF obtained a dataset of surveillance cameras maintained by the San Francisco District Attorney's Office. Click here to launch in a new window or read the blog post.
Many law enforcement agencies have begun private security camera registration programs (sometimes called “SafeCam”), whereby residents and business owners can provide basic information about the cameras they own and where they are located. Then, when a crime is reported, police may search their database of cameras and contact the owner directly to obtain the footage. Some examples of this program include the Philadelphia Police Department (PA), Fultondale Police Department (AL), and the San Francisco District Attorney’s Office (CA). The Phoenix Police Department refers to its program as the “Virtual Block Watch.”
In San Francisco, the Union Square Business Improvement District launched an outdoor security camera program in 2012 with just six privately owned cameras. Now it is a surveillance network of 350 cameras, all of which share footage with the police. According to news reports, grant money pays for around 90% of the cost for the cameras in Union Square, and business owners who wish to participate pay the remainder.
Real-Time Crime Centers
Fresno Police Department's Real-time Crime Center. Source: Fresno PD Annual Report 2015
Several cities feed video surveillance into monitoring headquarters, often referred to as “domain awareness centers” or “real-time crime centers.” Some hope to expand the footage they collect through their own surveillance cameras by also tapping into footage taken by private individuals and businesses.
In New Orleans, for example, video feeds from more than 300 street-facing surveillance cameras are fed into a $5 million high-tech monitoring center created in 2017. The footage is monitored 24/7. The mayor’s office has continued installing additional cameras, and has expressed interest in integrating private cameras with the monitoring center. The city’s automated license plate readers also feed into the RTC center.
Nearly 100 surveillance cameras—24 PTZ cameras, 17 dome cameras, and 54 license recognition cameras are being installed on 64 power poles in Birmingham, Alabama. The cameras will be monitored by the Jefferson County Metro Area Crime Center. The license plate recognition camera data will be uploaded to the FBI’s Criminal Justice Information Services, and the city will obtain the content from the FBI’s portal. Although a proposed ordinance requiring all establishments with liquor licenses to install cameras that feed into the monitoring center was abandoned in the face of opposition, several bars accused of violating liquor laws have entered consent decrees with the city’s Alcoholic Beverage Control board, requiring them to do just that.
The San Diego Police Department hoped to gain access to footage from public and private cameras in real time as part of the “Operation Secure San Diego” surveillance program. As of 2014, the program was riddled with software compatibility problems, and officers had difficulty viewing footage in real time because the department’s police cruisers did not have a 4G connection. The city has since adopted a new partnership with General Electric in which street lights are equipped with cameras and microphones.
On its face, video surveillance technology is already pervasive. But beyond the privacy concerns of law enforcement’s widespread access to historical and real-time video footage lies the threat of it being accessed by malicious hackers. Since camera networks are typically connected directly to the Internet, they pose easy targets for these bad actors.
For example, two-thirds of D.C.’s police surveillance cameras were attacked by hackers days before the 2017 presidential inauguration as part of a ransomware attack, causing more than 100 of the cameras to go dark.
In 2015, EFF learned that more than a hundred ALPR cameras were exposed online, often with totally open Web pages accessible by anyone with a browser. In some cases, anyone could open a browser window and view a camera’s live video stream and witness the plate captures in real time. We were able to track the cameras to their sources in five different instances. Similar ALPR vulnerabilities were discovered in Boston by DigBoston and the Boston Institute for Nonprofit Journalism.
When combined with face recognition, surveillance camera networks raise additional privacy and civil rights concerns—particularly because face recognition data is prone to error. Amazon’s face recognition tool, Rekognition, is among the real-time video face recognition products currently being piloted by police departments around the country, as well as the FBI.
Read more about face recognition technology.
Face recognition, however, is only one form of automated video analysis being deployed with surveillance cameras. IBM, for example, offers a sophisticated analytical software that it claims can identify anomalies in public spaces (such as abandoned packages) and track individuals based on their clothing, glasses, or facial hair. Amazon peddles a machine-learning product dubbed “DeepLens,” a deep-learning enabled video camera for developers that can be integrated with another of its machine-learning products, “SageMaker,” to increase the inter-operability of various data analytics programs from the videofeeds.
In short, the proliferation of surveillance cameras has rapidly reduced our ability to maintain anonymity in public spaces; and the advent of automated face recognition and other tracking technologies only accelerate this threat to privacy.
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photo: Istock Photo
Case Integrated Water Management 20 May 2019
Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100
A large consortium, led by consultancy firm Twynstra Gudde, developed the Delta Plan for Bangladesh 2100 (BDP2100). The delta plan was approved by the Bangladesh government in September 2018.
Holistic plan for Bangladesh Delta
The government of Bangladesh, in cooperation with the government of the Netherlands, aims to create the Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100. The Delta Plan integrates planning from delta-related sectors and from all across the country to come to a holistic plan for the Bangladesh Delta. The Delta Plan will be grounded in a long-term vision of the Delta’s future. This long-term vision, combined with the use of scenarios, allows planning to be adaptive and dynamic by constantly taking into account uncertainties in future developments in e.g. climate change, socio-economic development, population growth and regional cooperation. The Delta Plan is more than just a one-time planning exercise and aims to provide the foundation for permanent delta governance in Bangladesh through the outlining of a delta framework.
Bangladesh is the largest delta of the world. Its rivers and floodplains, which make up 80% of the country, support life, livelihoods and the economy. Bangladesh is a rapidly developing country, envisaging to be a middle-income country in 2021. The country faces major inter-related delta challenges in water safety, food security and socio-economic development and is prone to natural calamities such as floods, cyclones, and droughts. There is already high pressure on the available land and water resources in the delta.
Delta planning process and implementation
The Bangladesh Delta Plan 2100 was formulated through a process that is adapted from the delta planning process as used in the Netherlands. The Netherlands and Bangladesh are faced with highly similar challenges in terms of water safety. Key elements of the delta planning process include the conduct of baseline studies, the outlining of a delta vision and scenarios, the creation of a delta framework for delta governance, the iterative selection of delta strategies, the formulation of an investment plan and a program for capacity building. The plan will find immediate applicability through the working out of a set of short-term no-regrets measures as input to the Bangladesh government’s 7th Five-Year Plan for 2016-2020.
The formulation of the plan was led by the General Economics Division of the Ministry of Planning, and is supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Technical assistance was provided through the BanDuDeltAS consortium, bringing together cross-sectoral expertise from the Netherlands and Bangladesh.
Since 2018, a consortium, with support from the Netherlands, is working on a project to support the implementation of Bangladesh Delta Plan.
View all articles about Integrated Water Management
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Home Business BANGLADESH How millions from the Bangladesh Bank heist disappeared
How millions from the Bangladesh Bank heist disappeared
When the Federal Reserve Bank of New York cleared five transactions made by the Bangladesh Bank hackers, the money went in two directions. On Thursday, February 4, the Fed’s system sent $20 million (£15m) to Sri Lanka and $81m (£61m) to the Philippines.
The Sri Lankan transaction contained a small but crucial error: The money was being sent to a bank account in the name of a nonprofit foundation, but the electronic message spelled it “fundation”. That prompted Deutsche Bank, an intermediary in the transaction, and a Sri Lankan bank to contact Bangladesh Bank, which led to the payment being cancelled and the money returned.
That Thursday, over the space of a few minutes, the New York Fed also cleared four transactions to accounts with Rizal Commercial Banking Corp (RCBC) in the Philippines – for $6m (£4.5m), $30m (£23m), $20m (£15m) and $25m (£19m). Each account was in the name of an individual, according to RCBC lawyer Maria Cecilla Estavillo, who testified at a Philippine Senate committee examining the heist. All the names were false.
The accounts were at a branch of RCBC in Jupiter Street, on the edge of Manila’s business district.According to testimony by Estavillo and bank officials, $22.7m was withdrawn from one of the RCBC accounts during the afternoon of Friday, February 5. But the rest of the money stayed in the RCBC.
Over that weekend, Bangladesh Bank was struggling to understand what had happened and to cancel the hackers’ fraudulent payment requests; meanwhile, the Fed had raised concerns over some of the requests but did little more.
Late on Monday, according to Bangladesh Bank sources and the Philippine senate testimony, Bangladesh Bank sent messages via the SWIFT bank messaging system to RCBC asking it to freeze the money that had arrived in the four individuals’ accounts. It was a holiday in the Philippines for Chinese New Year celebrations.
The following morning nearly $58m (£44m) was moved out of those accounts. That evening, RCBC told Bangladesh Bank that it had frozen the four suspect accounts – but that only $68,305 (£51,665) was left in them.
RCBC officials told the Senate committee that the SWIFT messages from Bangladesh Bank had been wrongly formatted and were not marked as urgent, so they had gone into a large pile of unread messages for almost the whole day. Staff had only got to them in the evening, RCBC said.
Under Philippine banking laws, the stolen funds could not be frozen until a criminal case was lodged, even though they were still in the banking system. And over the next few days, most of the $81m disappeared into the country’s casino industry, which is exempted from anti-money laundering laws. Though $18m was recovered, otherwise the trail went cold.
At the Senate hearing, bank officials pinned the blame for the disappearance of the money on the manager of the Jupiter Street branch, accusing her of allowing accounts to be opened under false names. The manager, who was sacked in March, said she had acted on instructions from senior officials and was being made a scapegoat. RCBC and the branch manager declined to comment.
Last month, in an annual report given to shareholders, RCBC said it had begun instituting reforms to prevent such events from happening again.
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How much are the delivery costs to my country? In how much time my order would arrive?
Here you have a summarised table of shipping costs and delivery schedule.
Spain € 7 FREE Peninsula 24\48 Hours
Europe 1 € 13 FREE from € 50 24\48 Hours
Europe 2 € 25 FREE from € 100 3\5 days
North America € 13 FREE from € 50 3\5 days
South América € 25 FREE from € 100 3\7 days
East 1 € 50 FREE from € 200 3\5 days
Africa € 100 FREE from € 500 3\7 days
Below there are each country with its specified shipping schedule. Look for your country and check your exact waiting time to receive your order.
Only received orders before 14:00h (Barcelona local hour) will be sent the same day of reception.
Spain: Peninsula(FREE), Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, Portugal peninsula.
Europe 1: Germany, Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Greece, Greenland (ask for delivery time), Holland, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Monaco, United Kingdom, Sweden, Vatican.
Europe 2: Ceuta and Melilla (3), Andorra (3), Gibraltar (3), Portugal Islands (3), Albania (3), Belarus (4), Bulgaria (3), Croatia (3), Slovakia (2), Slovenia (3), Estonia (2), Hungary (1), Latvia (3), Lithuania (2), Macedonia (3), Moldavia (4), Montenegro (2), Poland (1), Czech Republic (1), Romania (2), Russia (2), Serbia (2), Ukraine (3).
Europe 3: Iceland (2), Liechtenstien (2), Norway (1), Switzerland (1).
North America: Canada (2), United States (2), Mexico (2), Puerto Rico (2).
South America: Anguilla (2), Antigua (3), Netherlands Antilles (3), Argentina (2), Aruba (2), Bahamas (2), Barbados (2), Belize (2), Bermuda (3), Bolivia (4), Brazil (3), Chile (2), Colombia (3), Costa Rica (2), Cuba (3), Dominica (2), Ecuador (3), El Salvador (2), Grenada (2), Guadeloupe (2), Guatemala (2), Guyana (3), French Guiana (5), Haiti (3), Honduras (3), Cayman Islands (2), Turks and Caicos Islands (2), British Virgin Islands (3), Jamaica (2), Martinique (2), Montserrat (3), Nicaragua (3), Panama (2), Paraguay (3), Peru (3), Dominican Republic (2), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines (2), Saint Lucia (2), Suriname (6), Trinidad and Tobago (3), Uruguay (3), Venezuela (2).
East 1: Cyprus (3), South Korea (3), Egypt (2), Hong Kong (2), Indonesia (2), Japan (3), Malaysia (2), Malta (3), Singapore (2), Thailand (2), Taiwan (2), Turkey (3).
East 2: Saudi Arabia (3), Australia (3), Bahrain (3), Bangladesh (3), Brunei (3), Bhutan (4), Cambodia (3), China (2), United Arab Emirates (2), Philippines (3), India (3), Israel (2), Jordan (2), Kuwait (2), Laos (4), Lebanon (2), Macau (4), Maldives (5), Mongolia (5), Nepal (4), New Zealand (3), Oman (2), Pakistan (4), Palestine (ask first), Qatar (2), Sri Lanka (3), Vietnam (3), Yemen (5).
Africa: Angola (4), Algeria (3), Armenia (2), Azerbaijan (6), Benin (4), Botswana (4), Burkina Faso (3), Burundi (ask first), Cape Verde (4), Cameroon (3), Chad (4), Congo (ask first), Ivory Coast (3), Djibouti (4), Eritrea (ask first), Ethiopia (5), Fiji (5), Gabon (3), Gambia (5), Georgia (4), Ghana (3), Guam (3), Guinea (4), Guinea-Bissau (ask first), Equatorial Guinea (ask first), Réunion Island (3), Cook Islands (5), Marshall Islands (5), Kazakhstan (4), Kenya (3), Kyrgyzstan (5), Lesotho (3), Liberia (ask first), Madagascar (4), Malawi (3), Mali (2), Marrakesh (1), Mauritius (3), Mauritania (5), Micronesia (5), Mozambique (3), Namibia (4), Niger (5), Nigeria (3), New Caledonia (5), Palau (4), Papua New Guinea (5), French Polynesia (4), Democratic Republic of the Congo (ask first), Rwanda (6), Northern Mariana Islands (5), American Samoa (4), Senegal (3), Seychelles (4), Somalia (ask first), South Africa (2), Swaziland (4), Tanzania (4), Togo (5), Tunisia (2), Uganda (4), Uzbekistan (5), Vanuatu (5), Wallis and Futuna (5), Zambia (3), Zimbabwe (3).
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USA TODAY / Michael Chow
Here's Everything You Need To Know About Equal Pay Day
By Alexandra Svokos
Equal Pay Day represents the day in the year women have to work until to make as much as men did in the previous year.
On average, women make 79 cents for every dollar men earn. Based on that, women have to work until April 12, 2016 to make as much as men did in 2015.
Here are a few things you should know about the day.
1. Equal Pay Day was started in 1996 by the National Committee on Pay Equity.
It is supposed to bring attention to the ongoing gender pay gap.
2. The gender pay gap differs based on race, and women of color are disproportionately affected.
African American women make 63 percent of what white men do while Latina women make 54 percent.
Equal Pay Day would be on August 23 for African American women, September 13 for Native American women and November 1 for Latina women, according to reports.
3. No, women do not earn less because of their job choices.
Women make less than men do even when they are in the same profession.
4. The gender pay gap exists at all levels of professional success and across industries.
Women in Hollywood are beginning to more frequently call out the pay disparities they face. When Sony was hacked, for instance, Jennifer Lawrence found out she was paid less than her male co-stars.
The United States women's national soccer team, who won the World Cup last year, filed a wage-discrimination complaint against US Soccer last month.
5. President Barack Obama is designating a national monument for women's equality.
The White House announced Obama is recognizing the National Women's Party headquarters as the Belmont-Paul Women's Equality National Monument on Equal Pay Day.
6. The Democratic presidential candidates have spoken out for Equal Pay Day.
Hillary Clinton shared a video of her talking about equal pay.
Bernie Sanders also tweeted about Equal Pay Day.
7. The Republican candidates have stayed quiet.
In the fall, John Kasich said differences in pay are due to "experience" and "skills," along with other factors. Donald Trump said he supports equal pay, but he has also said it's related to skill. Ted Cruz voted against the Paycheck Fairness Act three times.
Citations: Your Most Pressing Questions About Equal Pay Day, Answered (ABC News), National Committee on Pay Equity, Equal Pay Day: When, where and why women earn less than men (WGN)
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Abuse leads to rape, endangerment charges
By The Examiner staff
Two Independence residents have been charged in relation to a case in which a child allegedly was regularly molested over the course of several years.
According to court documents, Steven Nelson, 42, and Paula Stark, 47, were arrested following an Independence Police Department investigation.
On April 12, an officer was sent to Bingham Middle School regarding the report of a sexual offence against a girl with low verbalization skills, according to the police probable cause statement, which explains the victim’s teacher reported the victim made that comments that her “bottom hurt.”
The victim was provided with dolls and was asked to show what she meant. Court documents state the victim used the female doll, labeled as her, to show what occurred, using another doll she described as her abuser. The victim repeated the display with the dolls in front of a Children’s Division worker. The girl was taken into protective custody.
Nelson and Stark were both interviewed.
According to the probable cause statement, Nelson admitted to having sex with the victim several times a week since the victim was 3 years old.
Stark was interviewed by the Children’s Division worker, who asked Stark how long she knew of Nelson’s actions. According to court documents, Stark stated she caught him in the act approximately two months ago, and made a report when the victim 3 three years old. According to the documents, no report has been found to support her claim, and Nelson later told the officer Stark caught him in the act “five or six times,” and ignored “numerous chances” to report him. Stark later admitted to having never filed a report
In an interview with Nelson on April 18, conducted by the officer, Nelson stated he would continue to have sex with the victim if given the chance, according to the case’s probable cause statement.
On the same day, the victim made several statements, again confirming what happened.
Nelson is charged with statutory rape in the first degree, as well as statutory sodomy and additional counts of the same toward an individual of less than 14 years old.
Stark is charged with two counts endangering the welfare of a child for failing to protect the victim.
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Publish Date March 9, 2016
New Findings Could Aid the Development of Lupus Treatments
HealthDay News — Scientists have gained new insight into systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) which they hope will lead to new therapies, or help guide current treatment choices. The research was published online March 8 in Immunity.
The findings are based on blood samples from nearly 100 healthy volunteers and 200 patients with SLE.
The team found that SLE patients seemed to have an imbalance among 3 types of immune cells: B cells that produce antibodies; regulatory B cells that help suppress excessive immune responses; and plasmacytoid dendritic cells that produce interferon-alpha. Essentially, there is a lack of anti-inflammatory B cells, which leads to overproduction of interferon-α. That, in turn, boosts that number of antibody-producing B cells and suppresses the division and appearance of regulatory B cells, according to the researchers.
The findings could help in developing new SLE therapies, senior researcher Claudia Mauri, PhD, told HealthDay. Mauri is a professor of immunology at University College London. “We will continue to work to develop new [treatment] strategies that harness the anti-inflammatory B cells in patients with SLE,” she said.
Immune Disorders Miscellaneous Immune Disorders
Close more info about New Findings Could Aid the Development of Lupus Treatments
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Why choose UNSW Computing?
Named academic positions
Graduates & alumni
Welcome induction
For computing
CSE IT Helpdesk
Calendars & guides
Leaving UNSW Computing
UNSW Computing Ready Reference Page
ENGHELP
UNSW map
Virtual tour of UNSW
CSE Academic Profiles
L4 Verified
Need a bug-free system?
Formal, mathematical proof.
Unrecoverable fatal errors, the ones that require you to manually switch off the machine, occur when buggy or malicious code makes a faulty access to a resource. The aim of a microkernel-based system is to reduce the amount of code that has full access to the resources to a minimal core: the microkernel. The rest of the operating system, together with the applications, has to go through the microkernel to access resources. Formal, mathematical proof is the only method that can give us full assurance that the microkernel is not faulty and will never crash.
This is the challenge that was successfully undertaken by Gerwin Klein and his L4.verified team at the National ICT Australia (NICTA), Australia's world-class information and communications technology (ICT) research Centre of Excellence, in which UNSW Australia is a founding partner. The L4.verified project, together with another project called seL4, have built the first high-performance, secure microkernel that is formally verified to the binary code level.
The seL4 (secure embedded L4) microkernel team, headed by Kevin Elphinstone, builds on the strengths of the L4 microkernel architecture (such as its small size and high performance) and extends it with secure access control to resources. The L4.verified verification work provides a mathematical, machine-checked proof that the 8,700 lines of C code in seL4 do exactly what they are intended to do.
This represents an impressive break-through in what can be guaranteed of security and safety-critical software. So far, verification of these systems was done either only on abstract high-level models of the system or on code of very limited size. This project is showing that it is possible, feasible and economically viable to produce software that is 100 percent free of C implementation errors. In 2013, in collaboration with the University of Cambridge, UNSW and NICTA PhD student Thomas Sewell extended this verification to reach from the C code down to the binary level. This means the proof now also provides assurance about the output of the compiler.
In the meantime, the team further extended the proof to cover not only correctness, but also high-level security properties: access control integrity and confidentiality. Together these mean that the kernel can strongly isolate untrusted applications from each other, such that any mistake in one cannot have any effect on any other. This makes seL4 the first OS microkernel in the world that provably enforces such an access control mechanism at the implementation level.
One key aspect to the success of the project is bringing together a team of both Operating System and Formal Methods experts, mainly built through UNSW's Advanced Topics in Software Verification and Advanced Operating Systems courses.
The outcomes of the project are available commercially as the product OKL4:verified from NICTA spin-out Open Kernel Labs. OKL4:verified is the next generation of Open Kernel Labs' current main product OKL4 which is deployed in over 1.5 billion devices around the world. The microkernel itself and its formal specification are available free of charge from Open Kernel Labs for academic research and teaching as well as for evaluation purposes.
The verified microkernel proposed in this project represents a very clear competitive advantage for companies like Open Kernel Labs.
Entrepreneurial support
iCinema
Sunswift
Transport Engineering
Redback Racing Team
Fables: Computerworld
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Brewster Ambulance driver cited in Brockton crash
Marc Larocque Enterprise Staff Writer @Enterprise_Marc
Mar 26, 2019 at 8:58 AM Mar 26, 2019 at 8:03 PM
Brockton police said an ambulance for Brewster Ambulance was hit by a minivan in a crash that took place at 12:33 a.m. at the intersection of North Main and Battles streets. But the 48-year-old driver of the minivan is being cited in the crash for failing to stop, police said.
BROCKTON – An ambulance driver is being faulted for a crash that took place early Tuesday morning, according to police.
Police said an ambulance for Brewster Ambulance was hit by a minivan in a crash that took place at 12:33 a.m. at the intersection of North Main and Battles streets. But the 48-year-old driver of the ambulance is being cited in the crash for failing to stop, police said.
"Witnesses at the scene told police that the Honda Odyssey was traveling south on North Main Street and had the green light as it drove through the intersection with Battles Street," according to a police summary of the incident. "The ambulance was heading eastbound on Battles when it crossed the intersection and collided with the Honda."
The 30-year-old driver of the Honda was brought to Signature Healthcare Brockton Hospital with minor injuries, according to police.
Two paramedics in the ambulance were transported to Good Samaritan Medical Center with minor injuries.
Police cited the 48-year-old ambulance driver for failing to stop, said Darren Duarte, a spokesperson for the police department. The Enterprise requested the name of the ambulance driver, but did not get a response as of early Tuesday afternoon when this story was filed.
The ambulance, which sustained heavy damaged to its front and front, left side, was taken away from the scene on a flatbed tow truck.
- Material from WCVB news was used in this report.
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Woman killed in Middleboro crash
MIDDLEBORO — A 32-year-old New Bedford woman died Friday in a crash on Route 495 northbound.
State Police said the victim lost control of the 2004 Ford Explorer she was driving and crashed into a tree in the median. The vehicle caught fire and became engulfed in flames.
The crash occurred at about 3:40 p.m. just south of the Route 28 exit. The woman was alone in the SUV.
Her name has not yet been released.
Both lanes of the highway were closed for more than four hours for investigation and cleanup. Traffic was getting by in the breakdown lane.
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Andriukaitis: Please be worried
By Georgi Gotev | EURACTIV.com
27-01-2016 (updated: 02-10-2018 )
Vytenis Andriukaitis, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety. [Georgi Gotev]
Languages: Français
“I know what it means to be discriminated (against)… and when I hear anti-Semitic, anti-Islamic, and xenophobic speech, it’s like a bell ringing, telling people ‘Please be worried’,” Vytenis Andriukaitis told EURACTIV in an exclusive interview.
Vytenis Andriukaitis, the Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, is a Lithuanian physician, politician, and co-signatory to the 1990 Act of the Re-Establishment of the State of Lithuania.
Andriukaitis spoke to EURACTIV’s Senior Editor, Georgi Gotev.
I noticed that you were among the few people taking the time to watch the exhibition dedicated to the history of Roma persecution and extermination during the Second World War, in the lobby of the Berlaymont. You yourself lived in the Gulag. What do these old photos and testimonies of the Roma genocide during World War II tell you?
These pictures are not old. They show what genocide means. When today some people use very nationalistic words, when we hear so much hatred, xenophobia, different kinds of -phobias, I fear that we are on the same way.
It’s very dangerous to play nationalistic games. The age of darkness which you mentioned was not long ago. And today you can hear a lot of ant-Semitic, anti-Islamic, xenophobic speech, which means we are not so far from similar disasters.
For me it’s like a bell ringing, telling people “Please be worried”.
Please remind us of your personal history during the Soviet Union.
My personal history is maybe not so typical for the ordinary Soviet citizens. I was born in Stalin’s Gulag, in 1951, in a Gulag camp not far from Laptev Sea [a sea on the edge of the Arctic Ocean. It is located between the northern coast of Siberia, the Taimyr Peninsula, Severnaya Zemlya and the New Siberian Islands], on the Lena River delta, in the Polar Circle. The conditions were terrible.
My father was arrested and deported in 1941 and was released in 1954, after Stalin’s death, when the Khrushchev period started, when we were given the right to move from Gulag to the continent, becoming “spetz-displaced persons”. There was such a status of “specially displaced persons”. But we were also called “враг народа”, in Russian, “enemy of the people”.
I know what it means to be discriminated (against).
How did you manage to become a doctor later on?
After Khrushchev’s reform this was possible. The situation changed. Today a lot of people don’t understand the Soviet Union. Stalin’s Soviet Union was one thing, Khrushchev’s was another. Brezhnev’s, Gorbachev’s were completely different. People need to understand those changes in terms of real life, and (their) impact on society.
I never was a Pioneer [the children’s Communist organisation] or a member of Komsomol [the Communist youth]. I was in the dissident movement. I was in the underground.
But you succeeded in getting a good education.
Yes, I studied very much, I had good grades. This helped me finish my studies at the Kaunas medical university [Kaunas is the second-largest city in Lithuania and has historically been a leading centre of Lithuanian economic, academic, and cultural life].
If you compare the Soviet Union of Nikita Khrushchev with today’s Russia, what would you say?
You know, the Soviet Union is different from today’s Russia. And Russia had several stages of development – the first Yeltsin Russia, the second Yeltsin Russia, and then the period of the Putin-Medvedev tandem.
We speak about Putin’s nationalism, but there is also Orbán’s nationalism, Kaczyхski’s nationalism, Landsbergis’ nationalism [Professor Vytautas Landsbergis is a Lithuanian conservative politician who was the first head of state of the post-Soviet Lithuania and is now member of the European Parliament].
It’s the same game with different nuances. But we should not call a regime by the name of the country. We should not say Russia, when you mean Putin’s nationalism. Russia is millions of people. We must use clear words.
Many Russian people are excellent. They believe in freedom. This is why I think by using the name of the country instead of the name of the politician, we are feeding nationalism and hatred. We must stop doing that.
For me, all nations are together, and I like very much the Russian people, the Polish people, the Hungarians, the Armenians… But when you see the political actors, you can debate, and of course, (and) some of them play dirty games. What needs to be debated is what needs to be done, that they stop playing dirty games.
Many politicians from Eastern Europe, who suffered under Communism, became centre-right politicians. How come you became a Socialist?
I was Socialist in the underground. In 1976 I established the first social democratic group, underground, in Kaunas. And I fought against Bolsheviks, against Stalinists, against Brezhnevists.
Democratic socialism is an excellent idea. Please convey this message. It’s excellent, it’s peaceful, it’s a universal idea of human rights, social justice, freedom and solidarity…
I found your question strange.
It’s a strange question, but I really wanted to ask it.
anti-Islam
Vytenis Andriukaitis
4Greens set conditions to approve nominee von der Leyen
5Power-sharing puzzle solved: Who will chair parliamentary committees?
10Europe agrees to put forward one candidate for IMF chair
0 responses to “Andriukaitis: Please be worried”
Johan Stavers says:
I don’t quite see how he can be worried by anti-Nazi speech? (which basically is what anti-Islamic speech is).
Maybe it is a symptom of xenofilia, which is just the deceptive mask of oikophobia, the true motivation of all traitors.
Tuy Cortrando says:
He’s a good man.
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A Sale on the Horizon?
Advisory: Sell-Side
Planning a Major Move?
Advisory: Buy-Side & Financing
Capital: Gap Debt
Capital: Private Credit
Toronto:
47 Front Street East
Canada, M5E 1B3
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1275 Avenue des Canadiens-de-Montréal
Montréal, Quebec
Canada, H3B 0G4
Home About Us Market Insights Q3 2018
Buyers’ Perspectives in a Competitive M&A Market
Market Insights - Q3 2018
“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
It’s an age-old saying, but if you change a couple of words – the first and the last, to be precise, you get a version relevant to M&A: value is in the eye of the buyer. To an entrepreneur, this may come as a surprise. After all, doesn’t value come down to the numbers?
To resolve this, we interviewed two buy-side veterans: David McCarthy, a Partner at Stikeman Elliot, and James Johnson, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Signal Hill Equity Partners. They confirm what we know from our own deal experience; offers we generate from multiple buyers for the same business vary wildly. In a recent mandate, for example, the highest offer clocked in at 12x EBITDA while the 3 lowest averaged 5x EBITDA.
Different Buyers, Different Value
A buyer perceives the value of an acquisition target in light of its own strategy and operations. A study conducted by Intralinks, an industry research firm, and the M&A Research Centre at the Cass Business School confirms the wide range of buyer preferences and ways of valuing targets, using a sample of almost 34,000 companies collected over 23 years (which means its conclusions span three economic cycles). [1]
With that in mind, we asked our deal veterans for their take on differing buyer preferences.
A Strategic Buyer’s Perspective…
David McCarthy, a Partner active in Stikeman Elliot’s M&A practice, has represented strategic buyers across a range of industries over the past two decades. Many of his clients seek out acquisition targets that have the potential to realize revenue and cost synergies post-acquisition, once in their fold. That is, pre-acquisition, their targets may not look great on a standalone basis. McCarthy says strategic buyers’ industry advantage over financial buyers is often most evident in more lackluster transactions, in which strategics will pay a slight premium when no Private Equity (“PE”) firm is excited.
In most cases, strategic buyers integrate an acquisition into existing operations, so it follows that they may place limited value on a target’s management team. As McCarthy points out, however, there are exceptions to this general rule, for example, where a strategic buyer is looking to move into a new line of business, a new geography or is acquiring intellectual property still in development. In those circumstances, the strategic may seek out targets with strong management and be willing to pay up for high growth.
Over his decades advising strategic buyers, McCarthy has witnessed a sea change in their behaviours, more recently, because of the abundance of cash on their balance sheets, and because of the dramatic increase in the number of PE firms. Strategic buyers have thus become more aggressive, more competitive and quicker to act. McCarthy is also seeing them make pre-emptive offers, using their deep knowledge of activity in their space to stop a deal from being marketed broadly. While in our experience, for the typical Canadian mid-market seller, a competitive bidding scenario yields the most favourable price, McCarthy points out that these pre-emptive offers reflect a premium (they must, to avoid an auction), and are more likely to be made to M&A savvy sellers, such as a PE-backed company looking for an exit.
… And a Financial Buyer’s Perspective
With global “dry powder” of PE firms topping a record US$1.1 trillion[2] in Q2 of 2018, competition for deals has reached new heights. PE investors are adapting to this environment on several different fronts.[3] Long-term funds, which can hold assets for more than 10 years (as compared to the more traditional 3-7 year window), are now more common.
These funds are attractive to sellers who want to participate in growth post-acquisition to build businesses on longer-term timeframes. In addition, over recent years, to mitigate the synergy-related advantages of strategic buyers, PE firms are making platform acquisitions and specializing in industries in which the ability to grow through M&A leads to major gains, then aggressively rolling up smaller companies to ‘tuck-in’ to the platform company[4].
James Johnson, Managing Director and Co-Founder of Signal Hill Equity Partners, has more than 25 years experience investing in and building companies in the Canadian mid-market. His firm, which falls into the long-term investor category, also rigorously pursues the platform/tuck-in approach to investing. Johnson notes that he prioritizes different attributes in a target, depending on whether it is a platform company or a tuck-in. Attractive platform targets have a skilled management team, who will be incentivized to stay and grow with the company, and the potential to achieve operating leverage and scale. The seller will also be asked to ‘roll in’ some equity to stay invested in the platform’s success.
Johnson explains that attractive tuck-ins are typically smaller companies that can easily be rolled into a platform’s existing operations. Important factors for consideration include opportunities to shed costs, cross sell and reduce cost of goods sold. Finally, as these acquisitions are quickly integrated into the platform, existing management is less important. A tuck-in is typically for 100% of the company, and the buyer and seller part ways at or shortly after the close of the transaction.
Johnson acknowledges that the current competitive environment is forcing Signal Hill (along with its PE peers) to pay higher multiples for platform companies. This makes tuck-in transactions, with their associated size related multiple discount, more important, he explains, “because they help us average down the overall multiple.”
What does this mean for you and your business?
It is still a seller’s market, with an abundance of cash chasing targets, but buyers view the world differently from one another. Sellers can only find out how buyers value them by exposing themselves, prudently of course, to the relevant ones. While in a few sectors, this is achievable by the seller, for most, it is where an experienced M&A advisor can provide significant value.
[1] Attractive M&A Targets: What Do Buyers Look For?, Intralinks, City University London, September 2, 2016
[2] Prequin Quarterly Update: Private Equity and Venture Capital Q2 2018
[3] 2019 Global Private Equity Outlook
[4] Pitchbook Analyst Note: Additive Deal Making
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Jeffrey M. Feldman Named to 25th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©
Feldman, Kleidman, Coffey & Sappe LLP Attorney Recognized for Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants; Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants
FISHKILL, NY, August 15, 2018 – Feldman, Kleidman, Coffey & Sappe LLP (FKC&S) a Fishkill, New York-based law firm with clients throughout the Hudson Valley and Capital District, has announced that Founding Partner Jeffrey M. Feldman has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 25th Edition of The Best Lawyers in America© 2019 in the areas of Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants.
“Best Lawyers® uses one of the most comprehensive processes in our industry, and each honoree is named by peers within the profession,” said Feldman. “I’m truly honored by this distinction.”
Best Lawyers partners with U.S. News & World Report to rank law firms in the United States that have at least one attorney with a Best Lawyers distinction. Jeffrey Feldman has consecutively been named to the Best Lawyers list since 2009 in the areas of Medical Malpractice Law – Defendants and Personal Injury Litigation – Defendants. For the 2019 Edition, 7.8 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 60,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Per the latest survey by the American Bar Association, there are just over 1.3 million practicing attorneys in the U.S.; using that statistic, less than 5 percent of practicing attorneys in the United States are recognized by Best Lawyers.
Throughout his career, Feldman has been the recipient of countless legal recognitions, including being named as a New York State “Super Lawyer” every year since 2008. He has achieved an AV® rating with Martindale-Hubbell for 26 years, placing him in the top three percent of attorneys nationwide, and he won the 2016 Dutchess County Regional Chamber of Commerce’s Headliner Award for Leadership in Business and Community. Additionally, FKC&S was recognized by Legal Services of the Hudson Valley’s 2018 Dutchess Partners in Justice awards as an Advocate for Justice. Feldman is a member of the New York State Bar Association, the American Bar Association, the Dutchess County Bar Association, the New York State Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice and the New York Medical Defense Bar Association.
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Poor Pussy
By f2x | Tuesday, December 31, 2013 - 12:00 am | Tuesday, December 31, 2013 Jokes
A sadist, a masochist, a murderer, a necrophile, a zoophile and a pyromaniac are all sitting on a bench in a mental institution when a cat walks by outside the window.
“I’d love to have sex with that cat,” said the zoophile.
“Let’s have sex with the cat and then torture it,” says the sadist.
“Let’s have sex with the cat, torture it and then kill it,” shouted the murderer.
“Let’s have sex with the cat, torture it, kill it and then have sex with it again,” said the necrophile.
“Let’s have sex with the cat, torture it, kill it, have sex with it again and then burn it,” said the pyromaniac.
There was silence, and then the masochist said, “Meow.”
Theoretically Speaking…
By f2x | Monday, December 30, 2013 - 12:00 am | Monday, December 30, 2013 Jokes
Two theoretical physicists decided to go hiking in the mountains. After a while they started to suspect they might be lost. One of them gets the bright idea to climb to the top of the nearest mountain to get a better view of their situation. When they get to the top, he pulls out a map and starts to study it. A few minutes pass before he turns to his partner and says, “Hey, I’ve figured it out. I know where we are.”
“Where are we then?” said his friend.
“Do you see that mountain over there?”
“Well, that’s where we are.”
The Canadian Blonde
By f2x | Friday, December 27, 2013 - 12:00 am | Friday, December 27, 2013 Jokes
As a trucker stops for a red light, a blonde catches up. She jumps out of her car, runs up to his truck, and knocks on the door. The trucker lowers the window, and she says “Hi, my name is Wendy and you are losing some of your load.” The trucker ignores her and proceeds down the street.
When the truck stops for another red light, the girl catches up again. She jumps out of her car, runs up and knocks on the door. Again, the trucker lowers the window. As if they’ve never spoken, the blonde says brightly, “Hi my name is Wendy, and you are losing some of your load!” Shaking his head, the trucker ignores her again and continues down the street.
At the third red light, the same thing happens again. All out of breath, the blonde gets out of her car, runs up, knocks on the truck door. The trucker lowers the window. Again she says “Hi, my name is Wendy, and you are losing some of your load!”
When the light turns green the trucker revs up and races to the next light. When he stops this time, he hurriedly gets out of the truck, and runs back to the blonde. He knocks on her window, and as she lowers it, he says ” Hi, my name is Shawn, it’s winter in Canada and I’m driving the SALT TRUCK!”
Devil in the Details
By f2x | Thursday, December 26, 2013 - 12:00 am | Thursday, December 26, 2013 Jokes
One day, an engineer died and went to heaven, but St. Peter said “I can’t let you in because your name is not on the list.”
So the engineer went down to Hell and was let in. He stayed there for a couple of days and decided that it was too hot and everything was inhospitable. So he built flushing toilets, air conditioning, running water and a lot of other things.
One day God calls down and says to Satan, “So Satan, how’s it down there in hell?”
Satan says, “It’s great! I’ve got an engineer down here, and he has built air conditioning, running water, flushing toilets, and I don’t know what else he’s gonna build next!”
God responds, “You’ve got an engineer down there? That’s a big mistake! Send him up here right now!”
“No way,” said Satan. “This is the best thing that’s ever happened to hell.”
“Send him up, or I’ll sue your ass!” threatened God.
With an evil smirk, Satan notes, “Now just where do you think you’re gonna get a lawyer?”
The Christmas Frog
By f2x | Wednesday, December 25, 2013 - 12:00 am | Wednesday, December 25, 2013 Jokes
A guy frantically runs to the pet store on Christmas Eve and goes up to the owner, “I need a puppy for my wife for Christmas. I know I’ve left it late but can you please help!?”
The store owner replies, “Sorry son. you’re shit out of luck… it being Christmas Eve and all. The cute pets are all gone.”
“Well,” says the man, “Do you have anything left?”
“Actually,” says the owner, “I got this African bullfrog in back you should take a look at.”
“African bullfrog?!” the man retorts. “Why the fuck would she want an African bullfrog?”
The store’s owner just said, “Trust me,” and took the man in the back to show him the frog
“This thing is ugly as shit. Her Christmas is going to be ruined!” cried the man.
“Trust me on this,” said the owner.”Stick your dick in its mouth.”
Shrugging the guy thinks why not and go’s ahead. To his amazement the bullfrog sucks him like a Dyson. It’s easily the best oral sex he’s had since college. “Dear Lord! I’ll take it!!!”
Christmas morning comes and he hands his wife the gift wrapped box which she duly opens. “Oh honey you shouldn’t have… WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS!?”
“Its an African bullfrog,” said the man.
In a pissed off tone the wife asks, “What am I supposed to do with an African bullfrog?”
“Teach it to cook, then fuck off!”
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Coca-Cola and Twitter Get All Emoji-nal
The rise of the emoji is an interesting phenomenon in our tech-savy world. Our earliest ancestors utilized pictographs and ideograms to represent physical items and ideas. However, as the alphabet system evolved and spread through the cultures of the world, our system of naming and signifying objects became enhanced and more complicated. Over the past 25 years, however, more and more people started to turn to the modern hieroglyphic, the emoji, to express their ideas.
If you are a bit confused about what an emoji is, don't fret. From Wikipedia:
"Emoji ... are the ideograms or smileys used in Japanese electronic messages and Web pages, the use of which is spreading outside Japan. Originally meaning pictograph, the word emoji literally means "picture" (e) + "character" (moji). The characters are used much like ASCII emoticons or kaomoji, but a wider range is provided, and the icons are standardized and built into the handsets... Emoji have become increasingly popular after their international inclusion in Apple's iPhone, which was followed by similar adoption by Android and other mobile operating systems."
Advertising campaigns have long relied upon symbols to express brand ideals, and that facet was not lost on a new generation of marketers that are fluent in emojis. Taco Bell successfully petitioned the Unicode Consortium (the non-profit regulatory body for written computer text coding standards) to introduce a taco emoji. Domino's upped the ante by allowing customers to tweet a pizza emoji via Twitter to initiate a delivery.
However, Coca Cola's new partnership with Twitter seems to be a truly game-changing move.
Twitter began introducing unique emojis to correspond to events earlier this year, including a highly-praised campaign that found users tweeting about the new Star Wars movie. Many at the time thought that the unique emojis could be used to generate revenue through advertising sales. It would appear those people were correct: TechCrunch reports that the #shareacoke hashtag will also display a unique emoji featuring two bottles of Coke.
Will other advertisers jump on this unique and new form of marketing? TechCrunch notes that Twitter's long-standing relationship with Coca-Cola gives them the right to try out new initiatives together, but I would not be surprised if most major brands are working out ways to use their own emojis for social media engagement.
Coca-Cola Twitter Retail Emojis
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Hollywood remake flops: Is the cast or the content to blame?
By Hollie McKay, ,
Despite the long-winded marketing campaign, extensive promotional touring and 22-year-old in-built fan base, the highly-anticipated 2012 revision of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s 1990 smash hit “Total Recall,” was a big bomb at American box offices this past weekend.
With an estimated production budget of $200 million, the new, highly-digitalized rendition took in just $26 million at the theaters on its opening weekend, a very distant second to third-weekend blockbuster “The Dark Knight Rises,” which added $36.4 million to its profits, totaling $354.6 million since its dramatic opening.
However, “Total Recall” isn’t the only remake/re-imagination/reboot/reinvention that has failed to make its monetary mark in American cinemas in recent times.
2011’s “Conan the Barbarian” remake was listed to have cost $90 million to make, but gleaned just $21.3 million at the box office, and the “Arthur” reboot also failed to deliver last year, returning $33 million of its $40 million budget. “Let Me In” brought in $12 million off a $20 million budget, and and 2007’s “3:10 to Yuma” also fell below expectation with a domestic gross of $53.6 million and a $55 million budget.
So are audiences simply sick of the film industry’s mounting obsession with making all that is old new again – and thus vying for some original storylines? Is the prominent theory that studios are now hesitant to take risks of new material and instead out to capitalize on pre-established fan bases starting to look flawed?
“Relevance to the audience is all that matters. ‘Total Recall’ was relevant when it came out but has lost its relevance in the year 2012. I am surprised it did not do less at the box than it did,” Gary Delfiner, Senior VP of Digital Distribution at Screen Media Ventures told FOX411’s Pop Tarts column. “Studios turn to remakes and pick films to market to younger audiences who were just children when the original film was made. But that misses the mark completely, and sometimes it comes down to picking the wrong material. After all, movies are ultimately decided upon by one or two executives and of course, they can get it wrong.”
But such executive decisions can, on other occasions, get it right. The recent film, “Amazing Spiderman” proved profitable, earning $251.4 million domestically, cast against a reported $230 million budget. In 2010, the revival of “The Karate Kid” scooped up $176.5 million pitted at a $40 million budget, and in 2006 “The Departed” attracted $132 million off a $90 million budget, and went on to win the Oscar for Best Picture.
“There is room for both new films and remakes. Hollywood will always want to re-boot projects that have been successful before and find ways to keep franchises going,” explained Jami Philbrick, managing editor of movie news website iamRogue.com. “But at the same time, are open to fresh ideas that can create popular franchises.”
However, remake flops also beg the question: is it the movie itself that deserves most of the blame, or is it the ensemble cast which lack the power to fill seats? In the case of “Total Recall,” male lead Colin Farrell certainly hasn’t had the track record of his iconic predecessor, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Farrell’s last major film “Fright Night” (also a remake) had a budget of $30 million but made just over $18 million at the domestic box office. Prior to that, “The Way Back” drew $2.7 million contrasted to its $30 million budget, , the total domestic gross for “Ondine” was $550,000 yet with a $12 million budget. “The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” had an estimated production budget of $30 million, but brought in only $7.6 million in domestic ticket sales. Alternatively, in 2011 Farrell starred alongside Jennifer Aniston and Kevin Spacey in “Horrible Bosses” and it was a big success, having made $117 million against its $35 million budget.
And Farrell’s leading ladies in “Recall” aren’t exactly considered to be guaranteed box office draws either.
Jessica Biel’s star-studded “New Year’s Eve” fizzled, grossing $54.5 million domestically against its $56 million budget, the uber-hyped film adaptation of the hit TV series “The A-Team” was also deemed a flop, having made $77 million in U.S. with a budget of $110 million.
Meanwhile, Kate Beckinsale’s “Underworld Awakening” earned $62.3 million with a $70 million budget, and before that “Everybody’s Fine” attracted $9.2 million nationally, falling short of its $21 million budget. “Contraband” was a hit however, reeling in $66.5 million on the heels of a $25 million budget.
“At the end of the day, ‘Total Recall’ is a remake of a beloved cult film, and it’s hard to top Arnold in the minds of Sci-fi fans. And while Colin, Kate, Jessica and Bryan Cranston are all excellent actors none of them really have true movie star power to open a film like Arnold did in the early 90’s. But the days of the movie star putting people in seats is over, with a few rare exceptions,” Philbrick added. “It is spectacle which sells a movie like ‘Total Recall.’ The idea or a remake or a ‘re-imagining’ is helpful to get people interested in a project but if the material is no good, they aren’t going to pay money to see it.”
And this weekend, we’ll see how Universal Pictures does in its attempt to keep the “Bourne” legacy alive without Matt Damon in the Jeremy Renner-starring “The Bourne Legacy” which has been described as a re-imagining, a re-boot, a prequel and a sequel all wrapped up in one.
Hollie McKay has a been a Fox News Digital staff reporter since 2007. She has extensively reported from war zones including Iraq, Syria, Yemen, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Burma, and Latin America investigates global conflicts, war crimes and terrorism around the world. Follow her on Twitter.
https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/hollywood-remake-flops-is-the-cast-or-the-content-to-blame
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Bobby Brown Released from Hospital
LOS ANGELES – Bobby Brown was resting at his New Jersey home after being released from the hospital for treatment of an infection, a family spokeswoman said.
The 33-year-old singer was traveling through Virginia with his wife, Whitney Houston, in their tour bus when they stopped at Mary Washington Hospital in Fredericksburg last week, said Nancy Seltzer, a Los Angeles publicist.
At the time, Brown, formerly of the group New Edition, and Houston were returning home from Atlanta, where Houston was recording an album.
Seltzer said Monday that Brown had a fever, but she declined to specify the nature of the infection.
Brown, admitted Wednesday, was treated intravenously with an antibiotic and released Friday, Seltzer said. He continued taking oral antibiotics during his recuperation at home, she added.
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Powell: Iraq Differences 'Being Closed'
THE HAGUE, Netherlands – Secretary of State Colin Powell (search) ended four days of consultations with European leaders on Friday saying that differences growing out of the Iraq war "are now being closed."
After meeting with European Union officials here, Powell cited as progress a European commitment to send additional forces to Afghanistan and additional trainers to Iraq, cooperation on Sudan (search) and a joint effort to help avert a political crisis in the Ukraine.
He said the disagreements over Iraq have sometimes been exaggerated but acknowledged the existsters meeting after spending two days in Bulgaria for discussions with the 55-nation Organization of Security and Cooperation (search) in Europe.
Powell's goal has been to restore confidence between the United States and Europe; President Bush himself will visit the continent in February toward that objective.
The Dutch government has been angered by a new U.S. law that would authorize the United States to take military action against the Hague-based International Criminal Court (search) if any U.S. serviceman is hauled before the tribunal to face war crimes charges.
Asked about the law, Dutch Foreign Minister Ben Bot said the subject did not come up in Friday's meeting but added that the United States is well aware of his government's views. Washington has refused to join the court and does not recognize its jurisdiction. The Bush administration is concerned that U.S. servicemen could face prosecution based on charges that are politically motivated.
Powell planned an early evening departure for Morocco for an international conference on political, economic and social development in the Arab world.
On Thursday, former Irish Prime Minister John Bruton presented his credentials to President Bush as the EU Commission's representative to the United States.
In a letter to Bush, Bruton said he regarded his new position as an opportunity to further strengthen EU-US ties, which constitute "the most important economic relationship in world history" and "the indispensable partnership" in tackling the scourge of terrorism, fighting poverty and working for peace and stability around the world.
Before his official talks here, Powell fielded questions from Dutch university students. He said the Palestinian elections set for next month coupled with the plan of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to withdraw from Gaza open opportunities for a peaceful settlement in the region.
On Iran, he said he was optimistic about the prospects for political liberalization because of the pressure that younger Iranians will be exerting on the Islamic government for change.
He also called attention to the major role the European Union is playing in an effort to prevent Iran from developing nuclear weapons. The EU has designated Britain, France and Germany as negotiators with Iran to ensure that the country complies with commitments not to develop nuclear weapons.
On North Korea, he described the "old Stalinist regime" there as "very hard to deal with" in counter-proliferation talks.
Powell has said little about his plans once he steps down as secretary of state next month. In response to a question on Friday, Powell said he plans to relax for a while, spend time with his two grandchildren and become involved in private sector pursuits.
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Ninth Circuit Adopts Expansive Definition of Auto-Dialer in TCPA Case
By Rodger R. Cole, Tyler G. Newby and Molly Melcher • September 27, 2018
In a ruling that increases liability for companies that use text messaging for marketing or communicating with customers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit adopted an expansive definition of what constitutes an automatic telephone dialing system—or ATDS—under the Telephone Consumer Protection Act. In Marks v. Crunch San Diego, the court held that any equipment that has the capacity to dial numbers from a stored list, such as a database of numbers, is an ATDS under the TCPA. The Sept. 20 ruling creates a split among the Courts of Appeals as to the scope of the TCPA that could lead to resolution by the Supreme Court.
The Telephone Consumer Protection Act
The TCPA prohibits unsolicited calls advertising “property, goods, or services” using an ATDS and prerecorded messages to residential and cellular phones. The Federal Communications Commission has interpreted the TCPA’s restriction to apply to both “voice calls and text calls to wireless numbers,” including text messages. The TCPA defines an ATDS as “equipment which has the capacity (A) to store or produce telephone numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator; and (B) to dial such numbers.”
FCC Orders and the ACA Ruling
Over the course of a series of rulings that spanned 12 years, the FCC determined that predictive dialers and new technology can qualify as ATDS even if they do not generate or store random or sequential numbers.
Most recently, in its 2015 TCPA Omnibus Declaratory Ruling and Order, the FCC expanded the definition of an ATDS as any system with the “potential ability” to have the capacity to generate or dial random or sequential numbers. This expansive definition appeared to encompass all modern smartphones or any equipment that could be programmed in the future to sequentially or randomly generate and dial numbers.
Then, earlier this year, the D.C. Circuit’s long-anticipated ruling in ACA International v. Federal Communications Commission invalidated key aspects of the FCC’s Omnibus Ruling. One critical aspect of the D.C. Circuit’s ACA ruling was its rejection of the FCC’s broad interpretation of what constitutes an ATDS. The court concluded that the FCC’s interpretation of ATDS was “unreasonably and impermissibly expansive.”
However, in rejecting the expansive definition embraced by the FCC, the ACA court did not establish an alternative definition for ATDS and confirmed only that no definition that encompassed all modern smartphones would suffice. The court suggested that focusing on a system’s present versus potential capacity was not a helpful framework and that the focus should be more on the question of “how much is required to enable the device to function as an autodialer.”
Background on the Crunch Fitness Case
Jordan Marks sued Crunch Fitness in the Southern District of California alleging the company had violated the TCPA by sending him three text messages over the course of nearly a year after he joined the gym. Crunch had sent the text messages using a Textmunication system, a web-based interface that sends text messages to a list of stored numbers. Textmunication users can program the system to send messages to the stored phone numbers at a time scheduled by the client.
In 2014, the district court granted summary judgment for Crunch on the grounds that the Textmunication system did not qualify as an ATDS, because it lacked a random or sequential number generator as used by Crunch and did not have the capacity to add such a feature. Because the court defined an ATDS as necessarily including a random or sequential number generator, the court did not consider Mark’s expert, who stated that the Textmunication system called numbers from a stored list.
The Recent Ninth Circuit Reversal
The Ninth Circuit recently reversed the decision of the district court, ruling that the question of whether the Textmunication constituted an ATDS is for a jury to decide. In its reasoning, the court held that because the D.C. Circuit vacated the FCC’s interpretation of what sort of device qualifies as an ATDS, only the statutory definition of ATDS remains.
In its analysis, the Ninth Circuit noted that the definition of ATDS raises two questions: (1) when does a device have the “capacity” to perform the two enumerated functions; and (2) what precisely are those functions. The court determined that a proper definition should convey whether, in order to be an ATDS, a device must dial numbers generated by a random or sequential number generator or whether a device can be an ATDS if it merely dials numbers from a stored list. The court further reasoned that an adequate definition must determine to what extent the device needs to be able to function without human intervention in order to qualify as an ATDS.
After finding the statutory definition ambiguous, the court examined the context and structure of the statutory scheme. Based on its examination, the court held that the definition of ATDS means equipment that has the capacity (1) to store numbers to be called or (2) to produce numbers to be called, using a random or sequential number generator—and to dial such numbers. The court further held that an ATDS is not required to be fully automatic. It stated, “Common sense indicates that human intervention of some sort is required before an autodialer can begin making calls, whether turning on the machine or initiating its function.”
Because Crunch’s Textmunication system stores numbers and dials them automatically to send text messages as part of a campaign, the Ninth Circuit ruled the district court’s order granting summary judgment should be reversed.
The Ninth Circuit’s adoption of this expansive definition of ATDS is at odds with the D.C. Circuit’s ACA decision, because it arguably expands the definition to include all modern dialing technologies, including smartphones, which the D.C. Circuit found “unreasonably and impermissibly expansive.” The decision also conflicts with the narrower definition adopted by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit earlier this year in Dominguez v. Yahoo, where the court held that an ATDS must have the present capacity to randomly or sequentially generate numbers.
This circuit split will likely be resolved by a clarifying ruling from the FCC by the end of the year. In the meantime, the court’s ruling is expected to invite more lawsuits alleging TCPA violations in the Ninth Circuit.
Rodger R. Cole
Tyler G. Newby
Molly Melcher
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G.C. Foster VLE
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Hickling WC qualifying standard
With the island's top stars off to Europe, Tissanna Hickling delighted fans at Saturday's Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association (JAAA) All-Comers meet with a booming long jump effort that surpassed the World Championships qualifying standard.
Jumping in the white and brown of the GC Foster College for Physical Education and Sport, Hickling lined up her first jump perfectly and soared 6.82 metres.
The personal best mark put her 10 centimetres past the World Championships qualifying standard of 6.72 metres and made her the number 3 Jamaican long jumper of all time.
Hickling, a star during her days at St Jago High School, wasn’t surprised. “For the past weeks, I’ve been working really hard, so it was expected this evening, ” she said afterwards. Nevertheless, she was grateful that the qualifying mark had been attained. “I’m very relieved, I’m relieved and I give God thanks for that as well,” she said.
LIFETIME BEST
Her performance on Saturday also buried her former lifetime best in the sand at 6.70 metres and leaves her behind only Elva Goulbourne, the 2000 Olympic finalist, and Lacena Golding on the Jamaican all-time list at 7.16 and 6.87 metres, respectively.
Seemingly an inch or two taller than she was in high school, Hickling is looking ahead to the June 20-23 National Senior Championships and to jumps beyond 7 metres. “Just putting in the work, getting the right technique off the board, getting the right aggression in the run-up and I should get there by Trials, hopefully,” she said.
The meet also saw a smooth 100 metre effort from 2014 Commonwealth Games champion Kemar Bailey-Cole. The Racers Track Club sprinter left the pack at the halfway point and strode to a time of 10.26 seconds. Queried late in May, the 2012 and 2016 Olympic relay gold medallist stated: “I always show up at Trials so I’m just looking forward for Trials right now and make the team.”
The 400 metre hurdles events went to Bailey-Cole’s fellow 2014 Commonwealth champion Kaliese Spencer-Carter in 57.24 seconds and 2017 World Championship team member Ricardo Cunningham in 50.57 seconds, respectively. First year professional Anthony Carpenter looked steady in his section of the 200, winning in 20.89 seconds, and Petersfield’s 400 and 400 hurdles Carifta champion Shaquena Foote did some speed work with a 12.11 second trip in the 100 metres.
Kevona Davis of Edwin Allen High School, and St Jago’s sprinter/hurdler Vashon Vascianna controlled their wins in the 100 metres. Davis was alone when she covered the ground in 11.36 seconds and Vascianna cruised home in 10.69 seconds.
GC Foster, UTech Sign MOU
GC Foster, UTech Sign MOU With City Of Miramar
Long after Jamaica’s Reggae Girlz finished their preparation for this summer’s FIFA Women’s World Cup at one of Florida’s best sporting facilities, the City of Miramar will continue its relations with the country, as it has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with two of the country’s leading sporting institutions.
Miramar’s Mayor, Wayne Messam, signed the agreement with the acting principal of G.C. Foster College of Physical Education and Sport, Maurice Wilson and acting president of the University of Technology, Colin Giles, on Wednesday at a fundraiser for the Reggae Girlz in the South Florida city.
The MOU will allow the institutions’ athletics teams the use the city’s sporting facilities, including the multipurpose Ansin Sports Complex, where the Reggae Girlz played one of their final warm-up games before the tournament yesterday.
The agreement will also allow community colleges from Miramar to participate in Jamaica’s annual Intercollegiate Championships (intercol).
“G.C. Foster College hopes to benefit by including the JAAA (Jamaica Athletics Administrative Association) in this agreement, where athletes on their way to various championships can stop by the Ansin complex to train,” Wilson said. “It would be also great to have some of the community colleges participate in Intercol in an attempt to elevate the level of the championships.”
He continued: “We are also looking to have some events at the Ansin complex from a business standpoint, where we can raise funds, much like what the Reggae Girlz are doing now. The City of Miramar has a beautiful facility in the Ansin Sports Complex and they want it to be used.”
Commissioner of Miramar Maxwell Chambers, who was born and raised in Clarendon, is excited about the venture.
“We expect a collaborative effort from both parties. We have a lot of offsprings from Jamaica here and we believe that we can work together to enhance sports, not just in Jamaica, but also children in this city, who we can inspire to take up a sporting activity,” Chambers said. “As for the colleges here, they will get an opportunity to go to Jamaica, and everybody loves going to Jamaica. They will also get an opportunity to enhance their athletic abilities because the world is watching Jamaica now.”
4th Straight Intercol Titles
G C Foster College swept to their fourth-straight win in the National Commercial Bank Intercol Track and Field Championships, beating closest rivals the University of Technology (UTech) Jamaica by more than 100 points at the two-day event.
G C Foster scored 207 points in the men's section and 228.50 in the ladies' section for a total of 435.50 points, while UTech males scored 141.50 and the females 155.50 as they tallied 297 overall. The University of the West Indies (The UWI) had 129 on the men's side and 102 on the ladies' side to finish third overall with 231 points, as the big three finished in the same order as last year.
The writing was on the wall after day one as G C Foster led comfortably in both sections after seven scored finals.
Shawn-D Thompson got things going for the champions on Saturday afternoon when he took the men's long jump with 7.84m, adding a second gold medal to the one he won in the triple jump on Friday. His teammate Aubrey Allen was third with 7.38m, as they were separated by Ojamu Graham of UTech, who took the silver medal with 7.49m.
Tavia Dixon of Mico University College was the only one to win gold in the women's section for her school, taking the shot put final with a best of 14.15m. Tia Gaye Johnson (13.99m) and Debisha Scarlett (13.59m), both of G C Foster took the silver and bronze medals.
National champion Fedrick Dacres of The UWI completed a routine win in the men's discus with a big throw of 65.17m. Second went to Glenford Watson of G C Foster with 56.99m, while Alec Longmore of UTech was third with 48.50m.
Tissanna Hickling was another double gold medal winner at the championships, adding the triple jump gold to her 100m gold won on Friday night. She registered 13.62m to win ahead of her teammate Ave Anna Venair (12.26m) and Ashantie Carr (11.82m) of UTech.
The highly anticipated women's 200m final was won by Ashley Williams of G C Foster in 23.65secs with Tiffany James of Mico second in 23.88 and Ishara Scarlett of The UWI in third in 24.46.
Mico got their lone men's individual gold medal from Jamari Rose who won the 200m in 21.13 followed home by his teammate Hujaye Cornwall in 21.55. Mazhino Barrett of The UWI was third in 21.63.
The men's 400m was a very exciting affair as the G C Foster pair of Akani Slater and Demar Murray were both credited with 46.40secs, but Slater got the nod for first place. Andy Williams of UTech was third with 47.27.
The women's 400m race went to Sada Williams of UTech in 51.71. Shiann Salmon of G C Foster was second in 52.42, while third went to Junelle Bromfield of UTech in 53.29m.
G C Foster went to town in the relays, winning four of the six finals.
UTech won the women's 800m sprint relay final in 1:41.40 minutes, followed by Mico (1:42.00 minutes) and G C Foster (1:43.37 minutes), but G C Foster defended their men's 1600m medley title in 3:22.32 minutes, followed home by Knox (3:23.87 minutes) and The UWI in 3:24.95 minutes.
G C Foster then took the women's 4x100m final in 44.24secs ahead of UTech (44.36secs) and The UWI (47.75secs). The men's final went to Mico who won in 39.44secs, ahead of UTech in 39.98secs and G C Foster was third in 40.31secs.
The final two relays went to the St Catherine-based school.
G C Foster won the women's 4x400m in 3:47.34 minutes ahead of UWI 4:01.49 minutes and Mico 4:15.73 minutes, and the men's race in 3:06.41 minute ahead of Mico in 3:06.66 minutes and The UWI third in 3:11.72 minutes.
Source: https://www.jamaicaobserver.com/sports/g-c-foster-make-it-four-straight-at-intercol-track-field-championships_162367?profile=1511
Chinese Ambassador to Jamaica visits [...]
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GC Foster defeats UWI
By Christopher Gibbon Jr.
“Nothing is sweeter than another golden trophy!” This was the statement made by Khaydeen Thompson, former player of G.C. Foster College Female Basketball Team (The G.C Lionesses) after a 62 – 49 win over the UWI Pelicans when they went head to head in the Finals of 2019 Intercollegiate Basketball Competition on Friday March 8 at the GC Foster College courts.
It was like a jog down memory lane for G.C. College when they defeated the Pelicans 31-30 at the buzzer to hold the title in the 2017-2018 Intercollegiate Basketball Championships, now they have increased the gap to a whopping 13-point deficit closing the win on glory road for G.C. at 62-49.
‘Firing at Will’, the Lionesses stormed off on an 8-0 run in the first 5 minutes of the quarter. National Representative Kimoya Draggon and the Pelicans’ wings were wet putting them at slow start trailing with the first quarter ending at 16-09 in favor of GC.
Asha-lee Gordon, Gezelle Allison, and Jamelia Bennett with their combined score, totaled 40-points which gave the lionesses an outstanding performance. Half way in the 3rd quarter the G.C. Foster Fans were silent when the Pelicans for the first time in the game took the lead at a 4-point deficit also ending the quarter at 44-40.
THE LIONESSES ROAR
With 6 minutes 32 seconds remaining on the game clock the Fostodians snatched back the lead to 46-45. Cadene Cowen and Abigail Clarke of the Pelicans tried to make an upset on the Lionesses but it wasn’t enough as Draggon picked up her 5th personal foul.
Melisia Barnes with 7 points and 7 rebounds, Nassan-Gay Ricketts with 7 rebounds and Kelia Henry were strong defensively pulling down 14 rebounds and bucketing 7 points.
Both teams displayed outstanding performances coming into the finals, however, the Lionesses proved that they were hungrier for the win having all five games during the season.
New Basketball Head Coach and past student of G.C. Foster College, Cleon Morgan, congratulated the girls, saying that, “this win is very important to me, it helped in proving myself as a coach. With the objective at hand which is to win and in order to do so, I had to prepare the team through various training sessions so that when it comes down to crunch time, they will execute the way they should.” He alluded to their progress, that the team started out stronger than ever before, with their heads held up, they kept their end of the bargain.
In an Interview with Asha-lee Gordon, during her celebration she said, “every year when we make it to the finals it is something new, we had the same goal, we worked hard, we worked together as a team, we fought together to the end with all ounces of energy left within us and that’s what gave us this victory.”
“We lost the first half and we tried to pull it together in the 2nd half. But we fought back and it wasn’t enough to defeat G.C. Foster” Draggon said. “If I could relive the last 2 minutes of the game, I would’ve focused on two things. Seeing that I’ve fouled out of the game and if I was disciplined in the plays that I made, I would have made better decision in refraining from a foul. We also could have played better defense in the last quarter but we played well, we fought and congrats to G.C Foster College.”
This is the sixth consecutive Intercollegiate victory for the G.C. Foster Lionesses.
Energy Efficiency Project
By: Andre Gayle, Staff Writer
In an effort to decrease the energy bill at the institution, G.C. Foster College has embarked on an energy saving project to make the operations at the college more energy efficient.
The project which will start in March of this year will be done in three phases. Phase one will focus on upgrading on all lighting fixtures to LED technology. Phase two will focus on upgrading on all air conditioning units to high efficiency inverter type installation and Phase three part of the project will involve the installation of Grid-Tied Solar Systems of 100 kilowatts. It is estimated that this project will yield a reduction of 75% – 78% of power consumption.
Enersave Solutions Limited, who won the bid to undertake this project indicated that the first phase will be completed within a month. The funds to complete this project will be provided by the Petroleum Corporation of Jamaica (PCJ).
G.C. Foster College’s project manager, Mr. Sheldon Gordon, who is also the Plant and Facility Manager stated that this new development is a game changer for G.C. Foster College. He indicated that negotiations had started for some years now and is long in coming. He also shared that this project would help staff in becoming more knowledgeable about energy efficiency and would further benefit the college tremendously by increasing the amount of available resources.
G.C Foster College of Physical Education and Sport © 2015
Angels Spanish Town, Jamaica
876-619-1097, 876-619-1098, 876-619-1099, 876-619-1101
info@gcfc.edu.jm
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Home/Movies/You Should Be Watching: Extraordinary Tales (2015)
You Should Be Watching: Extraordinary Tales (2015)
Virginia Kublawi September 9, 2018
“Sometimes I think the only thing that kept me from you was my beating heart.
Welcome back to You Should Be Watching, where I recommend movies and TV series that deserve more recognition. This week we’re looking at Extraordinary Tales, an internationally produced anthology of Edgar Allan Poe adaptations. The film is written and directed by Raul Garcia and produced by several independent sources, including Bela Lugosi’s son. Extraordinary Tales presents Poe’s iconic stories “The Fall of the House of Usher,” “The Tell-Tale Heart,” “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar,” “The Pit and the Pendulum,” and “The Masque of the Red Death,” as vignettes connected by a frame story in which Death appears to Poe, beckoning him to the beyond. The segments are narrated by Christopher Lee, Bela Lugosi (by way of an old recording), Julian Sands, and Guillermo del Toro. They’re all great choices for the creepy shorts, lending a convincing air of dread to the characters and scenarios. I think it would have been cool to incorporate Vincent Price and Peter Cushing somehow, maybe using old recordings of them too. But I won’t fault the film for something so specific, and I can’t help wondering if the main character in the Valdemar segment was modeled on Price.
“The Tell-Tale Heart” features original music by Javier López de Guereña, and the rest of the vignettes are scored by Sergio de la Puente. The music is hauntingly beautiful and extremely creative, adding another layer of atmosphere to a film already swimming in ghoulish goodness. In addition to having a totally unique sound, the film sports a gorgeous color palette. Each story features a different animation style; “The Fall of the House of Usher” looks three-dimensional and almost like a stop-motion movie, “The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” looks like a comic book come to life, and “The Tell-Tale Heart” is bathed in harsh black and white, creating something that is equal parts unsettling and eye-catching. Meanwhile, the discussion between Poe (represented by a speaking crow) and the voice of Death is something completely different from any of these; the characters look almost like they’re made of paper, with color and texture exploding from the screen. It has been a while since I’ve seen an animated film so visually striking, and so unafraid to try unconventional styles and designs.
All that being said, the vignettes are somewhat uneven in quality. The aforementioned visuals and music vary but never lull, but the same can’t be said for the stories and characters. “The Fall of the House of Usher” and “The Masque of the Red Death” are the very best segments, and this is likely why they were selected to bookend the film. The middle three vignettes range from mediocre to pretty good; “The Tell-Tale Heart” shines in particular, with Lugosi’s reading over the animation.”The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar” and “The Pit and the Pendulum” feature fantastic voiceovers and interesting visuals, but I found myself the least “sucked in” to these stories, for some reason.
Extraordinary Tales is also a film that may not play equally well for everyone; there’s pretty much no such thing as a movie that everyone likes, but there are films that have a certain appeal that transcends time and place to attract a wide array of demographics. I’ll save you the suspense: this is not one of those movies. If you don’t care for Poe’s writing, unconventional films, or even just the macabre in general, then this movie probably isn’t for you. However, there have been some criticisms of Extraordinary Tales that strike me as unfair, namely that it’s not suitable for young children. Have you read any of Poe’s work? It is neither appropriate nor accessible for kids and isn’t intended for them. This is something I’ve run into numerous times with animated films and series made for adults; people assume they can show it to their kids and then get upset when it’s not appropriate or entertaining for them. I wonder if this is the same crowd who gets angry with media that actually is intended for children, saying that it has bad role models, too much dialogue, etc.
I’ve only just seen Extraordinary Tales this weekend, but I can’t get my mind off it. It reminds me a lot of the old Hammer horror movies, as well as the older Poe adaptations starring the likes of Vincent Price. I think this will prove to be a good one to watch in October, as every element of the film is straight-up spooky. Normally, I judge movies on things like themes and character development, but something like Extraordinary Tales is interesting because, even though those things are present, the anthology-style composition brings other things to the forefront. This film is more of an emotional experience than a logical one; you’re captive as it fills the senses with the morbid. You breathe in a piece like this, rather than guessing what will happen next or judging the choices the characters make. This movie feels like a Halloween special specifically for adults; it made me feel almost the way The Nightmare Before Christmas or It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown do. Although the film is less specifically for the holiday and more a celebration of Poe’s work, it has exactly the right mood, look and sound for Halloween.
Extraordinary Tales isn’t a perfect film, but it is a lot of fun. The film brims with interesting sights and sounds and seems crafted with the intent to evoke older scary movies. I’d recommend this to any adults looking for something to watch next month, especially if you’re tired of the inevitable month-long Hocus Pocus and Halloweentown marathons; God, I know I am. Exquisite use of tone and mood, a great cast perfect for the material, and an apparent love of Poe and classic horror make Extraordinary Tales what you should be watching. Extraordinary Tales is available on Netflix, and Amazon Prime also has it, though not for free. I found it incidentally while scrolling through Netflix.
Amazon Animation books edgar allan poe Extraordinary Tales Horror movies netflix
Virginia Kublawi
Viola Davis to Return to Suicide Squad
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You Should Be Watching: The Living Daylights (1987)
Disney+ Possibly Excluding Song of the South, Dumbo Crow Scenes
Happy Birthday Bullet Time: Celebrating The Matrix 20 Years Later
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645,000 poppies on display on the National Mall for Memorial Day
Posted: Fri 3:11 PM, May 25, 2018 |
Updated: Mon 10:58 AM, May 28, 2018
WASHINGTON (Gray DC) - Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of summer and people across the country are enjoying the day off with a barbecue or parade. But a new, temporary memorial in our nation’s capital is colorfully reminding Americans what this day is really all about.
John Bird says he hopes to take this memorial to other locations around the country.
645,000 poppies are lining a wall on the National Mall in Washington. Each one represents a service member who has died since World War I.
“You begin to get a sense of the true cost of our freedom,” said Florida native Mark Leaf, who served in the Navy and Army Reserve.
Some of the poppies on the wall represent his friends. This weekend is important to Leaf and he wants every American to recognize the true meaning of the holiday.
“We need to understand that fully and give thanks to God and humble ourselves before these numbers,” said Leaf.
USAA in conjunction with the National Park Service planted the 133-foot long poppy memorial in prime real estate on the National Mall. It served as a history lesson for some and a reflective eye-opener for others.
“(There is) a little sorrow in the fact that we’ve lost so many men and women in combat,” said Vice Admiral John Bird senior vice president of military affairs for USAA.
The two-sided wall has the history of the poppy symbol on one side. The other side is simply a flower-filled, head-turner for those strolling on the mall.
“Simple but elegant,” said Bird.
The temporary memorial was shipped to Washington from San Antonio, Texas. Bird says in the future, USAA hopes to bring the memorial to other locations across the country.
Martin Luther King celebrations have a different look amid Washington shutdown
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Lottery for Easter Egg Roll closes Thursday
Video: Andy Parker speaks about his fight against Google to remove videos of his daughter's 2015 murder from YouTube.
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Female firefighter to lead U.S. Forest Service amid scandal
Vickie Christensen was appointed interim chief of the U.S. Forest Service late Thursday.
Female firefighter to lead U.S. Forest Service amid scandal Vickie Christensen was appointed interim chief of the U.S. Forest Service late Thursday. Check out this story on greatfallstribune.com: http://gftrib.com/2p2n7MX
Matthew Brown, Associated Press Published 7:25 a.m. MT March 9, 2018 | Updated 8:31 a.m. MT March 9, 2018
The Smith River State Park in North Central Montana offers a 59-mile multi-day float trip for those lucky enough to draw a permit in the annual lottery. RION SANDERS; KARL PUCKETT
Vicki Christiansen served as interim regional forester for Region 1, based in Missoula, Mont. Christiansen was named interim replacement chief of the U.S. Forest Service Thursday after Chief Tony Tooke's resignation on Wednesday evening, after Tooke acknowledged that his own behavior was under investigation as the agency deals with sexual harassment and abuse incidents.(Photo: John Crepeau, AP)
BILLINGS–A female wildland firefighter has been tapped by the Trump administration to steady the U.S. Forest Service as it reels from allegations of sexual misconduct and struggles to change its male-dominated culture.
Vickie Christensen was appointed interim chief of the 35,000-employee agency late Thursday. The move came roughly 24 hours after former Chief Tony Tooke abruptly retired following revelations of an investigation into alleged relationships with subordinates.
MORE: Daines calls for hearing after forest chief sexual harassment allegations
Christiansen has been with the Forest Service for seven years and became a deputy chief in 2016. Before joining the federal government she'd worked in forestry for 30 years at the state level, in Arizona and Washington.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said she was tasked with two goals: improving the agency's response to sexual misconduct while effectively managing more than 300,000 square miles (777,000 square kilometers) of forests and grasslands in 43 states and Puerto Rico.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington during a hearing. Perdue announced in an email to employees Thursday that he has appointed Vickie Christiansen, a former wildland firefighter, to lead the Forest Service in the wake of the abrupt retirement of its chief amid sexual misconduct allegations. (Photo: Susan Walsh, AP)
The agency's widespread problems mirror recent misconduct scandals within the nation's other major public lands agency, the Interior Department.
Tooke's departure came just days after PBS NewsHour reported he was under investigation following relationships with subordinates prior to his appointment last August.
The events renewed calls from Congress to more aggressively address longstanding and rampant problems of sexual harassment, bullying and in some cases rape.
Abby Bolt, a Forest Service employee in California with a pending sexual discrimination complaint against her male supervisors, told The Associated Press that rumors of Tooke's relationships started circulating within the agency as soon as he was appointed.
Bolt, a fire battalion chief now on leave, said she was hopeful Christiansen would bring some "fresh eyes" to the Forest Service's problems. But she also wanted Tooke held to account for any wrongdoing.
"If we just have somebody retire and step down," Bolt said, "then we never learn the facts, who else might be involved nor do we have the opportunity to learn from it."
Preliminary results of a sexual harassment audit released Thursday by the Agriculture Department's inspector general said that almost half of employees interviewed expressed distrust in the process of reporting complaints.
In an email to Forest Service employees, Perdue said more steps already were being taken to protect victims from retaliation. Those include using outside investigators for at least the next year to investigate sexual misconduct allegations, according to the agency's response to the Inspector General's audit.
Tony Tooke, chief of the U.S. Forest Service, speaks at a news conference in Troutdale, Ore. Tooke has stepped down after an investigation was launched into sexual misconduct allegations against him. A Forest Service spokesman on Thursday confirmed Tooke's sudden retirement just seven months after he took over an agency. (Photo: Allan Brettman, AP)
Just over a third of the Forest Service's permanent employees are women, a figure that drops during the summer with additional seasonal hires, according to agency statistics.
Perdue's office has not responded to repeated questions about whether the investigation into Tooke would continue. Agency officials also declined to answer if an outside investigator was handling his case.
Tooke said in a final note to employees that the agency deserved a leader with "moral authority" as it addresses reports of rampant misconduct and bullying of female employees. He did not directly deny the allegations against him but said he "cannot combat every inaccuracy that is reported."
Lawmakers expressed outrage over the events and called for a hearing and investigation.
"I plan to use every tool to ensure all bad actors are held accountable," said Republican U.S. Sen. Steve Daines of Montana, who chairs the Senate agriculture subcommittee that oversees the Forest Service. He said he'll hold a hearing on sexual harassment in the agency.
Rep. Jackie Speier of California, a Democrat and leading voice in Congress against sex harassment, said a wide investigation was needed into the Forest Service's "toxic culture" by the inspector general of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
After Congressional hearings on sex harassment at the Forest Service and Interior Department in 2016, senior officials repeatedly vowed to address the problem, both during the administration of former President Barack Obama and more recently under President Donald Trump.
Tooke, a native of Alabama who joined the Forest Service at the age of 18, had worked in Florida, Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi. Prior to becoming chief he served as regional forester for the southern U.S.
Follow Matthew Brown on Twitter at www.twitter.com/matthewbrownap .
Read or Share this story: http://gftrib.com/2p2n7MX
12 charged in Montana State Prison smuggling operation
Car plummets off Going to the Sun Road in GNP
Former emergency services director sues Glacier County
Standoff suspect identified as Timothy Short
Man allegedly hits mother in face, throws her to ground
Feds OK Montana definition of 'ineffective teacher'
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Democratic activist charged with assaulting Zinke staffer
"He is a big guy. He came up behind me fast, aggressive and very physical," Heather Swift said.
Democratic activist charged with assaulting Zinke staffer "He is a big guy. He came up behind me fast, aggressive and very physical," Heather Swift said. Check out this story on greatfallstribune.com: http://gftrib.com/2tXCY4Y
MATTHEW DALY, Associated Press Published 4:16 p.m. MT March 19, 2018
In this May 9, 2017, file photo, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke rides a horse in the new Bears Ears National Monument near Blanding, Utah. Much of Bears Ears is on land administered by the Bureau of Land Management, which is part of Zinke's department. Western lawmakers are arguing that BLM headquarters should be moved from Washington, D.C., to the West because of its influence there.(Photo: Scott G Winterton, AP)
WASHINGTON — An operative for a political committee that supports Democrats has been charged with assault following a confrontation with a staffer for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke outside a congressional hearing.
Capitol Police charged Wilfred M. Stark, 49, of Falls Church, Virginia, with simple assault following a confrontation with Heather Swift, a spokeswoman for Zinke. Stark works for American Bridge 21st Century, a group that supports Democratic candidates.
According to a police report, Stark approached Zinke after a House hearing Thursday and started yelling at him. Zinke continued walking out of the hearing room at the Longworth House Office Building and Stark "used his full body to push" Swift as she tried to leave the room, the report said.
Swift told police that Stark had been removed from an elevator two days earlier as he tried to force his way onto an elevator with Zinke and his staff. Swift said she decided to press charges to help obtain a "stay-away order" against Stark, the report said.
In a statement Monday, Swift called the incident "terrifying" and thanked police for their quick response.
"He is a big guy. He came up behind me fast, aggressive and very physical," Swift said. "Who knows what this lunatic was thinking?"
Swift, who also served as Zinke's press secretary when he represented Montana in Congress, said that since joining the Trump administration a year ago, she has received harassing and threatening tweets, emails, phone calls and letters.
"But being physically targeted and assaulted brings it to another level," she said. "This violent action only strengthens my desire to serve my president and my country."
"Democrats claim to support women but they allow their operatives to assault women," she added. "They need to immediately denounce this type of violent behavior."
American Bridge said in a statement Monday that Stark "adamantly denies" the allegations. "We are gathering all the facts and information surrounding this event," the statement said.
Stark was also arrested in October and charged with creating a disturbance during a parade in suburban Virginia. Stark was videotaping GOP gubernatorial candidate Ed Gillespie for ShareBlue Media, an affiliate of American Bridge. He was found not guilty of resisting arrest, but convicted of disorderly conduct, the Fairfax County, Virginia, Times reported.
Stark faces a March 30 hearing in D.C. Superior Court in the current case.
American Bridge, which says it is "committed to holding Republicans accountable," first noted an Interior Department contract worth nearly $139,000 to upgrade three sets of double doors in Zinke's office.
Zinke said at Thursday's hearing that he has negotiated a significantly lower price for the project by "manipulating" contract terms to lower the cost to about $75,000. He did not provide details.
Read or Share this story: http://gftrib.com/2tXCY4Y
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Cast of performers with disabilities to perform ‘Rapunzel’ at UCCC in Greeley
News | April 23, 2015
A Denver-based theater company whose casts are comprised entirely of performers with disabilities will perform the children’s tale, “Rapunzel,” this month in Greeley.
The show, which will take place at 6:30 p.m. April 27 the Union Colony Civic Center, 701 10th Ave., is a tongue-in-cheek musical retelling of the classical children’s story intended to appeal to the young and old alike, according to a news release from the UCCC.
The show was written by two of the writers for the sitcom, “Friends,” said Jason Evenson, manager of Greeley’s cultural affairs program, in the release.
Phamaly, the theater company putting on the performance, was formed in 1989 when five students at the Boettcher School in Denver became frustrated with the lack of theater opportunities for people with disabilities, according to the release. The students created the company to give those individuals a chance to perform.
For more information about the show or to get tickets, go to http://www.ucstars.com or call the UCCC ticket office at (970) 356-5000.
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Forest Lake Village
Greencross Vets Forest Lake Village are your local team of pet care professionals, we are truly ‘passionate about pets’ and we love what we do. We offer a comprehensive range of professional veterinary services to cater for all your pet needs, ranging from preventative health care to weight loss programs through to surgery and diagnostic medicine.
Greencross Vets Forest Lake Village offer a comprehensive range of professional veterinary services to cater for all your pet care needs utilising the latest diagnostic equipment.
Taylor Armour
Taylor has always had a strong passion for animals and imagined becoming a vet from a young age. She was thrilled when the opportunity for a School Based Traineeship was available in 2012 and pursued a Certificate II in Companion Animal Studies, the beginning of her career! She completed her traineeship at the Greencross Vets Camira clinic and after finishing school in 2012 started working at Greencross Woolloongabba before finally joining the Forest Lake Village team. Her two dogs Snoopy a Maltese x toy poodle and Hugo a great Dane X GSP X Ridgeback, have been a great influence in her dreams to work with animals. She also teaches Puppy Preschool at both her clinic and the nearby Petbarn in Springfield Central. She is also currently studying a Certificate IV in Veterinary Nursing, which she thoroughly enjoys!
Tea Strekozov
Téa graduated with honours from the University of Queensland in 2015 and has been with the Greencross team since completing her degree. During her studies she worked as a veterinary nurse in a busy bird and exotics
specialist clinic, before moving into a veterinarian role with Greencross. Téa has a strong commitment towards working with her clients to provide the highest standards of care for their pets. She loves all aspects of medicine and surgery, but has a strong interest in emergency and critical care medicine, as
well as soft tissue surgery. When not in the clinic, she is being kept busy by her handsome cockatiel Moe, and her goofy, boisterous Rottweiler Hugo.
Takita Weaver
Takita has been a valuable team member at Greencross Forest Lake Village for over four years, having started with a Veterinary Nursing Traineeship and then moving on to studying veterinary science at the University of Queensland. When she’s not in the clinc, you will find her spoiling her two dogs; Daisy a five year old Chihuahua X and Polly a one year old long haired Chihuahua! Takita loves working at the clinic and is extremely passionate about the animals she gets the pleasure of meeting while she is at work!
Kimberley Truloff
Kimberley started her Greencross journey in 2010 when she completed a vet nursing school-based traineeship. Dreaming of being a vet since she was a child, she went on to complete a Bachelor of Veterinary Science at The University of Queensland. Her interests lie in general practice veterinary medicine; especially all things feline! She lives at home with her husband and their two cats; Tilly and Archie. Kimberley enjoys going on cruise holidays and weekend drives.
Rachel Bryce
Rachel completed her Certificate II in Veterinary Nursing through a School-based traineeship at Greencross Vet Jindalee in 2015. She now works as a full-time Veterinary Nurse at Greencross Vet Forest Lake Village. “My life for as long as I can remember has been all about animals”. When I was in primary school, I use to pretend to be a Vet and practice on stuffed animals. I have a Ginger Cat named Tiger and a Pomeranian X Shih Tzu named Bella, who are my whole world and I love to bits. When I’m not work, I’m looking for ways to better myself and further my career. I have also recently started Puppy Preschool Classes in clinic.
Dr Caroline Hecker
Graduating in 1986 from UQ Veterinary School and celebrating 30 years of Veterinary work in 2016- spread worldwide from Australia, UK and Singapore; mostly involving small animal work, Caroline is keen to continue working with pets and their owners to help them all achieve the best human to animal bond possible in the future. Working as Veterinary Director at Forest Lake Village for the last 7 years, together with a great supportive and caring team of vets and vet nurses, she is committed to care for all her patients the same as for her very friendly 8-year-old Golden Retriever Jazz and her 4-year-old Domestic Shorthair cat Minette.
Dr Kirstin Fulker
Kirstin Fulker graduated as a veterinarian from the University of Queensland in 2008. During her studies Kirstin nursed at the Greencross Vets Jindalee practice gaining experience with complex medical cases and diagnostics. She then spent 18 months working in Roma, before heading to the United Kingdom for two years. Kirstin joined the Forest Lake Village team in 2012 and has a special interest in small animal surgery. When she’s not at the clinic you will find Kirstin and her partner Jake spoiling their cute Cavalier King Charles dog named Brodie.
Lilian Martinez
Lilian joined the Forest Lake Village team at the beginning of 2015 and enjoys the strong work ethic, animal passion and hard work the team put in each and every day. As a certified Veterinary Nurse she has had a keen interest in animal care since an early age having pets ranging from guinea pigs, dogs and birds. On her days off she enjoys spending time with her husband, family and friends, studying, and travelling if time and budget permits. Highlights of her day include caring for precious family pets and greeting visitors to the clinic each day. Along with the rest of the Greencross Forest Lake Village team she takes pride in providing the utmost of care and respect to clients and their pets. joined the Forest Lake Village team at the beginning of 2015 and enjoys the strong work ethic, animal passion and hard work the team put in each and every day. A certified Veterinary Nurse she has had a keen interest in animal care since an early age having pets ranging from guinea pigs, dogs and birds. On her days off she enjoys spending time with her husband, family, travelling if time and budget permits, catching up with friends and working at a grooming salon – to get her doggy fix.
Lisa Shanahan
Lisa began her career in Veterinary Nursing in 2007 in Armidale NSW. She worked for a short time there and also in Tamworth NSW before moving to Brisbane in 2008 where she worked as a Veterinary nurse at Greencross Camira. She then accepted a Practice Manager position in 2012 at Forest Lake Village for her strong commitment to providing the highest standards of care and service. She has completed her certificate IV Veterinary Nursing. Lisa has a very strong passion and love for animals along with management, which makes this her perfect job! Lisa with her partner Travis have a full household with one-year old Great Dane X Bull Mastiff named Osita, a two- year old blue cattle dog X named Lacey and three cats; three-year old Leo, two-year old Oreo and one-year old Evan. There is never a dull moment in this household!
Shop N 255 Forest Lake Blvd, Forest Lake QLD 4078
Monday-Wednesday 8:30am – 6:00pm
greencross.forestlakevillage@greencrossvet.com.au
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Useful Facts
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Grim Reality of History
Home / Was Christopher Columbus A Great Man
Was Christopher Columbus A Great Man
Christopher Columbus seems to be regarded as an American institution, but maybe today is a good time to ask ourselves some tough questions about whether this guy deserves that place of honor. Well,
Learn Christopher Columbus facts in this brief biography and timeline of his life story. He was obviously a resourceful man and had a good business head.
Christopher Columbus he was called. Columbus was born in Genoa, probably about. Isabella soon died, and the King took no more notice of the great man.
Filmmaker Spike Lee called Christopher Columbus a "terrorist" in an interview Tuesday on. Because this is part of American history, which is not all good. You know, I think that when I was in.
James Madison University Hats Shays’ Rebellion (1786-87) and the Constitution. Bibliography | Student Permission | Note to Teachers. What was Shays’ Rebellion and why was it important? Shays’ Rebellion, the post-Revolutionary clash between New
Because trying to justify celebrating a man who led to the genocide of Native Americans is a popular sport among conservatives — as well as Christopher. O’Reilly called Columbus a "brilliant.
Christopher Columbus in the Caribbean The island's. Great excitement greeted the wondrous objects and learned men commented upon them. No opinion is.
Oct 12, 2015. Marc Philippe Eskenazi jokes about men's love for hot spices, from Columbus to the present day.
His 1980 work, “A People’s History of the United States,” unfavorably depicted explorer Christopher Columbus.) Dear Pepperdine University. Your students need to learn that Woodrow Wilson was a.
For We the Sane – it was Columbus Day. Columbus is of course Christopher Columbus. The Italian man funded by Spaniards who in 1492. Trade with Asia was then a great and growing enterprise. Columbus.
Marist shows that even with all of the attacks on Columbus, 57 percent of Americans believe it’s a good idea to have. we recognize the spirit that Christopher Columbus’s legacy inspired." That’s.
Christopher Columbus was a man of his age, like everyone else in Genoa (now Italy, his homeland) and Spain (whose monarchs financed his ocean expeditions). He mistreated indigenous peoples, kept.
The Importance of History. by David Crabtree. History is important. In centuries past this statement would have seemed self-evident. Ancient cultures devoted much time and effort to teaching their children family history.
Scurvy-related Morbidity and Death among Christopher Columbus’ Crew at La Isabela, the First European Town in the New World (1494-1498): An Assessment of the Skeletal and Historical Information
860-880 Lake Shore Drive are two of the most influential buildings of the 20th-century. These modernist masterpieces, designed by Ludwig Mies van der Rohe (1886-1969), became the prototype for the ste.
On October 15, 1492, Christopher Columbus was offered dried tobacco leaves as a gift from the American Indians that he encountered. Soon after, sailors brought tobacco back to Europe, and the plant was being grown all over Europe.
You may have learned in school that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 in the Niña, the Pinta and the Santa Maria and proved for the first time in history that the Earth wasn’t.
Dec 7, 2008. The name Christopher Columbus is widely known indeed. For the past few centuries, he has been known as a great discoverer- The Admiral of.
George Washington Memorial Park Plymouth Meeting Pa A funeral service will be Friday, Nov. 30, 11:30AM at George Washington Memorial Park, Dogwood Chapel, 80 Stenton Ave, Plymouth Meeting, PA 19462 with the family greeting guests from 11:00AM
Just coming off a war of independence against one of the world’s great colonial powers. what would become known as North.
Christopher Columbus, a dead white male of the worst variety. How much is Columbus personally responsible for all of this — for the good and the ill? Only as much as any one man can be. How much is.
Christopher Columbus seems to be regarded as an American institution, but maybe it’s a good time to ask ourselves some tough questions about whether this guy deserves that place of honor. Well, not to.
Christopher Columbus XX is the direct descendant of Christopher Columbus. And he wants the world to know that his ancestor is a really good guy. Columbus — also. summed it up rather nicely: One man.
Oct 10, 2014. And it's not just the holiday: Christopher Columbus's name has been worked. the Santa María, and the man who “discovered” the American continent. TONY HORWITZ: Columbus's great vision was not that the world was.
Or was Christopher. Because of Columbus, Europeans were introduced to pepper, corn and potatoes. Nate Smarick, 17, told the audience they should judge Columbus by his own time, and not by 1992.
(CNN)– In October 2013, my daughter came home from school excited about Christopher Columbus. Despite all this, it’s not correct to simply demonize Columbus. He was a brave man, launching his.
Oct 14, 2009 · Christopher Columbus writings prove he was Spanish, claims study Italy, France, Portugal and even Scotland are among those who have claimed Christopher Columbus as their own over the years, citing.
Find out why we celebrate Columbus. man who discovered the Americas. (Shown above, a statue of Columbus in Lavagna, Genova, Italy.) Monday is Columbus Day, time to buy appliances on sale and.
Voted as Chicago’s favorite building in 1995 by the readers of the Chicago Tribune, 333 West Wacker Drive occupies one of the most prominent sites along the Chicago River.
Reserve a moving truck rental, cargo van or pickup truck in Columbus, OH. Your truck rental reservation is guaranteed on all rental trucks. Rent a moving truck in Columbus, OH today.
(This appeared on this blog last year. Columbus Day 2016 seems like the right time to bring it back.) You may have learned in school that Christopher Columbus discovered America in 1492 in the.
The Constitutional Convention Gathered To Without the need to gather and present evidence. We cannot afford to ignore this pattern. When leaving the Constitutional Convention in 1787, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin whether the framers
George W Bush Franklin Pierce Which President served as a lieutenant colonel in the Spanish-American war? Who was the first Democrat elected after the Civil War? Who introduced Social Security? If you’re looking to learn.
Soldiers Of American Revolution Mills was one of several soldiers left unaccounted for. room as a reminder of the sacrifices of the American military. The American Revolutionary war was the first war fought entirely
The Letter of Columbus to Luis De Sant Angel Announcing His Discovery (1493) As I know you will be rejoiced at the glorious success that our Lord has given me in my voyage, I write this to tell you how in thirty-three days I sailed to the Indies with the fleet that the illustrious King and Queen, our Sovereigns, gave me, where I discovered a great many islands, inhabited by numberless people.
Arawak men and women, naked, tawny, and full of wonder, emerged from their villages. He would have been doomed by that great expanse of sea. In his popular book Christopher Columbus, Mariner, written in 1954, he tells about the.
Every year, Columbus Day rears its ugly head and we're reminded of a man that. and raped many Native Americans but is still looked upon as a great man?
The ‘Columbian Exchange’ How Discovering the Americas Transformed the World Columbus’ arrival in the Americas sparked the globalization of animals, plants and microbes. A recent book takes a.
(RNS) Two recent books argue that explorers Christopher. is no evidence that Columbus was particularly religious until. he turned to God following the failure of his worldly ambitions,” he said.
In fact, Christopher Columbus launched the trans-Atlantic slave trade in 1494, when. his men to “spread terror among the Indians to show them how strong and.
Oct 8, 2017. Christopher Columbus was an American-style entrepreneur. He conceived his project alone, suffering in poverty for nearly a decade while.
Moving Truck Rental in. Columbus, OH at U-Haul Moving & Storage of Eastland. Moving to or from Columbus OH 43232?Get FREE truck rental rate quotes at U-Haul Moving & Storage of Eastland. U-Haul rental trucks are specifically engineered from the ground up to assist moving families, not freight. Our moving trucks have more safety features than other moving trucks in the industry including.
Ninety men stood on the decks of three boats, led in prayer by Christopher. Tomorrow would be the Feast of Our Lady of the Pillar, Spain's great patroness.
Is this the last time we can celebrate Columbus Day? A wave of cities have decided to remove the holiday from the calendar and replace it with “Indigenous Peoples’ Day.” Christopher Columbus. more.
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ku's GameLog for Super Columbine Massacre RPG (PC)
This was my third time playing the game and I finished it by having Dylan and Eric commit suicide. Some people think this game is to violent, but when playing the game I didn't think it was anymore violent than games like GTA or Fallout 3. I think some of the reason that people may think this game is so violent could be because it deals with a situation that really took place and as you play the game you are replaying the shootings. Overall I think that the violence in the game is not that overwhelming.
Another observation I had was that all the dialogue in the game either talks about killing people or how the Eric and Dylan seem to justify what they are doing. According to the game they seem to believe that killing all these people is honorable, courageous, and noble. It just seems weird that in the game they choose these virtues to associate with the characters, but I guess that may be how they felt about what they were doing. It shows that although these virtues are usually good things to have that they can be twisted and cause a lot of harm.
Perhaps its a commentary on the fact that so many evil things have been done in the name of good, or under the guise of good. In some sense you could criticize virtue ethics for that, are you still courageous if you use your courage for evil?
Thursday 20 August, 2009 by jp
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Uncategorized | February 26, 2016
Browns want Gordon to return
The Cleveland Browns want former All-Pro wide receiver Josh Gordon to rejoin the team if he is reinstated to the NFL by commissioner Roger Goodell.
Gordon was suspended for the entire 2015 season for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy.
The 24-year-old had been suspended for 10 games in 2014 (and for the season finale by the team) and for the first two games of 2013 for the same reason.
Browns executive vice president of football operations Sashi Brown was asked about Gordon’s future at the NFL Combine on Thursday and he confirmed the team are open to having him back.
“As I understand as it’s been reported back to me by people who have been in contact with Josh and seen him throughout the offseason, including his representatives, Josh is taking it seriously and he’s learned from his mistakes,” Brown said Thursday at the NFL combine.
“He’s serious about wanting to be a pro and be one of the best wide receivers in the game.
“And so I think if he’s done all the things to put himself in that position and clean up some of the mistakes of the past, then certainly we would welcome him back.”
Despite Gordon’s troubled history off the field, he has proven in the past he has the talent to be an elite NFL wide receiver.
Gordon set a Browns record with 1,646 receiving yards in 2013, despite missing the first two games of the season.
If Gordon fails another test, he will face an indefinite suspension from the NFL but Brown is optimistic he is ready to put his past mistakes behind him.
“Josh is a tremendously talented young man,” Brown said. “I’ve gotten a chance to know Josh over the three years that I’ve been in Cleveland. I’ve known him to be generally a good young man. He understands that he’s made some mistakes in the past. I think he’s accountable for those.
“Everything that we see and hear in talking to his representation and those that have been in communication with him is that he’s eager to get back and contribute. And we feel like if he’s accomplished those things, there’s a spot for him on the roster. He’ll certainly help.”
Home Uncategorized Browns want Gordon to return
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World summit brings surge of new commitments to protect human rights defenders
Human rights defenders from across all corners of the world gathered this week in Paris for the Human Rights Defenders World Summit, to develop a plan of action for how to protect and promote the work of activists fighting for rights, 20 years on from the first UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders.
After three days of discussions and strategy development spanning regional and global issues, environmental rights and women’s human rights defenders and the increasing attacks on human rights defenders everywhere, the momentum culminated in the presentation of a landmark action plan which will be presented to the UN in December.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, who spoke at the opening ceremony said: "What human rights defenders teach us is that all of us can stand up for our rights and for the rights of others, in our neighborhoods, in our countries and all over the world. We can change the world.”
The Summit discussed calls on Governments, corporations, international financial institutions, donors and others, including the adoption of national governmental action plans, implementation of legislation to legally uphold the UN declaration, protecting defenders as a priority in foreign policy and prioritizing the protection and work of women human rights defenders, LGBT+, indigenous rights defenders and other marginalized defenders
Kumi Naidoo, Amnesty International’s Secretary General, said: “The level of danger facing activists worldwide has reached crisis point. Every day ordinary people are threatened, tortured, imprisoned and killed for what they fight for, believe in or simply for who they are. Now is the time to act and tackle the global surge in repression of human rights defenders.”
The closing ceremony took place at the Palais de Chaillot, where the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was signed 70 years ago. The 150 defenders gathered together to set out the Action Plan and pay tribute to the men and women who work tirelessly to defend human rights around the world.
Among those in attendance over the last three days were Alice Mogwe, Secretary General of FIDH and the Director of Botswana Ditshwanelo; Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Matthew Caruana Galizia, who is calling for justice after his mother, Daphne Caruana Galizia, was assassinated one year ago in Malta; Anielle Franco, who is bravely campaigning on behalf of her sister, Marielle Franco, a Brazilian activist and elected councillor who was shot dead in her car seven months ago.
Hina Jilani, President of OMCT, founder of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, and the first UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders said: “States have never given us space. It is because of human rights defenders that there is space for civil society. Seeing you all here engaged in defending human rights, I am not too pessimistic. As a movement, we have never been as global as we are now. But we have to be clear to states: you need to live up to the challenge and speak out for defenders. Human rights don’t come for free.”
The 1998 UN Declaration on Human Rights Defenders
In 1998, governments adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders to acknowledge the key role of human rights defenders. Despite progress in some areas, many governments are continuing to fall short of their commitments 20 years on from the first Summit and the global context in which human rights defenders operate in has become increasingly challenging. Democratic values are under threat and systemic corruption, extreme inequality and discrimination, religious fundamentalism and extremist policies are all on the rise. Alongside this, we have seen a concerted effort to undermine, discredit and kill human rights defenders. In 2017, at least 312 human rights defenders were assassinated, twice as many as in 2015, almost all with impunity for the perpetrators. The Action Plan hopes to tackle these injustices and support Human Rights Defenders to continue their critical work in a safe environment.
The Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018
The Human Rights Defenders World Summit 2018 will bring together a diverse group of 150 human rights defenders from around the world for three days of meetings, panel discussions, networking and workshopping. These activists, who are at the forefront of struggles for social, political and environmental changes in their countries, will have the opportunity to connect and engage with regional and international human rights organizations, global government leaders, the United Nations, donors and the private sector. The first Human Rights Defenders World Summit took place 20 years ago in 1998 at the Palais de Chaillot, Paris, the same location where this year’s closing ceremony will be held.
About the organizations involved
Amnesty International is a global movement of more than seven million people who take injustice personally. We are campaigning for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. We are funded by members and people like you. We are independent of any political ideology, economic interest or religion.
Association for Women’s Rights in Development (AWID)
AWID is a global feminist organisation with over 5,000 individual and institutional members from 164 countries. We support feminist, women’s rights and gender justice movements to thrive, to be a driving force in challenging systems of oppression, and to co-create feminist realities.
FIDH (International Federation for Human Rights) is an international human rights NGO federating 184 organisations from 112 countries. Since 1922, FIDH has been defending all civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights as set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
Front Line Defenders works for the protection, security and well-being of human rights defenders at risk around the world, providing grants, training and capacity building in physical and digital protection, advocacy and campaigning/visibility for HRDs.
International Service for Human Rights
The International Service for Human Rights is an independent, non-governmental organisation dedicated to promoting and protecting human rights. We achieve this by supporting human rights defenders, strengthening human rights systems, and leading and participating in coalitions for human rights change.
OMCT
The World Organisation Against Torture (OMCT) is the world’s largest coalition of non-governmental organisations fighting against arbitrary detention, torture, summary and extrajudicial executions, forced disappearances and other forms of violence and provides a comprehensive system of support and protection for human rights defenders.
ProtectDefenders.EU
ProtectDefenders.eu is the European Union Human Rights Defenders mechanism, established to protect defenders at high risk and facing the most difficult situations worldwide. Led by a consortium of 12 NGOs active in the field of human rights.
Reporters Without Borders, or Reporters Sans Frontières, is an international non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Paris, France, that conducts political advocacy on issues relating to freedom of information and freedom of the press.
#Human Rights
Location #GlobalRights #Human Rights
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10 writing mistakes to avoid in 2018
by Hollister Creative | Last updated Jan 3, 2018 | Writing and Editing
A new year always brings resolutions, and they usually sound something like this: “I’m going to lose weight, tone up my abs, and stick to a more healthful diet.”
In keeping with that tradition, the Hollister Creative team offers 10 ready-made resolutions that will exercise your mind, tone up your writing, and give your audience a diet of clear, effective content.
Eschew the Purple Prose
If your writing sounds like a page ripped from the thesaurus, it’s time to walk it back. Excessive use of modifiers, adverbs and adjectives is amateurish and bogs down the flow of your copy.
If you’re not sure what we’re talking about, check out this description of purple prose, written in purple prose, from the Uncyclopedia:
“Deep in the annals of time, Purple Prose has existed, moving with the flow and ebb of history, sauntering through the halls of the past, and serenading its dulcet melody through the halls of tomorrow, like a ship at sea, weary of the tumultuous waves crashing aboard.”
Writers often fall into the purple prose trap when they’re trying to sound smart, show off or pad content. Don’t let it happen to you.
If you want to make an impact, be precise, keep it lean and write with authority.
To illustrate what we mean, let’s compare two snippets from an imaginary nonprofit’s thank-you letter:
“We want to take this opportunity to write and say thank you to all of you who attended our first-ever Northern Jackalope appreciation fundraiser. Words can barely express how excited we were at the turnout. We are definitely going to plan one next year, because it exceeded everyone’s expectations.
“We’re writing to thank everyone who attended the first Northern Jackalope Appreciation fundraiser. The turnout was amazing — we’re so pleased, we’re making it an annual event.
Retire Run-on Sentences
In general, shorter is better: Shorter words, shorter sentences, and shorter paragraphs. Author Ernest Hemingway knew it. Advertising legend David Ogilvy knew it. You should know it, too.
If your sentences run on and on, readers may forget the content before they get to the end. Sure, some writers have done it famously and well. Charles Dickens, for instance (“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of reason ….”). But unless you’re Charles Dickens, keep it brief.
(If you’re a masochist, check out what’s considered one of the worst run-on sentences in Internet history.)
Break up big blocks
Like run-on sentences, big blocks of text will send readers packing. Attention spans seem to be getting shorter every year, and more readers than ever are using mobile devices to view your site.
Most readers scan articles, looking for the information they need or find interesting. Big blocks of text invite frustration, and that brings higher exit rates.
Breaking up sections with subheads and using shorter paragraphs helps keep readers happy, because they can easily find what they want. A happy reader is a good thing.
Choose your words wisely
Whether you’re writing a blog post, sending an email, or updating a social media status, context is important. Adidas found this out the hard way. A marketing email sent to runners of the 2017 Boston Marathon runners sported the subject line, “Congrats, you survived the Boston Marathon!”
In most cases, that would be an innocent, even acceptable choice, given the grueling nature of a marathon. But given the 2013 bombings that killed 3 and injured more than 260, it came across as utterly insensitive. Public reaction was swift and angry, and the company was forced to issue an apology a day later.
Bloomingdale’s had a similar experience in 2015. A Christmas catalog advertisement featured a picture of a well-dressed young woman being ogled by a well-dressed young man. The picture was tasteful. The caption, however, raised eyebrows, along with accusations that the store condoned date rape: “Spike your best friend’s eggnog when they’re not looking.”
The lesson: Consider the context from every angle.
It’s Just Comma Sense
In general, commas are used to indicate a pause or separate a clause.
For instance, you’d use a comma to set off these conjunctions: yet, so, and, but, for, or, nor. (He wasn’t here yet, so we left without him).
Comma usage can also have a huge impact on meaning. Consider these sentences:
“Let’s eat Grandpa.”
“Let’s eat, Grandpa.”
“I enjoy cooking dogs and cats.”
“I enjoy cooking, dogs and cats.”
“Have you eaten my child?”
“Have you eaten, my child?”
Tense? Be Consistent
Pick a verb tense — a timeframe for the narrative — and stick to it. If you start out writing, “It was a dark and stormy night,” but make the next line “The rain falls in torrents,” you’ve switched the narrative from the past to the present.
Likewise, the tense used in your organization’s communications needs to reflect the sequence of events. For instance, in a press release, the following sentence would be confusing (and incorrect).
“The Widget Corp announces third-quarter profits yesterday.”
Hypothetically Speaking, Use the Subjunctive
Speaking of tense, some grammar rules, such as the subjunctive mood, make writers (and editors) tense.
The subjunctive is misused frequently — or forgotten altogether — but it’s not hard to figure out. In its most basic form, it boils down to this: When do you use “was” and “will” and when do you use “were” and “would”?
Use “were” when you’re speaking in hypothetical, or wishful, terms:
“I wish I were a rich man.”
“If I were famous, I would not have to wait for a table!”
“If she were more organized, she wouldn’t be late.”
Now compare those to the indicative mood, which indicates statements of fact:
“I was rich a rich man in 1999, but when the stock market crashed, I lost all my money.”
“When I was famous, I never had to wait for a table!”
“When she was more organized, she was never late.”
Punctuation Location
In American English, commas and periods go inside quotation marks. For instance:
“Look,” he said, “I don’t understand why you’re confused about this.”
My boss said, “I think we need to rethink that deal.”
Dashes, colons and semicolons, on the other hand, always go outside quotations:
Buy Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style”; it’s an essential guide for writers.
Here’s all you need to know about “Star Wars”: The movie sequels will go on as long as the studio is making money.
It gets a little trickier when it comes to question marks and exclamation points. If the punctuation is part of the quotation, it stays inside:
“No way! I can’t afford that!”
“Did you sign up for the class?”
If it’s not part of the quotation, the punctuation goes outside:
This blog post is longer than “War and Peace”!
What’s the relevance of “All the President’s Men”?
Mind Your Who’s and Whose
This is a simple one, but we see it wrong so frequently we’re starting to think everyone slept through elementary-school English class.
“Who’s” is a contraction for “who is”: Who’s coming to the holiday party?
“Whose” indicates possession: Whose coat was left behind after the holiday party?
Make Fewer Count
You wouldn’t know it, but there’s a big difference between “less” and “fewer.”
“Fewer” is used for things that can be counted, and for plural forms. “Less” is used for things that can’t be counted, and for singular forms:
“I got fewer presents than you!” the boy exclaimed.
“Yes,” his sister answered, “but I got less birthday cake than you.”
“There are fewer cookies in the tin this morning — did you eat some?”
“Less snow fell this week than last week.”
There are four exceptions to the counting rule: time, money, distance and weight. This often throws people off, but if you apply the singular and plural rules, it’s not hard.
Although you can count $50, it’s considered a singular amount. Which means you’d say: “I have less than $50 in my checking account.”
Although you can count time, you’d say: “I’ll be done with work in less than two hours.”
The same logic goes for weight (“He weighs less than 120 lbs.”) and distance (“She lives less than 30 miles from my house.”)
Use our list of resolutions to learn these 10 writing mistakes to avoid, and you’ll be on track for a more healthful content lifestyle in the new year.
Need help creating content for your organization? Contact Kim Landry at [email protected] or 484.829.0021.
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What's OnThings to do
whats-on, things-to-do, curse of the weeping woman, curse of la llorona, linda cardellini, conjuring universe, lorraine warren
We've got the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Extended Universe and even the Wizarding World of Harry Potter. Cinematic universes tying separate films together with an overarching story are all the rage these days. And while it seems obvious with superheroes and stories set at Hogwarts, perhaps less straightforward is the Conjuring Universe. There are now a slew of horror films existing in the same universe as the wildly popular 2013 film about real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren. Apart from The Conjuring's sequel, we've also been treated to Annabelle films (about the creepy doll) and The Nun. Now, the latest addition to the franchise is The Curse of The Weeping Woman. Sadly, Australian audiences did not receive the original title of the film, which ties in much more with the Latin American roots of the story: The Curse of La Llorona. The film shares the same general mythology and rules as the rest of the Conjuring Universe, but this time focuses on the Mexican legend of La Llorona. La Llorona lived hundreds of years ago, and was the most beautiful woman in the village. But when her husband strayed, she was consumed by rage and decided she would hurt him in the worst way possible - by drowning their children in the river. Once she realised what she had done her rage was replaced with overwhelming grief and she was cursed to wander, weeping, and seeking children to replace those she had lost. The Curse of the Weeping Woman is set in the 1970s, where La Llorona has set her sights on a widowed mother with two young children. Freaks and Geeks and ER star Linda Cardellini steps into her first leading film role as mother Anna, desperate to save her children from the clutches of the creepy ghost lady. Cardellini is committed to the role, and looks genuinely scared for the most part. The Curse of the Weeping Woman delivers some half-decent frights and a couple of jump-scares, but it's pretty stock-standard as far as horror movies go. It's not one that'll keep you awake the rest of the night. If you're a fan of the Conjuring Universe films, you'll probably like it, but if not, it's unlikely to be your cup of tea.
https://nnimgt-a.akamaihd.net/transform/v1/crop/frm/Fd5uVpbrX8JfWMnDvsnePi/c2307822-c8ec-4583-944d-8b05ead82bc4.jpg/r72_0_1219_648_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg
April 22 2019 - 12:01PM
FILM REVIEW: The Curse of the Weeping Woman
Jess Layt
We've got the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the DC Extended Universe and even the Wizarding World of Harry Potter.
Cinematic universes tying separate films together with an overarching story are all the rage these days.
And while it seems obvious with superheroes and stories set at Hogwarts, perhaps less straightforward is the Conjuring Universe.
There are now a slew of horror films existing in the same universe as the wildly popular 2013 film about real-life paranormal investigators Lorraine and Ed Warren.
Apart from The Conjuring's sequel, we've also been treated to Annabelle films (about the creepy doll) and The Nun. Now, the latest addition to the franchise is The Curse of The Weeping Woman.
Sadly, Australian audiences did not receive the original title of the film, which ties in much more with the Latin American roots of the story: The Curse of La Llorona.
Ghost lady: Marisol Ramirez stars as the fabled La Llorona in the Conjuring Universe's The Curse of the Weeping Woman, rated M, in cinemas now.
The film shares the same general mythology and rules as the rest of the Conjuring Universe, but this time focuses on the Mexican legend of La Llorona.
La Llorona lived hundreds of years ago, and was the most beautiful woman in the village. But when her husband strayed, she was consumed by rage and decided she would hurt him in the worst way possible - by drowning their children in the river. Once she realised what she had done her rage was replaced with overwhelming grief and she was cursed to wander, weeping, and seeking children to replace those she had lost.
The Curse of the Weeping Woman is set in the 1970s, where La Llorona has set her sights on a widowed mother with two young children.
Freaks and Geeks and ER star Linda Cardellini steps into her first leading film role as mother Anna, desperate to save her children from the clutches of the creepy ghost lady.
Cardellini is committed to the role, and looks genuinely scared for the most part.
The Curse of the Weeping Woman delivers some half-decent frights and a couple of jump-scares, but it's pretty stock-standard as far as horror movies go. It's not one that'll keep you awake the rest of the night.
If you're a fan of the Conjuring Universe films, you'll probably like it, but if not, it's unlikely to be your cup of tea.
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Home > Opinion > Haaretz Editorial
Limit the Term of a Prime Minister
Send me email alerts for new articles by Haaretz Editorial
File photo: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, attends the swearing in ceremony at the Knesset, Israel's parliament in Jerusalem, April 30, 2019.AP Photo/Ariel Schalit
With Netanyahu victory, it's time we admit: Israel has become a dictatorship
For Israel and liberal American Jews, Netanyahu’s next government is the end of the line
In the coming weeks Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – who has been asked by President Reuven Rivlin to form a government – will assemble a coalition with a solid parliamentary majority that will enable the establishment of Israel’s 35th government. This will be Netanyahu’s fifth government and his fourth in a row.
Netanyahu’s ongoing tenure as prime minister – in addition to causing diplomatic and security damage, societal rifts and the breakdown of public norms regarding the rule of law – has also distorted the norms of government and the perception of the political culture.
In his previous term in office, Netanyahu adopted hallmarks of a monarchical regime, both in terms of the concentration of power and decision-making in his hands and the hands of his sycophants, and in terms of his style of conduct and that of his family, who have begun to see themselves as being above the people. It is therefore essential to once again impose the notion that the highest public office of all be placed in the hands of an elected official to serve the public for a limited period.
In many countries the constitution includes a stipulation that the term of office of the country’s leader is limited in time or number of terms. That is the case in the United States, where the 22nd Amendment states that the president can serve for only eight years; that is, two terms. In Israel a similar clause appeared in the Basic Law on the Government, at the time when there were direct elections for prime minister, but it disappeared from the wording of the law when the parliamentary election method was reintroduced in 2001. Even Netanyahu himself, when he was prime minister in 1997, said: “I was among those who initiated and pushed for the direct election law, I asked for a clause to be in it and I said that a prime minister cannot serve for more than two terms.”
On Monday, the Kahol Lavan party introduced an amendment to the Basic Law on the Government to limit the number of consecutive terms a prime minister can serve. Limiting the number of terms does not undermine voters’ wishes, because in Israel voters do not elect a prime minister, but rather a party to the Knesset, and the Knesset places its confidence in the government in which the prime minister is first among equals and nothing more.
Changeover of government is an important value in a democracy. The restriction of a prime minister’s term will also contribute to governmental stability because it will remove the incentive for the prime minister to call a surprise election at a time that is politically convenient, catching rivals of the same or other parties unprepared, and without any connection to the good of the public or the state. This bill should be passed with the sweeping support of all parties in the Knesset.
The above article is Haaretz’s lead editorial, as published in the Hebrew and English newspapers in Israel.
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Israel election
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Posted on March 17, 2003 by Hamilton School District
High school Honors Program marked with positive feedback, increasing enrollments
In its second year of implementation, the Hamilton High School Honors Program is earning high marks from students who have enrolled in its classes, but the district will not know until May whether student achievement has increased as a result. Hamilton Principal David Furrer reported to School Board members that 120 students enrolled in four honors courses offered in 2001-02, the inaugural year of the program. Some 217 students are enrolled this year in six honors courses.
Students enrolled in honors courses this year were surveyed about factors related to motivation, challenge, rigor, technology, high teacher standards, interest and variety of instructional strategies. Results showed that students judged the courses favorably.
In open-ended responses, students indicated that the amount of work assigned, homework and writing expectations were greater in honors courses. They said they enjoyed the quality of the teacher, in-depth discussions and labs, and learning new ways to write and research. The high expectations of the courses will benefit them as they prepare for college, according to some students.
Honors courses available this year were Biology, Communication Arts 9 and 10, Integrated Science, World Cultures and 20th Century U.S. History.
Furrer said honors course teachers will meet in May to analyze standardized test results and may recommend changes to the curriculum if necessary.
Building and Grounds matters approved
Building and Grounds Committee Chairman Jim Long reported that work was continuing on the two projects approved by voters in November. Groundbreaking ceremonies will be held June 3 for the Marcy Elementary School addition and renovation project and June 10 for the Hamilton High School fine arts and Learning Center addition.
The district will save $35,000 to $40,000 per year, increase classroom and gymnasium light levels and reduce maintenance costs by retrofitting lighting at the high school. The School Board approved a low bid from Energy Resources to replace all T-12 florescent lighting with a more energy efficient T-8 system. Also, the company will install automatic lighting sensors in the gymnasiums so that lighting levels can be turned down during noncompetitive events. The Energy Resources bid was $192,000, but a Focus on Energy grant will provide $18,500 for the project. Total cost to the district will be $173,500. Payback on the project is expected to be about 4.6 years.
Buildings and Grounds Manager Jeffrey Grove said work on the project will be at night and should be completed by June.
Youth Options Program courses approved
Requests from Michelle Burkhalter, Joshua Greene, Jaqualynne Herrmann, Brian Schlei, Norma-Jean Simon and Kelsie Trip to take WCTC courses next year under the Youth Options Program were approved. The program offers juniors and seniors in good academic standing who have no disciplinary problems the opporunity to attend a college or university. The high school pays tuition for the classes.
NCA accreditation process approved
The School Board authorized participation in the North Central Accreditation (NCA) process at Templeton Middle School for a cost of $700 and at Hamilton for a cost of $850. The accreditation process helps schools focus on school improvements related to student outcomes. It aligns with the district’s site planning process and responds to the public’s demand for greater accountability. Hamilton has been a part of the NCA accreditation process since 1966 and Templeton since 1997.
Additional early graduation request granted
School Board members agreed to allow junior Kailyn Curtis to graduate early in January, 2004. Her application was submitted after the Jan. 15 deadline because she was in Australia as part of a student exchange program. Furrer recommended that the School Board approve her application for early graduation because of the special circumstances. He said she met all the other requirements for early graduation. Curtis joins six other juniors who had been approved for 2004 early graduation at a previous meeting.
Community members recognized
Members who retired from the district’s Strategic Planning team were recognized. They were Joanne Swanson, Diane Wendelberger, Steven Campeau, Eileen Swierczek, Steve Pehowski and Theresa Danner. Those unable to attend were Bill Cassidy and Jodi Tarala.
Jeff Millbrath, a Woodside Elementary School parent, and his employer, Sharp Packaging Company, were thanked by School Board members for the generous donation of WeatherNet equipment that will connect Woodside to a national weather reporting system. Students will use the computerized equipment that is connected to Fox 6 News to study weather.
Personnel changes approved
In personnel business, the School Board appointed Anne Nitschke to a Templeton Middle School teacher aide-bookkeeper position. Nitschke had been performing the job in addition to being a substitute caller, and now will do just bookkeeping responsibilities.
Posted in Board meeting highlights
Posted on March 4, 2003 by Hamilton School District
Special Annual Meeting slated for property purchase
District residents will have an opportunity to vote on a proposal to purchase approximately 73 acres of land in the southern portion of the district for future school needs.
The School Board took action to establish the Special Annual meeting. The property, known as the Fleisner farm, is located on Silver Spring Road between Marcy Road and One Mile Road. The district plans to purchase about 73 acres at a cost of $2 million dollars. Five acres of homestead will be maintained by the Fleisner family. The School Board is working proactively to ensure that land is available for future building needs as development continues to occur in the community.
State law requires that voters approve land purchase at a special annual meeting. The meeting will be held on March 25, 2003 at 7:30 p.m. in the cafeteria at Hamilton High School, W220 N6151 Town Line Road, Sussex.
Money for the purchase will come from funds generated by previous property sale.
Hamilton students recognized
Hamilton School Board members recognized 50 high school seniors for their outstanding educational achievements. The students were honored for their participation in the Academic Decathlon team, high performance on the ACT, selection for the 2003 Kohl Excellence Scholarship Program or Wisconsin Academic Excellence Scholarship. Hamilton Principal David Furrer noted that 18 percent of the Hamilton students who took the ACT had scores that were in the top 10 percent in the nation.
School Board borrows money for referendum projects
With successful passage of its referendum, the School Board completed financing for the projects. Community members voted Nov. 5 to allow the district to borrow $6.85 million for a Marcy Elementary School addition-renovation project and $6.75 million for a Hamilton High School fine arts-learning center addition that would include an auditorium.
The first $10 million of the loan was taken out in December as a short-term Bond Anticipation Note (BAN) at the low interest rate of 1.75 percent. That amount was refinanced into a long-term loan at a rate of 4.07 percent for 20 years. The remaining $3.6 million was borrowed in February at a 3.41 percent interest rate for 10 years.
Issuing the bonds in two separate years allowed the district to further keep interest costs down. By keeping the loan amounts at $10 million or less each year, the district was able to offer “bank-qualified” bonds that allow a larger, more competitive pool of financial institutions to bid on the bonds.
The district learned that Moody’s Investor Services affirmed its high Aa2 rating for long-term borrows and assigned the top MIG 1 rating for short-term loans. The higher the Moody’s rating, the lower the interest rate.
In its report, Moody’s wrote, ” . . . the district’s financial position will remain strong due to prudent management and steady enrollment growth.”
The district will save about $3 million in interest payments for recently approved referendum projects thanks to excellent Moody’s financial ratings.
The district’s Aa2 rating is the third highest among 16 ratings that Moody’s Investors Service gives. Since 1995 the Hamilton School District has been among an elite group of schools in the state to earn a double A bond rating.
The district’s healthy financial ratings will save taxpayers money in interest payments, but will not have an impact on the operational budget which is limited by state revenue caps.
School officials have begun working with architects and engineers on the construction projects that are expected to be out for bid in the spring. The Marcy project is anticipated to begin in April, with the high school project starting in June. Both projects are expected to be completed in September 2004.
OmniTech contract extended
A 3-year contract with OmniTech for computer support and network services was approved. Fees will increase one percent in each of the three years and the company will provide two full-time employees to deliver services.
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1This chapter provides guidance in relation to business transfers.
SUP 18.2 applies to any firm or to any underwriting member or any former member3 of Lloyd's proposing to transfer the whole or part of its business by an insurance business transfer scheme or to accept such a transfer. Some of the guidance in this chapter, for example, at3 SUP 18.2.31 G to SUP 18.2.41 G also applies3 to the independent expert making the scheme report.
SUP 18.3 applies to any firm proposing to accept certain transfers of insurance business taking place outside the United Kingdom.
SUP 18.4 applies to any friendly societies proposing to amalgamate under section 85 of the Friendly Societies Act 1992, to any friendly society proposing to transfer engagements under section 86 of that Act to another body and to any body (whether or not it is a friendly society) proposing to accept such a transfer. SUP 18.4 also provides guidance to those wishing to make representations to the appropriate authority3 about an application for confirmation of an amalgamation or transfer.
3The ‘appropriate authority’ in this chapter means the regulator within the meaning of section 119 of the Friendly Societies Act 1992.
SUP 18.1.1BG 01/04/2013 RP
3References to the ‘regulator’ and ‘regulators’ in this chapter means the FCA and/or the PRA.
3References to the ‘Memorandum of Understanding’ in this chapter is to the memorandum of understanding in force between the regulators under section 3E of the Act.
SUP 18.1.2G 01/04/2013
[deleted]3
Insurance business transfers are subject to Part VII of the Act and must be approved by the court under section 111. The following statutory pieces of legislation also apply:3
3The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Control of Business Transfers) (Requirements on Applicants) Regulations 2001 (SI 2001/3625), as amended by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Control of Business Transfers)(Requirements on Applicants) (Amendment) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1467) and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Amendments to Part 7) Regulations 2008 (SI 2008/1468);
3the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Control of Transfers of Business Done at Lloyd's) Order 2001(SI 2001/3626), as amended by The Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Control of Transfers of Business Done at Lloyd's) (Amendment) Order (2008/1725); and
3the Reinsurance Directive Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3253) and the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (Reinsurance Directive) Regulations 2007 (SI 2007/3255),
These regulations set out minimum requirements for publicising schemes, notifying certain interested parties directly (subject to the discretion of the court), and giving information to anyone who requests it.
An insurance business transfer scheme is defined in section 105 of the Act and the definition has been extended to transfers from underwriting members and former members3 of Lloyd's.3
The business transferred may include liabilities and potential liabilities on expired policies, liabilities on current policies and liabilities on contracts to be written in the period until the transfer takes effect. The parties to schemes approved under foreign legislation or involving novations of reinsurance or a captive insurer can apply to the court for an order sanctioning the scheme.
The regulators are likely to consider3 a novation or a number of novations as amounting to3an insurance business transfer only if their number or value were such that the novation was to be regarded as a transfer of part of the business. A novation is an agreement between the policyholder and two insurers whereby a contract with one insurer is replaced by a contract with the other. If3 an insurer agrees to meet the liabilities (this may include undertaking the administration of the policies) of another insurer by means of a reinsurance contract, including Lloyd's reinsurance to close, this would not constitute an insurance business transfer because the contractual liability remains with the original insurer; nor would an arrangement whereby an insurer offers to renew the policies of another insurer on their expiry date.
Under section 112 of the Act, the court has wide discretion to transfer property and liabilities to the transferee and to make orders in relation to incidental, consequential and supplementary matters.
Amalgamations of friendly societies and transfers of engagements from friendly societies to other bodies (whether or not friendly societies) are governed by part VIII of the Friendly Societies Act 1992 and Schedule 15 to that Act applies.
3Legislation in respect of other transactions, for example, cross-border mergers, does not negate the requirements under Part VII of the Act. It is for the firms participating in such transactions to determine whether or not the proposed transfer gives rise to an insurance business transfer. The regulators expect firms proposing such transactions to discuss the proposal with them as soon as practicable.
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Hard Rock Hotel & Casino | Las Vegas
THE ROYAL AFFAIR TOUR MAKES A STOP AT THE JOINT AT HARD ROCK HOTEL & CASINO LAS VEGAS WITH ASIA AND SPECIAL GUESTS, FRIDAY, JULY 26 AT 7:30 P.M.
Legendary British rockers YES will make a stop at The Joint at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas on Friday, July 26 at 7:30 p.m. as part of their North American tour, “The Royal Affair Tour.” Tickets start at $49.95 and go on sale Friday, April 5 at 10 a.m.
Headlined by prog rock pioneers and Rock & Roll Hall of Fame inductees YES, is a must-see best-of-British-rock show that will also feature Asia with the return of founding member Steve Howe in a special performance, John Lodge of The Moody Blues, and Carl Palmer’s ELP Legacy with guest vocals by Arthur Brown. Fans can look for YES to perform songs from throughout their storied career, one of rock music’s most prized bodies of work, and their set will honor the memory of YES members Chris Squire and Peter Banks.
YES is comprised of Steve Howe (guitar), Alan White (drums), Geoff Downes (keyboards), Jon Davison (vocals), Billy Sherwood (guitar and keyboards) and Jay Schellen (additional drums). “I'm looking forward to joining a number of classic British talents that have delighted so many fans over the past half century,” remarked Alan White.
Tickets start at $49.95 (plus applicable service fees) and go on sale Friday, April 5 at 10 a.m. at the Hard Rock Hotel box office or online at ticketmaster.com. For VIP ticket packages including premium seating options, please contact [email protected]. For groups of 12 or more, please call 702.693.4017 or contact [email protected].
For more information on YES, please visit Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and www.yesworld.com.
702.693.5000 Copyright ©2019 Hard Rock Hotel & Casino - Las Vegas
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Home This Day In History Good News in History, October 10
Good News in History, October 10
150 years ago today, Carlos Manuel de Céspedes issued the Grito de Yara (Cry of Yara), proclaiming Cuban independence, which began the “War of 10 years”.
That morning, after sounding the slave bell (indicating it was time for his plantation slaves to work), they stood before him waiting for orders and Sr. Cespedes announced they were all free men—and invited to join him and his fellow conspirators in battle against colonial Spain. For this, he is called Padre de la Patria, Father of the Homeland. (1868) – Photo of Havana capitol by Dibaer, CC
More Good News on this Date:
Simon and Garfunkel released their third LP, Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme, which reached triple platinum and included the songs Scarborough Fair and Homeward Bound (1966)
Fiji became independent after nearly a century of British rule (1970)
President Jimmy Carter authorized the minting of a Susan B. Anthony dollar (1978)
Pac-Man went on the market in Japan (1979)
Angela Merkel became Germany’s first female chancellor and the first from the former Communist east (2005)
Jessica Cox, 25, became the first armless person to earn an Airman’s Certificate as a certified pilot, thanks to an Arizona non-profit group, Wright Flight, that uses aviation as a tool to motivate young people (2008)
And, on this day in 1902, the Gibson Guitar company was formed in Kalamazoo, Michigan. It was founded with the intention to make mandolins, by Orville Gibson, a luthier with no formal training. The company ended up building one of the world’s most iconic guitars, the Gibson Les Paul in 1952—a solid-body electric instrument designed by their V.P. Ted McCarty and famed guitarist Les Paul.
Mr. Gibson invented the archtop design for his instruments, which made them louder and more durable, by constructing the same type of carved tops used on violins. The musical innovator never saw the riches that were distributed to the businessmen who took over the company, but only was paid for his hourly labor. By the 1930s, after Orville’s death, the company made one of the first commercially available hollow-body electric guitars, like the ES-150 popularized by Charlie Christian.
Cristina Frick Oct 10, 2014 at 3:27 pm
Thanks for sharing this story about Jessica Cox, Geri:) We are definitely all in need of some good news right now. Have a wonderful and safe day, everyone!:)
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Season Bests
NACC
Rockford Finishes Sixth and Seventh at the Good Friday Open
Carlos Flores
DUBUQUE, Iowa - The Rockford University outdoor track and field teams had an excellent showing today at the Good Friday Open hosted by the University of Dubuque. The RU men's team finished seventh with 28 points and the women's team finished tied for sixth with 22 points. Individually, Rockford had numerous student-athletes set one or more personal records, including Alyssa Ashford (Springfield, Ill.) who established the school record in the pole vault.
Top Men's Results
Tommy Brown (Plano, Ill.) participated in four events and had the highest finish of any Regent on Friday. Brown finished second in the shot put with a throw of 13.50 meters. He also set new personal bests in the discus, hammer and javelin throw events. Brown placed 13th in the discus and 28th in the javelin with throws of 33.91 meters and 28.10 meters. He then finished 12th in the hammer throw with a distance of 38.53 meters, which was the 5th farthest throw in the NACC this season.
Devon Lawrence (Loves Park, Ill.) also took part in four throwing events. Lawrence's top finish came in the javelin where he placed fifth with a throw of 35.35 meters. He finished 14th in the shot put, 15th in the discus and 16th in the hammer with respective throws of 10.26 meters, 32.97 meters and 34.13 meters.
Joe Werkheiser (Lena, Ill.) ran in the 200 meter and 800 meter races. Werkheiser finished sixth in the 800 meter and crossed the finish line in 2:03.73. He then finished 15th and set a new personal best in the 200 meter race with a time of 23.37 seconds.
Randy Stegenga (Hilversum, Netherlands) set a pair of personal bests on Friday. Stegenga finished sixth in the long jump with a distance of 5.95 meters and 23rd in the 200 meter with a time of 24.74 seconds.
Jared Johnson (Miami, Fla.) competed in a trio of field events. Johnson finished sixth in the discus with a throw of 41.15 meters, 12th in the shot put with a throw of 10.63 meters and 13th in the hammer with a throw of 37.70 meters.
Rockford's 4x100 meter relay team of Emani Johnson (Channahon, Ill.), Quentin Hernandez (Calas, France), Bilgehan Korkmaz (Konya, Turkey) and Randy Stegenga finished 6th with a time of 47.64 seconds.
Top Women's Results
Kaylynne Terry (Streator, Ill.) had the highest finish of any RU female athlete on Friday. Terry placed third in the shot put with a distance of 12.54 meters. She also finished seventh in the discus and 12th in the hammer with throws of 31.38 meters and 32.86 meters.
Alyssa Ashford competed in five events and established one school record. Ashford finished seventh and established the school record in the pole vault with a height of 2.17 meters. Her mark was the ninth best in the NACC so far this season. She also set new personal bests in both the 200 meter and 400 meter races. Ashford finished eighth in the 400 meter and 17th in the 200 meter with times of 1:12.52 and 29.18 seconds. However, her highest finish of the day came in the 100 meter hurdles, where she placed sixth with a time of 20.31 seconds.
Maddy Pearson (Peru, Ill.) had a pair of top eleven finishes for Rockford. Pearson placed fourth in the javelin with a distance of 27.45 meters. Her throw was also the 11th best in the NACC so far this season. Pearson then finished 11th in the hammer with a distance of 35.04 meters.
Katrina Kopfhamer (Portage, Wis.) participated in a trio of events. Kopfhamer finished ninth and set a new personal best in the discus with a throw of 31.60 meters. She also finished ninth in the hammer and 16th in the shot put with distances of 39.28 meters and 8.61 meters.
The Rockford University track and field teams return to competition next Saturday, April 27 at the Beloit Relays.
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Cultural Tours & Iconic Sites
Long before Walt Disney helped to launch the first nationally-televised Olympic Games from Squaw Valley in 1960, North Lake Tahoe set the stage for a rich cultural and natural history. As we explore the basin today, history can be found in our daily adventures, sometimes in unique and surprising ways.
From prohibition poker matches that defined the fate of Kings Beach to underground passageways frequented by celebrities and mobsters, history buffs and story lovers will find a new type of adventure in North Lake Tahoe. Step back in time and learn Lake Tahoe geology and its unique environment, about the Native American tribes that first enjoyed this area and the centuries of experiences pristinely preserved at iconic sites and museum exhibits.
A post shared by NTArts (@northtahoearts) on Nov 27, 2018 at 12:08pm PST
Thunderbird Lodge Tour
The magical and stunning Thunderbird Lodge National Historic Site is Lake Tahoe’s “Castle-in-the-Sky”. Docent-led tours take visitors around the historic estate and gardens, including the Boathouse to see the legendary wooden speedboat, the Thunderbird yacht, built by George Whittell, Jr. in 1939. This eclectic character was one of the wealthiest men in California in the early 1920s, even housing elephants and lions at the property, and gambling areas of Lake Tahoe away at poker matches.
The Gatekeeper’s Museum
The Gatekeeper’s Museum is a reconstruction of the original Gatekeeper’s Cabin that was built by Robert Montgomery Watson on the same site where the original stood until it was destroyed by arson fire in the early 1980s. The museum contains one of the most extensive and eclectic collections of Tahoe history and is open Thursday through Sundays.
A post shared by Gatekeeper’s Museum (@gatekeepersmuseum) on Dec 13, 2018 at 4:34pm PST
Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Museum
The Marion Steinbach Indian Basket Museum, co-located with the Gatekeeper’s Museum, is home to a world-class collection of over 800 utilitarian and fine baskets from 85 tribes throughout California and western North America. In addition to baskets, the collection also includes Native clothing, jewelry, tools and pottery. Dat-so-la-lee, Maria Martinez, Maggie Mayo James and many other famous Washoe weavers work also feature in the collection.
Tahoe Science Center
The Tahoe Science Center has a little something (science-related) for everyone, including docent-led tours, hands-on science activities, multiple interactive exhibits, and an award-winning 3D movie, “Lake Tahoe in Depth.” Open Tuesday through Friday, 1 – 5 p.m., year-round at Sierra Nevada College. This is a must-do for families visiting the area.
A post shared by Museum of Sierra Ski History (@sierraskimuseum) on Feb 1, 2018 at 10:41am PST
Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics
Tuel your nostalgia for powder by traveling through medieval ski history all the way to modern ski and snowboard practices. Exhibits at Museum of Sierra Ski History and 1960 Winter Olympics include photos and memorabilia, including ski equipment, trophies, clothing and local athlete profiles. Located in the Boatworks Mall in Tahoe City, open 7 days a week.
6 Ways to Wow Read More
Play, Stay, Repeat
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Check Out What’s Trending
Don’t miss out on a winter that wows. Check out the best deals of the season and plan your winter escape today. →
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North Lake Tahoe is home to one-of-a-kind, world-class events. Check out our calendar and put some more excitement in your stay! →
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From luxury resorts to cozy cabins and everything in between, find the perfect lodging for your winter getaway. →
Find the Perfect Stay
#TahoeNorth #WinterWOW
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Calif. Energy Commission Awards $20M in Alt-Fuel Grants
April 28, 2014 • by Staff
The City of Davis received grant funding to develop a plan for additional EV charging stations. Photo courtesy of Flickr/NCDOTCommunications
The California Energy Commission has approved more than $20 million to promote and expand use of alternative fuels.
This funding includes $3.8 million in grants from last year's investment in electric and natural gas fueling stations, alternative-fuel readiness plans, fuel cell delivery vans, the establishment of a sustainable transportation center, and more than $16 million in natural gas vehicle incentives.
The $20 million investment, which was approved in late April, includes outlays such as:
$16.6 million in incentives to 30 OEMS and dealerships for 2,572 natural gas vehicles; these incentives are expected to be passed on to consumers.
$1.1 million grant to the Center for Transportation and the Environment to develop and deploy fuel cell hybrid electric walk-in delivery vans.
$1.1 million grant to the University of California, Davis, to establish a National Center for Sustainable Transportation.
$300,000 grant to the San Diego Association of Governments to develop an Alternative Fuel Readiness Plan.
$300,000 grant to the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power to install a compressed natural gas fueling station.
$300,000 grant to the Monterey Bay Unified Air Pollution Control District to develop an Alternative Fuel Readiness Plan.
$299,910 grant to Santa Barbara County to develop an Alternative Fuels Readiness Plan.
$275,810 grant to the City/County Association of Governments of San Mateo County to develop an Alternative Fuel Readiness Plan.
$200,000 grant to the City of Davis to develop a plan for additional plug-in electric charging stations.
Read more about Grant Funding California Energy Commission Alternative Fuels
Municipalities Commit to Purchasing 2,100 EVs by 2020
Leaders from 127 cities and 15 counties from across 38 states have committed to purchasing more than 2,100 electric vehicles by the end of 2020.
Clean Cities Funding Preserved
U.S. Congressman Paul Gosar did not offer an amendment to the FY-2020 Department of Energy budget, one that would have eliminated funding for the Clean Cities program.
Port of New Orleans Adds Plug-In Hybrid Pickup Trucks
The Port of New Orleans has expanded its electric vehicle (EV) fleet with the help of grant funding.
WEX Sets Up EV Charging Payment Solution
WEX Inc. commercial fleet clients that manage plug-in electrified vehicles will be able to pay for charging under a new partnership with ChargePoint, which now operates the nation's largest EV charging network.
38 Electric Vehicles Replace Gasoline Models at Calif. City
The City of Pasadena, Calif., has purchased 38 battery-electric Chevrolet Bolts to replace 37 existing gasoline-powered vehicles. These EVs are on a 36-month lease.
Exploring Propane as a Fleet Fuel Source
Propane may be a viable option for certain fleets looking for an alternative fuel source. While converting a vehicle to a propane system comes with a high initial cost, the system may come with reduced lifecycle costs over the course of that vehicle's life.
Scania Debuts Reconfigurable Urban Utility Vehicle Concept
Scania's new NXT electric, self-driving concept vehicle can be quickly reconfigured to meet changing fleet needs in the course of a single work day. It can be a commuter bus in the morning and evening, for example, and a refuse truck overnight.
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Center for Patient and Provider Experience (CPPE)
Home » Our Research » Center for Patient and Provider Experience (CPPE)
Key Researcher
Mark Linzer, MD
Dr. Linzer bio
Mark Linzer, MD, is the Director of the Division of General Internal Medicine at HCMC [the flagship acute care and teaching hospital of the Hennepin Healthcare System], Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota, and the Director and Co-Founder of the Center for Patient and Provider Experience (CPPE). Dr. Linzer completed medical school at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and residency in Internal Medicine in the Social Medicine Residency Program at Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, NY.
He has scholarly interests in the areas of syncope (blackout spells) and physician worklife. Dr. Linzer runs the Office of Professional Worklife at HCMC, which is responsible for the work lives and wellness of 600 HCMC providers.
Kate Vickery, MD MSc
Dr. Vickery bio
Kate Vickery, MD, MSc, is a primary care doctor and researcher at HCMC in the Division of General Internal Medicine and Department of Family Medicine, assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, and Associate Director of CPPE. Dr. Vickery completed medical school at the University of Rochester and residency at United Family Med&icine in St. Paul, MN. She holds a Master’s of Science in health and health care research from the University of Michigan where she completed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars fellowship.
Dr. Vickery researches how to improve the health of people experiencing medical, behavioral, and social complexity especially those with unstable housing. She studies how alternative payment models may stimulate partnerships between medical, behavioral, public health, and social service sectors to achieve health equity. She believes research is stronger when done in partnership with multiple stakeholders, especially patients, families, and community leaders.
Elizabeth Rogers, MD
Dr. Rogers bio
Elizabeth Rogers, MD, is a primary care physician, an Assistant Professor of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota, and is a research collaborator with CPPE at the Minneapolis Medical Research Foundation. Her clinical practice is in the Community University Health Care Center in Minneapolis. Dr. Rogers completed medical school at the University of Nebraska, residency at Harvard Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Boston Children’s Hospital Program, and completed the Primary Care Research Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco.
Dr. Rogers’s research focus is on improving how safety-net primary care clinics support patients in self-management of diabetes made complex by concurrent social, behavioral, and medical issues. She is interested in peer coaching models, implementation science, and community-engaged research, and enjoys projects in which she is able to work with patient and community stakeholders.
Tyler Winkelman, MD MSc
Dr. Winkelman bio
Tyler Winkelman, MD, MSc, is an internist, pediatrician, and health services researcher at HCMC in the Division of General Internal Medicine and an assistant professor in the Departments of Internal Medicine and Pediatrics at the University of Minnesota. He completed his medical school and Med-Peds training at the University of Minnesota. He obtained a master’s degree in health and health care research at the University of Michigan through the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program.
Dr. Winkelman studies the impact of health insurance and health care services for low-income individuals, particularly those with a history of criminal justice involvement. He is also interested in disorders that disproportionately impact justice-involved individuals like mental health and substance use disorders. His work has been published in JAMA IM, JAMA Pediatrics, American Journal of Public Health, and Journal of General Internal Medicine.
Our Mission: To strengthen the health of patients and the providers who serve them.
Our Vision: An equitable healthcare system that addresses the multiple determinants of health of patients, providers, and communities.
Our Work: We work to generate evidence to support the development of equitable, learning health systems which meet the needs of patients, providers, and communities. Our work strives to make impact across multiple areas, including:
Using evidence to support the development of learning health systems which meet the needs of patients and providers
Creating an equitable health system especially for people who:
Have co-morbid physical and behavioral health issues
Are experiencing unstable housing
Are refugees, immigrants or have limited English proficiency
The Center for Patient and Provider Experience (CPPE) conducts research about the health care experiences of both patients and providers, especially in safety net settings.
For more information about the Center for Patient and Provider Experience (CPPE), investigators’ published journal articles, and updates on our current research, please visit our website at www.cpperesearch.org.
Sara Poplau, Co-Founder, Senior Research Project Manager
Mike Wambua, Research Coordinator
Crystal Audi, Wellness Assistant
Latasha Jennings, MPH, Research Assistant
Melissa Adkins, Research Assistant
Miamoua Vang, Research Assistant
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Home / Sports / Texas Tech announces 2019 Hall of Fame class
Texas Tech announces 2019 Hall of Fame class
July 09, 2019 Sports
The Double T Varsity Club announced six inductees into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame on Monday as part of its official unveiling of the 2019 class that features the likes of nine-time NCAA champion Sally Kipyego and men's basketball second-leading scorer Jarrius Jackson.
The 2019 class also includes former All-Southwest Conference offensive lineman Mike Sears, All-American defensive back Dwayne Slay, track and field All-American sprinter Shawon Harris and Kristy Frantz, who will be the first former soccer student-athlete to have her name placed in the Hall of Fame.
"We're looking forward to inducting another great class into the Texas Tech Hall of Fame," said Rodney Allison, director of the Double T Varsity Club. "I mean this sincerely when I say this is a special class. This group all had tremendous careers at Texas Tech, and we can't wait to honor them and their families this November."
The 2019 Texas Tech Hall of Fame Ceremony will begin at 6:30 p.m. on Nov. 22 at the Overton Hotel and Conference Center (2322 Mac Davis Lane). All six honorees will be recognized the following day at Jones AT&T Stadium when the Red Raiders host Kansas State in the final home game of the season.
Tables for the event are $500 while single tickets are priced at $50 each and $30 for Double T Varsity Club members. To reserve a table or ticket, please contact Kami Fryar with the Double T Varsity Club at 806-834-3162 or by email at dtvc@ttu.edu.
2019 Texas Tech Hall of Fame Inductees
Kristy Frantz (Soccer, 1996-99)
The first true goal scorer in program history, Kristy Frantz led the attack for a startup Texas Tech soccer program. Frantz was a force on the field, scoring 41 goals in her four years while dishing out 26 assists for a total of 108 points – all three being stats that rank second in program history. She exploded onto the scene as a freshman, tallying 18 goals – five of which were game-winners – and eight assists for 44 points, which stands today as the most dominant season by a Red Raider in history. Frantz was an All-Big 12 second team selection each of her first three seasons at Tech, in addition to being named All-Region twice. She was also a two-time first team Academic All-Big 12 selection.
Shawon Harris (Track & Field, 2004-06, 2008)
Five-time All-American hurdler Shawon Harris finds his name littered throughout the Texas Tech track & field record book. Harris dominated the hurdles in his time at Tech, showing his true versatility doing so indoors and outdoors with first team All-America performances in each the indoor 60m hurdles and outdoor 110m and 400m hurdles. He also helped Tech's 4x400 team to first team status in both 2006 indoor and 2008 outdoor. In addition, he was also a two-time Big 12 Champion, winning the 60m hurdles and 110m hurdles in 2008.
Jarrius Jackson (Men's Basketball, 2004-07)
Jackson scored the second-most points in Texas Tech program history and was a two-time All-American, a John R. Wooden Award Finalist and three-time All-Big 12 selection from 2004-07 for head coach Bob Knight. Jackson started 131 games and finished with 2,221 career points while also adding 357 assists, 196 steals and is fifth in Tech history with 232 3-pointers made. A Louisiana native, he earned All-America honors as a junior where he averaged 20.5 points per game before receiving the honor as a senior with 19.9 points per game. Jackson, who scored a career-high 41 points at Nebraska in 2006, earned All-Big 12 first team honors in his final two seasons after a third-team selection as a sophomore and being honored as a Big 12 All-Freshman in his first year. After playing for the Red Raiders, he enjoyed a professional career overseas in Spain, Ukraine and Italy.
Sally Kipyego (Track & Field/Cross Country, 2006-09)
No conversation regarding the greatest track and field athletes of all time can take place without the mention of Sally Kipyego. The Kenyan distance runner came to Lubbock and etched her name into the Texas Tech history books across all seasons – cross country, indoor track and outdoor track. Kipyego made national history, too, becoming the first Kenyan to win the NCAA Cross Country Championship in 2007. She did so twice more in her career to become the only woman to ever win three cross country national titles. Kipyego became one of seven women in history to win four individual titles in a single school year, doing so in 2007 with titles in cross country, the indoor 3000m and 5000m, and the outdoor 10,000m. She is the only woman in Big 12 Conference history to win three cross country titles, and her win in 2008 helped the team to its first women's title in program history. She is a three-time winner of the Honda Sports Award, given annually to the best female athlete in each collegiate sport. She is the only woman to be honored three times in cross country. Several of her marks at Tech have yet to be touched to this day: indoor mile, indoor 3000m, indoor 5000m, outdoor 5000m and outdoor 10,000m.
Professionally, Kipyego has made a career running for the IAAF World Athletics Tour and is the second-fastest Kenyan distance runner in history. She is a two-time top-five finisher in the 10,000m at the World Championships and finished runner-up in the 10,000m at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Mike Sears (Football, 1974-76)
Sears was an honorable mention All-America selection and two-time All-Southwest Conference recipient during his Red Raider career from 1974-76 where he helped lead Texas Tech to one of its best seasons in school history as a senior. Sears joined with fellow offensive lineman Dan Irons, a Texas Tech Hall of Famer in his own right, to form one of the nation's top units up front, pushing the Red Raiders to eight-straight wins to start the 1976 season, which ultimately ended with a 10-2 record and a Southwest Conference title. Tech finished with six wins in Sears' other two seasons as he played in two bowl games – the 1976 Bluebonnet Bowl and the 1974 Peach Bowl. Sears was part of the All-Decade team among Red Raiders who played in the 1970s and was also elected to the All-Texas Tech team for the duration of the Southwest Conference.
Dwayne Slay (Football, 2004-05)
Few Red Raiders could disrupt a game quite like Slay, who earned first team All-America honors in 2005 en route to leading Texas Tech to an appearance in the Cotton Bowl. Slay became known as one of the hardest-hitting defensive backs in all of college football during his Red Raider career as he forced a Big 12 record eight fumbles as a senior to go along with a team-leading 112 tackles. Following the season, Slay garnered All-Big 12 first team honors by the conference coaches and was named the Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year by several media outlets, including the Associated Press. He was recognized as a first team All-American by Sports Illustrated, becoming the first Red Raider since 1998 and only the third defensive back all-time to collect the honor. Slay played two seasons at Tech after transferring from Reedley College in California.
Texas Tech announces 2019 Hall of Fame class Reviewed by High Plains Pundit on July 09, 2019 Rating: 5
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Jeff Austin passes away after cancelling shows due to medical issues
Washington D.C. [USA], June 26 (ANI): American bluegrass musician Jeff Austin, who co-founded the Yonder Mountain String Band, passed away on Monday, just days after cancelling a series of tour dates due to an unspecified "medical emergency."The 45-year-old artist's death was confirmed on Monday on his social media pages. However, the cause of death was not stated.
"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of a beloved family member, mandolinist, singer, songwriter and founder of The Jeff Austin Band, and Yonder Mountain String Band, Jeff Austin. Austin passed away June 24, 2019 in Seattle, Washington. He was a dear friend whose music touched the lives of so many, and will be sorely missed," a statement said, reported Page Six.
Austin spent 15 years playing with Yonder, which performed at the Democratic National Convention in 2008. He left the band later to pursue a solo career in 2014. He was on a tour with his own band, the Jeff Austin Band, when he suddenly became ill over the weekend.
"My friends... due to a medical emergency, I am unfortunately unable to play. Thanks for your understanding and continued support," Austin wrote on Facebook on Saturday.
The musician was forced to pull out of sets at ROMP music festival, Back Home Appalachian Arts and Music Festival, and Smoky Run Music Festival on Saturday before his hospitalisation. Austin later passed away at a Seattle hospital.
The musician's booking manager, Barron Ruth, stated that he passed away after being put into a medically induced coma.
"We are saddened to report that we have lost our brother Jeff Austin. Remembering the incredible times and magical moments puts us at a profound loss for words. While we honour his memory, we will continue to pray for his family and for the journey they now face without him," read a statement from Yonder on Facebook.
A bio posted by Austin's family describes him as a "prominent figure in the neo-progressive bluegrass of the new millennium."Numerous musicians and bands were honoured him on Tuesday on social media, along with friends and fans.
"We are deeply saddened that we have lost Jeff Austin. The UM organization mourns his passing, while celebrating the joylaughter he brought to so many of us," tweeted the group Umphrey's McGee.
Austin has a wife, Devlyn, and three kids, Lily Rose, Penelope and Jude Patrick. Austin was born in the suburbs of Chicago and began playing music during a break from studying at the University of Cincinnati. (ANI)
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Nav Is Selling "Free Lil Uzi Vert" Merch
by admin on March 25, 2019
Anonymuz & Denzel Curry Wreak Havoc On "No Threat"
Nike Air Max 720 "Pure Platinum" Release Information
Lupita Nyong'o & "Us" Cast Spit Bars As A Family
Eminem's Daughter Hailie Mathers Shows Off Sculpted Abs In Yellow Bikini
Kanye West's Appearance On Joe Rogan's Podcast Reportedly Canceled
Justin Bieber Celebrates First Thanksgiving As A Married Man In Heartfelt Post
by admin on November 24, 2018
Looking back on Justin Bieber’s career, it’s interesting to see the space he’s in now. Justin Bieber grew into a respectable individual who is no longer egging the neighbor’s house or pissing in mop buckets in kitchen restaurants. Compared to how he was perceived about five years ago, he’s made a complete 180. This year marks his first Thanksgiving as a married man and the singer shared a heartfelt post on Instagram about the hardships of love and the beauty of uniting both sides of the family.
While Justin Bieber is Canadian and the Canadian Thanksgiving passed prior to his marriage, he spent his American Thanksgiving with his wife, Hailey Baldwin, along with her family and his. The rapper took to the ‘Gram to share a heartfelt post about his first Thanksgiving as a married man.
“Happy late thanksgiving to everyone. First thanksgiving as a married man, first time hosting thanksgiving,” he wrote. “First time both sides of the family has come together. Relationships are hard and love isn’t always easy but thank you Jesus for showing me how! Every day is a learning process, trying to be more like him, patient, kind, selfless, boy I got a long way! But gods grace is sufficient !”
It looks like marriage has turned Justin Bieber into a completely new man. Shout out to Biebs and Hailey on their first Thanksgiving as a couple.
Lil Kim Shares Emotional Tribute To Kim Porter
The death of Kim Porter hit the hip-hop community hard, especially those who’ve been close to Diddy. Porter and Diddy were on-and-off again for over a decade and had three children together. However, the impact Porter had on the lives of others extends into Diddy’s team. Drake, 50 Cent, Missy Elliot, Joe Budden and more sent their condolences to Diddy and Porter’s family. A little over a week after Porter’s death and Lil Kim has shared an emotional tribute to her.
Mat Szwajkos/CP/Getty Images
Lil Kim took to social media to pen a heartfelt tribute to Kim Porter while sending her condolences to Porter’s family.
“I’ve tried to write something so many times, but I can’t put into words how special @ladykp was,” she wrote. “There are so many memories with the family and although you were talented at many things, you had one of the major roles and held down the family like none other. With today being about family, I can’t help but honor this amazing woman and the family. Hold your family tight a little longer today. I will always be there for my extended family. Thanks for all of your prayers ❤️ Rest in Paradise Kim Porter.”
Police are still investigating Porter’s death after her cause of death was listed as “deferred.” Earlier today, it was revealed that Porter will be buried in her hometown of Colombus, GA.
Mikey100K Flows Smoothly Over PnB Rock Production On "Indecisive"
This month, Mikey100K has caught a lot of people’s attention. He’s fully taking advantage of the buzz too as he intends on growing his career to the next level. The young artist has been maturing and you can hear it in his sound. His latest effort comes as a two-song pack called thnkfl, which he released as a Thanksgiving offering. Some spend the day watching football or with friends and family. Mikey100K spends Thanksgiving in the studio improving and showing why he’s one of the more impressive up-and-comers.
“Indecisive” has Mikey rhyming over production from Akachi Beats and PnB Rock as his melodic side takes the spotlight. Singing directly to his girl, the first of two new songs is incredibly smooth, acting as some easy listening for your weekend.
Quotable Lyrics:
Now you calling all your friends talking ’bout you know your worth
How you pissed, how you can’t believe that shit, how it hurt
Sending texts talking ’bout all of the things you deserve
But if you look back on this shit you did it first
Tekashi 6ix9ine's Federal Charges: Everything We Know
2018 might be the year we witness the rise and fall of Tekashi 6ix9ine. The “GUMMO” rapper has dominated the rap game with his music and his trolling antics alike. Earlier this week, the rapper made headlines after he and four others, including his former manager Shotti, were arrested on racketeering and firearms charges. The rapper is now facing a life sentence for his connection to the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods in New York, who have been accused of committing acts of murder, robbery, drug trafficking and more.
Typically, it would be easier to gain clarity from a legal situation once more information is released, but with 6ix9ine’s case, it seems like things have gotten a bit more complicated. We’ve created a timeline of the moments leading up the rapper’s arrest and his current legal situation.
Tekashi 6ix9ine fires his whole team ahead of American tour and DUMMY BOY release.
Tekashi 6ix9ine has been preparing for the release of his album, DUMMY BOY for the past few weeks, as well as a tour that was expected to launch a week before the album dropped. However, days before kicking off his first-ever American tour, he announced that he fired his whole team and canceled the tour, all while suggesting that people from his team have been taking money from him.
6ix9ine appears on the Breakfast Club
During his recent appearance on the Breakfast Club, 6ix9ine went into detail about why he fired his whole team, including his former manager Shotti. The rapper went into detail about how MTA Bookings (who have since threatened the rapper with legal action) were forced to put more money into hiring security and local police due to fear that his presence would entice violence. He went on to explain how people from his team, without saying names, were taking money from him.
During the interview, 6ix9ine revealed that someone on his team ended up stealing $2.5M from him; after the promoter directly contacted 6ix9ine, he found out that someone pocketed some of his profits. It was recently revealed that his ex-manager, Shotti, was the culprit behind the missing cash.
6ix9ine arrested on RICO charges
6ix9ine, Shotti, and three other men were arrested on racketeering and firearms charges days after the rapper announced that he fired his team. Assistant U.S. district attorney revealed that the rapper’s life was on the line after his interview with the Power 106 radio show, claiming his enemies wanted to “super violate him” and ultimately, prompting his arrest. Law enforcement offered to protect 6ix9ine on Saturday, which he declined. They picked him up on Sunday when they learned he was heading to a casino where he ex-associates were, fearing a random shooting could put innocent bystanders in harm’s way.
Possible life sentence
Tekashi 6ix9ine was indicted on six counts including:
Racketeering conspiracy.
Using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to, or possessing a firearm in furtherance of, a crime of violence, which was discharged.
Two counts of violent crime in aid of racketeering stemming from an incident in April.
Using or carrying a firearm during and in relation to, or possessing a firearm in furtherance of, a crime of violence, which was brandished
One count of violent crime in aid of racketeering stemming from an incident in July.
According to reports, the Feds have been watching the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods as far back as 2013. The rapper’s charges stem from a few incidents that occurred throughout the year, including the Barclay’s Center shooting and his alleged role in a robbery that occurred in April 2018. The police used his social media and surveillance footage as evidence. Law enforcement also used photos of himself with Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods as evidence confirming his gang affiliation. The rapper is facing a max sentence of life in prison for the firearms charges.
Denied Bail, Placed In Gen. Pop Of “Brutal” Brooklyn Prison
Even after offering to hand over his passport and the rest of his bank account ($1.7M), the rapper was denied bail. According to the judge, Tekashi 6ix9ine is still a threat to the community even if he was placed on house arrest, which his lawyer initially tried to offer. Due to 6ix9ine’s alleged membership to the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, they judge claimed that he “would still be able to direct acts of violence by telephone,” a claim that was seemingly proven when footage of the rapper allegedly calling a hit on Tadoe surfaced earlier today.
6ix9ine was placed in the general population section of Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn which has been described as “brutal.” While many have been worried about the rapper’s place in the prison facility; through his lawyer, Tekashi confirmed that he’s doing fine, though deeply concerned about his family.
“DUMMY BOY” gets pushed back
Through an exclusive statement from 6ix9ine’s BFF Akademiks, it was revealed that 6ix9ine’s album DUMMY BOY — featuring Nicki Minaj, Kanye West, Lil Baby & more — was pushed back. “Due to circumstances beyond our control, we have postponed the release of Tekashi 6ix9ine’s ‘DUMMY BOY’ until further notice,” reads a statement from his team via Instagram.
6ix9ine’s lawyer denies gang affiliation
The prosecutors are convinced of 6ix9ine’s role in the Nine Trey Gangsta Bloods, but his lawyer, Lance Lazarro, claims that it’s simply an act. Lazzaro said that 6ix9ine is simply an “entertainer who portrays a ‘gangster image’ to promote his music” which “does not make him a member of an enterprise.” In fact, Lazarro tried to paint 6ix9ine as the victim in this scenario. “Mr. Hernandez became victim of this enterprise and later took steps by firing employees and publicly denounced this enterprise through a morning show,” he said.
6ix9ine Transferred To New Prison for “Security Reasons”
The rapper’s placement in gen. pop found him roaming the prison grounds among Crips and Bloods without protection, but he managed to get transferred to another prison. Reports initially indicated that he was released from federal prison, but he was simply sent to another facility. 6ix9ine is currently in a unit with “neutral inmates” which essentially means that no gang members are roaming around, which was exactly what he asked for. His lawyer stated that the was the transfer was due to “security reasons” as 6ix9ine was receiving threats from gang members.
What’s interesting about the new facility is that it’s used to house witnesses who cut deals: a.k.a snitches. There hasn’t been any confirmation that he’s been working with the police, but many seemed to be convinced that he is.
Jada Pinkett Smith Says She's "Not Mature Enough To Have A Divorce"
For years, Jada Pinkett Smith and Will Smith have been rumored to be getting a divorce. The two have fought through all the gossip as they remain one of the most talked-about couples in the world. While it seems the tabloids want to see them fail, they’ve worked out their kinks for over two decades. While their divorce has been reported on falsely throughout their coupledom, it turns out that the reason they’ve never split up is much simpler than you may think.
Firstly, the love is obviously still there. However, getting divorced would be rough for Jada in general as she reveals in the upcoming episode of Red Table Talk. It’s quickly become one of the most dramatic shows as there seems to always be something to discuss when the next episode is previewed. On Monday, Jada’s chat with Toni Braxton will be shared on Facebook Watch with the women around the table scheduled to discuss life after divorce. We’re curious to hear how much Braxton divulges about her current fiance Birdman but something that Jada said is pretty noteworthy. She told her friends, “For me personally, I’m not mature enough to have a divorce, I’m just not.” She elaborated on the statement, noting that she would make a mess of everything: “Because when you have to start going in, breaking up assets, that right there… Let me tell you, that’s when the red table turns upside down and it won’t be red no more!”
Thankfully, Will and Jada have been happily married for over 20 years with no signs of slowing down any time soon. The new episode of Red Table Talk airs on Monday.
Travis Scott's "Astroworld" Tour Will Transport You To A Fanciful Fantasy Land
If you’ve never been to a Travis Scott concert, you’re seriously missing out. I’m not just saying that either; I’ve seen him perform live a handful of times and each instance, I’ve noticed his evolution from a timid up-and-comer to a full-blown rager. Astroworld marks a career-defining moment for Travis Scott as he’s officially proven himself to his doubters. He’s welcome at the top alongside names like Kendrick Lamar, J. Cole, Drake, and others. His potential was clear on Days Before Rodeo and Owl Pharaoh but it was never certain that he would ever get to this point. Now, he’s building literal amusement parks for his stage shows.
The first time I witnessed Travis perform live, he had just released Days Before Rodeo. At that point, he was already buzzing hard. I was excited to hear songs like “Drugs You Should Try It,” “Mamacita,” and others live. I didn’t expect much but I was floored by the seemingly unlimited talent this man possessed. Luckily, he ended up bringing back some of the classics for his day-one fans at his recent tour stop in Toronto.
I finally make my way into the show after getting held up at the box office, and right away, I notice that the trussing on the ceiling resembles a roller coaster track. I’m observing my surroundings: there are two stages. A larger one where Gunna’s set-up is being installed and a smaller one across the arena. Most people are standing at the bigger stage but I have a feeling they’ll soon be running over to the more minor installation.
I saw videos prior to my arrival of Travis taking a ride on a Ferris Wheel while performing “Carousel” but the mechanism is nowhere to be found. I locate my seat and ask if Sheck Wes had already gone on stage. Unfortunately, I just missed out and will likely not hear “Mo Bamba” live for a while.
The floor isn’t full yet but then again, there are line-ups around the entire building. People are buying merch, beer, or smoking a blunt before heading inside. There is no DJ in between sets as the stage is being set up for Gunna. Instead, La Flame opts for ambient sounds to be blasted on the sound system. He’s taking a page out of Kanye West’s book, who used a similar strategy while touring The Life of Pablo.
After opener Sheck Wes, Gunna makes his way onto the stage. He’s got Slime Season 3 visuals on his screen and he’s rocking a winter coat. We are in Canada, after all. Immediately, the crowd is into him – the Atlanta artist is one of the quickest rising talents in the industry and he’s already got some major singles to his name. Unlike the majority of his contemporaries, Gunna is not just rapping over a prominent backing track. He’s making an effort to show off his skills as a performer.
He shouts out the women in the crowd before asking if any of them want a “Chanel” bag. Seamless transition. He makes his way into the newly-released “Space Cadet,” which ends up being one of the most exciting parts of his set. The crowd is moshing at this point, clearly getting hyped up for the main event. He rolls into a medley of “Sold Out Dates,” “Drip Too Hard,” and “Oh Okay,” which would have been an appropriate end to his set– only it’s not. With all of Gunna’s most recognizable tracks now out of the way, the audience is quick to lose interest.
The crowd is now expecting Trippie Redd, who is advertised as the final opener. The Ferris Wheel’s installation on the stage is a clear sign that this is no longer the case. After a short chunk of time passes, a vintage advertisement for the defunct Astroworld theme park shows on the jumbotron and the crowd freaks out.
As anticipated, Travis Scott heads out on the smaller stage across the arena and people go wild on the floor. The Toronto crowd rushes to be in the front of whatever will go down. “Stargazing” blares over the loudspeaker. He orders his concertgoers to split a line down the middle, making way for an intense mosh pit. This is going to get rowdy.
The Frank Ocean-featuring “Carousel” comes on and Cactus Jack is literally getting strapped up to the Ferris Wheel. He takes a spin around and keeps singing the entire time. The man was upside down screaming into his microphone. This is true dedication to the vision.
Once he makes his way off the Ferris Wheel, he tells DJ Chase B that he wants to bring it back to a few years ago when he performed at The Hoxton, a few streets away from the arena he’s currently in. He ends up playing “Way Back” from Birds in the Trap Sing McKnight. Not a bad segway.
We’re four songs in and you can tell the energy will not vanish anytime soon. This isn’t like any other concert I’ve ever been to. Everybody is engaged, raging to their hearts’ content. People are singing every word. Somebody in the section next to mine has tears in her eyes.
Travis proceeds into a medley of Days Before Rodeo songs. This may be called the Astroworld tour but so far, he’s really just celebrating his career-long success. Once he finishes “Mamacita,” he drops down into oblivion, disappearing underneath the small stage. An AI robot calls for the performer to return on the big screen and he suddenly appears, singing “Butterfly Effect.”
After shortened versions of “No Bystanders,” “Don’t Play,” and “3500,” La Flame starts to direct everyone in the crowd to put both their arms up. After a while, he’s actually singling out individuals in the crowd. “You there, yeah you… Why don’t you got your hands up,” the Houston native asks. The reluctant fan ends up participating before Travis “put on for the day ones” again, singing “Skyfall.” The crowd breaks out into a Travis chant, and you can tell he’s proud as hell. He’s got a big smile on his face before getting emotional, saying he was going through some tough shit when he wrote “Drugs You Should Try It.”
I gaze over at Chase B and it looks like he’s DJing inside of a spaceship. During “R.I.P. Screw,” a circular curtain comes down with flashy visuals inspired by the album: rollercoaster imagery, skulls, and a sign saying “Wish You Were Here.” At one point, the Houston skyline is shown as “Houstonfornication” and “Stop Trying To Be God” are played.
The Astroworld stage received a few guest appearances for the night: Toronto native Nav, Don Toliver, and Gunna. The folks around me were convinced Drake would show up but much to their dismay, he did not.
Travis ends the night with “Sicko Mode,” naturally, and sets off a major display of fireworks before his final departure.
With pyrotechnics going off all over the place, an operating Ferris Wheel and more, the Astroworld tour is a singularly unique concert experience. It’s a concert, but it feels more like a festival. Or, even more apt, it feels like an amusement park. The rapper truly brought his album concept to life.
Shooting In Alabama Mall Causes Chaos Among Black Friday Shoppers
Every year there are stories of Black Friday gone wrong: people being trampled in mad rushes to get the last cheap PS4, getting stuck in a crowded Wal Mart for hours or even people getting dehydrated while camped out waiting for a store to open. However, in Alabama last night, an argument in a mall escalated into much more than a cute Black Friday blunder.
It started with two men (one 21, the other 18) having an argument in the Riverside Galleria, a mall in the suburb of Hoover, just outside Birmingham. The 21-year-old, in response to what we don’t know, pulled out a gun and shot the 18-year-old twice in the chest. The mall cop on duty last night also turned out to be a cop cop who was armed and shot the assailant while he was fleeing. In the chaos, a 12-year-old girl was shot as well, but is apparently going to be alright after being operated on. It’s unclear who fired the bullet that hit her: the cop or the 21-year-old.
A video, below, shows the chaotic moments after the gunshots, as shoppers book it for the door, believing it to be another of the mass shootings that occur so often in the US.
Key Glock's "Glockoma" Album Features Tay Keith, Kenny Beats & More
Though this year has seen a rise in more lyrical hip-hop, and a slight decline in last year’s ubiquitous trap sound, the Southern-led subgenre has remained a dominant force. Now, Memphis rapper Key Glock has come through to throw his hat in the race, dropping off his new fourteen-track effort Glockoma. Off the bat, the project is blessed with a notable lack of features, which reveals Glock’s willingness to carry the load on his own merits. Of course, there are a few prominent young producers in the fold, Kenny Beats and Memphis’ own Tay Keith among them.
Standout tracks like “Yea,” “Life Is Great,” and more “Prime” showcase Key’s ear for production, as he carefully selects beats well-suited for his flow. While not a technician, Glock is solid behind the mic; while some trap albums lose those of a more lyrical inclination, Glockoma covers enough to merit enjoyment from all walks of life. Should you be looking for something to bump in the absence of both 6ix9ine and Kanye West’s once-promised album, Key Glock’s recent drop is certainly worth exploring.
Drake Reportedly Taking The Stand In Upcoming "Pound Cake" Trial
Earlier this month, the first update from the upcoming trial between Hebrew Hustle, a music publishing company, and Drake was issued as the artist reportedly asked for all evidence about his net worth to be banned from use in court. He seemingly believes that if that information is revealed, it would influence the court in a certain direction. Also, it’s pretty unsafe for that type of financial information to be disclosed when you’re as wealthy as Drake. Now, a new report has been released as it appears the multi-platinum recording artist will be taking the stand during the trial.
Drake is currently being accused of ripping off a sample from “Pound Cake/Paris Morton Music II.” In 2014, the estate of Jimmy Smith and Hebrew Hustle sued the Canadian for an unauthorized use of Smith’s song on the track from Nothing Was The Same. Since then, Drizzy has denied that he stole the song, countersuing and accusing the publishers of damaging his brand. According to The Blast, Hebrew Hustle filed a witness list earlier this week and Drake is one of the main people that they would like to speak at the trial. Court documents state that Drake’s appearance will not be pre-recorded so he will, indeed, be appearing in front of a live jury. Hopefully, they’re not too starstruck.
The trial is currently scheduled to begin next month in New York. It’s about time too, since this has been dragging on for years at this point.
Diplomats Take Aim At Kanye West & "KeKe" Challenge On "Intro: Stay Down"
Yesterday, The Diplomats rang in Thanksgiving with their first album in a drawn-out minute, Diplomatic Ties. Those who lived through the prominent Dipset run on the early millennium were quick to rejoice, revisiting the voices of Cam’Ron, Jim Jones, and Juelz Santana like they never left. Luckily, such timeless qualities were reflected in the sound; early listens seem to indicate a refreshing blend of nostalgia and new-school acclimation. On the introductory cut “Intro: Stay Down”, however, frequent collaborator Heatmakerz rolls through with a refined beat that may have been aging finely since 2004.
“Man, I’m watchin’ all you grown men dancin’ to the Kiki,” spits Jim Jones, utterly disgusted, “shit, up in Harlem we was dancin’ on them key keys.” The gravitas with which he approaches a track has yet to dissipate, still formidable now as during the “Ballin” era. Juelz holds it down for the second verse, bringing mafioso rap back into the fold with references to Nicky Barnes and Frank Lucas. Yet Cam’Ron may very well have the most scathing approach, as he uses his first verse to plant fangs into Kanye West’s jugular.
“He told me he was bipolar, I looked and said Bipolar?,” spits Cam’Ron, letting the incredulous ad-libs speak volumes. “Don’t be ridiculous, he wasn’t in the mix with us, bricks from Hamilton Terrace, he didn’t take the risk with us.”
Quotable Lyrics
Dame Dash my man, he shootin’ then I’m buckin’ with him
They shootin’ at us? Shit, I’m duckin’ with him
But I had to be firm and tell ’em that Kanye only fuck witchu when no one else is fuckin’ with him
He told me he was bipolar
I looked and said, “Bipolar?”
Don’t be ridiculous, he wasn’t in the mix with us
Bricks from Hamilton Terrace, he didn’t take the risk with us
1 … 250 251 252 253 254 … 419
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Peter Winkler, Contributor
Famous Writers Who Self-Published: Busting a Self-Publishing Myth
11/21/2013 03:40 pm ET Updated Jan 25, 2014
Book promotion guru John Kremer introduces his Self-Publishing Hall of Fame by writing, "You could stock a superb college library or an incredible bookstore just from the books written by the some of the authors who have chosen to self-publish [sic]," then proceeds to reel off the names of 52 famous writers who published their own works, including L. Frank Baum, Stephen King, Edgar Allan Poe, William Strunk Jr. and Mark Twain. (Kremer misspells Poe's middle name and omits "Jr." from Strunk's name.)
"This website features many other amazing authors who have chosen to self-publish at some time in their careers," Kremer continues. "You would do well to be among this honored group."
In his recent blog entry, "Are Self-published Authors Really Authors or Even Published?", Dr. Jim Taylor echoes Kremer, writing, "Many famous authors started out self-publishing their works including John Grisham, Jack Canfield, Beatrix Potter and Tom Clancy."
A self-published writer commenting on a recent article by a librarian who disparaged self-published books repeated Dr. Taylor's claim, which he took from the website of a consultant charging $120 an hour to help writers publish themselves.
The names of famous authors who published themselves are often defiantly asserted by self-published writers attempting to erase the stigma attached to self-published books, the lepers of the literary world.
Associating self-publishing with the most respected and commercially successful authors is a favorite ploy used by vanity presses and other self-publishing hucksters to suck in credulous customers for their services. Implicit in Kremer's list is the contention that you can join his pantheon of literary immortals and share their success just by publishing yourself.
The problem with Kremer and Taylor's lists is two-fold. Several authors who are frequently cited as self-publishing Cinderellas never actually published themselves, and the efforts of those who did self-publish were usually peripheral to their careers and eventual success.
Memo to Dr. Taylor: John Grisham, Tom Clancy and Jack Canfield never self-published. It's an urban legend cherished by poorly informed self-published writers.
In 2009, for an article on the 20th anniversary of Grisham's first novel, A Time to Kill, USA Today reported, "That April 15, after Grisham returned from his accountant frustrated, broke and about to borrow money to pay his taxes, agent Jay Garon called wanting to represent him.
"Wynwood Press, a small company in New York, bought the manuscript a year later and printed 5,000 copies of A Time to Kill -- at a length about a third shorter than the original manuscript -- in June 1989. Grisham ordered 1,000 himself."
Tom Clancy's first novel, The Hunt for Red October was acquired by the Naval Institute Press in Annapolis, Md., when an editor there, Deborah Grosvenor, became enthralled by Clancy's novel, convinced she had a potential bestseller in her hands.
Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen did not self-publish Chicken Soup for the Soul, either. In this interview, Canfield recalled how they found a publisher:
So we went to the American Bookseller's Association Convention in Anaheim and walked the floor from booth to booth asking publishers if they would be interested in our book. There were 4,000 booths there! I don't think we hit every one of them, but close to it. Finally, we went to the booth of Health Communications, which became our publisher. They were a small company out of Deerfield Beach, Florida. Their primary focus was on the recovery world, such as people getting over alcoholism or drug addiction or being co-dependant [sic]. They were slowly going out of business at the time because that whole market had become saturated. They said they would take a look at it and they read it on the way home on the airplane. They loved it and said that they would publish it. There was no advance.
But what about the writers in Kremer's Self-Publishing Hall of Fame? He can't be making up the whole list, can he? No, but when you dig into the biographies of famous authors who published themselves and examine their self-publishing experiences, you'll see why it is unlikely that you'll join their ranks by publishing your own books.
Consider the cases of Baum, King, Poe, Strunk and Twain, who actually published their own books.
Let's look at Stephen King first, because his inclusion on Kremer's list demonstrates how deceptive such lists are. In 1962, King and his friend, Chris Chesley, published a joint collection of their stories, People, Places, and Things-Volume I. The following year, King's Triad and Gaslight Books, published the two-part book, The Star Invaders. Here's the kicker -- Stephen King was a fifteen-year-old high school student in 1962, Chesley was his best friend, and Triad and Gaslight Books was King's amateur press. King's first published novel was Carrie, published by Doubleday in 1974.
L. Frank Baum published three of his own books: Baum's Complete Stamp Dealers Directory, published when he was seventeen, The Book of the Hamburgs, a guide to the care and feeding of a breed of chicken known as the Hamburg and The Art of Decorating Dry Goods Windows and Interiors. Yes, Baum self-published three books that no one but hardcore Baum buffs know exist. None of the Oz novels for which he is known or his other, lesser known works of fiction were self-published.
In 1827, Edgar Allan Poe paid a printer, Calvin F. S. Thomas, to publish 50 copies of Tamerlane and Other Poems, a 40-page pamphlet-sized collection of Poe's poetry. The book did not carry Poe's name as author, but was credited "By A Bostonian." Tamerlane was included in a couple of lists of newly published books, but received no other attention. Tamerlane is now considered the rarest book in American literature. In 2009, a copy was auctioned for $662,500.
English professor William Strunk Jr. privately published The Elements of Style in 1918 for use by his students at Cornell University. If it wasn't for E. B. White, a former pupil of Strunk's, his little manual would probably have been forgotten. In 1957, White wrote a feature story for The New Yorker extolling the virtues of Strunk's book. Macmillan and Company then commissioned White to revise the book for its edition, published in 1959. (Strunk had died in 1946.)
By 1885, when Mark Twain started his own publishing company, Charles L. Webster & Co. (Twain put Charles Webster, his nephew by marriage, in charge of the company), he was already a popular author whose books had been published by Chatto and Windus in England and the American Publishing Company in the U.S. Though Twain created his company to publish his own works, he also hoped to prosper by publishing other writers' books. Though the first two books Webster & Co. published, Personal Memoirs of Ulysses S. Grant and Twain's Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, were great successes, the company failed in 1894 after publishing a little more than 80 titles.
Commenting on Kremer's list, legal blogger C. E. Petit writes:
It implicitly extends the cachet of an author's complete oeuvre to one or two works. For example, the cachet of the Oz books (L. Frank Baum) seems to be extended to his chicken-farming manuals, which he did indeed self-publish. I've seen used-car salesmen who didn't display this slickness in false comparisons.
Famous writers who self-published usually fall into one of the following categories: the writer whose self-published book failed, only to achieve belated recognition (Poe), the already successful writer whose earlier books were published by commercial houses who decided to go it alone (Twain), the writer publishing their book as an ancillary part of their day job (Strunk), the destined-to-be famous writer publishing his juvenilia (King) or the writer who published oddball books unlikely to have wide commercial appeal before hitting it big (Baum).
When famous writers' forays into self-publishing succeeded, it was due to factors most self-published writers can't access or to serendipity.
According to author Mike Cooper's back-of-the-envelope calculations, the average e-book (the preferred format for self-publishers) earns less than $500. (Cooper's analysis
apparently lumps together self-published and traditionally published e-books, but his conclusion is still disheartening.)
Shorter version: you are not Baum, King, Poe (not that you'd want to be him, anyway), Strunk, Twain or just about any one of the famous writers who once dabbled in self-publishing. And, barring a miracle, you're not going to be.
Book Publishing Books Self Publishing Writing
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Lupita Nyong’o Writes Children's Book On What It Means To Be Beautiful
The book follows a Kenyan girl uncomfortable with her dark skin on a journey to rediscover beauty.
Lupita Nyong’o is working on a children’s book that follows a young Kenyan girl’s difficulty in accepting her dark skin.
The book tells the story of 5-year-old Sulwe, who is the darkest person in her family and desperate to lighten her complexion. While she goes on a fantastical adventure in the night sky, the overall message is grounded in her mother’s advice and what it means to see all kinds of beauty.
The Oscar-winning actress said in an Instagram post that she hopes “it serves as an inspiration for everyone to walk with joy in their own skin.”
Sulwe is slated for release in January 2019 by publisher Simon & Schuster.
A post shared by Lupita Nyong'o (@lupitanyongo) on Jan 17, 2018 at 3:07pm PST
Nyong’o, a native Kenyan herself, told The New York Times that she “struggled with her complexion and self-image as a child.”
“She remembers becoming more aware of herself in grade school and caring about the opinions of others,” the Times reports. “It was around that time that she also noticed the language people outside of her family used to describe her ‘brown and pretty,’ lighter skinned sister.”
Nyong’o said she hopes Sulwe, which is aimed at kids 5 to 7, can plant ideas that children “don’t necessarily recognize when they are reading” the story.
Fans of the actress undoubtedly remember her powerful speech at an Essence luncheon in 2014, when she talked about how she once “felt un-beautiful” because of her black skin, but has since grown to love herself and appreciate her own beauty.
“You can’t rely on how you look to sustain you. What actually sustains us, what is fundamentally beautiful, is compassion for yourself and for those around you. ... That kind of beauty inflames the heart and enchants the soul,” Nyong’o said.
And she concluded, “I hope that my presence on your screens and in magazines may lead you, young girl, on a similar journey. That you will feel the validation of your external beauty, but also, get to the deeper business of being beautiful inside. That there is no shade in that beauty.”
If you can’t wait for your Lupita fix until January 2019, you can see her in Marvel’s “Black Panther,” in theaters next month.
Lupita Nyong'o's Best Looks of 2015
Pop of Culture Africa Children's Books Lupita Nyong'o Simon & Schuster
Stepping out in Giambattista Valli at the 72nd Annual Golden Globe Awards in Beverly Hills, on January 11.
Steve Granitz via Getty Images
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Rick Perry: Social Security A 'Monstrous Lie'
AP/The Huffington Post
(AP/The Huffington Post) -- During a stop in Iowa on Saturday Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry stood by his criticism of Social Security as a "Ponzi scheme." He said the entitlement program amounts to a "monstrous lie" for young Americans, the Houston Chronicle reports.
HuffPost's Elise Foley reported last week:
...Perry recently walked back his claims that Social Security is a "Ponzi scheme," but other Republicans have made similar statements in recent months, saying the entitlement program is a "scheme" to take money from the American people.
Perry has previously taken a hard-line stance against Social Security. In his 2010 book, "Fed Up!" he suggested the program was unconstitutional, put in place "at the expense of respect for the Constitution and limited government." He also wrote that Social Security is "set up like an illegal Ponzi scheme."
While on the trail in the Hawkeye State, Perry warned that President Obama has driven the nation's economy into a ditch, arguing that his own record as governor qualifies him to lead the way out.
"Instead of eliminating our economic crisis, he worsened it," said Perry. "Instead of addressing the debt, he exploded it."
Perry told nearly 400 activists that he's created 1 million jobs while governor of Texas, all during a stretch where the nation was losing 2.5 million jobs. Perry said he'll take his record of cutting taxes and regulation to Washington and he said the Texas rebound proves that those efforts work.
Perry was joined at a county GOP picnic by fellow candidates, Reps. Ron Paul of Texas and Thaddeus McCotter of Michigan, but Perry was getting the bulk of the attention.
Perry singled out recent comments by former Iowa governor and current Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack's that food stamps were helping to bolster the economy by getting buying power into people's hands.
"Food stamps are not a solution, they are a symbol of the problem," said Perry. "Today's leaders see it differently."
Perry sought to drive the problem home, noting that Iowa has suffered as well under the Obama administration.
"Today, one in eight Iowans is on food stamps," said Perry. "That is a testament to the widespread misery created by this administration."
Perry has moved near the top of most polls only a couple of weeks after announcing his decision to run for the Republican nomination. He was making his second visit to Iowa, where precinct caucuses traditionally launch the nominating season, and he has made it clear he will compete for those caucuses . He's begun building the organizational structure essential to delivering backers to those caucuses.
With his solid standing in the polls, he ignored all of his rivals and focused on Obama and Washington.
"It's a statement that the state that feeds the world has so many people dependent on the government for food," said Perry.
"You have lost 12,000 jobs since the current resident of the White House took office," said Perry. He said that is precisely the opposite of his own record in office.
"Since I've become governor, Texas has created more than 1 million jobs, while the rest of the country has lost 2.5 million jobs," said Perry.
His twin themes: making life easier for business, and making life tougher for government.
"We've got to stop spending money we don't have," said Perry. "I promise you this, I will work every day to make Washington, D.C., as inconsequential to you as I can."
While there haven't been any recent polls in Iowa, most activists here put Perry in the first tier of Republican candidates.
Kevin McLaughlin, one of the organizers of Saturday's event said Perry's rapid rise comes because he's a governor of a big state, but also because he offers a message that resonates with the Republican base.
"He's the governor of a state that doesn't have an income tax and he's riding the wave," said McLaughlin.
Paul has caused something of a stir in the state, building a deeply committed core of backers that allowed him to post a very close second- place showing in the Republican straw poll.
"Our problem is government is too big," said Paul. "As government gets bigger, your personal liberties are limited. We don't need a federal reserve system, we need a gold standard for our money."
Politics News Elections 2012 Rick Perry Fed Up
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People With Disabilities Protest Romney Medicaid Cuts
By Jeffrey Young
The future of Medicaid hangs in the balance as Election Day approaches, but John Wren feels like no one's listening to the people whose lives depend on the health program for the poor.
Wren, 45, of Erie, Pa., was among dozens of people with disabilities, their caregivers, families, activists and volunteers who laid siege this week to Pennsylvania's capital city, Harrisburg, during protests organized by ADAPT, a national organization that advocates for disability rights.
President Barack Obama and Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney have vastly different visions for the future of Medicaid and people like Wren and his fellow protestors understand the stakes all too well.
While Obama seeks to expand Medicaid to cover millions more, Romney would move in the opposite direction by slashing federal spending and turning over control of the program to states.
But Wren doesn't think that either Obama or Romney is tuned into the needs of people with disabilities. "Those two guys aren't going to be the ones who do anything about us," Wren said Tuesday during a protest outside the Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare.
Until four years ago, Wren was earning about $60,000 a year as a truck driver. He's a father of six who liked to hunt, fish, and camp and was about to marry his fiancée, Terri Martin. First, he got laid off. Then, an automobile accident robbed him of the future he planned, along with his right leg and right eye.
Today, Wren is unemployed, uses a power wheelchair to get around and requires care at home and medical supplies paid for by Medicaid. Wren's still with Martin, but they never got married. She has taken on the role of his home aide and the state won't pay spouses to care for each other.
Medicaid coverage of his home care services is what's keeping him from spending his life in a nursing home, and he's worried that with less money to go around, people like him will be left behind, he said. So Wren decided it was time to take a stand in his home state. "This is a focal point of what's going on," he said.
Over four days in Harrisburg, protesters used their wheelchairs, scooters and legs to march on the governor's mansion, occupy the state Capitol, storm the welfare department headquarters and take over a downtown plaza outside a Romney campaign office. They almost crossed paths with Ann Romney, the GOP candidate's wife, who headlined a fundraiser Monday night at the Hilton hotel that served as a temporary home for many activists, said Amber Smock, an ADAPT spokeswoman.
ADAPT activists fear Romney's plan would cut them adrift from a program that safeguards their independence. Protesters chanted slogans like, "My Medicaid matters" and the Occupy Wall Street standard, "This is what democracy looks like."
Even under the current Medicaid system, states suffering budget crises have made cuts. In Pennsylvania, the administration of Gov. Tom Corbett (R) reduced dental coverage and removed about 130,000 people from Medicaid, although many regained benefits. Pennsylvania also eliminated health coverage for more than 40,000 poor adults under a separate program.
Activists also are upset about Corbett not taking advantage of a health care reform program that would finance more home care services, and about delayed payments to home aides this summer that threatened care. Wren and Martin were especially harmed because they rely on the money she gets paid to care for him.
The Romney plan would give governors like Corbett unprecedented leeway to reduce coverage and benefits under Medicaid while dramatically reducing federal spending.
Romney wants to convert the entitlement program into "block grants," or lump sums of money states could spend with less federal oversight. As many as 44 million people could lose benefits under a "block grants" proposal authored by Romney's running mate, Rep. Paul Ryan (Wis.), that would slash federal Medicaid spending by $810 billion over a decade, according to the Urban Institute.
"The right approach is one which relies on the brilliance of our people and states, not the federal government," Romney said during a debate with Obama on Oct. 3.
By contrast, Obama would preserve the current program and extend coverage to 11 million uninsured adults via the health care reform law, which Romney vows to repeal. During their first debate, Obama warned that Romney's plan would put vulnerable people in jeopardy. "This means a 30 percent cut in the primary program we [use for] help for seniors who are in nursing homes, for kids who are with disabilities," Obama said.
When Bob Kafka of Austin, Texas, a national organizer with ADAPT, hears talk like that, he can't help but notice it doesn't include adults with disabilities. Kafka, 66, has a spinal cord injury and uses a wheelchair. He's covered by Medicare but advocates for Medicaid policies that enable people to stay out of nursing homes.
Kafka believes that transforming Medicaid into a block grant program will inevitably lead to cuts in benefits because states won't make up for the lost money. "They just won't use the dollars and will gut services to people," he said, especially in places like his home state of Texas, which already has a small Medicaid program. When competing interests squabble, he said, "those in power benefit."
Even if a block grant plan isn't enacted, states will continue to look for ways to cut Medicaid, Kafka said. That will leave people with disabilities fighting for a slice of a shrinking pie and it will pit them against against other people in need. "We don't want to fight amongst ourselves," he said during a rally at the Pennsylvania state Capitol in Harrisburg Wednesday.
Giving states more "flexibility," as block grant proponents espouse, is a good idea in theory, said Ian Engle, the executive director for the Center for People with Disabilities in Boulder, Colo. Indeed, people with disabilities want states to experiment with covering more services for independent living as opposed to nursing home care, he said at the rally Wednesday.
But Engle, 39, who uses a wheelchair and has private health insurance, knows that's not what "flexibility" will really mean: "If you do these block grants, you're cutting the services."
People With Disabilities Protest Medicaid Cuts In Pennsylvania
Jeffrey Young
Business Health Care Reform Medicaid Mitt Romney Health Care
ADAPT activists prepare to march through downtown Harrisburg, Pa., on Oct. 16, 2012.
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Hemingford Abbots in Times top 10 for East of England
Rory Brigstock-Barron
rory.brigstock-barron@archant.co.uk
Read more from Rory Brigstock-Barron
Updated: Friday, March 15, 2013 (17:44)
Hemingford Abbots voted one of the best places to live in East Anglia, Hemingford Abbots Church
THE picturesque Huntingdonshire village of Hemingford Abbots is one of the 10 most desirable places to live in the east of England – according to the Sunday Times.
Hemingford Abbots features on the shortlist of the Times Best Places to Live List - the winner of which will be announced in this week's Sunday Times.
This special edition will also include the top ten places to live in nine regions of the country based on criteria such as transports links, natural beauty, low crime rate, property prices, good schools and unemployment figures.
Hemingford Abbots will feature in the top 10 in the East of England with dwellers citing the village's natural beauty and friendly atmosphere as among its unique attributes.
Emma Tester is landlady at the Axe and Compass, a 500-year-old pub at the very heart of the village.
Mrs Tester said: "It's a quintessential English village, it's unspoilt.
"We get tourists who come here for the day as well as walking groups and lots of people coming to the pub for lunch."
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Food Startup for Scrappy Artisans Hatches a New Model
Hatchery, a New York City-based food business, aims to give entrepreneurs access to a wider customer base, while taking a cut of its own in sales.
By Zoë HenryStaff writer, Inc.@ZoeLaHenry
Courtesy Company
When Hatchery first launched in 2013, it brought artisanal products (think: fun stuff, like jams and jellies) to foodies interested in discovering new things. For $20 a month, a customer can receive a tasting box shipment that includes samples from small-scale brands across the country.
The startup billed itself as the "Birchbox of Food."
Now, the "tasting box" business is moving beyond that model by launching a web platform where customers can purchase their favorite items in bulk. Hatchery launched the marketplace in July 2014, with just 100 brand partners; many of them are small businesses and food makers based in California and New York. (Of course, folks can still sign up for the monthly tasting subscriptions.)
Today, Hatchery announced the expansion of its marketplace to include 300 brands, as well as new browsing features. Users can now shop by dietary preferences, like 'gluten-free' or 'dairy-free.'
Max Friedman, who founded the company, says he changed the web design to include more company write-ups -- or, "flavor profiles," as he prefers to call them -- where users can learn more about the background of a product or its maker. "We got a lot of web traffic to the profiles, and there's a lot of interest around sharing those stories on social media," he says.
This rings particularly true on Instagram, where Hatchery now has over 42,000 followers. Friedman adds that the image-sharing social media platform became a powerful marketing tool for the business, as users began sharing photos of their meals with friends and family.
For reference, Plated, a competing startup founded in 2012, counts a comparable 67,3000 followers on Instagram. The N.Y.-based food delivery service raised $35 million in a recent funding round.
It's worth noting, however, that Hatchery is very different from its competitors (Plated, Blue Apron). The startup aims to support independent food brands, whose growth would otherwise be stymied by their limited access to customers. "A lot of small businesses give up too soon, because they can't go forward," Friedman explains. Lacking the proper distribution, it's difficult for foodies to expand beyond a local client base -- and especially if the product sells at stereotypically "artisanal" price points.
Since the marketplace's beta launch, Friedman has brought on new editorial staffers to write the maker profiles. Hatchery is still a scrappy startup of just 9 full-time employees.
Other new hires include resident chefs who put potential food brands through a rigorous vetting process. They must have a "very clean label," says Friedman, with items made from organic ingredients that don't contain additives or preservatives. Each product is carefully selected and must go through about three rounds of taste testing.
As the co-founder and former owner of a branding agency, Friedman adds that getting onto the shelves of high-end grocery chains, like Whole Foods or Dean & DeLuca, shouldn't necessarily be the endgame for such brands.
"Small businesses don't realize that getting the products off of the shelves is even more difficult," he says. When those items are sitting next to bigger brands -- with significantly bigger funds to spend on marketing -- it's almost impossible to compete.
To bring in its own (undisclosed) revenues, Hatchery purchases products at whole sale prices, and then retails them at a lower cost. "The more volume we drive in sales, that covers our operational expenses," Friedman says. One such expense for Hatchery is the shipping and logistics for brand partners, as well as insurance and liability costs.
Companies say they've benefited greatly by partnering with Hatchery. Seattle-based duo Bryan Mitchiner and Justin Hoffman are the co-founders of Mustard and Co., a small gourmet mustard brand that had a product price point of $7. They typically sell through local outlets such as Leschi Market or Macrina Bakery. Hoffman manufactures the mustard himself out of a small Seattle factory.
Last year, the business did just shy of $100,000 in sales, and projects doing double that figure in 2015. That's a far cry from the early stages, when the two made individual deliveries to Seattle homes themselves.
Mitchiner attributes that uptick to the visibility the company gained through the Hatchery partnership. "It's one of those things where it's hard to nail down, but I tend to ask people how they heard about us, and a handful of people said they received us in the tasting box," he says. Mustard and Co. will be among the 300 brands available for retail through the Hatchery marketplace, starting today.
While Friedman declined to disclose revenues, he says Hatchery has done more than 50,000 tasting box shipments to date. (At $20 a shipment, that would put sales from the subscription-portion of the business at an estimated $1 million since 2013.)
He admits that supporting unproven artisans on a national level is risky. Even so, he's adamant that "it's the way retail should be done."
Published on: Sep 2, 2015
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MainAll NewsInside IsraelPost-holiday car accidents kill two, injure five
Post-holiday car accidents kill two, injure five
Car accidents on Route 22, Route 65, and in Yeruham leave two dead and five injured.
Nitsan Keidar, 31/05/17 23:08
Scene of the Route 22 accident near Haifa
MDA spokesman
A 50-year-old pedestrian was killed on Wednesday evening by a car driving on Route 22 towards Haifa.
Magen David Adom and United Hatzalah paramedics who arrived at the scene were forced to declare his death.
MDA paramedic Itai Mazor said, "We saw a 50-year-old man lying unconscious at the side of the road. He was not breathing and had no heartbeat."
"We attempted to administer medical aid, but he had suffered severe injuries and showed no signs of life. Within a short time, we were forced to declare his death."
The police are investigating the cause of the accident.
Earlier on Wednesday evening, a 40-year-old motorcyclist was killed when his motorcycle collided with a car on Route 65.
Four others were lightly injured and taken to Afula's Haemek Hospital.
In Yeruham, a 6-year-old boy was moderately injured by a car.
Magen David Adom transferred the child victim to Soroka Hospital in Be'er Sheva.
In 2016, 372 Israelis were killed in road accidents - representing the third in year in a row in which the number of casualties has increased instead of decreasing.
Tags:road accidents, car accidents
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Using Monte Carlo Simulations for Disaster Preparedness
Probability distributions are a much more realistic way of describing uncertainty in variables of a risk analysis.
Developing Weather-Related Risk Models
Click through for more on how Monte Carlo simulations can help businesses more realistically prepare for weather-related disasters, as identified by Randy Heffernan, vice president, Palisade.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
A recent report, "Risky Business: The Economic Risks of Climate Change in the United States," co-chaired by Michael R. Bloomberg, Henry Paulson and Tom Steyer, suggests that "by 2050 between $66 billion and $106 billion worth of existing coastal property will likely be below sea level nationwide, with $238 billion to $507 billion worth of property below sea level by 2100."
Additionally, the U.S. National Research Council recently suggested the necessity of a "national vision" that will take precautionary, rather than reactionary, approaches to flooding, particularly in the Atlantic and Gulf coasts, where water has reached flood levels an average of 20 days per year since 2001.
These reports, however, don't address what businesses should do to protect themselves from the increase of extreme weather changes or how to take on that task. For quite some time, solutions that incorporate a method known as Monte Carlo simulation (MCS) have been used to examine probability of weather risk and the financial impact those risks may produce.
So what is Monte Carlo simulation? MCS performs risk analysis by building models of possible results by substituting a range of values — a probability distribution — for any factor that has inherent uncertainty. It then calculates results over and over using a different set of random values from the probability functions.
Depending upon the number of uncertainties and the ranges specified for them, a Monte Carlo simulation could involve thousands or tens of thousands of recalculations before it is complete.
By using probability distributions, variables can have different probabilities of different outcomes occurring. Probability distributions are a much more realistic way of describing uncertainty in variables of a risk analysis. In this presentation, Randy Heffernan, vice president, Palisade, addresses common problems organizations may face when developing a model for weather risk, utilizing MCS.
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Singer Cliff Richard speaks to the media outside the Rolls Building, where he was awarded more than £200,000 sterling in damages after winning his High Court privacy battle against the BBC over its coverage of a South Yorkshire Police raid in August 2014 on his home in Sunningdale, Berkshire following a child sex assault allegation, Wednesday in London. | VICTORIA JONES / PA / VIA AP
Singer Cliff Richard wins BBC privacy case, sparking media alarm
AFP-JIJI
Last Modified: Jul 19, 2018
LONDON - Veteran British pop star Cliff Richard won a privacy case against the BBC on Wednesday after it broadcast live on television a police raid on his home, in a ruling the broadcaster warned threatened press freedom.
High Court Judge Anthony Mann said the BBC had infringed on Richard’s rights in a “serious” and “somewhat sensationalist way” and awarded him at least £210,000 ($274,000, €236,000) in damages.
The 77-year-old singer, who was never charged with any offense, was applauded by fans as he left court, and they sang his hit song “Congratulations.
Britain’s first home-grown pop star later said senior managers at the BBC “have to carry the can.
“If heads roll then maybe it’s because it was deserved,” he told ITV News. “It’s too big a decision to be made badly. It was nonsense.”
The BBC said it would consider an appeal, saying the ruling “represents a dramatic shift against press freedom and the long-standing ability of journalists to report on police investigations.
Richard’s home was raided in 2014 as part of an investigation into an allegation of sexual assault involving a young boy dating back to the 1980s.
The BBC’s live coverage, including a helicopter, was picked up around the world, but the singer was never arrested or charged and was told in 2016 there was insufficient evidence against him.
“My life was effectively turned upside down and my reputation, worldwide, was unnecessarily damaged,” Richard said at the start of the case.
The BBC heard about the investigation by South Yorkshire Police and cut a deal in which they agreed to delay breaking the story in return for a tip-off about the raid on Richard’s home.
The judge awarded £190,000 in general damages plus another £20,000 “aggravated damages” because the BBC nominated the story for a “Scoop of the Year” award, which it did not win.
Richard is also entitled to further sums for the financial impact of the case, which will be decided another time.
The police force has already agreed to pay Richard £400,000 after settling a claim.
In a statement, the BBC said it was “sorry for the distress Sir Cliff has been through.
It admitted there were “things we would have done differently, however the judge has ruled that the very naming of Sir Cliff was unlawful.
“So even had the BBC not used helicopter shots or ran the story with less prominence, the judge would still have found that the story was unlawful; despite ruling that what we broadcast about the search was accurate,” it said.
The ruling “will make it harder to scrutinise the conduct of the police and we fear it will undermine the wider principle of the public’s right to know,” it said.
“We don’t believe this is compatible with liberty and press freedoms,” the statement said, adding that it was “looking at an appeal.
Tony Gallagher, the editor in chief of Britain’s best-selling The Sun tabloid, also railed against the “shockingly bad” ruling.
“Victory for (alleged) criminals and money-grabbing lawyers. Terrible for media,” he tweeted.
In the House of Commons, an MP suggested formally changing the law to make it illegal for the media to name suspects until they are charged.
But Prime Minister Theresa May, who looked into the issue in her previous job as interior minister, expressed skepticism.
She noted “there may well be cases where the publication of a name enables other victims to come forward and therefore, to strengthen the case against an individual.
She said it was an “issue for careful judgment” in which both police and media must recognize their responsibilities.
Richard, who burst onto the pop scene in the late 1950s, is the third biggest-selling artist in British singles chart history, behind The Beatles and Elvis Presley.
His hits include “The Young Ones,” “Living Doll,” “Summer Holiday,” “Mistletoe And Wine” and “The Millennium Prayer.
There has been a wave of accusations of historical sex abuse against prominent figures in Britain since 2012, when the late BBC presenter Jimmy Savile was revealed to be a serial padophile.
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U.K., privacy, BBC, freedom of the press, Cliff Richard, the sun, police raid
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Credit: Sim Canetty-Clarke
Tippett: A Child of Our Time: BBC Proms
Mark Wigglesworth introduces The Magic Flute / ENO
Wagner: The Ride of the Valkyries: BBC Proms
Philharmonie Luxembourg interview
Britten: Sinfonia da Requiem
Wagner interview
Parsifal at ENO
Mozart: Symphony No.41 'Jupiter' | Royal Stockholm Philharmonic
Shostakovich: Symphony No.11 in G minor, Op.103, excerpt
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra (BIS)
Shostakovich: Symphony No.4, excerpt
Shostakovich: Symphony No.13, excerpt
Principal Guest Conductor, Adelaide Symphony Orchestra
Internationally renowned and Olivier Award-winning conductor Mark Wigglesworth is one of the outstanding musicians of his generation, as much at home in the opera house as the concert hall. Recognised for his masterly interpretations, his highly detailed performances combine a finely considered architectural structure with great sophistication and rare beauty. Through a broad repertoire ranging from Mozart to Boulez, he has forged enduring relationships with many orchestras and opera houses throughout the world.
His book The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters was published in October by Faber & Faber.
Mark has enjoyed a long relationship with English National Opera (Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, Cosi fan Tutti, Falstaff, Katya Kabanova, Parsifal, Force of Destiny, Magic Flute, Jenufa, Don Giovanni, and Lulu), and operatic engagements elsewhere include The Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Rise and Fall of Mahagonny), The Metropolitan Opera, New York (The Marriage of Figaro) as well as at The Bavarian State Opera, Semperoper Dresden, Teatro Real, The Netherlands Opera, La Monnaie, Welsh National Opera, Glyndebourne, and Opera Australia. In 2017 he received the Oliver Award for Outstanding Achievement in Opera.
On the concert platform, highlights include performances with the Berlin Philharmonic, Royal Concertgebouw, London Symphony, London Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, New York Philharmonic, Philadelphia Orchestra, Chicago Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Cleveland Orchestra, Tokyo Symphony, and the Sydney Symphony. His recordings include a critically acclaimed complete cycle of the Shostakovich Symphonies with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales and the Netherlands Radio Philharmonic, Mahler’s Sixth and Tenth symphonies, with the Melbourne Symphony, a disc of English music with the Sydney Symphony, Britten’s Peter Grimes with Glyndebourne, and the Brahms Piano Concertos with Stephen Hough.
He has written articles for The Guardian and The Independent, made a six-part TV series for the BBC entitled Everything to Play For, and held positions as Associate Conductor of the BBC Symphony, Principal Guest Conductor of the Swedish Radio Symphony, Music Director of the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, and most recently Music Director of English National Opera. He is currently Principal Guest Conductor of the Adelaide Symphony Orchestra.
Minnesota Orchestra
BBC Symphony Orchestra
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Netherlands Radio Philharmonic Orchestra
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin
Tokyo Symphony Orchestra
Netherlands Philharmonic Orchestra
National Symphony Orchestra Washington
New World Symphony Orchestra
Sydney Symphony Orchestra
Melbourne Symphony Orchestra
Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra
Royal Flemish Philharmonic
Opera highlights
Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (From the House of the Dead; Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg; Rise and Fall of the City of Mahagonny)
Metropolitan Opera (Le nozze di Figaro; Orfeo ed Euridice)
Semperoper Dresden (Il forza del Destino)
Glyndebourne Festival (Peter Grimes; La bohème; Le nozze di Figaro)
Bavarian State Opera (Così fan tutte; Mitridate re di Ponto)
Teatro Real, Madrid (Dead Man Walking)
Netherlands Opera (Peter Grimes)
English National Opera (Jenůfa; Lulu; Die Zauberflöte; Macbeth of Mtsensk; La forza del destino; Katya Kabanova; Parsifal)
Welsh National Opera (Elektra; The Rake’s Progress; Tristan und Isolde; Così fan tutte)
It is Wigglesworth’s conducting of the orchestra, the chorus and his wonderful cast that transports the performance into the realms of greatness…He is already the heir to Charles Mackerras in this astounding music.
[Wigglesworth] offers a deeply humane performance. This is Janáček done slowly and lyrically, with the emphasis placed on the score’s dark poetry and depth of musical and psychological detail. The opera’s passion and compassion burn fiercely yet lingeringly: this is an interpretation that seeps under your skin rather than hits you in the solar plexus and is unquestionably all the more powerful for it.
It was the most authoritative conducting, instantly masterly, I’ve witnessed so far at these Proms, Bernard Haitink’s appearance apart. And Wigglesworth seems close to Haitink’s level... Wigglesworth’s intensity was unanswerable.
ORDER: The Silent Musician: Why Conducting Matters
Intermusica represents Mark Wigglesworth worldwide
Isla Mundell-Perkins
Artist Manager, Vocal & Opera
imundell-perkins@intermusica.co.uk
Zara Fyfe
Assistant Artist Manager, Vocal & Opera
zfyfe@intermusica.co.uk
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Book Tour – Edinburgh
Edinburgh Central Mosque
50 Patterow
Edinburgh , EH8 9BT
Organised by: Interpal Edinburgh
Faith, Hope & Charity – The Interpal Story
with Ibrahim Hewitt & Abu Muhammed Aqil
Please join us to know more about the story of Interpal and get your signed copy by Ibrahim Hewitt
Working on the issue of Palestine brings about much scrutiny and criticism for organisations and individuals. Interpal has faced accusations, attempts to hinder its work and detractors since the charity began in 1994 and this book tells the true story of the charity and its efforts to alleviate the suffering of Palestinians. Read more about the book: https://www.interpal.org/20190301-book-release-the-interpal-story/
Ibrahim is the Senior Editor of Middle East Monitor and an education consultant/school inspector, as well as the founder and Managing Trustee of Al-Aqsa School in Leicester. He embraced Islam from a nominally Christian background in 1981. Honorary positions held include Chairman of the Trustees of the Palestinian Relief & Development Fund (Interpal) since 1997. Ibrahim was also an Assistant Secretary-General of the Muslim Council of Britain, 2004-6.
In 2005 he was awarded the Alia Izetbekovic Prize for Citizenship at the Muslim News Awards for Excellence in London. On a visit to Gaza in August 2011, Ibrahim was awarded an Honorary Doctorate by the Islamic University of Gaza for his “support for the people of Palestine and the development of the university”.
Abu Muhammed Aqil
Majdi Aqil originates from Bayt Daraas, a village that became occupied during the 1948 Nakba and grew up in Khan Younis refugee camp in Gaza, Palestine. He graduated from Al Azhar University in Cairo, Egypt with a BSc (Hons) in Biological Sciences and has an MSc in Water Pollution from the University of Manchester. He has also worked as a Lecturer in the Islamic University of Gaza.
He currently works at Interpal as the Manager of Development Resources in the North and is the Imam in several mosques in the North West region of the UK. He is also the Editor of a book called “The Message of Muslims in The west”.
EH8 9BT
Book Tour- Glasgow
Book Release: The Interpal Story
Walking to Palestine: 11 months, 13 countries
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Slotting in on pensions
June 2004 (Magazine)By Krystyna Krzyzak
The eight CEE states that joined the EU on May 1 lag their colleagues on most economic parameters, but as a bloc they are unique in having adopted funded state-supported pension schemes alongside the defined-benefits state pension.
The typical communist era pension system was a defined benefits, pay-as-you-go scheme, funded by a generally hefty social security tax, with negligible links between contributions and final benefits, which were usually tied to the final few wage-earning years. As unemployment was generally illegal, funding was not considered an issue. Certain sections of society, including those in hazardous occupations such as mining, as well as artists, received larger, privileged pensions.
The sustainability of the region’s pensions system became a critical issue in the early 1990s. Privatisation of the large state owned companies inevitably raised unemployment, and is still high in a number of new EU members, notably Poland (around 20%) and Slovakia (18%). In addition, they all faced the demographic pressures of low birth rates and, from the mid-1990s, increasing life ex-pectancy, leaving fewer workers to support more pensioners. All the reforms have incorporated an overhaul of the state system, including a closer link between contributions and benefits, the introduction of individualised accounts, and the gradual raising – and often equalising – of the retirement age, which was typically five years earlier than in western Europe.
The reforms also acknowledged the need for privately funded systems to offset the shortfalls from the unfunded state schemes. Starting with Hungary in 1998 and finishing with Slovakia, whose second-pillar programme was passed by parliament in 2003 and takes effect in 2005, six of the eight now have a three-pillar system. The two exceptions are Slovenia – where trade union hostility prevented the introduction of a compulsory state-run system, and where a compulsory funded second pillar only exists for hazardous occupations- and the Czech Republic, which historically rejected any element of compulsion, opting instead to provide tax incentives for a third pillar.
Even the Czechs are having second thoughts however. Along with Poland, the republic was identified in a recent Standard & Poor’s survey as one of the 25 OECD countries facing severe problems on funding old-age expenditure – severe enough to raise its debt ratios and threaten it sovereign credit ratings. Pension reform returned to the Czech agenda last year when the government drafted a reform proposal centred on Notionally Defined Contributions and a Swedish-style ‘virtual’ accounts in the first pillar, although it disappointed the pensions industry in not following neighbouring Slovakia’s example in setting up a mandatory state system.
The Czechs have a long-standing distrust of the financial industry as a result of the privatisation and banking scandals that followed the collapse of communism. However, financial regulation has improved dramatically, and experience has shown that second-pillar schemes have proved extremely popular with the public. In Estonia, where membership of the second-pillar is only compulsory for those born after January 1983, the number of members as of the end of March already totalled 359,550 or some 60% of the employed population. The high take-up occurred despite Estonians having to contribute an extra 2% of their salary into the privately funded schemes alongside the portion diverted from the first pillar.
In Lithuania, where the system was made entirely voluntary to avoid unnecessary strains on the state system once a portion of contributions got diverted, it has been a similar story, with 438,000 members or 30% of the workforce joining in the first year of subscription, compared with the government’s original estimate of 10%. There has also been the odd case of reversal, as in 2002 when Hungary relaxed the opt-out extension for voluntary participants in the state system (the scheme was originally only compulsory for new workers), as well as removing the element of compulsion, leading to a significant decline in membership. The decline was stemmed the following year by the new government, which promptly reintroduced compulsion.
Meanwhile, in terms of assets under management, pension funds now rank as the largest single investment class in the more mature markets.
In Hungary second and third pillar funds totalled HUF935.75bn (E3.7bn) as of the end of 2003, compared with HUF906.8bn (E3.6bn) for investment funds and HUF870.35 (E3.4bn) for insurance companies. In Poland by this February the assets of second-pillar pension funds totalled PLN44.2bn (E9.4bn), ahead of investment funds at PLN29.8bn (E6.3bn).
With the exception of Slovakia, where the number of third-pillar pensions providers has remained at a stable four, the establishment of private pensions legislation resulted in large numbers of providers, a rapid market concentration and subsequent attrition. In Poland the top two of the 16 second-pillar funds account for 53% of assets under management. Of the 10 providers in the Lithuanian second pillar system, two had acquired a market share of 30% apiece within the first year. Some consolidation has been inevitable. In Hungary the number of second-pillar funds has shrunk from 25 at its start in 1998 to 18, but there are still some 80-odd third-pillar schemes in a country of 10m. In Poland, with a population of 39m, the number of second-pillar funds declined from 21 in 1999 to 16 by 2004, with the two smallest funds recently announcing their intention to merge.
Consolidation will prove more problematic where each pension company offers more than one fund. In Estonia and Lithuania, for instance, pension providers must offer at least one conservative, fixed-income fund, and in addition funds with an equity components for more risk-tolerant, usually younger workers. This option is currently not available in Poland, and is seen as an oversight. However, it is questionable whether a pensions industry in a country the size of Estonia, with 1.4m, can sustain its current number of 15 second-pillar funds.
The role of occupational schemes has been mixed. In Latvia, which was the first of the Baltic states to introduce pensions reform, the largest of the five third-pillar schemes is a closed pension fund for employees of the former state telephone monopoly and the electricity supplier. Occupational schemes have generally succeeded where the legislation has been well drafted, and where the employer (who traditionally paid most of the state scheme contribution) received tax benefits.
In high-unemployment countries such as Poland, where employers had little incentive to provide additional worker benefits at their own expense, the company-sponsored Employee Pensions Programmes have not proved particularly successful.
In the long and tortuous negotiations towards EU accession, pensions played little role. However, EU legislation is now becoming an issue in the case of investment. With the notable exceptions of Estonia and Slovenia, most the CEE countries have imposed limits on the amount that their private pensions schemes can invest overseas. In the case of Poland this remains a low 5% for second-pillar schemes, while the limit for third-pillar schemes was raised to 30% (for EU member states) for third-pillar programmes. In Estonia investment limits would have been impractical as the country’s government bond market is negligible, and its domestic equity market small. Poland, in contrast, has the region’s largest stock market, as well a sizeable government bond market funding a considerable budget deficit. The establishment of private pensions was part of a well-established strategy of developing the local capital markets industry alongside domestic institutional investors, and it is the only CEE country where the pensions industry plays a significant role in the domestic stock market.
The Polish government continues to argue that the second-pillar scheme is still a state system and therefore not subject to the same EU provisions of free capital movement as the private sector. Arguments about the role of international investment in maximising and diversifying pension returns - from both the local pensions fund industry and outside commentator - have so far proved academic. Estonia excepted, most of the CEE private pensions funds confine their investments to domestic markets, primarily government bonds, regardless of their overseas limits, largely because of cost factors. In Estonia, meanwhile, a recent survey of pension fund members showed that the majority would prefer to see their funds contribute more to building up the local economy.
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New product shakes up market
October 2002 (Magazine)By Paula Garrido
In June the Austrian parliament finally adopted the government bill reforming the country’s severance pay system that will definitely have an important impact on the development of occupational pensions.
The discussions regarding the reform of the statutory severance pay, the Abertigung, started in the late 1990s when the Austrian Trade Union Federation (ÖGB) began calling for changes in the system, arguing that it was not longer up-to-date in terms of labour mobility, and unfair regarding the legal entitlement provisions. These early discussions were mainly focused on the extension of coverage and implementation of an external financing method. But last year, the government stepped into the process and reoriented the whole debate towards the creation of completely new concept that could also provide an additional source of retirement income for employees.
Following the government’s proposal, the reformed severance pay system will be structured under new employee welfare funds, the Mitarbeitervorsorgekassen (MV-Kassen), to which employers will contribute 1.53% of gross pay. Today around 80% of the assets going into the severance pay system are paid out as a lump sum on retirement and the aim of the reform is to create a framework that allows the build up of retirement annuities.
When in March the government announced that the new MV-Kassen would not be run inside the country’s Pensionskassen system but by new financial services providers, professionals in the industry showed their disappointment, considering this decision as too costly and unnecessary, and accusing the government of ‘reinventing the wheel’.
Unwelcome or not, the government’s decision has gone ahead and currently seven providers, including banks and insurance companies, have been authorised to manage the assets of the new system.
At present there are a lot of uncertainties about the future of the MV-Kassen and their providers. First of all, the supervisory bodies are still discussing the final details of the investment strategies of the funds which will restrict investment in equities to a maximum of 40% of total assets. More significantly, the system will have to provide a capital guarantee of 100% of paid contributions into the funds that added to the fact that managers will have to work under a tight management fee, makes the whole idea of jumping into this business not too attractive to professionals in the investment community.
“Those managing the new funds will have to show a significant commitment within the first couple of years in order to survive,” says Gerald Moritz, managing director at Vienna-based consultants IPC Austria. “Two more providers are waiting for approval from the supervisory authorities, so this would make a total of nine companies, and there are some rumours that they could be more.” He adds: “Banks and insurance companies see this as an opportunity to further penetrate the institutional market and as a link to the Pensionskasse sector in Austria.”
Because the new rule applies only to new employment contracts signed after the end of 2001, the future growth of the MV-Kassen in terms of assets will very much depend on transfers of employees with contracts signed in the old system into the new one. At present there is uncertainty regarding the number of employers willing to do this. “There is a lot of expectation regarding the money involved in the new system but it will all depend on how many contracts will be offered. We wouldn’t be surprised in only a small number of employers decide to transfer money into the new system.”
Moritz adds: “During the first few months we won’t see much money going into the MV-Kassen and there will be a lot of uncertainties about the future of the system.”
For those wanting to get a significant market share in the business it is crucial to be there right from the beginning. So most of the active names in the Austrian insurance and banking business have already set up their structures to respond to the new environment. This is the case for instance of Victoria-Volksbanken, that earlier this summer announced the creation of separate entities to manage the new system. And pensions provider APK has also entered the business.
Although it is early days to talk about the impact that the new MV-Kassen system will have on the Austrian institutional asset management market, some things will definitely change. The debate regarding the prudent man rule approach that the new system will follow when added to market underperformance has pushed institutional investors to rethink their overall investment strategies regarding risk, costs and guarantee products, which are being more discussed than ever before.
“At present when we talk to institutional investors we see that they have lost all their risk appetite,” says Gerfried Krifka, fund manager at Volksbanken. “At the moment they are comparing their performance against savings accounts and they are more concerned about the short term results.” He adds: “They are very much asking for guarantee products, although they also want to know more about alternative investments, including hedge funds.”
Krifka, who runs the funds of funds business of Volksbanken, is seeing an important increase in the interest in this type of vehicles among institutions. “The interest in funds of funds from institutional investors in Austrian is growing significantly, especially among the smaller institutions that do not want to stick to a single asset management house but combine the know how of different companies. Also the cost issue related to these vehicles can be easily resolved for institutional clients too, so there is not doubt that these products are becoming more attractive.”
Disappointment with equity performance is also pushing investors into the diversification of their fixed income part of their portfolios. “Corporate and convertible bonds are now more attractive for institutional investors, also we can see some concern regarding the risk of the corporate bond sectors,” says Konran Kontriner, chief investment officer at Innovest in Vienna, with assets under management of E2.2bn.
However, Kontriner points that he hasn’t seen any major changes in asset allocation institutional portfolios during the last year. “On the one hand underperformance in the financial markets is not helping investors to make changes to their strategies. In general they are very reluctant to modify their asset allocation and sell part of their equity portfolio and realise their losses,” he says.
“In the months to come we’ll be focusing on high yield, bonds and other products such as emerging market equities that investors are also asking for.” He highlights that in the months to come it would be interesting to see how the new MV-Kassen system develops and how the capital guarantee impacts in the indusry. “This is a whole new environment and we are working on building up our strategy there.”
Competition among asset management providers in Austria is getting tougher and tougher, mainly because the number of mandates being awarded is quite small, and two years of falling market prices have been translated into reduced revenues across the whole industry. This has also affected foreign providers, who have not found in Austria an easy market to expand their business. Although the need for specialist and a increasing interest in indexation has opened a few doors to international houses, their market share is still reduced and some believe the situation will remain like this for quite some time.
“It is true that we are seeing how certain proportions or categories of the pensionskasse porfolios are being managed by international houses,” says IPC’s Moritz. “But I don’t think we’ll see in Austria what we see in some pension funds in Europe that have most of their assets managed by foreign providers.”
Although foreign names are present in the market and some are being succesful, Moritz believes that at present Austria is not easiest place for those trying to break in or see their existing businesses grow. “However, it will be interesting to see how foreigners are going to participate in the MV-Kassen because a present everything is very uncertain,” he says.
Even though every development in the MV-Kassen will closely follow by the whole industry in terms of new assets coming into the market, it will be necessary to wait for some time before we can measure the impact of the new system in the market.
However other develpments in the Pensionskasse arena will also keep asset managers busy in the months to come. According to figures from the Austrian Pension Funds Association in 2001 the assets under managment by Austrian Pensionskassen increased in 3.6% to a total of E8.2bn. Even though this increase in assets has not been huge, taking into account the current market conditions, this figure is quite significant and a sign of the potential of the industry.
“I think that in terms of assets coming into the market, there is quite a lot of cash out there waiting to be invested,” says Krifka. “We are not quite sure where people are thinking of having it invested in, but I think in general the near future will be brighter for all of us.”
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Glass Gave Venetian Paintings Their Glow
Glass Gave Venetian Paintings Their Glow:
How did paintings by Tintoretto and other Venetian Renaissance artists get their special glow? Using an electron microscope, Barbara Berrie, senior conservation scientist at the National Gallery of Art, discovered one of their secrets: tiny bits of glass the artists mixed with their pigments.
‘By looking beyond the limits of their usual practice and transforming materials from other trades to their painting, the great artists of the Renaissance created a palette that gave them an immediate and lasting reputation as brilliant colorists,’ Berrie said.
Device allows building hurdle
Someone’s been watching Batman movies. From Device allows building hurdle:
The PowerQuick personal lifting device can raise or lower a load of up to 145 kilograms at the rate of one metre per second, enabling special forces, rescue services or even construction workers to quickly ascend or escape buildings.
New Scientist magazine said the operator would shoot a rope attached to a grappling hook to the top of the building and then attach the rope to a harness-like device which hauls them up.
It said one battery charge would be sufficient to climb 250 metres — the equivalent of five times the height of the Statue of Liberty.
Quoin International, the Nevada-based company that developed the device for the Pentagon’s Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency, said on its website the solid fuel military version was designed for hostage rescue and urban warfare.
However, the battery-powered civilian version had been designed with commercial applications such as building repair, logging or window washing in mind.
"Peak Oil": Welcome to the media’s new version of shark attacks
Steven Levitt looks at a recent New York Times piece, The Breaking Point, and says “Peak Oil”: Welcome to the media’s new version of shark attacks:
One might think that doomsday proponents would be chastened by the long history of people of their ilk being wrong: Nostradamus, Malthus, Paul Ehrlich, etc. Clearly they are not.
What most of these doomsday scenarios have gotten wrong is the fundamental idea of economics: people respond to incentives. If the price of a good goes up, people demand less of it, the companies that make it figure out how to make more of it, and everyone tries to figure out how to produce substitutes for it. Add to that the march of technological innovation (like the green revolution, birth control, etc.). The end result: markets figure out how to deal with problems of supply and demand.
Which is exactly the situation with oil right now. I don’t know much about world oil reserves. I’m not even necessarily arguing with their facts about how much the output from existing oil fields is going to decline, or that world demand for oil is increasing. But these changes in supply and demand are slow and gradual — a few percent each year. Markets have a way with dealing with situations like this: prices rise a little bit. That is not a catastrophe, it is a message that some things that used to be worth doing at low oil prices are no longer worth doing. Some people will switch from SUVs to hybrids, for instance. Maybe we’ll be willing to build some nuclear power plants, or it will become worth it to put solar panels on more houses.
Posted in Economics | No Comments »
The Fall of the House of Saud
From The Fall of the House of Saud:
Saudi Arabia operates the world’s most advanced welfare state, a kind of anti-Marxian non-workers’ paradise. Saudis get free health care and interest-free home and business loans. College education is free within the kingdom, and heavily subsidized for those who study abroad. In one of the world’s driest spots water is almost free. Electricity, domestic air travel, gasoline, and telephone service are available at far below cost. Many of the kingdom’s best and brightest — the most well-educated and, in theory, the best prepared for the work world — have little motivation to do any work at all.
About a quarter of Saudi Arabia’s population, and more than a third of all residents aged fifteen to sixty-four, are foreign nationals, allowed into the kingdom to do the dirty work in the oil fields and to provide domestic help, but also to program the computers and manage the refineries. Seventy percent of all jobs in Saudi Arabia — and close to 90 percent of all private-sector jobs — are filled by foreigners.
Among men, at least, the Saudis have an admirably high literacy rate, especially for a place that only three generations back was inhabited mostly by nomadic tribesmen. About 85 percent of Saudi men aged fifteen and older can read and write, as opposed to less than 70 percent of Saudi women of the same age. But because in recent years the Saudi education system has been largely entrusted to Wahhabi fundamentalists, as a form of appeasement that many in the royal family hope will direct the fundamentalists’ animus at foreign targets, its products are generally ill prepared to compete in a technological age or a global economy. Today two out of every three Ph.D.s earned in Saudi Arabia are in Islamic studies. Doctorates are only very rarely granted in computer sciences, engineering, and other worldly vocations. Younger Saudis are being educated to take part in a world that will exist only if the Wahhabi jihadists succeed in turning back the clock not just a few decades but a few centuries.
Then there’s the demographic problem. Saudi Arabia has one of the highest birth rates in the world outside Africa — 37.25 births for every 1,000 citizens last year, compared with 14.5 per 1,000 in the United States. Ninety-seven percent of all Saudis are sixty-four or younger, and half the population is under eighteen. The simple presence of so many people of working age, and especially so many just now ready to enter the work force, places enormous pressure on an economy — particularly one designed less to accommodate those who want to work than to provide sustenance for those who would rather contemplate original intent in the Koran. A middle class stabilizes society. Saudi Arabia’s middle class is imploding.
Modern Germs
In Modern Germs, Alex Tabarrok cites a number of stats from John M. Barry’s The Great Influenza:
The great influenza of 1918 probably killed 100 million people, about five percent of the entire world’s population. An even higher percentage of young people died, and most shockingly all of this occured in about 12 weeks.
One doctor visiting Inuit in Alaska found everyone dead in 3 villages and 7 other villages with a death toll of 85%.
In Retail, Profiling for Profit
Tuesday, August 23rd, 2005
Chain stores used to aim to please the generic shopper, but that’s changing. From In Retail, Profiling for Profit:
But inspired by Columbia University Professor Larry Selden’s book, ‘Angel Customers and Demon Customers,’ Best Buy chief executive Bradbury H. Anderson is on a mission to reinvent how the company thinks about its customers. Best Buy has pared some less desirable shoppers from its mailing lists and has tightened up its return policy to prevent abuse. At the same time, it has begun to woo a roster of shopper profiles, each given a name: Buzz (the young tech enthusiast), Barry (the wealthy professional man), Ray (the family man) and, especially, Jill.
Based on analyses of databases of purchases, local census numbers, surveys of customers and targeted focus groups, Best Buy last fall started converting its 67 California stores to cater to one or more of those segments of its shopping population. It plans to roll out a similar redesign at its 660 stores nationwide — including about 15 in the Washington area — over the next three years. The Best Buys in the Springfield Mall, the Fairlakes shopping center and Potomac Mills, for instance, are being transformed into stores for Barrys, featuring leather couches where one might imagine enjoying a drink and a cigar while watching a large-screen TV hooked up to a high-end sound system.
The Santa Rosa Best Buy, Store #120, is a Jill store.
Pink, red and white balloons festoon the entrance. TVs play ‘The Incredibles.’ There is an expanded selection of home appliances as well as new displays stocked with Hello Kitty, Barbie and SpongeBob SquarePants electronic equipment. Nooks are set up to look like dorms or recreation rooms where mom and the children can play with the latest high-tech gadgets at their leisure. Best Buy has new express checkout lines for the Jills; store managers say anyone can use them, but if you are not escorted by a special service representative they can be easy to miss. The music over the loudspeakers has been turned down a notch and is usually a selection of Jill’s favorites, such as James Taylor and Mariah Carey.
What Makes People Gay?
What Makes People Gay? shares the new, technical term for what used to be called “being a sissy”:
Patrick exhibits behavior called childhood gender nonconformity, or CGN. This doesn’t describe a boy who has a doll somewhere in his toy collection or tried on his sister’s Snow White outfit once, but rather one who consistently exhibits a host of strongly feminine traits and interests while avoiding boy-typical behavior like rough-and-tumble play. There’s been considerable research into this phenomenon, particularly in males, including a study that followed boys from an early age into early adulthood. The data suggest there is a very good chance Patrick will grow up to be homosexual. Not all homosexual men show this extremely feminine behavior as young boys. But the research indicates that, of the boys who do exhibit CGN, about 75 percent of them — perhaps more — turn out to be gay or bisexual.
Student’s t-distribution
Sunday, August 21st, 2005
I was aware that Student, the mathematician who created what we now call Student’s t-distribution, was operating under a pseudonym, but I didn’t realize where he was working at the time and why he needed a pseudonym:
The derivation of the t-distribution was first published in 1908 by William Sealey Gosset, while he worked at a Guinness brewery in Dublin. He was not allowed to publish under his own name, so the paper was written under the pseudonym Student. The t-test and the associated theory became well-known through the work of R.A. Fisher, who called the distribution ‘Student’s distribution’.
The Dread Pirate Bin Laden
The Dread Pirate Bin Laden argues that we need a legal framework for handling terrorists — as neither state agents nor citizens:
Coming up with such a framework would perhaps seem impossible, except that one already exists. Dusty and anachronistic, perhaps, but viable all the same. More than 2,000 years ago, Marcus Tullius Cicero defined pirates in Roman law as hostis humani generis, ‘enemies of the human race.’ From that day until now, pirates have held a unique status in the law as international criminals subject to universal jurisdiction — meaning that they may be captured wherever they are found, by any person who finds them. The ongoing war against pirates is the only known example of state vs. nonstate conflict until the advent of the war on terror, and its history is long and notable. More important, there are enormous potential benefits of applying this legal definition to contemporary terrorism.
At first glance, the correlation between piracy and terrorism seems a stretch. Yet much of the basis of this skepticism can be traced to romantic and inaccurate notions about piracy. An examination of the actual history of the crime reveals startling, even astonishing, parallels to contemporary international terrorism. Viewed in its proper historical context, piracy emerges as a clear and powerful precedent.
Piracy has flourished on the high seas for as long as maritime commerce has existed between states. Yet its meaning as a crime has varied considerably. The Roman definition of hostis humani generis fell into disuse by the fifth century A.D. with the decline of the empire. But the act didn’t disappear with the definition. By 912, pirates along the coasts of Western Europe who styled themselves as ‘sea-warriors,’ or Vikings, had terrorized Britain and conquered Normandy. In the early Middle Ages, with no national navies to quash them, pirates held sway over nearly every trade route in Europe. Kings like Edward I of England then began to grant ‘Commissions of Reprisal’ to merchantmen, entitling them to attack both pirate ships and any other merchant vessel flying the same country’s flag as the one flown by the pirates they had seen before.
By the 16th century, piracy had emerged as an essential, though unsavory, tool of statecraft. Queen Elizabeth viewed English pirates as adjuncts to the royal navy, and regularly granted them ‘letters of marque’ (later known as privateering, or piracy, commissions) to harass Spanish trade.
It was a brilliant maneuver. The mariners who received these letters, most notably the famed explorers Francis Drake and Walter Raleigh, amassed immense fortunes for themselves and the Crown, wreaked havoc on Spanish fleets, and terrorized Spain’s shoreside cities. Meanwhile, the queen could preserve the vestiges of diplomatic relations, reacting with feigned horror to revelations of the pirates’ depredations. Witness, for example, the queen’s disingenuous instructions saying that if Raleigh ‘shall at any time or times hereafter robbe or spoile by sea or by lance, or do any acte of unjust or unlawful hostilities [he shall] make full restitution, and satisfaction of all such injuries done.’ When Raleigh did what Elizabeth had forbidden — namely, sack and pillage the ports of then-ally Spain — Elizabeth knighted him.
This precedent would be repeated time and again until the mid-19th century, as the Western powers regularly employed pirates to wage secret wars. After a series of draconian laws passed by George I of England effectively banished pirates from the Atlantic, the Mediterranean corsairs emerged as pre-eminent maritime mercenaries in the employ of any European state wishing to harass another. This situation proved disastrous. The corsairs refused to curtail their activities after each war’s conclusion, and the states realized that they had created an uncontrollable force. It was this realization that led to the Declaration of Paris in 1856, signed by England, France, Spain, and most other European nations, which abolished the use of piracy for state purposes. Piracy became and remained beyond the pale of legitimate state behavior.
If this chronology seems familiar, it should. The rise and fall of state-sponsored piracy bears chilling similarity to current state-sponsored terrorism. Many nations, including Libya, Iran, Iraq, Yemen, and Afghanistan, have sponsored terrorist organizations to wage war against the United States or other Western powers. In each case, the motivations have been virtually identical to those of Elizabeth: harass the enemy, deplete its resources, terrify its citizens, frustrate its government, and remain above the fray. The United States is credited with manufacturing its own enemy by training, funding, and outfitting terrorist groups in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Central America during the cold war.
Posted in War | No Comments »
Don’t Have A Cow, Man
In March, 2002, Harper’s published Don’t Have A Cow, Man, “an exchange of emails in fall 2001 between Judd Apatow, the creator of the sitcoms Freaks and Geeks and Undeclared and a successful writer of Hollywood screenplays, and Mark Brazill, the creator of That ’70s Show.”
Read the exchange. It gets really, really ugly, really, really fast.
(Hat tip to mi hermano.)
Stout on Princess of Mars
In this interview, movie production designer William Stout explains his brief work on A Princess of Mars , which never came to fruition:
And before I forget, in regards to John Carter of Mars — it’s already been made into a movie; a really successful one. So why do we need to make another? That film’s called Return of the Jedi . Princess Leia is dressed as Deja Thoris throughout the film; you’ve got Martian fliers as ERB described them; the main characters sword fight throughout the movie. If you look at it, it’s the essence of John Carter. So if you make a John Carter movie, your audience, who are mostly unaware of the Burroughs books, is going to think you’re ripping off a Star Wars film.
This story illustrates why Hollywood adaptations often fall flat:
So I’m happily humming away on this and from the other room I hear McTiernan say, “Virginia. Does John Carter have to be from Virginia? Why can’t he be from Alaska? Alaska’s much more butch — and we wouldn’t have to deal with those touchy race issues.” I set down the pencil and walk into the next room and say, “John, John. There are really great reasons why John Carter is from Virginia. He was a Captain in the Civil War, but he fought on the wrong side — the South. And he lost. He didn’t own slaves; he was a warrior his entire life. This was a very personal crisis. He was unsuccessful in the defense of his culture. He didn’t know how to deal with it, so he did what a lot of people do when they’re faced with failure. He tried to escape. He went West, where, while trying to just be alone and mine for gold, he’s engulfed in another warrior situation. Americans there are fighting the Indians. Then, he ends up on Mars in the midst of a huge, worldwide Civil War. He is back to Square One but now he’s in a world he was born for. The more he tries to run away from himself the more he finds he has to confront himself. So you have this incredibly rich character, history and past to deal with, which, if he’s from Alaska, you completely lose.” That was my pitch to keep John Carter a Virginian captain in the Confederacy.
Posted in Media | No Comments »
The Proper Attitude Toward Financial Regulation
Science-writer Matt Ridley amusingly points out that genes are not there to cause diseases, even though they’re named that way. Arnold Kling points out that financial instruments are not there to cause risk. From The Proper Attitude Toward Financial Regulation:
Often, the goal of financial regulation is to keep certain types of securities away from particular individuals or institutions. This is based on the ‘folk finance’ view that risk resides in securities, as opposed to portfolios.
In a previous essay, I mentioned economist Robert Shiller’s idea of creating a futures market in indexes of local home prices. That way, buyers of homes could hedge against the risk that they are buying into a bubble. However, most individuals would face stiff regulatory hurdles for setting up accounts to trade in such futures contracts. From the government’s perspective, it is just fine for you to buy a really expensive house ‘on margin’ (that is, using money borrowed in the mortgage market), but you would face strict scrutiny if you tried to scale back your risk by using a futures market!
Until very recently, banks and other financial institutions faced much tighter restrictions on the use of ‘derivatives’ (options and futures contracts on Treasury securities, foreign currencies, etc.) to hedge risk than on having large unhedged exposures to interest rate movements. Even now, the use of derivatives is considered suspect, although bank regulators have gotten wiser about looking at overall portfolio risk exposure.
When an individual or institution is discouraged from using derivatives, the effect is to deter someone from hedging a risk. As a result, a regulation that supposedly is intended to reduce risk-taking can have the effect of forcing someone to retain exposure rather than spread the risk.
Posted in Arnold Kling, Science | No Comments »
Slicing the Pizza in Perfect Capital Markets
In Slicing the Pizza in Perfect Capital Markets, Arnold Kling cites an interview with Merton Miller, who explains his work on the irrelevance of capital structure — whether you fund a firm through stocks or bonds:
People often ask: Can you summarize your theory quickly? Well, I say, you understand the M&M theorem, if you know why this is a joke: The pizza delivery man comes to Yogi Berra after the game and says, Yogi, how do you want this pizza cut, into quarters or eighths? And Yogi says, cut it in eight pieces. I’m feeling hungry tonight.
Everyone recognizes that’s a joke because obviously the number and shape of the pieces doesn’t affect the size of the pizza. And similarly, the stocks, bonds, warrants, etc., issued don’t affect the aggregate value of the firm. They just slice up the underlying earnings in different ways.
…Reporters would say, you mean they gave you guys a Nobel Prize for something as obvious as that? [Lots of laughter.] And I’d add, Yes, but remember, we proved it rigorously.
Posted in Arnold Kling | No Comments »
The Blood of Martyrs
In The Blood of Martyrs, Lee Harris explains a perspective that’s quite foreign to most of us:
Banners are flying today in Gaza that read: ‘The blood of martyrs has led to liberation.’ They are the banners of the popular militant Palestinian group Hamas, and they enunciate an unpleasant truth that proponents of the so called peace process would be well advised to ponder. Translated from the language of hagiography, the message of the banners is blazingly transparent: Terrorism works. It gets us what we want. Look what the intifada was able to achieve: the liberation of Gaza. Just think what more terrorism can do for our cause. If the blood of martyrs has led to the liberation of Gaza, may we not expect the blood of martyrs to lead to the liberation of Jerusalem. As the popular Palestinian T-shirt says, ‘Today Gaza, tomorrow Jerusalem.’
Posted in Lee Harris, Policy | No Comments »
Researchers Rescued From Polar Bears
Shark stories are good, but polar-bear stories might be even better. From Researchers Rescued From Polar Bears:
Three unarmed Polish researchers stranded on a remote Arctic island were rescued by helicopter as polar bears were closing in on them, officials said Wednesday.
The hairsbreadth escape took place on an island in Norway’s Svalbard archipelago, about 650 miles from the North Pole.
‘It was the worst imaginable situation. They were cold and wet, had no equipment or weapons, and were surrounded by hungry polar bears,’ said Peter Braaten of the Svalbard governor’s office.
The men had been shipwrecked at the edge of a tiny bay between two glaciers for 15 hours before the helicopter arrived, he said.
The three were aboard the Polish research ship Horyzont when they set out in a small inflatable boat to pick up equipment on one of the islands.
‘Their boat capsized, and they lost all their equipment and weapons,’ Braaten told The Associated Press. He said they swam and clambered over chunks of floating ice to get to the island of Egdeoya.
Braaten said the ship repeatedly tried to send in another small boat to pick them up, but conditions were too rough. The ship finally used a harpoon canon to fire a rope to land, so it could send the researchers food and water. Then it called for help.
‘They managed to start a fire, to keep warm and keep the polar bears away,’ he said, explaining that the men used the spark plugs from their capsized craft’s outboard motor to get the fire going. The island has some dried grass and scrubby plants.
‘It was a bit like MacGyver,’ Braaten said, referring to the adventure television series featuring a character who relies on science and his wits to solve problems.
Braaten said a least three polar bears looking for a meal where within roughly 20 yards of the three men when the helicopter picked them up.
‘That is dangerously close,’ he said.
Polar bears have no natural enemies in their frozen domain and regard all other living things, including humans, as potential meals.
The three men, who suffered only minor scrapes and bruises, were flown directly to a Polish research base on the islands and dropped off for treatment.
Posted in Science | No Comments »
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Gaga wins Grammy for ‘Shallow’; Hugh Jackman wins 1st Grammy
by Mesfin Fekadu, Associated Press, Updated: February 10, 2019
"Weird Al" Yankovic accepts the award for best boxed or special limited edition package for "Squeeze Box: The Complete Works of 'Weird Al' Yankovic" at the 61st annual Grammy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019, in Los Angeles. (Photo by Matt Sayles/Invision/AP)
Matt Sayles / Matt Sayles/Invision/AP
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lady Gaga's "Shallow" just keeps winning this awards season, picking up a Grammy on Sunday before competing for other major awards later in the day.
Gaga won best song written for visual media for "Shallow," sharing the honor with co-writers Mark Ronson, Andrew Wyatt and Anthony Rossomando. The song from "A Star Is Born" also won a Golden Globe and is nominated for an Oscar. It was also honored at the Critics' Choice Movie Awards and the Satellite Awards.
The track will compete for more Grammys, including song of the year, record of the year and best pop duo/group performance.
Hugh Jackman, an Emmy and Tony winner, won his first Grammy, picking up best compilation soundtrack for visual media for "The Greatest Showman."
Beck was a double winner during the pre-telecast, taking home best alternative music album and best engineered album (non-classical) for "Colors." Emily Lazar, one of the engineers who worked on the album and won alongside Beck, said onstage that she was the first female mastering engineer to win in the latter category.
Tori Kelly, who debuted on the music scene as a pop singer, won two awards for her first gospel album. Christian singer Lauren Daigle also won Grammys.
Dave Chappelle and "Weird Al" Yankovic picked up early awards ahead of the live show, which was scheduled to kick off at 8 p.m. Eastern on CBS.
Women were strongly represented at this year's Grammys. That's in contrast to last year's ceremony, where male acts dominated in nominations and the only woman competing for the top award, Lorde, didn't get a chance to perform onstage.
Janelle Monae remembers being frustrated last year, but this year she is looking forward to the show, where women are now leading in nominations for big categories like album of the year and best new artist.
"This is going to be a special Grammys. As much as it is about me, it's not just about me," said Monae, who gave a powerful speech last year ahead of Kesha's emotional and striking performance celebrating sisterhood and women's rights.
"Yes, we have so much more work to do, but this is a moment to be celebrated. This is a moment for women to love on each other and let each other know," she added.
Monae's groundbreaking album, "Dirty Computer," is one of five albums by women nominated for the top prize at Sunday's show at the Staples Center in Los Angeles. Cardi B's "Invasion of Privacy," Kacey Musgraves' "Golden Hour," Brandi Carlile's "By the Way, I Forgive You" and H.E.R.'s self-titled album are also in contention.
Carlile is the most nominated woman with six nominations, including bids for song and record of the year with "The Joke." Women also have a strong presence in those top categories, including Lady Gaga, SZA, Maren Morris and Ella Mai.
Six of the best new artist nominees are women, including H.E.R., Chloe x Halle, Margo Price, Dua Lipa, Bebe Rexha and Jorja Smith.
"This is just the beginning of moving to a more inclusive future," Monae said.
When asked about the lack of women in the top categories at the 2018 Grammys, Recording Academy CEO Neil Portnow said women need to "step up." He later acknowledged that it was a "poor choice of words," and his much-criticized remarks forced the academy to launch a new task force focused on inclusion and diversity.
The lead-up to this year's Grammys has not been completely smooth, though. This week Ariana Grande blasted Grammys producer Ken Ehrlich and accused him of lying about why she was no longer performing at the show.
Ehrlich told the AP that Grande "felt it was too late for her to pull something together." She responded on Twitter and said she "can pull together a performance over night and you know that, Ken."
"It was when my creativity & self-expression was stifled by you that i decided not to attend. I hope the show is exactly what you want it to be and more," she continued.
Carlile told the AP she stands behind Grande's "decision to stand up for herself and her art."
"And I feel like it's a time in this country when women need to support each other and their decisions. I support her and I support her decision," she added.
Grande is nominated for two awards and could miss the chance to give a speech onstage if she wins. Other big stars also declined to attend, including Kendrick Lamar, the top nominee with eight, and Drake, nominated for seven awards. Taylor Swift, who was snubbed and scored one nomination, also won't be at the show.
Drama has also surrounded the Grammys around its Motown Records tribute: Some people complained when a promo aired on CBS showing Jennifer Lopez as the act set to honor the legendary record label, which launched the careers of the Jackson 5, the Supremes, Stevie Wonder, Marvin Gaye and more.
Some complained that a black artist should be involved in the tribute, while others said stronger vocalists should perform over Lopez. A representative for the Grammys didn't return an email seeking clarification about the tribute.
Others set to perform Sunday included Cardi B, Dolly Parton, Lady Gaga, Travis Scott, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Diana Ross, J Balvin, Camila Cabello, Dan + Shay, H.E.R., Little Big Town, Post Malone and Chloe x Halle. Yolanda Adams, Fantasia and Andra Day will honor the late Aretha Franklin with a performance.
Online: https://www.grammy.com/
Posted: February 10, 2019 - 5:27 PM
Mesfin Fekadu, Associated Press
Jennifer Lopez gave Carli Lloyd a lap dance this weekend
How a great hip-hop label took on the world from Conshohocken
Dan DeLuca
Album reviews: The Raconteurs, Chuck Mead, and ‘Revenge of the Dreamers III’
Dan DeLuca’s Mix Picks: John & Yoko, The Mekons and Wiz Khalifa
Peter Frampton comes alive at final Philly show at the Met before retirement
Sorry parents of toddlers: ‘Baby Shark Live’ is coming to Philadelphia
Seraphina DiSalvo
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UK GDP grows in May
Despite the monthly rise, growth in the economy continued to slow in the three months between March and May
The UK economy bounced back to monthly growth in May as a recovery in car production drove a rise in output (Image: Getty)
The UK economy bounced back to monthly growth in May as a recovery in car production drove a rise in output.
Gross domestic product (GDP) grew by 0.3% in May in a marked rebound from a decline of 0.4% in April.
But growth in the economy continued to slow in the three months to May, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).
Scottish Enterprise chief on what holds the key to Scotland's future
Between March and May, GDP grew 0.3%, representing a slowdown from growth of 0.4% in the three months to April.
The month-on-month improvement was driven by growth in the automotive industry, as some plants returned to production following planned shutdowns intended to coincide with the original Brexit deadline in March.
May's overall bounce-back, which comes after two consecutive contractions, was in line with analyst sentiment, who predicted the return to growth.
Nevertheless, analysts predict that the jump will not be enough for the UK economy to avoid contraction in the second quarter.
Rob Kent-Smith, head of GDP at the ONS, said: "GDP grew moderately in the latest three months, with IT, communications and retail showing strength.
"Despite this, there has been a longer-term slowdown in the often-dominant services sector since summer 2018.
"The economy returned to growth in the month of May, following the fall seen in April. This was mainly due to the partial recovery in car production."
The production sector jumped to 1.4% growth in May, following a fall of 2.9% in April after stockpiling efforts took their toll.
Growth in mining and quarrying also remained strong, with 1.6% growth for the three months to May.
In the construction sector, growth was flat for the three-month period, highlighting a marked slowdown from 1% growth in the period to April.
Skills gap costing Scottish businesses more than £360 million
Services also reported flat output in May, as it slowed down from 0.1% growth in April.
The figures follow disappointing purchasing managers' index (PMI) figures, which showed shrinkage in the manufacturing and construction industries, while the services sector stagnated.
Ben Brettell, senior economist at Hargreaves Lansdown, said: "Today's growth figures from the ONS suggest the economy probably grew overall in the quarter, though probably at a much slower rate than the 0.5% recorded in the first quarter.
"Nevertheless, storm clouds look to be gathering over the UK economy as consumers and business remain hamstrung by Brexit uncertainty."
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William Shakespeare Married Anne Hathaway
A new study claims 17th century English playwright William. married tavern mistress. Jane’s husband, John Davenant, worked in the wine trade and later became mayor of the English town of Oxford.
Thomas Hardy Dorset Place Names Thomas Hardy (Higher Bockhampton, 2 June 1840 – Paris, 11 January 1928) was an English naturalist novelist and poet from the Victorian era and the early 20th century. He is generally considered one of the great writers of the English literature. Hardy was born at Higher Bockhampton. Hardy’s Cottage is a beautiful secluded place to
Nov 11, 2013 · Shakespeare himself passed away in April 1616. New place and Shakespeare’s other properties which had by this time grow substantially passed to ownership of his eldest daughter Susanna and her husband Dr. John Hall. The couple moved into the family home, but it is likely that Anne continued to live on in part of the house.
William Shakespeare had a secret son who grew up to become. a married tavern mistress. Shakespeare was married to Anne Hathaway; the couple had three children: Susanna; Hamnet, who died at 11; and.
William Shakespeare’s final years were even more puzzling and. Her character was also a new experience. “I knew nothing about Anne Hathaway,” she acknowledges, “but I’m not as embarrassed to say.
The play, called “The Drown’ed Book, or the History of William Shakespeare, Part Last,” explores William’s relationships with his wife, Anne Hathaway. was Shakespeare’s son-in-law, having married.
A few years after he left school, in late 1582, William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway. She was already expecting their first-born child, Susanna, which was a fairly common situation at the time. When they married, Anne was 26 and William was 18. Anne grew.
When he was eighteen Shakespeare married twenty-six year old Anne Hathaway. They may have been rushed into marrying because Anne was pregnant – their first child, Susanna, was born just six months after their wedding. Pregnant brides were not unusual, however, and nothing concrete is known about William and Anne’s relationship.
William Shakespeare is one of the greatest writers. Warwickshire. He made He got married to Anne Hathaway when he was just 18-years-old, she was 26-years-old and three months pregnant. Together.
The historical facts about Anne Hathaway, wife of William. s married, people don’t look so badly on her, saying ‘Now that I’m married I’m seen as adventurous.’” The 90-minute play begins as.
Jul 03, 2018 · Anne Hathaway’s Weird Connection to Shakespeare Is Freaking the Internet Out. So in love they came back for each other. This is freakier when you know she doesn’t age. Princess Diaries was 17 years ago. Moral of the story: Anne Hathaway might be the most beautiful vampire in the history of time, and her husband is is also vampire William Shakespeare. This is totally normal and I’m OK.
William Shakespeare was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on the 26 April, 1564 and died just three days short of his 53rd birthday, in the same place. His father was a glover and his mother was the.
An 18-year-old William Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway in November 1582. At the time, she was pregnant with his child. Little is known about Anne, but many believe she was the.
William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway married in November 1582. He was 18, she was 25.
The couple married in 1582 when Hathaway was 27 and Shakespeare. The road would come extremely close to the gardens where William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway saw their relationship blossom.’ The.
Interested in Shakespeare facts?Below is a range of 50 little known facts about William Shakespeare. Bear in mind that very little in the way of hard facts is actually known about Shakespeare’s life (unlike facts about Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, which are fairly well documented), but we’ve researched long and hard to come up with a range of interesting facts about the great man:
2. Shakespeare married an older woman who was three months pregnant at the time. In November 1582, 18-year-old William wed Anne Hathaway, a farmer’s daughter eight years his senior. Instead of the.
William Shakespeare is one of the most. In November 1582, 18-year-old Shakespeare wed Anne Hathaway. She was eight years older than he and was three months pregnant at the time they were married,
Anne Hathaway. She married William Shakespeare in November 1582 and they had three children: Susanna in May 1583, followed by twins Hamnet and Judith two years later. Hamnet, the Shakespeare’s only son, died in 1596 at eleven years of age. Wife of playwright and poet William Shakespeare. She was the daughter of Richard Hathaway, a Shottery farmer,
Through documents public and private, we know that indeed Shakespeare did exist; we know about his family (his father, for instance, was a once-prominent leather worker in Stratford); we know he.
William Arden, was arrested for plotting against Queen Elizabeth I. He was imprisoned in the Tower of London and executed. Shakespeare married his wife, Anne Hathaway, when he was 18. It was far from.
Shakespeare’s Children. William Shakespeare had three children with his wife, Anne. Their first child was Susanna, born in May 1583, just six months after William and Anne got married. Suzanne was christened on 26 May 1583. William and Anne then had twins – named Hamnet and Judity in January, 1585.
Tamil Love And Romantic Poems Speaking of the music scene in Tamil Nadu. a very popular poem that has been around in many versions both in live performances and in films. I’ve brought together a capella and an orchestral. Tamil Love Quotes, Romantic Love Quotes, Love Couple Images, Couples Images, Kalam Quotes, Dad Quotes, Best Quotes, Awesome Quotes, Life Quotes.
The opening of “All is True” shows William. Shakespeare had been an exceptional provider for his family, but he was also something of a ghost presence. When he returns to his Stratford-on-Avon.
Four Hundred years ago Saturday, William Shakespeare died. When he was only 18, Shakespeare married 26-year-old Anne Hathaway. Six months later, their first child, Susanna, was born. The couple had.
Actor Judi Dench as Anne Hathaway in All is True. Photograph: Handout Ben Elton has written a sweet-natured, melancholy film about the retirement years of someone he’s lately been turning into his.
Scorn Not The Sonnet William Wordsworth William Wordsworth wrote sonnets in favor of the idea. O’Brien did her research not long after Harvard made its second major acquisition for “Dying Speeches,” in 1991, gaining 110 broadsides from a. Doctor Who Theatre Of War to Rosie’s grandfathers at the end of the Second World War. Tank-driver Archie and wireless operator Samad, a
However, the other is a bond dated the next day that there was nothing to prevent the marriage taking place between William Shakespeare and Anne Hathaway of Stratford-upon-Avon, and that the bishop would be safeguarded from any future possible objections. William Shakespeare married Anne Hathaway late in November 1582.
Oct 29, 2018 · Anne Hathaway (1555/56 – 6 August 1623) was the wife of William Shakespeare, the English poet, playwright and actor. They were married in 1582, when he was 18 and she was 25 years old. She outlived her husband by seven years. Very little is known about her beyond a few references in legal documents, but her personality and relationship to Shakespeare have been the subject of much.
Judith Shakespeare, daughter of the celebrated playwright and poet William Shakespeare and his wife, Anne Hathaway, married Thomas Quiney, on the 10th February 1616.
It has come to the attention of the internet that Hathaway’s husband Adam Shulman bears a striking resemblance to the late poet and playwright and bane of your high school existence William Shakespeare. Oh, and Shakespeare’s wife was named—wait for it—ANNE HATHAWAY.
This April marks the 400th anniversary of the death of the most revered writer in history, William Shakespeare. Young Shakespeare was born here in 1564 (by most accounts also on April 23) and lived.
Records do show that he was born in Stratford-upon-Avon and died there 53 years later; that he married Anne Hathaway and they had three. When I decided to include "William Shakespeare” in my own.
The Best-loved Poems Of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis All are included in the new collection she has edited, "The Best-Loved Poems of Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis." "For me that whole ancient view of the world, which has survived all this time, is a. 1904 Music Hall Jacksonville Florida Sink your toes into Jacksonville’s sandy beaches. Explore our abundant waterways. Shop and dine in eclectic
1904 Music Hall Jacksonville Florida Sink your toes into Jacksonville’s sandy beaches. Explore our abundant waterways. Shop and dine in eclectic neighborhoods. 1904 Music Hall 1904 Music Hall. 19 N Ocean St; Jacksonville, Florida 32202 Phone: 904-Price Range: Details. Meeting Space. Inside Space. Area: 0feet. Spliffs. Area: 0feet. Website Email. Apr 17, 2016 · The Good Wood Band Live. Skip navigation.
Jul 02, 2018 · There’s a conspiracy theory gaining steam on Twitter that posits that Adam Shulman, who is married to Anne Hathaway, is actually William Shakespeare.
Records show that a licence was issued for Shakespeare’s marriage to Anne Hathaway on 27 November. life and times of William Shakespeare, said: "People want to know where Shakespeare was married.
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A key objective of the KASD Education Foundation mission is to raise scholarship funds for outstanding seniors. To date, the foundation has received donations in excess of $800,000 for awards which are detailed below.
Blue and White Scholarship
The senior chosen for the Blue and White Scholarship must have good academic standing, be of good character, represent the high school in a positive manner, and be involved in school and community activities. Initial funding for this award was donated by the Cougar Tale.
Oscar and Marion Stein Scholarship
The Oscar and Marion Stein Scholarship is presented to a senior who has worked to his/her fullest potential during their senior year. Mr. Stein was an outstanding teacher and coach during the 1930’s and 1940’s.
Richard Morse Memorial Scholarship
The Richard Morse Memorial Scholarship is presented to a senior who is involved in school activities and the community, in honor of Dick Morse, an outstanding community youth volunteer.
Roland S. Rhode Scholarship
The Roland S. Rhode scholarship is awarded to a senior of superior academic achievement who will enter a college or university and major in a biology-related field. Due to the generosity of the estate of Roland Rhode, a KAHS graduate and longtime Kutztown businessman, the KASD Education Foundation is able to award this scholarship.
Sharon E. Reeves Memorial Scholarship
The Sharon E. Reeves Memorial Scholarship Award is presented to a student who has the highest grade point average and will major in the areas related to therapeutic recreation, gerontology, occupational recreation, or music. This award is presented by the family to honor the memory of their daughter, Sharon, a former Kutztown student.
Sean M. Halpin, Esquire, Memorial Scholarship
The Sean M. Halpin, Esquire, Memorial Scholarship recipient, in addition to meeting academic guidelines, must be involved in the high school music department and enter a two-year or four-year college or university. This award was established by Sean’s parents, honoring his life and accomplishments.
Timothy M. Breidegam Scholarship
The Timothy M. Breidegam Scholarship recipient must do well in school, be of good moral character, and enter a two-year or four-year college or vocational/technical school. Consideration is also given to extra-curricular activities and community service. This scholarship is sponsored by Helen and the late DeLight Breidegam in honor of their son’s memory.
Charles Z. Angstadt Memorial Scholarship
The Charles Z. Angstadt Memorial Scholarship is awarded to a student who has the highest average in Honors Physics and is accepted to a four-year college, in honor of Mr. Angstadt, an outstanding KAHS physics teacher.
Marilyn Hawkins Rothermel Award
The Marilyn Hawkins Rothermel Award is presented by her family to an outstanding vocalist in the senior class.
Alumni Association Scholarships
The KAHS Alumni Association annually provides scholarships to top students in the areas of German, Spanish, and extracurricular participation.
Ruth Grim Leestma Scholarship
The Ruth Grim Leestma Scholarship is given annually to a senior who has an excellent grade point average and who is selfless in volunteer endeavors, in honor of a former Fifth Grade teacher who dedicated her life to community service and random acts of kindness.
Jeanne C. Noll Memorial Scholarship
The Jeanne C. Noll Memorial Scholarship is given to a current show choir senior who also is dedicated to community service. This award, created by a group of KAHS show choir alumni, honors the memory of their beloved director, teacher, and friend, Mrs. Jeanne Noll.
Schumaker Family Community Service Award
The Schumaker Family Community Service Award recognizes the outstanding community service efforts of a graduating senior who has adopted a continuous habit of service, and who has committed him or herself to a lifetime of service. The award was created by Clarence J. “Shuey” Schumaker, KAHS class of 1954, in honor of his family.
Graceful World Award
The Graceful World Award is given annually to a graduating senior who has demonstrated a positive and selfless attitude, and who has made significant contributions to the improvement of the KAHS experience.
Anna Warmkessel Memorial Reading Award
The Anna Warmkessel Memorial award is presented to a senior who loves to read for pleasure, in honor of Mrs. Warmkessel, who read voraciously throughout her 94 years.
The Sally Breidegam-Miksiewicz Music Award
This Sally Breidegam-Miksiewicz Music Award was initially funded by a concert presented by the KAHS Pop Group of the 70’s and 80’s, The 28 Large, and the Breidegam family, in memory of Sally, KAHS class of 1980 and former CEO, East Penn manufacturing.
The Lynn Silan Engineering & Technology Award
The Lynn Silan Engineering & Technology award is presented to a graduating senior who will continue their education pursuing a career in any field of science, mathematics, technology or engineering. The recipient is chosen based on problem-solving skills, initiative, and having a thirst for knowledge in their chosen field of study.
The John and Laila Silan Valedictorian Scholarship
This award is presented to Kutztown’s Senior Class Valedictorian, in honor of Coach John and Laila Silan, both KAHS teachers dedicated to motivating students to strive for excellence in all aspects of their lives.
The John and Laila Silan Salutatorian Award
The John and Laila Silan Salutatorian Award is given to the Class Salutatorian for his/her exceptional academic achievements. This award is made possible by contributions from friends and family of the long-time coach and teacher.
Randall C. Miller Memorial Baseball Scholarship Award
The Randall Miller Baseball Award is given to an outstanding player on the KAHS team.
The Kutztown Area Teachers’ Association Scholarship
The KATA scholarship is presented to a student who will pursue a career in the field of education. This renewable award is given through the generosity of the professional staff within the Kutztown Area School District.
The George W. and Anna I. Grauer Educators Scholarship
Mr. and Mrs. George and Anna Grauer, both retired KASD teachers, were committed to the field of education. This award is given to a graduating senior who will continue their education and pursue a career in education.
The Howard Dietrich Memorial Award
Given in honor of Howard Dietrich, a long time educator in the Business Department at KAHS. This award is presented to a student who will continue education in the field of business administration, finance, human resources, or decision/management sciences.
The John Kander Performing Arts Scholarship
This award, in honor of John Kander, half of the Broadway musical team Kander and Ebb, is presented to a graduating senior who will pursue a career in theater, dramatic arts, voice performance, comedy, or dance.
The John Kander Music Award
This award, in honor of John Kander, half of the Broadway musical team Kander and Ebb, is presented to a graduating senior who will pursue a career in music composition, song writing, music instrumental excellence, or music education.
The Maryanne “Bieb” Bieber Hartline Memorial Scholarship
This award was created to honor Maryanne Hartline in recognition of her accomplishments as a field hockey player at Kutztown Area High School. The award is given to a senior field hockey player who plans to continue her education at a two or four year college or university.
The Vivian Reed Keppley Memorial Award
This award was created in honor of Vivian Reed Keppley, a graduate of Kutztown Area High School. Vivian was an avid reader who continued her education at the University of Oklahoma. In her honor, her son David has created this award in hopes to fulfill his mother’s dream of promoting literacy for all.
Emergency Service Award
This award was created to honor a student who is an active volunteer involved in an emergency service within the Kutztown Area School District or who is pursuing a career in the same field. This award, alternatively, may be given to the son or daughter of an active firefighter or emergency medical provider within the Kutztown Area School District.
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BREAKING: Comedian Zelensky wins by landslide in Ukraine, Poroshenko concedes
By Our Correspondent April 21, 2019
Volodymyr Zelensky, a comedian with no political experience won a landslide victory in Ukraine’s presidential election Sunday, exit polls showed, dealing a stunning rebuke to the country’s political establishment.
Zelensky whose only previous political role was playing the president on television, trounced incumbent Petro Poroshenko by taking 73 percent of the vote, according to exit polls conducted by several think tanks.
Poroshenko, who lost to the television star across all regions of the country, including in the west where he traditionally enjoyed strong support, has already called Zelensky to congratulate him.
In a series of tweets, he also said he would not quit politics yet.
“Never give up…. Never, never, never… Neither in the big nor in the small, nor in the a significant, nor in the shallow… Never give up if that doesn’t contradict honour and common sense.
“Already next month I will leave the post of head of state. So the majority of Ukrainians decided, and I perceive this decision. I will go from the office of President. But I do not go out of politics. Firmly want to declare and explain why.
“Our team will defend our course for the European Union and NATO membership. Because only in the world’s strongest collective security system, we can receive reliable protection from Russia, guarantee the independence of the country and the safety of citizens.
“Our team will be protecting visa-free. Our team will protect our army from mid-country attacks, from any attempts to diminish the historical significance of its exploit. Our team will protect the Ukrainian language. If the next week’s board adopts the law on language, I will definitely sign it.”
The election was an extraordinary outcome to a campaign that started as a joke but struck a chord with voters frustrated by poverty, corruption and a five-year war that has claimed some 13,000 lives.
The 41-year-old star of TV series “Servant of the People” will now take the helm of a country of 45 million people beset by challenges and having run on the vaguest of political platforms.
After taking the most votes in last month’s first-round election, Zelensky had enjoyed a strong lead over the 53-year-old Poroshenko going into Sunday’s poll.
Voting earlier in the capital Kiev, the beaming frontrunner had said his campaign managed to bring Ukrainians together.
“We have united Ukraine,” he said, wearing a casual suit with a t-shirt and accompanied by his wife. “Everything will be all right.”
Sparkling wine was on offer at his campaign headquarters as the star’s team prepared to toast his victory on Palm Sunday, a week before Orthodox Easter.
Preliminary results were expected in several hours but the same exit polls were accurate in the first round.
From Ukrainian-speaking regions in the west of the country to Russian-speaking territories in the war-torn east, many voters said they feared uncertainty but yearned for change.
“We’re tired of all the lies,” said Marta Semenyuk, 26, who cast her ballot for the comedian.
“I think it just cannot get any worse and I hope he’ll live up to his promises,” said Larisa, an 18-year-old student from the government-held eastern port city of Mariupol.
Zelensky’s victory opens a new chapter in the history of a country that has gone through two popular uprisings in the last 20 years and is mired in a conflict with Moscow-backed separatists in the east.
His supporters say only a fresh face can clean up Ukraine’s politics and end the separatist conflict.
But others doubt the showman will be able to take on the country’s influential oligarchs, negotiate with the likes of German Chancellor Angela Merkel and stand up to Russia’s Vladimir Putin.
“People have gone mad,” Viktoriya Olomutska, a 39-year-old Poroshenko supporter, said in Kiev. “Cinema and reality are two different things.”
Police recover weapons at PDP, APC secretariats in Kano, arrest eight suspects
Blasts at Sri Lanka hotels, churches kill 156
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Academy Meet 2016 Entry Form
Academy Meet 2016 VIP Flyer
The Los Angeles School of Gymnastics: Spring Academy Meet and Expo Showcase
Culver City ,CA (November 13, 2016)-The spirit of the Olympic Movement rolls into Culver City as The los Angeles school of Gymnastics(LASG) will be celebrating with their Academy Meet and Expo Showcase in commemoration of Olympic Day 2016.
Academy Meet and Expo showcase is a mock Olympic theme competition put on by the entire student body of the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics. Featured at the event, which will be held on Sunday November 13, 2016,will be the school’s Executive Director Alla Svirsky and Coach Yefim Furman, to honor Olympic Day’s mission to promote fitness ,well-being ,culture and education, while promoting the Olympic values-excellence, friendship and respect.
The Academy Meet and Expo Showcase also serves as a very special opportunity for students to perform in a non-judged format. The entire student body will perform a series of routines in a standard competition format, including the “Pre School Olympics” with an Olympic theme to boot moral for each child participating in this unique event, one of its only kind in Los Angeles. This unique event combines mental and physical preparedness with mental aptitude for these young athletes. The expo will be one of more than 700 events that will be taking place nationwide that is designed to engage youth and promote the ideals of the Olympic movement, featuring athlete appearances, family friendly activities and interactive learning experiences.
A special appearance from the school’s director, Mrs. Alla Svirsky, a 3 time Olympic Coach, Olympic Judge and Inductee to the Sports Hall of Fame will be present at the Olympic celebratory event. Also slated for the event is former Olympian, Yefim Furman, known to many as the “Godfather” in the gymnastics world .Furman competed at the 1972 Olympic Games in Munich claiming the Olympic Silver Medal. He also serves as the lead consultant to NBC Sports for all the gymnastics coverage. Coach Furman is part of the success of the 2016 Gymnastics Olympic Team, dubbed “The Final Five” including Gabby Douglas, Aly Raisman and Simone Biles. Furman also just returned from Li Ning, China where the men’s Gymnastics team competed at the World Championships and Yefim was on the site to help assemble the Olympic team for the 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio, Brazil in 2016!
“We are excited to take part in Olympic Day and inspire young gymnasts in the Los Angeles Community” Commented General Manager, Tanya Berenson. “LASG has provided thousands of young athletes with quality gymnastics instruction and has produced several Olympians and internationally-ranked athletes throughout the years. So this day has a special place in the school’s heart”
Olympic day was created in 1948 to commemorate the birth of the modern Olympic Games, focuses on the Olympic values and ideal such as fair play, perseverance, respect and sportsmanship. In the U.S, Olympic Day events range from small gatherings to large, city wide events.
About The Los Angeles School of Gymnastics:
Named by the Los Angeles magazine as the “best gymnastics center in LA,” the LASG is a nonprofit Olympic quality gymnastics training center. The Facility has been training youth since 1975 and it is considered among the best gymnastics training facilities in the United States. Led by Alla Svirsky,LASG has provided thousands of young athletes with quality gymnastics instruction and has produced several Olympians and internationally-ranked athletes.
For media inquiries individuals are encouraged to contact the School’s General Manager, Tanya Berenson directly at 573-825-8209 or via email Tanya@LAgymnastics.com. To learn more about the Los Angeles School of Gymnastics, please contact 310-204-1980, email info@lagymnastics.com or visit us online at www.lagymnastics.com
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Posted by Lainey at March 18, 2019 15:34:59 March 18, 2019 15:34:59
The minute I started reading Daisy Jones & The Six I wish I wrote it. The book is set up as an oral history, the kind Vulture and Entertainment Weekly and other entertainment sites have been doing for movie and music and TV retrospectives – a really clever narrative structure that could only have been done by a pop culture enthusiastic aka a sophisticated gossip. Taylor Jenkins Reid understands gossip. She understands that gossip is storytelling and that stories can take different forms through the lens of the people telling them – which is why this was the gossipiest way to tell the story of a fictional band from the 70s that may or may not remind you of a real band from the 70s, although it doesn’t really matter if you know that, because these characters will feel real to you, these conversations will sound real to you, you will want the music to be real too. This is a really, really special book about creative collaboration and the entire ecosystem involved in making art, not just the headliners. And by putting so much life into every member of the band and more, instead of focusing only on the “leads”, Taylor Jenkins Reid has told a story about the WORK of making and performing art, honouring the fact that it doesn’t happen in a vacuum, that the best art happens in community, that’s where the magic is.
By the end of it, you will almost believe that Daisy Jones and The Six existed. By the end of it, you will definitely want a Daisy & The Six concert tee. You might even want to be Daisy for Halloween. And you will definitely have opinions about who should be Daisy and Billy and Karen (I love Karen so much and I can’t wait for you to meet her) and Graham and Eddie and the rest of band when you see it on Amazon. Reese Witherspoon already acquired the rights to the book before publication for a 13 episode series that will include original music. Like, it would not surprise me if Taylor Swift wants to play Daisy – if she hasn’t already read it and put in the call. I can’t wait to play casting call with all of you after you’ve read it. I can’t wait for you to be as obsessed as I am.
Daisy Jones & The Six is available now. Give yourself the day, because once you start, you won’t be able to stop. Click here to visit the Penguin Random House book page and scroll to the bottom to find links to the retailer or eBook store of your choice.
Note: Although this is a paid spot, I was under no obligation to be complimentary of the book, only to present it to you as an option. However, I thoroughly enjoyed it and chose to write what I wrote. Also… I have great taste in books.
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Opinion: Even the secretary of the Army questions the wisdom of keeping the Selective Service
Vermont National Guard Spc. Skylar Anderson, the first woman in the Army to qualify as a combat engineer, in December 2015 at Camp Johnson in Colchester, Vt.
(Wilson Ring / Associated Press)
By Mariel Garza
If President-elect Donald Trump is looking for useless departments to kill in the name of reducing government, he should look no further than the Selective Service, the agency that does little more than maintain a registry of men technically available to fight in the unlikely event that the country reinstates a military draft.
After the military opened combat jobs to women last year, the question about whether they should also register for the Selective Service was left hanging.
Some people said no way — that women shouldn’t sign up because even if a few women are up to the challenge of fighting in combat, certainly the average civilian woman would not be, so why clog up the registry with so many unqualified potential draftees? Others said, of course — because you take the good things with the bad. (The “yes” side includes President Obama, who after years of neutrality on the subject came out as supporting women registering last week.)
The L.A. Times’ editorial board’s response was somewhat different: How about no one be forced to sign up for the purely figurative draft? Eric Fanning, the secretary of the U.S. Army, seems to agree with our view.
Secretary of the Army Eric Fanning speaks during a groundbreaking for the U.S. Army Cyber Command Complex at Ft. Gordon, Ga., on Nov. 29.
(Michael Holahan / Augusta Chronicle )
Fanning met with editors and writers at the L.A. Times offices Friday before heading over to the Reagan National Defense Forum in Simi Valley. When asked whether women should be required to register for the draft, Fanning reiterated what he said at his confirmation hearing earlier this year.
“I think I said, ‘Equal opportunity is equal responsibility.’ So, yes. But I would go a step further and say it’s probably time to review the Selective Service. Do we need that anymore? Is it the right form?” Fanning said. Then he recalled how his cousin’s dog somehow managed to get on a Selective Service list.
“If we’re going to have a Selective Service, then yeah, everybody should be a part of it. But I don’t know if 40-plus years into an all-volunteer force, with the way that we fight and the way we build our military, if we even need a Selective Service anymore,” Fanning said.
When even the man in charge (at least for the moment) of recruitment and training of the Army doesn’t think a draft registry makes a lot of sense, then it may be time for a critical look at the requirement that young men (and maybe soon young women) sign up when they turn 18 or face harsh punishment.
mariel.garza@latimes.com
Follow me @marielgarzaLAT
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PERFORMANCES
Lexi Gwynn is an experienced young actor and singer from Malvern, Pennsylvania. Her solid vocal ability, authentic acting, and infectious energy have captured the attention of directors and audiences throughout the Philadelphia and New York region.
Lexi loves everything about the stage and is a true triple threat. Her first performing memory dates back to age three, entertaining her friends and family by dressing up and singing songs from ANNIE, which, at the time, was her favorite musical. Lexi's passion for performing is growing and she is now branching into Film, Television and Commercial work as well. Check out some clips here.
Lexi is no stranger to the stage. She is often seen in productions at The Walnut Street Theatre (Philadelphia). You may have seen her in SATURDAY NIGHT FEVER, HIGH SOCIETY or the TONY nominated holiday favorite, A CHRISTMAS STORY THE MUSICAL. The historic Media Theatre is home to Lexi as well. In the winter of 2017, Lexi magnificently performed the role of Juliet in ROMEO & JULIET as well as Patrice in 13 THE MUSICAL. Lexi is the recipient of the Broadway World Award for Best Actress in a Play for her work as Helen Keller in THE MIRACLE WORKER at Media Theatre.
Lexi currently studies voice with Lisa Willson (PHIL) and Robert Marks (NYC) and dance with Janine Molinari, founder of NYC's DMO. She studies acting with Jill Stern (NYC) and has studied acting at The Walnut Street Theatre. Lexi has gained a true passion for Shakespeare; and enjoys studying verse and other Shakespeare related techniques including Alexander and Linklater. Lexi enjoys camera work as well and has appeared in several webisodes and commercials. She hopes to grow and continue her work in the TV and Film industry.
Lexi is currently attending The Westtown High School. Her favorite subjects are physics and math and she reading and writing. She possesses advanced verbal and vocabulary comprehension skills. She enjoys a variety of creative pursuits, including drawing, painting, and gardening. Lexi lives a vegan lifestyle and enjoys learning new recipes and experimenting in the kitchen. Lexi has a dog named Maggie who often travels with Lexi to auditions and shows. Lexi is passionate about animal rights and supports organizations that have the same beliefs. She dreams of one day being even more involved and instrumental in promoting animal rights.
Lexi's greatest joy is using her passion to help others. She believes in educating youth through the use of the theatre an has recently appeared in a video designed to introduce the sensory friendly programs at The Walnut Theatre. Lexi is passionate about helping people who have ALS. She has skated in ice shows to help raise money, lends her voice to sing the National Anthem, and has handmade items for sale to help raise money for charities like the ALS Hope Foundation.
Lexi is represented by Cathy Parker Management and is a proud member of AEA.
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Preston city’s marina to mark special day
Anniversary: Boats on the water at Preston's docklands
Published: 12:00 Friday 10 April 2015
Preston’s iconic marina is 25 years old this weekend.
This Saturday marks a quarter of a century since the opening of Preston Marina at the city’s redeveloped Riversway Docklands.
It won’t be a major festival. It’s a normal working day but we wanted to mark the anniversary. We will be having live music and a visit from the RNLI with their boat safety roadshow
The marina, operated by the same family since 1990, has become an icon of the city of Preston, and maintains the city’s historic links with both the sea and the surrounding canal network.
But it is not just boat owners who enjoy the marina. The Beach Hut café has always been a firm favourite with visitors to the docklands area, especially now that the Guild Wheel cycle route runs through it.
Steve Miller, manager of the Marina, said: “It won’t be a major festival. It’s a normal working day but we wanted to mark the anniversary. We will be having live music and a visit from the RNLI with their boat safety roadshow.
“For anyone with an interest in boats and boating it will be well worth a look. We will also be welcoming back some old customers.”
A “trial version” of Preston Marina was opened in 1985, before the surrounding land was re-developed. It had only six swinging moorings in the dock basin – but gradually boats started to come and found the site to be a useful winter or laying-up base.
In 1990, the Marina was fully opened, with fully serviced pontoon berths, boatyard, a chandlery and lifestyle shop and its very popular waterside coffee shop
Steve said: “The fact that we have a marina at all is remarkable. Some people said it would never work, but here we are 25 years later.”
Out on the town in Preston: Latest weekend party pictures from around the city - April 12-13, 2019
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Archive -Feb 2003
100 Reasons to . . .
100 Reasons to Celebrate
By Nishtha Shukla
What began as a bookshop in pre-Independence Lahore, is today a flourishing publishing house. The largest sellers of Indological books across the globe, MLBD celebrates its centenary year
‘‘Half of those trying to understand India’s religion and philosophy are foreigners’’
—J.P. Jain Director, MLBD
Tell us about your association with the publishing house.
After my graduation in 1965, I was posted at our Patna branch, which was a 1937 establishment. At that time I had gone without any training or briefing on publishing. Not only me, all my brothers learnt in-house.
For 15 years I was handling the branch alone, including its administration and publication. When I shifted to Delhi to manage the printing press, I made my first foreign trip in 1969 for the Frankfurt Book Fair. At that time, we were the only Indian publishers there.
What role MLBD plays in the publishing industry?
MLBD has been actively part of the publishing industry, as part of the fraternity and the government. In 1977 for instance, I went for a world tour on behalf of the Export Promotion Council for a month. Then in 1982 I went to China as a government-delegated guest for a marketing study. We were chosen by the Ministry of Education to explore Indian religion and philosophy abroad.
How is the market for your books abroad?
Despite all the development abroad, there is a lot of frustration there. They tend to believe that Indian remedial sciences can help them. So they are eager to learn more. Indian culture, especially yoga and meditation, interest them.
There are numerous Indian gurus abroad. So people are aware of the uses of these concepts. In places such as Trinidad, Guyana, Fiji and Mauritius, the Indian community is way more serious about these matters than people here in India. Australia and New Zealand also give us similar reception and encouragement.
There is a 20 per cent increase in our exports per year. We have also explored China as a market, especially for texts on Buddhism. While in Bangkok, Thailand and Nepal, Hinduism is popular, Buddhism is popular in Sri Lanka.
What is the nature of readership in India?
At one point of time, most people used to be fond of reading. Now, only serious people come here—those who are looking for scholarly material. There is good readership in Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai.
Any plans to venture into general publishing?
For us it’s not the money that matters. We have earned a reputation, so we don’t foray into other kinds of publishing.
Certain threads run common with thinkers of all ages. One such is the vision of a society where reading is a common hobby. In the beginning of the 20th century, one Motilal from Lahore had a similar vision. He wanted to start a `Sanskrit religion` bookshop because he felt that Sanskrit was the mother of all Indian languages and religion was the `universal faith`.
Motilal and his wife were upholders of the teachings of Jain Tirthankaras and followed the eternal values of the religion, starting with its three tenets: samyak darshana (true insight), samyak jnana (right knowledge) and samyak charitra (pure conduct). Well-versed in Sanskrit as well as English literature, Motilal knew the storehouse of knowledge that Indian literature and philosophy were.
As they went about setting their Sanskrit religious bookshop, they had a threefold vision that included books that disseminate knowledge. Thus evolved a bookstore devoted to works of religious and philosophical eminence. In 1903, their dream turned into reality with a capital of Rs 27.
Today, that small bookshop has expanded into one of the leading publishers of Indology across the globe.
One of India`s oldest publishing and distribution firms, the Motilal Banarsidass or MLBD (as it is known today) house is celebrating its centenary year through 2003. If the Reliance group was born out of Dhirubhai Ambani`s vision, MLBD is a perfect example of a family business developing from local to global, as well as the advantages of hereditary set-ups. Dr Vedagya Arya, in a booklet on MLBD titled Celebrating Hundred-Saga of Harmony from Grandfather to Grandsons recalls the Indian scriptures in connection with the family-that the aspirations of forefathers are inspiring factors to guide the future of their succeeding generations.
The celebrations commenced on January 5, 2003 at MLBD`s Naraina printing press in New Delhi where they honoured some employees in the presence of T.N. Chaturvedi, Governor of Karnataka. In this 100th year of its existence, the publishing house has planned numerous events across the country. It has also announced incentives for young, enterprising authors that will run through the year 2003.
In a press release, N.P. Jain, managing director and spokes- person of MLBD, said that to promote quality research work on Indology, established scholars will be given free books published under MLBD, up to a stipulated value. MLBD also has plans of handsome discount schemes for wholesalers, dealers and retailers, as well as individual buyers. It is considering organizing workshops of Vedic mathematics in various cities. The publishing house is also looking at joint teacher support programmes with the World Academy for Vedic Mathematics, which is part of the International Research and Resource Foundation for Indian Heritage, Nagpur.
Two events that should be worth its weight in gold are the international conference on the `Contribution of Publishing Community Towards Indology` and the seminar on Bhartrihari, the 7th century grammarian-poet. While the latter is to be organised in the second week of December 2003, the dates for the former are yet to be announced.
After the Partition it was Sundarlal Jain, son of Lala Motilal and younger brother of Banarsidass, who revived the business and shifted it from Lahore to Patna, Benaras and Delhi. Accompanying him was Shantilal Jain, who was later decorated with a Padmashri in 1992. Of the days of strife in the country, Leelawati Jain, wife of Shantilal, recalls: “We left Lahore without anything. We even gave our buffaloes to the jamadarni (scavenger) there. When we moved to Benaras, Lalaji started by selling books on a patta (wooden plank).“
Today, the business is managed by Shantilal`s five sons-Narendra Jain, Jainendra Jain, Rajendra Jain, Ravindra Jain and Rajeev Jain. The eldest, N.P. Jain, is at the helm of affairs. Their head-office is in Delhi with seven branches in India.
The families of the five brothers also live together-their home is right above their head office in the capital. Leelawati mentions: “Being part of a business of scholars and culture, a person tends to become sattvik. So there is only love in the family.“ A house-full of 30 people, they also have loyal employees, who have been with them for years. Their driver Radheshyam Chauhan has been at MLBD for over 35 years. He says: “I received enormous love from the family.“ In true modernist Jain disposition, the family has always involved women as part of their process of growth. It started with Lala Motilal who borrowed the capital from his wife from her earnings through her knitting.
Last year, MLBD opened its New Age bookshop in Delhi, which stores fiction, historical and professional books, with an emphasis on New Age. “MLBD is for the hard-core segment in Indology. This one is more for the younger people,“ says Dheeraj Bakshi, who manages the store.
As an industry, publishing in India has progressed in leaps and bounds since Independence, being one of the six foremost book producers of the world with over 13,000 publishers. According to the Federation of Indian Publishers, India produces 60,000 titles every year in 18 languages. As an exporter, it now has large markets in the UK, other West European countries, the USA, Japan and Australia for books on Indian philosophy and religion, yoga, ancient classics and culture. MLBD is one of the leading Indian exporters and have been bestowed with export promotion awards by the Export Promotion Council. While fulfilling the world`s want of books on Indology, it has also grown as a publishing house serious about research-based, authoritative texts on Indology.
Director J.P. Jain says: “We are particular about scrutinising the merit of a work in terms of its language and subject because we have a goodwill…That is why when a book is an MLBD publication, people say this must be good.“ Of all the manuscripts they receive, they reject about 90 per cent. For the rest, they edit the text and send it to experts for pre-publishing scrutiny. Their authors are usually scholars and leading authors, people renowned in their field of expertise. They also reprint foreign writers on Indology, making books written abroad affordable for Indian and Asian readers.
The authors choose subjects from comparative study in Indology, religion, philosophy, anthropology, art, culture, life-style and thinking process of different races and nations. “We focus on publishing works for advanced studies and research,“ says J.P Jain.
The most popular MLBD books are those on Vedic mathematics, Tulsidas`s Shri Ramacharitamanasa as well as books on yoga, astrology and ayurveda. Some series that have been acclaimed by scholars are Sacred Books of the East (50 volumes), Buddhist Tradition Series, Advaita Tradition Series, Word Speaks to the Faustian Man and Sources of Ancient Indian Law.
Vedic mathematics was discovered in the last century by the late Bharati Krishna Tirtha, Shankaracharya of Puri. After going through MLBD`s books on the subject, most people relate that mathematics does not seem as daunting. James Glover, author of MLBD`s books on Vedic mathematics, recently did a series of workshops on the subject as part of an India-wide tour. He explains that Vedic mathematics teaches you different approaches to problems systematically. Otherwise complicated, he says that the 16 basic sutras or aphorisms of Vedic mathematics and an equal number of sub-sutras are a unifying system. The philosophical basis of mathematics really is Advaita or non-dualism.
The publishing house has its origins in a book shop started by Lala Matilal who borrowed the Rs 27 capital from his wives earnings through her knitting .
Lala Shantilal`s strong faith in Chintamani Parshvanath and Lord Rama led to his publishing the Ramacharitamanasa in Hindi and English translations. The epic has earned MLBD worldwide recognition, reputation and honour.
Branching out of the empire are enterprises that are its essential support systems today. MLBD Pvt Ltd is their associate that takes care of the exports and wholesale division of the house.
Realizing the importance of readership abroad, they also have MLBD Books International that looks after the bulk overseas sale of MLBD books and books from other Indian publishers catering to international demand.
Again, referring to the popular demand for New Age literature across the globe, their New Age Books imprint brings out paperback books on art, astrology, ayurveda, tantra, alternative therapies, meditation, metaphysics and parapsychology. Reasonably priced, they already have a large market. Their foray into books for professional and business communities is one deviation from Indology. Called Excel Books, they bring out modestly priced books in core business and management topics and have had the privilege of publishing Deepak Chopra`s Seven Spiritual Laws of Success, that raked it in.
MLBD`s Shri Atma Vallabh Jain Warehousing Company stores goods of other parties and the revenue generated from here is donated to their Charitable Trust.
This business, with its culture of professionalism coupled with amicability, seems to be their winning recipe for success.
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Michael L. Brown
Maxine Waters at a Los Angeles rally Saturday, June 23, 2018.
BlogsPolitics - U.S. Wed Jun 27, 2018 - 1:43 pm EST
Is Maxine Waters fueling a civil war in Trump’s America?
Michael L. Brown Follow Dr. Michael
civil war, donald trump, immigration, immigration policies, maxine waters, red hen, sarah huckabee sanders, trump admin
June 27, 2018 (LifeSiteNews) – After Sarah Sanders and her family were kicked out of a restaurant owned by a Trump-hater, Rep. Maxine Waters said on MSNBC, “I have no sympathy for these people that are in this administration who know it’s wrong for what they’re doing on so many fronts.”
She added, “I want to tell you, these members of his cabinet who remain and try to defend him, they won’t be able to go to a restaurant, they won’t be able to stop at a gas station, they’re not going to be able to shop at a department store. The people are going to turn on them. They’re going to protest. They’re absolutely going to harass them until they decide that they’re going to tell the president, ‘No, I can’t hang with you.’ This is wrong. This is unconscionable. We can’t keep doing this to children [referring to the children of illegal immigrants being detained at the border].”
READ: Democratic Congresswoman: We must ‘harass’ Trump officials at gas stations, restaurants
Rep. Waters, are you sure want this kind of America? Are you sure you want this new civil war (or, should I say, new war on civility)?
I understand the moral outrage against President Trump. He’s an incredibly divisive leader, and he has quite an unsavory past. I get it.
I personally don’t like his name-calling (as clever and effective as it is), and I understand how offensive his personality can be. And I recognize that some of his policies are controversial.
That’s why it’s so hard for many Americans to understand why evangelical believers like me voted for him and why we continue to support him (while, at times, clearly differing with him in private and in public).
To repeat: I get it.
But what Rep. Waters is calling for – or at the least, celebrating – is absolutely intolerable. It is destructive, it is ugly, and it is un-American.
Rep. Waters, do you know how millions of us felt during the presidency of Barack Obama? How deeply grieved we were by his pro-abortion zeal? By his saying, “God bless you” to Planned Parenthood? By his speaking of an unwanted teen pregnancy as a punishment?
As pro-life Americans, his statements and actions were outrageous to us. But it never crossed our minds to kick his press secretary, Josh Earnest, out of a restaurant. And it certainly never crossed the minds of Republican leaders to call for such things. To do so is to draw a very dangerous line and to set a very ugly precedent.
Rep. Waters, do you realize how upset we were when President Obama “changed” his position on homosexuality, becoming a champion for same-sex “marriage” after emphatically saying he rejected it as a Christian? (I say “changed” because it’s fairly clear he lied about his earlier “Christian” view, falsely claiming that his views had recently evolved.)
For millions of evangelicals, there is nothing more sacred than the life of a baby in the womb and the sanctity of God-ordained (= male-female) marriage. And our previous president led a frontal assault against both those fronts.
What if we had kicked you out of one of our restaurants because of your support for him? Would you have said, “I respect your convictions, and you have acted honorably?” I think not.
Before President Obama, the foreign policies of President George Bush were highly controversial, leading to the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and the displacement of millions. Some would argue that his policies saved many more lives, but the bottom line is that his decisions to go to war in Afghanistan and Iraq were fiercely opposed by many.
Yet it would have been unthinkable for someone to refuse service to one of his cabinet members or staff members. And had someone made that decision, there would not been congressional leaders cheering that person on.
Rep. Waters, you know quite well that what goes around comes around, and this circle of hostility is only going to grow. Surely, as an African American leader, you are more than aware of the ugliness that can rise in our society. The ugliness of slavery. The ugliness of segregation. The ugliness of division and hatred and bias and bigotry.
Yet today, you are fanning the flames of something equally dangerous. And if you’re not careful, the flames will soon burn you (or someone else in your own ideological camp).
A famous liberal will be refused service based on political beliefs alone, then some conservative pundit will say, “If you could do it to Sarah Sanders, we can do it to you.” And from there, it will only degenerate.
This is different than asking someone to violate their convictions by creating something they believe is wrong or sinful. (An example of this would be the case of Masterpiece Cakes and baker Jack Phillips.) No, we’re talking today about refusing a family service in a restaurant because of their connection to the Trump administration.
Rep. Maxine Water, we can only imagine what will happen tomorrow if your dangerous rhetoric is taken to heart, especially as a hostile media continues to provoke with misleading reports.
The situation is toxic enough as is. The last thing we need from a public figure like you is to throw more fuel on the fire.
Follow Michael...
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Dr. Brown is the author of more than 35 books, including Our Hands Are Stained with Blood: The Tragic Story of the “Church” and the Jewish People, which has been translated into more than twelve languages, the highly acclaimed five-volume series, Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, a commentary on Jeremiah (part of the revised edition of the Expositor’s Bible Commentary), and several books on revival and the Jesus revolution. His newest books are Jezebel’s War With America: The Plot to Destroy Our Country and What We Can Do to Turn the Tide (2019) and Not Afraid of the Antichrist: Why We Don’t Believe In a Pre-Tribulation Rapture (2019).
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Snapshots from New Orleans Through the Eyes of Laura Flanders
Snapshots from New Orleans Through the Eyes of Laura Flanders | Link TV
Carla Pineda
Carla Pineda is a site editor and producer for Link TV and KCET. She is from Los Angeles of Guatemalan and Salvadoran descent.
Hurricane Katrina uprooted the lives of millions, washed away the dreams of an entire city, and swept away the hard work of several generations. Causing one of the largest displacements in U.S. history and an almost immediate 50 percent population loss, the natural disaster knocked New Orleans residents down to their most vulnerable state. In the episode "Rebuilding New Orleans," Laura Flanders, host of Link TV’s “The Laura Flanders Show," visited some of the most influential stakeholders in the recovery to explore the race, class, and gender outlines of the reconstruction efforts. The event is significant to her because it served as a bellwether of social issues that still dominate headlines today.
“What always struck me about what New Orleans went through was that it seemed to reveal the really vulnerable underbelly of American society,” she said. “It continues to reveal the direction that the society as a whole is going.”
The problems that flooded the city were brewing long before the levees broke and many have lingered and even amplified during the decade that followed. Even though the flood water was pumped out of the city nearly a decade ago, many Americans continue wading in the same murky troubles of the past.
“Look around. How many people are metaphorically or physically stranded on their rooftops today? How many people are stranded, abandoned by our society today?” she asked.
Still from "The Laura Flanders Show"
The poverty, insufficient resources, lack of preparation, racial tension, police brutality, and underfunded infrastructure that surfaced after the storm are not problems unique to New Orleans.
“Ten years ago, many Americans felt ashamed that so many people had been allowed to lose their lives and lose their homes in the richest country in the world and we did nothing,” she said.
The focus on recovering business rather than the people has left many locals struggling to this day, she said.
“We chose a market recovery rather than a community recovery and that makes it very emblematic of the choices we’re making in America,” Flanders said. “People are still losing their loved ones, still losing their lives, still losing their homes [but] we just call it something different now. Now we call it market forces at work, gentrification, or modernization.”
As much faith as she has in the resiliency of locals, Flanders is afraid the market will continue pushing out the people who give New Orleans its flavor.
“When I was in New Orleans this last time, it was on the verge of being ‘Disney-fied.’ There is this idea we can create a cosmetic version of New Orleans without the poor people, without the people of color, except as performers,” she said.
“Can you have the gumbo without the grandmothers? Can you have the culture without the people who give the culture its spice, its flavor?" she asked.
While the future of New Orleans culture appears uncertain even a decade after the storm passed, Flanders also saw areas of growth. These include new businesses that have thrived, a reduced prison population, immigrant groups that are electing politicians after having no voice, and Native American groups that are fighting for recognition. The decrease in the criminalization of the transgendered community and the use of a land trust model to keep property in the hands of locals are among those successes.
She saw many groups that are effecting change by building their political and economic strength. But there’s a long way to go before a true recovery comes to fruition, despite the picture painted by mainstream media on this 10th anniversary, she said.
“Now the story is, ‘New Orleans is back,’ but it's way more complicated than that. It’s back by the skin of its teeth and there’s a lesson there for everybody,” Flanders said.
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Title 10. ARMED FORCES
Subtitle A. General Military Law
Part II. PERSONNEL
Chapter 87. DEFENSE ACQUISITION WORKFORCE
Subchapter I. GENERAL AUTHORITIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Section 1705. Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund
10 U.S. Code § 1705. Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund
(a)Establishment.—
The Secretary of Defense shall establish a fund to be known as the “Department of Defense Acquisition Workforce Development Fund” (in this section referred to as the “Fund”) to provide funds, in addition to other funds that may be available, for the recruitment, training, and retention of acquisition personnel of the Department of Defense.
(b)Purpose.—
The purpose of the Fund is to ensure that the Department of Defense acquisition workforce has the capacity, in both personnel and skills, needed to properly perform its mission, provide appropriate oversight of contractor performance, and ensure that the Department receives the best value for the expenditure of public resources.
(c)Management.—
The Fund shall be managed by a senior official of the Department of Defense designated by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics for that purpose, from among persons with an extensive background in management relating to acquisition and personnel.
(d)Elements.—
(1)In general.—The Fund shall consist of amounts as follows:
Amounts credited to the Fund under paragraph (2).
Amounts transferred to the Fund pursuant to paragraph (3).
Any other amounts appropriated to, credited to, or deposited into the Fund by law.
(2)Credits to the fund.—
There shall be credited to the Fund an amount equal to the applicable percentage for a fiscal year of all amounts expended by the Department of Defense in such fiscal year for contract services from amounts available for contract services for operation and maintenance.
Subject to paragraph (4), not later than 30 days after the end of the first quarter of each fiscal year, the head of each military department and Defense Agency shall remit to the Secretary of Defense, from amounts available to such military department or Defense Agency, as the case may be, for contract services for operation and maintenance, an amount equal to the applicable percentage for such fiscal year of the amount expended by such military department or Defense Agency, as the case may be, during such fiscal year for services covered by subparagraph (A). Any amount so remitted shall be credited to the Fund under subparagraph (A).
For purposes of this paragraph, the applicable percentage for a fiscal year is the percentage that results in the credit to the Fund of $500,000,000 in such fiscal year.
The Secretary of Defense may adjust the amount specified in subparagraph (C) for a fiscal year if the Secretary determines that the amount is greater or less than reasonably needed for purposes of the Fund for such fiscal year. The Secretary may not adjust the amount for a fiscal year to an amount that is more than $600,000,000 or less than $400,000,000.
(3)Transfer of certain unobligated balances.—
To the extent provided in appropriations Acts, the Secretary of Defense may, during the 36-month period following the expiration of availability for obligation of any appropriations made to the Department of Defense for procurement, research, development, test, and evaluation, or operation and maintenance, transfer to the Fund any unobligated balance of such appropriations. Any amount so transferred shall be credited to the Fund.
(4)Additional requirements and limitations on remittances.—
In the event amounts are transferred to the Fund during a fiscal year pursuant to paragraph (1)(B) or appropriated to the Fund for a fiscal year pursuant to paragraph (1)(C), the aggregate amount otherwise required to be remitted to the Fund for that fiscal year pursuant to paragraph (2)(B) shall be reduced by the amount equal to the amounts so transferred or appropriated to the Fund during or for that fiscal year. Any reduction in the aggregate amount required to be remitted to the Fund for a fiscal year under this subparagraph shall be allocated as provided in applicable provisions of appropriations Acts or, absent such provisions, on a pro rata basis among the military departments and Defense Agencies required to make remittances to the Fund for that fiscal year under paragraph (2)(B), subject to any exclusions the Secretary of Defense determines to be necessary in the best interests of the Department of Defense.
Any remittance of amounts to the Fund for a fiscal year under paragraph (2) shall be subject to the availability of appropriations for that purpose.
(e)Availability of Funds.—
(1)In general.—
Subject to the provisions of this subsection, amounts in the Fund shall be available to the Secretary of Defense for expenditure, or for transfer to a military department or Defense Agency, for the recruitment, training, and retention of acquisition personnel of the Department of Defense for the purpose of the Fund, including for the provision of training and retention incentives to the acquisition workforce of the Department and to develop acquisition tools and methodologies, and undertake research and development activities, leading to acquisition policies and practices that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of defense acquisition efforts. In the case of temporary members of the acquisition workforce designated pursuant to subsection (g)(2), such funds shall be available only for the limited purpose of providing training in the performance of acquisition-related functions and duties.
Amounts in the Fund also may be used to pay salaries of personnel at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, military departments, and Defense Agencies to manage the Fund.
(2)Prohibition.—
Amounts in the Fund may not be obligated for any purpose other than purposes described in paragraph (1) or otherwise in accordance with this subsection.
(3)Guidance.—The Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, acting through the senior official designated to manage the Fund, shall issue guidance for the administration of the Fund. Such guidance shall include provisions—
(A) identifying areas of need in the acquisition workforce for which amounts in the Fund may be used, including—
changes to the types of skills needed in the acquisition workforce;
incentives to retain in the acquisition workforce qualified, experienced acquisition workforce personnel; and
incentives for attracting new, high-quality personnel to the acquisition workforce;
describing the manner and timing for applications for amounts in the Fund to be submitted;
describing the evaluation criteria to be used for approving or prioritizing applications for amounts in the Fund in any fiscal year;
describing measurable objectives of performance for determining whether amounts in the Fund are being used in compliance with this section; and
describing the amount from the Fund that may be used to pay salaries of personnel at the Office of the Secretary of Defense, military departments, and Defense Agencies to manage the Fund and the circumstances under which such amounts may be used for such purpose.
(4)Limitation on payments to or for contractors.—Amounts in the Fund shall not be available for payments to contractors or contractor employees, other than for the purposes of—
providing advanced training to Department of Defense employees;
developing acquisition tools and methodologies and performing research on acquisition policies and best practices that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of defense acquisition efforts; and
supporting human capital and talent management of the acquisition workforce, including benchmarking studies, assessments, and requirements planning.
(5)Prohibition on payment of base salary of current employees.—
Amounts in the Fund may not be used to pay the base salary of any person who was an employee of the Department serving in a position in the acquisition workforce as of January 28, 2008, and who has continued in the employment of the Department since such time without a break in such employment of more than a year.
(6)Duration of availability.—
Amounts credited to the Fund in accordance with subsection (d)(2), transferred to the Fund pursuant to subsection (d)(3), appropriated to the Fund, or deposited to the Fund shall remain available for obligation in the fiscal year for which credited, transferred, appropriated, or deposited and the two succeeding fiscal years.
(f)Expedited Hiring Authority.—For purposes of sections 3304, 5333, and 5753 of title 5, the Secretary of Defense may—
designate any category of positions in the acquisition workforce as positions for which there exists a shortage of candidates or there is a critical hiring need; and
utilize the authorities in such sections to recruit and appoint qualified persons directly to positions so designated.
(g)Acquisition Workforce Defined.—In this section, the term “acquisition workforce” means the following:
Personnel in positions designated under section 1721 of this title as acquisition positions for purposes of this chapter.
(2) Other military personnel or civilian employees of the Department of Defense who—
contribute significantly to the acquisition process by virtue of their assigned duties; or
contribute significantly to the acquisition or development of systems relating to cybersecurity; and
are designated as temporary members of the acquisition workforce by the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics, or by the senior acquisition executive of a military department, for the limited purpose of receiving training for the performance of acquisition-related functions and duties.
(Added Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title VIII, § 852(a)(1), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 248; amended Pub. L. 110–417, [div. A], title VIII, § 833, Oct. 14, 2008, 122 Stat. 4535; Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title VIII, §§ 831, 832(a)–(g), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2414, 2415; Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title VIII, § 804(a), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1486; Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title VIII, § 803(a), (b), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1825; Pub. L. 114–92, div. A, title VIII, § 841(a), Nov. 25, 2015, 129 Stat. 913; Pub. L. 114–328, div. A, title VIII, § 863(a), (b), title X, § 1081(a)(5), Dec. 23, 2016, 130 Stat. 2302, 2303, 2417; Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, §§ 842, 843(a)(1), title X, § 1051(a)(7), title XVI, § 1636, Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1479, 1480, 1560, 1741.)
Prior Provisions
A prior section 1705, added Pub. L. 101–510, div. A, title XII, § 1202(a), Nov. 5, 1990, 104 Stat. 1639, related to Directors of Acquisition Career Management in the military departments, prior to repeal by Pub. L. 108–136, div. A, title VIII, § 831(a), Nov. 24, 2003, 117 Stat. 1549.
2017—Subsec. (d)(2)(D). Pub. L. 115–91, § 842, amended subpar. (D) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (D) read as follows: “The Secretary of Defense may reduce the amount specified in subparagraph (C) for a fiscal year if the Secretary determines that the amount is greater than is reasonably needed for purposes of the Fund for such fiscal year. The Secretary may not reduce the amount for a fiscal year to an amount that is less than $400,000,000.”
Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 115–91, § 843(a)(1)(A), designated existing provisions as subpar. (A) and added subpar. (B).
Subsec. (e)(1)(A). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1051(a)(7)(A), substituted “subsection (g)(2)” for “subsection (h)(2)”.
Subsec. (e)(3)(E). Pub. L. 115–91, § 843(a)(1)(B), added subpar. (E).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1051(a)(7)(B), (C), redesignated subsec. (g) as (f) and struck out former subsec. (f). Prior to amendment, text of subsec. (f) read as follows: “Not later than February 1 each year, the Secretary of Defense shall submit to the congressional defense committees a report on the operation of the Fund during the preceding fiscal year.”
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1051(a)(7)(C), redesignated subsec. (h) as (g). Former subsec. (g) redesignated (f).
Subsec. (g)(2)(A). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1636, which directed amendment of subsec. (h)(2)(A) by inserting “(i)” after “(A)”, substituting “; or” for “; and”, and adding cl. (ii), was executed by making the amendment in subsec. (g)(2)(A) to reflect the probable intent of Congress and the redesignation of subsec. (h) as (g), see below.
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 115–91, § 1051(a)(7)(C), redesignated subsec. (h) as (g).
2016—Subsec. (d)(2)(C). Pub. L. 114–328, § 863(b)(1), substituted “in such” for “in each”.
Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 114–328, § 863(a)(1)(A), inserted “and to develop acquisition tools and methodologies, and undertake research and development activities, leading to acquisition policies and practices that will improve the efficiency and effectiveness of defense acquisition efforts” after “workforce of the Department”.
Subsec. (e)(4). Pub. L. 114–328, § 863(a)(1)(B), substituted “other than for the purposes of—” for “other than for the purpose of providing advanced training to Department of Defense employees.” and added subpars. (A) to (C).
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 114–328, § 863(a)(2), (b)(2), substituted “Not later than February 1 each year” for “Not later than 120 days after the end of each fiscal year” and “the preceding fiscal year” for “such fiscal year” and struck out at end “Each report shall include, for the fiscal year covered by such report, the following:
“(1) A statement of the amounts remitted to the Secretary for crediting to the Fund for such fiscal year by each military department and Defense Agency, and a statement of the amounts credited to the Fund for such fiscal year.
“(2) A description of the expenditures made from the Fund (including expenditures following a transfer of amounts in the Fund to a military department or Defense Agency) in such fiscal year, including the purpose of such expenditures.
“(3) A description and assessment of improvements in the Department of Defense acquisition workforce resulting from such expenditures.
“(4) Recommendations for additional authorities to fulfill the purpose of the Fund.
“(5) A statement of the balance remaining in the Fund at the end of such fiscal year.”
Subsec. (g)(1). Pub. L. 114–328, § 863(b)(3)(B), struck out “, as defined in subsection (h),” after “acquisition workforce”.
Pub. L. 114–328, §§ 863(b)(3)(A), 1081(a)(5), amended par. (1) identically, substituting “of positions” for “of of positions”.
2015—Subsec. (d)(2)(C). Pub. L. 114–92, § 841(a)(1)(A), amended subpar. (C) generally. Prior to amendment, subpar. (C) defined the applicable percentage for fiscal years 2013 to 2018.
Subsec. (d)(2)(D). Pub. L. 114–92, § 841(a)(1)(B), substituted “the amount specified in subparagraph (C)” for “an amount specified in subparagraph (C)” and “an amount that is less than $400,000,000.” for “an amount that is less than 80 percent of the amount otherwise specified in subparagraph (C) for such fiscal year.”
Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 114–92, § 841(a)(1)(C), substituted “36-month period” for “24-month period”.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 114–92, § 841(a)(2), substituted “120 days” for “60 days” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 114–92, § 841(a)(3), struck out par. (1) designation before “For purposes of”; redesignated subpars. (A) and (B) as pars. (1) and (2), respectively, and realigned margins; substituted “of positions in the acquisition workforce, as defined in subsection (h),” for “acquisition workforce positions” in par. (1); and struck out former par. (2) which read as follows: “The Secretary may not appoint a person to a position of employment under this subsection after September 30, 2017.”
2013—Subsec. (d)(2)(C). Pub. L. 112–239, § 803(a)(1), added cls. (i) to (vi) and struck out former cls. (i) to (vi) which established applicable amounts for fiscal years 2010 to 2015.
Subsec. (e)(1). Pub. L. 112–239, § 803(a)(2)(A), inserted at end “In the case of temporary members of the acquisition workforce designated pursuant to subsection (h)(2), such funds shall be available only for the limited purpose of providing training in the performance of acquisition-related functions and duties.”
Subsec. (e)(5). Pub. L. 112–239, § 803(a)(2)(B), inserted before period at end “, and who has continued in the employment of the Department since such time without a break in such employment of more than a year”.
Subsec. (g). Pub. L. 112–239, § 803(a)(3), (4), struck out subsec. (g) which defined “acquisition workforce” and redesignated subsec. (h) as (g).
Subsec. (g)(2). Pub. L. 112–239, § 803(b), substituted “September 30, 2017” for “September 30, 2015”.
Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 112–239, § 803(a)(5), added subsec. (h). Former subsec. (h) redesignated (g).
2011—Subsec. (e)(6). Pub. L. 112–81 amended par. (6) generally. Prior to amendment, text read as follows: “Amounts credited to the Fund under subsection (d)(2) shall remain available for expenditure in the fiscal year for which credited and the two succeeding fiscal years.”
2009—Subsec. (a). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(g)(1), inserted “Development” after “Workforce”.
Subsec. (d)(1)(B), (C). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(a)(1), added subpar. (B) and redesignated former subpar. (B) as (C).
Subsec. (d)(2)(A). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(b), substituted “from amounts available for contract services for operation and maintenance.” for “, other than services relating to research and development and services relating to military construction.”
Subsec. (d)(2)(B). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(d)(1), (2)(A), substituted “Subject to paragraph (4), not later than” for “Not later than” and “the first quarter of each fiscal year” for “the third fiscal year quarter of fiscal year 2008, and 30 days after the end of each fiscal year quarter thereafter” and struck out “quarter” before “for services”.
Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(c), inserted “, from amounts available to such military department or Defense Agency, as the case may be, for contract services for operation and maintenance,” after “remit to the Secretary of Defense”.
Subsec. (d)(2)(C), (D). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(e), added subpars. (C) and (D) and struck out former subpars. (C) and (D), which established applicable percentages for fiscal years 2008 to 2010 and thereafter and authorized the Secretary of Defense to reduce such percentages under certain circumstances and to a certain limit.
Subsec. (d)(3). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(a)(2), added par. (3).
Subsec. (d)(4). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(d)(2)(B), added par. (4).
Subsec. (e)(5). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(f), substituted “serving in a position in the acquisition workforce as of January 28, 2008” for “as of the date of the enactment of the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2008”.
Subsec. (f). Pub. L. 111–84, § 832(g)(2), struck out “beginning with fiscal year 2008” after “each fiscal year” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (h)(1). Pub. L. 111–84, § 831(c), struck out “United States Code,” after “title 5,” in introductory provisions.
Subsec. (h)(1)(A). Pub. L. 111–84, § 831(a)(1), substituted “acquisition workforce positions as positions for which there exists a shortage of candidates or there is a critical hiring need” for “acquisition positions within the Department of Defense as shortage category positions”.
Subsec. (h)(1)(B). Pub. L. 111–84, § 831(a)(2), struck out “highly” after “appoint”.
Subsec. (h)(2). Pub. L. 111–84, § 831(b), substituted “September 30, 2015” for “September 30, 2012”.
2008—Subsec. (h). Pub. L. 110–417 added subsec. (h).
Pub. L. 112–81, div. A, title VIII, § 804(b), Dec. 31, 2011, 125 Stat. 1486, provided that:
“Paragraph (6) of such section [10 U.S.C. 1705(e)(6)], as amended by subsection (a), shall not apply to funds directly appropriated to the Fund before the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 31, 2011].”
Pub. L. 111–84, div. A, title VIII, § 832(h), Oct. 28, 2009, 123 Stat. 2416, provided that:
“(1)Funding amendments.—
The amendments made by subsections (a) through (c) [amending this section] shall take effect as of October 1, 2009.
“(2)Technical amendments.—
The amendments made by subsections (f) and (g) [amending this section] shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 28, 2009].”
Pub. L. 110–181, div. A, title VIII, § 852(b), Jan. 28, 2008, 122 Stat. 250, provided that:
“Section 1705 of title 10, United States Code, as added by subsection (a), shall take effect on the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 28, 2008].”
Pub. L. 115–91, div. A, title VIII, § 843(a)(2), Dec. 12, 2017, 131 Stat. 1480, provided that:
“Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Dec. 12, 2017], the Secretary of Defense shall issue, and submit to the congressional defense committees [Committees on Armed Services and Appropriations of the Senate and the House of Representatives], the policy guidance required by subparagraph (E) of section 1705(e)(3) of title 10, United States Code, as added by paragraph (1).”
Plan Required for Temporary Members of Defense Acquisition Workforce
Pub. L. 112–239, div. A, title VIII, § 803(c), Jan. 2, 2013, 126 Stat. 1825, provided that:
“Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act [Jan. 2, 2013], the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics shall develop a plan for the implementation of the authority provided by the amendments made by subsection (a) [amending this section] with regard to temporary members of the defense acquisition workforce. The plan shall include policy, criteria, and processes for designating temporary members and appropriate safeguards to prevent the abuse of such authority.”
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Clinical Fellows
Jens David Ohlin
Vice Dean and Professor of Law
218 Myron Taylor Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853-4901
Email: jdo43@cornell.edu
Assistant:
Lyndsey Clark
Email: lyc8@cornell.edu
SelectedWorks
Professor Ohlin specializes in international law and all aspects of criminal law, including domestic, comparative, and international criminal law. His latest books include Necessity in International Law (2016) (with Larry May), Criminal Law: Doctrine, Application, and Practice (2016), and The Assault on International Law (2015), which challenges the prevailing American hostility towards international institutions and offers a novel theory of rationality to explain why nations should comply with international law.
Ohlin’s research also focuses on the laws of war, in particular the impact of new technology on the regulation of warfare, including remotely piloted drones and the strategy of targeted killings, cyber-warfare, and the role of non-state actors in armed conflicts. His books in this area include Targeted Killings: Law and Morality in an Asymmetrical World (Oxford University Press 2012, with A. Altman & C. Finkelstein); Cyber-War: Law & Ethics for Virtual Conflicts (Oxford University Press forthcoming, with C. Finkelstein & K. Govern); and Defending Humanity: When Force is Justified and Why (Oxford University Press 2008, with George Fletcher).
In the area of international criminal law, Professor Ohlin concentrates on the application of traditional criminal law theory by international tribunals, especially with regard to genocide, torture, joint criminal enterprise and co-perpetration, and more generally the philosophical foundations of collective criminal action. His work has been cited by judges and litigants at several international tribunals, including the International Criminal Court (ICC), the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), and the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). He also is a member of an international working group, centered in The Hague, developing a codification of general rules and principles of international criminal procedure.
His scholarly work has appeared in the Cornell Law Review, Columbia Law Review, Minnesota Law Review, Harvard International Law Journal, Michigan Journal of International Law, Leiden Journal of International Law, Chicago Journal of International Law, American Journal of International Law, Journal of Criminal Law & Criminology, Journal of International Criminal Justice, as well as many peer-reviewed edited volumes published by university presses.
Professor Ohlin has consulted for foreign governments and law firms on a wide range of issues, including human rights, white-collar criminal defense and litigation, criminal antitrust, and appellate litigation. He blogs at Opinio Juris.
B.A., Skidmore College, 1996
M.A., Columbia University, 1998
M.Phil., Columbia University, 2000
Ph.D., Columbia University, 2002
J.D., Columbia Law School, 2005
A complete list of Media Coverage for Jens Ohlin
Ohlin Op-Ed: Sorry, Trump, but the U.S. can’t use ‘overwhelming force’ if Iran attacks ‘anything American’
Ohlin Discusses How Lawmakers Will Explain Actions to Future Generations
Ohlin on if Mueller Testifies before Congress
Ohlin on Mueller's Note to Congress
Ohlin on Whether the President can be Prosecuted
Ohlin on the Politics of Impeaching President Donald Trump
High-Resolution Color Photo of Jens Ohlin
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World And baby makes 3: Prince Harry, Meghan and baby boy
And baby makes 3: Prince Harry, Meghan and baby boy
by Arun Gautam on May 06, 2019 in World
LONDON: Britain’s royal family has its newest member, a baby boy born to Prince Harry and his American wife Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex, nearly one year after their wedding on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Here are some key points about the new arrival.
WILL THE BABY GROW UP TO BE A KING?
The baby boy will be seventh in line to the throne, making it very unlikely that he will grow up to be the British monarch.
The current heir is Prince Charles, Queen Elizabeth II’s 70-year-old son. He is followed by his son William and William’s three young children: Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis. Next comes the new baby’s father, Prince Harry, and then the newborn boy.
WILL THE BABY AT LEAST BE A PRINCE?
This won’t happen automatically. It’s really up to the queen to decide, although Harry and Meghan may also have a say.
A decree issued by King George V in 1917 limits the number of grand royal titles in a way that would make Harry and Meghan’s son known as a “Lord” rather than as a prince. He wouldn’t become “his royal highness” under the current rules.
The queen has the authority, however, to intervene as she did when William and his wife Kate started having children. The queen decreed that all of their children would be princes and princesses.
She could do the same for Harry and Meghan’s offspring, but the queen’s feelings on that subject haven’t been made public.
It is also possible that Harry and Meghan could decide they don’t want the special designation for the baby, in order to give their child a more normal upbringing.
WHAT WILL THEY NAME THE BABY?
Royals tend to take their time about naming a baby.
Prince Harry, in making the announcement, said the couple hasn’t decided on a name yet.
But there has been speculation that the newborn would be named Albert, Arthur or James.
WILL THE BABY BE AMERICAN?
Meghan is American, but palace officials said at the time of her engagement to Harry that she planned to eventually become British, a process that can take several years.
She and Harry could decide to pursue American citizenship for their baby, so their boy could end up having dual U.K.-U.S. nationality. That would give their son the right to live and work in the United States without needing a visa— and spare him the lengthy entry procedures that often face foreign visitors arriving at U.S. airports.
Meghan hasn’t indicated whether she plans to give up her American status once she has British nationality, a decision that could have an impact on her tax liabilities but something she is not forced to do by British or American law.
WHEN WILL WE SEE A PHOTO OF THE BABY?
Harry has resented the often-intrusive coverage of the royals by the British press and he and Meghan have toned down expectations for what information will be released about the new baby.
Before the birth, the couple indicated they won’t immediately pose with their newborn hours after the baby has arrived, as William and Kate have done with their children.
They have indicated it will be several days before they show the baby to the world, and there has been speculation that they will do so first using their new Instagram account.
DOES THE BABY HAVE RED HAIR?
It’s too early to tell, as the colour of a baby’s hair changes with time.
Harry is one of the most famous redheads in the world — “a ginger” in British lingo.
The baby boy’s hair colour comes down to genetics. Harry handed down a redhead gene to his baby, but it is not known if Meghan has a recessive redhead gene. If she does, there’s a 50-per cent chance the baby will have red hair.
from World – The Himalayan Times http://bit.ly/2Wu7u06
Labels: World
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Is Kat Dennings Living or Dead?
Has American actress Kat Dennings died? Or is she still alive?
Kat Dennings is ...
Born 13 Jun 1986 in Bryn Mawr
Age 33 years, 1 month
Kat Dennings is dead
Kat Dennings at the 2008 Toronto International Film Festival
About Kat Dennings
Katherine Victoria Litwack (born June 13, 1986), known professionally as Kat Dennings, is an American actress. After making her acting debut in an episode of the HBO dramedy series Sex and the City, Dennings has since appeared in films including The 40-Year-Old Virgin (2005), Big Momma's House 2 (2006), Charlie Bartlett (2007), The House Bunny (2008), Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist (2008), Defendor (2009), Thor (2011) and Thor: The Dark World (2013). From 2011 to 2017, she starred alongside Beth Behrs in the CBS sitcom 2 Broke Girls.
She is also known as Katherine Litwack.
Kat Dennings has worked on the following films:
2011 superhero film produced by Marvel Studios
Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist
2008 film by Peter Sollett
The House Bunny
2008 American romantic comedy film
2007 film by Jon Poll
2005 film by Judd Apatow
2005 American family comedy/adventure film
Defendor
2009 film by Peter Stebbings
2004 film by Sean McNamara
2005 film by David Jacobson
Suburban Gothic
2005 drama film
The Answer Man
2009 film by John Hindman
Hollywood Adventures
Kat Dennings has worked on the following shows:
American animated sitcom created by Matt Groening
American animated comedic sitcom
American TV series
American crime fiction television series (2000–2015)
American medical drama television series
American stop-motion animated comedy television series
American television comedy series
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Public spend on Ballykelly hospital is falling
The North West Independant Hospital Ballykelly. INLV3714-392KDR
Kevin Mullan
The amount of money paid by the public health authorities to the North West Independent Clinic in Ballykelly has fallen substantially over the past three years.
Pay-outs to other private health providers have also fallen.
In 2013/14, £11.7m was paid to the Ballykelly hospital.
But this diminished to £7.7m in 2014/15 and further to just £2.5m in 2015/16.
Payments to the North West Independent Clinic were dwarfed by those made to the Belfast-based 3fivetwo group although its receipts from the public health authorities also fell back over the three year period.
3fivetwo received a substantial £30.6m in 2013/14.
This fell to £22.5m in 2014/15 before dropping to £13.3m in 2015/16.
The Ulster Independent Clinic, also Belfast-based, received £700,000 from the public purse in both 2013/14 and 2014/15 but just £7,000 last year.
The Health Minister Michelle O’Neill released the details to the West Tyrone Ulster Unionist MLA Ross Hussey.
Despite the apparent reduction in pay-outs to the three private health care providers identified by the Minister, expenditure on private operators is growing in other areas of health.
Last week this paper reported how the use of the private sector for homecare provision rose steadily in the Western Trust over the past five years.
In 2011/12, the Trust spent £12,179,000 independent or private home care providers but last year that figure had grown to £18,679,000.
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MICA Welcomes New Members In Governing Council
Published : Monday, 06 July, 2015 06:05 PM
MICA, India’s premiere management institute in Strategic Marketing and Communication today announced appointment of three new membersto its Governing Council - Mr. Abhijit Bhaduri, Chief Learning Officer, Wipro Ltd, Mr. Achal Bakeri, Chairman and Managing Director, Symphony Limited and Dr.Tridip Suhrud, Director and Chief Editor, Sabarmati Ashram Preservation and Memorial Trust.
Mr. Abhijit Bhaduri is currently the Chief Learning Officer at Wipro Ltd. and is also on the board of a prestigious program for Chief Learning Officers run by the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining Wipro,Mr. Bhadurihas led cross HR teamsin India, AsiaPacific and the US at Microsoft, Pepsico and Colgate. His thought pieces are featured in the Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Economic Times and People Matters. He has also been a speaker at TEDx and INK conferences.
Mr. Achal Bakeri, a MBA in Finance and Real Estate Finance from University of Southern California is also a Chevening Scholar from the London School of Economics on Leadership & Global Governance. In 1988, Mr.Bakeri’s entrepreneurial journey began with Symphony Ltd., which is now a public-listed company with a market capitalization of Rs. 8000 crores. Symphony Ltd. is the largest manufacturer of air-coolers in the world. Mr. Bakeri has been associated with various professional bodies and public charitable institutions and also has beena recipient of several awards in the entrepreneurship and leadership space.
Dr. Tridip Suhrudis an active member of the Gandhi Heritage Sites Mission supported by the Government of India. Over the tenure of his career, Dr. Tridip has gainedincisive knowledge on the life and thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi and has been consistently writing books and essays on it.Some of his recent works include Beloved Bapu: the Mirabehn-Gandhi correspondence, Gandhiji Ni Rojnishi, Hind Swaraj ek Anushilan, Kavi Ni Choki and a bilingual edition of M K Gandhi's Hind Swaraj.
Dr. Nagesh Rao, President and Director, MICA said, “The greatest insights occur at the intersection of different areas of work, different ways of thinking, different ways of doing and different ways of being. In our new governing council members, Prof. Suhrud, Mr. Bakeri and Mr. Bhaduri, we have exactly that, expertise in very diverse areas and ways of life adding richly to conversations on how to take MICA forward.”
Mr. Madhukar Kamath, Chairperson, MICA GC and Group CEO & MD, DDB Mudra Group said, “As we march forward toward vision 2020 for the institute i.e to create leadership in Strategic Marketing and Communication, I am glad to be joined by three esteemed and well respected individuals on the Governing Council. The strategic direction for the institute will now be driven an eclectic mix of individuals with diverse backgrounds – C-suite Executives from Marketing, Advertising, Media, Research, Digital Marketing and HR, an Entrepreneur, Academicians and an individual who has worked tirelessly towards preserving the legacy of one of the biggest brands this country has given to the world. I am excited as this group sets out to build a truly world class institute.”
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HomeNewsMBTA Control Board Launches Independent Safety Review Panel
MBTA Control Board Launches Independent Safety Review Panel
Panel of experts to bring outside perspectives to T safety practices; seek ways to build upon safety culture
Today, the MBTA’s Fiscal and Management Control Board announced the formation of a Safety Review Panel that will undertake an independent and transparent review of MBTA safety practices and past incidents, and will also engage in a forward-looking exercise in an effort to drive change within the MBTA to inculcate safety into every facet of the T’s culture.
The Panel will work collaboratively with federal and state oversight partners and regulators, including the Federal Transit Administration, Federal Railroad Administration, and the Massachusetts Department of Public Utilities to ensure a comprehensive effort that takes advantage of the expertise that resides within those partner organizations.
While recognizing the MBTA’s existing safety management protocols in place meet various federal and state requirements for MBTA vehicles and infrastructure, the FMCB is initiating this effort to determine to what extent the T should expand those protocols. Given the age of many MBTA assets, the panel could consider adopting new or modifying current standards to exceed existing requirements to ensure the safety of MBTA customers and employees.
The 3 panelists are:
Former United States Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood;
Former Acting FTA Administrator and transit operations veteran Carolyn Flowers; and
Former New York City Transit President and career safety expert Carmen Bianco.
All 3 members have significant experience focusing on safety in the transportation and transit arenas. With each panelist having a reputation for candor, the group brings an independence of thought, as well as disparate backgrounds that will provide invaluable perspectives and insight.
Chairman Joseph Aiello and Vice Chair Monica Tibbits-Nutt led efforts on behalf of the FMCB to recruit the panelists that represented industry leaders in transportation with a special emphasis on safety. The 3 panelists were identified with the assistance of the American Public Transportation Association, Northeastern University, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Harvard University.
“I am heartened that these 3 professionals that are leading this effort agreed to do so,” said Chairman Aiello. “Their professional accomplishments and personal integrity will assist us in bringing our safety culture to the next level to meet the best-in-class domestic and international best practices in transit safety.”
“A fresh look at rail safety by experienced and independent professionals will assure the Board and the public that we continuously and rapidly modify any and all practices found wanting,” said Vice Chair Tibbits-Nutt. “Safety must resonate throughout the entire organization: from our front line employees, up to the Board level. We must make sure that our own actions and priorities reflect the strong safety culture we seek.”
“Our first priority will always be ensuring the safety of the MBTA system, and the FMCB’s efforts to assemble this panel of well-regarded experts to lead an independent review is an important next step,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “Our administration looks forward to reviewing any recommendations made by the Safety Review Panel.”
“Bringing in fresh, outside perspectives will help transform the MBTA’s safety culture, and I’m pleased the Control Board is launching this assessment,” said MassDOT Secretary Stephanie Pollack. “In light of the age and condition of many MBTA assets, this is a critical step in raising the caliber of the T’s maintenance and inspection protocols to ensure the safety for T customers and employees.”
“I want to thank the Fiscal and Management Control Board members for their leadership on this critical matter,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “There is no substitute for experience, leadership, and expertise. We look forward to working closely with this distinguished review panel to ensure the MBTA is doing everything it can and should to provide safe and reliable service on a daily basis.”
The panel is expected to finalize a scope of work, preliminary schedule, and list of deliverables that it expects to issue in the coming weeks.
About the 3 panelists:
Secretary LaHood brings deep policymaking and management skills to the panel as a result of his 36 years in public service. Having served as the Secretary of the US Department of Transportation from 2009 to 2013, Secretary LaHood had two principal areas of focus: bringing national attention to the need of investing in the condition of the nation’s roads, rails, bridges, aviation, and maritime assets, and leading efforts to make safety improvements a fundamental policy goal across all sectors of transportation and infrastructure.
Administrator Flowers joins the panel with a breadth of experience in executive-level management and operations, having served in the Federal Transit Administration as a senior advisor and as acting Administrator, and as the Chief Executive Officer of the Charlotte Area Transit System, and Chief Operations Officer of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Administrator Flowers currently serves on the Board of Directors of the American Public Transportation Association, which engages with transit systems on policy, legislative, and research matters. APTA is also responsible for facilitating the sharing of best industry practices, including safety, and participates in peer reviews and safety audits.
President Bianco served for close to 6 years as president of the subway and bus systems of New York’s Metropolitan Transit Authority. During his tenure, Bianco drove organizational change within the MTA to center MTA’s operations around safety and efficiency. In addition to leading recovery efforts caused by natural disasters including Hurricane Irene and Superstorm Sandy, Bianco launched several initiatives to better position the MTA to adopt new technologies, enhance system performance, and improve customer service. In his role as an industry-leading consultant, President Bianco now advises transportation organizations around the world.
MassDOT Press Office
lisa.battiston@dot.state.ma.us
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Deep-sea study reveals cause of 2011 tsunami
Drilling in Japan Trench by international scientific team finds unusually thin, slippery geological fault
Published: 5Dec2013
The devastating tsunami that struck Japan’s Tohoku region in March 2011 was touched off by a submarine earthquake far more massive than anything geologists had expected in that zone.
Now, a team of scientists including McGill University geologist Christie Rowe, has published a set of studies in the journal Science that shed light on what caused the dramatic displacement of the seafloor off the northeastern coast of Japan. The findings also suggest that other zones in the northwest Pacific may be at risk of similar huge earthquakes.
Prof. Rowe, of McGill’s Department of Earth & Planetary Sciences, was one of 27 scientists from 10 countries who participated in a 50-day expedition in 2012 on the Japanese drilling vessel Chikyu. The team drilled three holes in the Japan Trench area to study the rupture zone of the 2011 earthquake, a fault in the ocean floor where two of the Earth’s major tectonic plates meet, deep beneath the surface of the Pacific Ocean.
The joint where the Pacific and North American plates meet forms what is known as a “subduction” zone, with the North American plate riding over the edge of the Pacific plate. The latter plate bends and plunges deep into the earth, forming the Japan Trench.
The conventional view among geologists has been that deep beneath the seafloor, where rocks are strong, movements of the plates can generate a lot of elastic rebound. Closer to the surface of the seafloor, where rocks are softer and less compressed, this rebound effect was thought to taper off.
Until 2011, the largest displacement of plates ever recorded along a fault occurred in 1960 off the coast of Chile, where a powerful earthquake displaced the seafloor plates by an average of 20 metres. In the Tohoku earthquake, the slip amounted to 30 to 50 metres – and the slip actually grew bigger as the subterranean rupture approached the seafloor. This runaway rupture thrust up the seafloor, touching off the horrifying tsunami.
The results of last year’s drilling by the Chikyu expedition, outlined in the Science papers published Dec. 6, reveal several factors that help account for this unexpectedly violent slip between the two tectonic plates.
For one thing, the fault, itself, is very thin – less than five metres thick in the area sampled. “To our knowledge, it’s the thinnest plate boundary on Earth,” Rowe says. By contrast, California’s San Andreas fault is several kilometers thick in places.
The scientists also discovered that the clay deposits that fill the narrow fault are made of extremely fine sediment. “It’s the slipperiest clay you can imagine,” says Rowe. “If you rub it between your fingers, it feels like a lubricant.”
The discovery of this unusual clay in the Tohoku slip zone suggests that other subduction zones in the northwest Pacific where this type of clay is present – from Russia’s Kamchatka peninsula to the Aleutian Islands – may be capable of generating similar, huge earthquakes, Rowe adds.
To conduct the studies, the scientists used specially designed deep-water drilling equipment that enabled them to drill more than 800 metres beneath the sea floor, in an area where the water is around 6,900 metres deep. No hole had ever before been drilled that deep in an area of similar water depth. At those extraordinary depths, it took six hours from the time the drill pulled core samples from the fault until it reached the ship.
During night shifts on deck, Rowe was in charge of deciding which sections of drill core would go to geochemists for water sampling, and which would go to geologists for studies of the sediment and deformation structures. “We X-rayed the core as soon as it came on board, so the geochemists could get their water sample before oxygen was able to penetrate inside the pores of the sediment.”
The expedition was supported by member countries of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (particularly Japan and the US), and Canadian participants were supported by the European Consortium for Ocean Research Drilling, of which Canada is a member.
Link to the expedition website: http://www.jamstec.go.jp/chikyu/exp343/e/
Links to the Science papers:
http://www.sciencemag.org/lookup/doi/10.1126/science.1243719
IMAGE: Scientists Christie Rowe (left) of McGill University and Kohtaro Ujiie of Tsukuba University, aboard the Chikyu, celebrated with a handshake when they agreed they had found the ocean-floor fault in the drill core. CREDIT: JAMSTEC/IODP
Chris Chipello
christopher.chipello [at] mcgill.ca
/newsroom
tectonic plates
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Arthur I. Cyr: Russia-North Korea summit provides a reality check
Arthur I. Cyr More Content Now
Apr 30, 2019 at 12:33 PM Apr 30, 2019 at 12:33 PM
The summit meeting on April 25 in Vladivostok between Russia President Vladimir Putin and North Korea leader Kim Jong Un is a useful lesson in the basic reality that power is the currency of international relations, today as through history.
Putin used the opportunity to underscore the influence of his nation, in Northeast Asia as elsewhere. His leadership orchestrates this impact, despite a weak economy. Kim demonstrated that his own nation has more options in the contemporary power game than dealing only with the United States.
Putin emphasized the importance of the multilateral framework to efforts to curtail and eventually remove North Korea’s nuclear weapons program. The Six-Party talks on North Korea nuclear efforts have included China, Japan, Russia and the U.S. along with Pyongyang and Seoul.
These talks currently are on hold, but until a decade ago accounted for limited progress as well as communication. Putin is right they are an important diplomatic mechanism. The U.S. in earlier administrations was active and effective in orchestrating this effort.
Kim specifically dramatized distance from the U.S. government. Among other statements, he declared Secretary of State Mike Pompeo must not participate in any future nuclear negotiations.
Last August, President Donald Trump announced that Pompeo would not go to North Korea as planned. The reason given is that the government in Pyongyang has not followed through on expectations to dismantle nuclear weapons facilities or curtail development.
Another reality is the long-term deterioration of the backward communist economy of North Korea. In May 2016, Kim wore a business suit rather than uniform for a Communist Party Congress. He publicly acknowledged economic challenges, no longer avoidable.
The Communist Party Congress took place in a context of continuing tensions with South Korea. In 2013, North Korea announced a “state of war” with South Korea and threatened nuclear attack. Pyongyang abruptly abrogated the 1953 armistice agreement ending the Korean War, and cut the military “hot line” communications link with the south.
These developments appeared to be a prelude to war, yet there has been no evidence that North Korea has mobilized or is mobilizing to invade South Korea. Moreover, Pyongyang’s nuclear program remains rudimentary. Missile tests include some successes, but also dramatic failure.
Kim has publicly criticized those in the military “developing a taste for money” amid reports of corruption. As part of a major military shakeup, Kim assumed the rank of Marshal of the People’s Army, adding to a series of celebratory titles. He has been ruthless in executing those suspected of disloyalty, including close family members.
North Korea in sum has acted bizarrely for years. In late February 2012, North Korea agreed once more to cease their on-again, off-again nuclear program. In joint announcements coordinated with the U.S. Department of State, the regime agreed to halt enrichment of uranium and construction of weapons, and permit international inspection of nuclear facilities.
Yet two months later, Pyongyang tested a missile. The launch was an embarrassing flop. This erratic shifting course implies infighting among factions in the regime rather than total control by Kim and his immediate coterie.
Regarding Korea, President Dwight Eisenhower understood brutal realities of war. Stalled Korean War armistice talks quickly concluded successfully in 1953 following extensive U.S. bombing. Ike focused on getting the job done.
This built on President Truman’s courageous June 1950 decision to defend South Korea against invasion from the North. These presidents provide the example.
Disciplined diplomats are also crucial to success.
Arthur I. Cyr is Clausen Distinguished Professor at Carthage College and author of “After the Cold War” (NYU Press and Macmillan). Contact him at acyr@carthage.edu.
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Alice Cooper Kicks Off South Dakota Rock Academy
ASMBA | By DIRK LAMMERS
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - To all the girls and boys, makin' all that noise: Alice Cooper has found you some new toys.
The heavy metal icon was in South Dakota on Wednesday to help kick-off a 6,000-square-foot rock `n' roll academy for local Boys & Girls Club members. Complete with a recording studio and performance space, the center will offer lessons and have all kinds of loud stuff - including a few high-end drum sets from Warrant guitarist Joey Allen and guitars from members of KISS.
Cooper opened his long-dreamed Rock Teen Center in Phoenix last week, and he said he wanted to help his friend Chuck Brennan offer a similar opportunity in Brennan's hometown of Sioux Falls. Brennan, who founded Dollar Loan Center, grew up down the street from the academy and was a Boys Club kid.
Cooper said the best way to get teens off the streets is to put a guitar in their hands, teach them how to play and get them into a band.
"We say, `give me your 9-millimeter and we'll give you a guitar,'" the Rock & Roll Hall of Famer told a crowd of club members and local officials. "I think that's a fair trade."
Brennan said students will get the opportunity to learn to sing or play guitar, bass, keyboards and drums. They'll also have full access to rehearsal rooms, a performance area and a recording studio, where they'll be able to learn how to work a sound board.
Brennan, who was a huge backer for Cooper's project in Arizona, is kicking in an initial $100,000 to complete the build and buy instruments for the Brennan Rock & Roll Academy. It's housed in a building he and his business partners own, and he's committed to paying its rent for 20 years, bringing his contribution to $3 million. He expects the school to open in four to five months.
"You're going to be the cool kid in school right now when you figure out how to play the drums," Brennan, who now lives in Las Vegas, told a group of kids gathered in front of the stage.
Michael Moore, a 13-year-old Boys & Girls Clubs member, won the honor of presenting Brennan with a thank you card signed by club members. The teen said he was "absolutely elated" when Brennan surprised him by telling him to choose any of the Fender electric guitars on stage and keep it.
Moore said he tried the guitar a few times but doesn't really know how to play, then quickly added with a grin: "I'll make sure I learn it now."
Music Music
© Copyright 2019 ASMBA. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
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MLB announces 2014 Regular Season Schedule
Dodgers and D-backs Will Open 2014 Season in Sydney, Australia; ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" to Showcase Opening Night on Sunday, March 30th; Traditional Opening Day Will Be Monday, March 31st
Major League Baseball today announced its master 2014 regular season schedule, which will begin, as unveiled in June, with the historic 2014 Opening Series between the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Los Angeles Dodgers in Sydney, Australia on Saturday, March 22nd and Sunday, March 23rd.
The 2014 Opening Series featuring the National League West rivals will be Major League Baseball's first regular season games to be staged in Australia. MLB has previously opened seasons in Monterrey, Mexico (1999); Tokyo, Japan (2000, 2004, 2008, 2012); and San Juan, Puerto Rico (2001).
One week after the completion of MLB's Opening Series in Australia, the 25th season of ESPN's "Sunday Night Baseball" will begin the rest of the schedule with Opening Night on Sunday, March 30th. Details on the Opening Night match-up will be forthcoming. Fourteen games, including 10 divisional match-ups, comprise the traditional Opening Day schedule on Monday, March 31st. Other March 31st games include an Interleague contest between the host Texas Rangers and the Philadelphia Phillies; the Atlanta Braves visiting Milwaukee, the city where they were located from 1953-1965, to play the host Brewers; a match-up between the fellow 1993 expansion Clubs, the host Miami Marlins and the Colorado Rockies; and the Oakland Athletics welcoming the Cleveland Indians. Nine games are scheduled for Tuesday, April 1st, including the season debuts for the Houston Astros and the New York Yankees at Minute Maid Park.
The final scheduled day of the 2014 regular season will be Sunday, September 28th and will feature 12 divisional games. Other important dates next season include Jackie Robinson Day on Tuesday, April 15th; the first day of the 2014 MLB Draft on Thursday, June 5th; and Baseball's 85th All-Star Game at Target Field in Minneapolis on Tuesday, July 15th.
View 2014 Schedule
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Man jailed following stabbing in Bournemouth
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MARINE DEFENDERS
Oil Pollution Laws
Coast Guard Inspection
A Prosecutor's Perspective
Oil Pollution Act of 1990
Whistleblower Files
Whistleblower Notes
A Whistleblower Perspective
List of Whistleblower Awards
Oil Pollution Facts
A Toxicologist's Perspective
Oil in A Nesting Ground
Impact on Mammals, Birds and Fish
Coastal Impacts
Mass Coastal Environment
Buzzards Bay
New Bedford Mystery Solved
Hidden Costs of Spills
Lesson from An Old Spill
Chris Reddy: Marine Defender
Mass Resources for Mariners
NJ Coastal Environment
Delaware Bay and Oil
Recreational Boaters
Marine Debris Facts
Report Spills
THE PRINCESS AND THE 3RD ENGINEER
Importance of Whistleblowers
RISKS TO
WHISTLEBLOWERS
The Whistleblowers Files
Richard Udell, a Senior Trial Attorney in the Environmental Crimes Division, US Department of Justice, explains the origins and key points of the the Whistleblower Provision in the US Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships, which sets into force the Marine Oil Pollution Convention known as MARPOL, and provides that whistleblower can receive up to half of the fines for reporting illegal marine oil pollution.
WHISTLEBLOWER Awards
The Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) was passed by the US Congress in 1980 and makes it a crime to knowingly violate the oil pollution provisions of MARPOL, an international treaty that established environmental standards for global shipping.
APPS also contains a WHISTLEBLOWER PROVISION for people who provide information that leads to a conviction to receive up to half of the fine.
The "whistleblower" provision in the Act to Prevent Pollution From Ships. 33 USC 1908
Magic pipe. Photo source: US DOJ
Most whistleblowers who document and report crimes at sea are aware that they risk their careers and even their physical safety if discovered.
The “Whistleblower provision” of the Act to Prevent Pollution from Ships (APPS) was created to provide an additional incentive for mariners to report environmental crimes.
Whistleblowers are key to prosecution efforts. According to court records, more than half of all MARPOL cases occur as a result of crew members alerting US authorities about illegal discharges or false records.
Whistleblower note. Source: US Department of Justice.
• WHISTLEBLOWERS have received a total of $540 MILLION DOLLARS in 72 cases since 1993.
• The highest individual whistleblower award was $2.1 MILLION DOLLARS.
• The average individual award was $237,000 DOLLARS.
Whistleblowers have become a powerful force in bringing marine oil polluters to justice.
A recent study found that whistleblowers played a critical role in 76% of all APPS related cases between 1993-2017. It also found that 70% of these cases involved whistleblowers from the Philippines, Greece, Venezuela and other seagoing nations.
See a complete list of Whistleblower awards
through January 2017
Whistleblower notes:
Making Contact with the US Coast Guard
Whistleblowers have made contact with the US Coast Guard, which investigates violations of MARPOL and US law, in a variety of innovative ways.
From hand written notes to coast guard inspectors during routine inspections at port to reaching out to the Seaman's Church or Marine Defenders via email or social media, many mariners have found creative ways to document and communicate their concerns.
Read more about whistleblower notes here.
Whistleblower note in the OSG case. DOJ court filing.
A Wake Up Call
Whistleblower video of "magic pipe" on Caribbean Princess. Source: US DOJ, U.S. v. Princess Cruises.
Read more about Chris Keays experience as a whistleblower.
One of the largest awards went to Chris Keays, a third engineer on the Caribbean Princess, who received $1 million dollars for blowing the whistle on the Princess Cruise lines. Keays documented illegal dumping using his cell phone to record videos and take photographs, and when his ship return to port, he handed them over to the British Maritime and Coastguard Agency, triggering an international investigation.
"I genuinely hope that this will be a wakeup call for the industry," Keays wrote to the judge during the trail. "That my actions will be replicated and empower those with knowledge of these practices to do the right thing, and finally deliberate pollution will become a past shame rather than a continued illegal practice that is unspoken of by many ships crew.”
Eyes in the Sky from Common Good Productions on Vimeo.
Watch SkyTruth, a small non-profit group based in West Virginia, use satellite imagery to track and identify ships involved in illegal bilge dumping and marine oil pollution around the world. Learn more about SkyTruth!
The importance of whistleblowers
Lawyers for the US government explain the key role of Whistleblowers and Whistleblower awards in court documents.
“The APPS Whistleblower award provision serves a valuable law enforcement purpose," US government lawyers explained in United States v. Overseas Shipping Group (OSG) in 2007, because "criminal conduct that takes place within the small community of those living and working aboard vessels is difficult to detect."
"Because the pollution takes place in the middle of the ocean and usually at night, the only people likely to know about the conduct and the falsification of ship records used in port are the employees in the engine room."
"Each year, thousands of seafarers participate in or are aware of illegal conduct aboard their vessels. A tiny minority chooses to take active measure to stop the wrongdoing and bear witness. The government’s success in identifying the activity and obtaining sufficient evidence to support investigations and prosecutions is dependent on the willingness of lower level crew members to step forward."
The US government lawyers acknowledged the risks to their safety and careers that Whistleblowers may face.
"The decision to step forward, however, must be weighed against the likelihood that the cooperating crew member will forever be barred from working in the marine shipping industry and may be subject to physical harm and abuse. In fact, several crew members in this case perceived that their employment was threatened and/or their physical safety was in jeopardy as a direct result of blowing the whistle on crime.”
"A substantial monetary award both rewards the crew member for taking that risk and may provide an incentive for fellow crew members to alert inspectors and investigators of similar conduct on other ships in the future."
"For these reasons, significant whistleblower awards have become a routine practice where the facts support a reward."
MT Uranus, one of OSG's 12 ships that dumped oily waste. DOJ court filings.
Overseas Shipholding Group Inc. (OSG) pled guilty to 33 felony counts related to deliberate vessel pollution from nine ships and false pollution log entries in three additional ships, in six U.S. ports around the nation.
OSG paid a record $37 million—the largest-ever criminal penalty involving deliberate vessel pollution.
The whistleblowers were awarded $5.25 million dollars.
Learn more about the role of whistleblowers in the OSG case.
Chart of Oil Dumping in the US Exclusive Economic Zone. Source: DOJ court filing in OSG case.
A "magic pipe". Source: US DOJ Court filing.
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For Wealthy Parents, an Increase in Income May Not Trigger Increased Child Support
Department of Children and Families
Judicial News
L&O News
Prenuptial
By Kimberley Keyes
Massachusetts divorce attorney Kimberley Keyes reviews the challenge of modifying child support for high-income parents.
It is no secret that the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines provide custodial parents with the right to seek an increase in child support through a Complaint for Modification when the Guidelines formula calls for an increase. What is less known is that Guidelines only apply to the first $250,000 in combined gross income earned by the parents. A recent Appeals Court case illustrates that when combined income exceeds $250,000 per year, a party seeking an increase in child support must present stronger proof than an increase in the paying party’s salary.
In the unpublished opinion, the Massachusetts Appeals Court held that a Probate and Family Court judge abused her discretion by increasing a father’s child support, where the mother failed to present proof of a change in circumstances beyond the growth in the father’s compensation. For some, the case may raise questions about the fairness of the Guidelines, where lower-earning parents regularly pay more than 20% of their pretax income as child support while higher-earning parents pay a much smaller fraction of their earnings in support of their children.
Table of Contents for this Blog:
Child Support Guidelines: A $250,000 Per Year Limit in Income
Modification Judge Increases Child Support for High-Income Father
Modifying Above-Guidelines Child Support Requires More than an Increase in Income
What Makes a Material Change in Circumstances?
SJC: Child Support Not a Vehicle of Equalizing Household Income
Alimony Reform Act: A Hidden Factor in High Income Child Support Guidelines Cases?
Will the $250,000 Guidelines Limit Change in 2017?
When the most recent version of the Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines went into effect, they included the following language:
These guidelines are calculated up to a maximum combined available annual gross income of the parties of $250,000. In cases where combined available income is over $250,000, the guidelines should be applied on the first $250,000 in the same proportion as the Recipient’s and Payor’s actual income as provided on line 1h of the child support guidelines worksheet. In cases where income exceeds this limit, the Court should consider the award of support at the $250,000 level as the minimum presumptive order. The child support obligation for the portion of combined available income that exceeds $250,000 shall be in the discretion of the Court.
In the aftermath of the 2013 Guidelines, many family law attorneys asked: what about cases when one parent earns $500,000? After all, a non-custodial father of two children who earns $50,000 per year pays base child support of $261 per week under the Guidelines, which amounts to 27% of his pretax income. Meanwhile, a father of two who earns $500,000 per year pays $965 per week in child support under the Guidelines, equal to just 14% of his income. If the father earns $1 million per year, he still pays $965 per week – an amount equal to $50,180 for the custodial mother to live on, and equal to just 7% of the father’s annual income.
The 2013 Child Support Task Force that prepared the Guidelines did offer a suggestion:
The Task Force was urged by the bar to provide guidance on how to calculate child support when the combined available income exceeds $250,000. Public input suggests that a lack of guidance leads to inconsistency in results throughout Massachusetts. In an effort to alleviate any inconsistency, the Task Force suggests that in cases where combined available income exceeds $250,000, the guidelines support amount should be applied on the first $250,000 and then applied to the combined available income above $250,000 ($4,808 weekly) in the same proportion for both the recipient’s and payor’s income as provided on line 1h of the Child Support Guidelines Worksheet.
In short, the Task Force suggests that the percentage of income was earmarked for child support under the Guidelines for the first $250,000 in income should be applied to all income over $250,000 per year. Thus, if a father of two pays 14% of his gross income as child support under the Guidelines on his first $250,000 per year in income, then the Task Force suggests that 14% of the father’s income over $250,000 per year should also be paid as income.
There was only one problem with the Task Force’s idea. It is the phrase: “the Task Force suggests…” Because the Task Force’s “suggestion” was only included in Task Force’s background report, and not the Child Support Guidelines themselves, Massachusetts judges were free to ignore the Task Force’s suggestion for income over $250,000. It is fair to say that most judges have done just that, ignoring the Task Force’s suggestion while approaching child support for income over $250,000 by employing a variety of inconsistent, often arbitrary methods and approaches.
Von Rekowsky dealt with the divorce of a wealthy family with two children. At the time of the divorce, the father earned a base salary of $400,000 per year. However, bonuses and other perks significantly boosted his earnings, which fluctuated wildly – he earned between $1.1 million and nearly $4.7 million a year during the marriage. Because of the father’s variable income, the order at the time of the divorce called for father to pay $2,000 per week in child support plus $1,500 per week in alimony.
Almost two years after the divorce trial, the father’s position changed at his firm, and his salary dropped to $275,000. He sought to modify his support obligations by reducing his child support and ending his alimony payments, which had expired under §49(b) of the Alimony Reform Act (ARA). The husband’s modification was heard by Hon. Patricia A. Gorman of the Middlesex Probate & Family Court.
Following the modification trial, Judge Gorman ended the alimony payments consistent with the alimony duration limit provisions of the AR. Instead of reducing the child support payments, however, the judge increased the father’s child support by $1,500 per week – the same amount the father previously paid in alimony. Notably, the modification judge entered the new child support order sua sponte, which means the judge entered the order without the mother specifically requesting an increase in child support as part of any counterclaim. The basis for the increase in the judge’s findings was that the father’s lifestyle had improved when he bought a multi-million-dollar house and hired a nanny, and because the children were getting older and would see their expenses increase.
After the father appealed, the Massachusetts Appeals Court determined the modification judge had abused her discretion by increasing the father’s child support obligation.
The Court noted that for child support orders falling within the Guidelines (i.e. for combined income of less than $250,000), a party can obtain a modification any time a change in either party’s income makes the current child support “inconsistent” with a Guidelines order. To modify child support above the Guidelines, the Appeals Court stressed, there must be “a material change of circumstances since the entry of the earlier judgment.” While this change “may be in the parties’ respective lifestyles or financial resources, or in the needs of the children,” there must be a showing that this change is real, with supporting evidence. Additionally, when it came to increasing above-Guidelines child support, another question becomes important: is there a material disparity in lifestyle between each parents’ household:
Even if the noncustodial parent is capable of providing a greater financial contribution toward the children’s needs… an increased capacity [does not] [compel] an increase in child support, at least where the increased capacity has not resulted in a material disparity in the parties’ respective lifestyles.’
Thus, even if a parent has seen a steep increase in his or her earnings, the party seeking to increase child support may fail if he or she is unable to translate the other party’s increased in earnings into evidence of a “material disparity” between the lifestyles each parent can provide the children. (How one might define a “material disparity” between wealthy parents who both spend significantly on their children is left largely unaddressed in the decision.)
It is notable that other Massachusetts decisions have suggested that the termination of child support can be grounds for a corresponding increase in alimony. In Pickering v. Mendes (2017), for example, the Appeals Court held as follows:
[T]he husband argues that the judge erred in increasing his alimony obligation because the wife failed to show a material change in circumstances, pointing out that the loss of child support was not unexpected. However, the loss of child support may be considered in an action to modify the amount of alimony.
If the loss of child support is a material change in circumstances that warrants an increase of alimony, it seems logical that the opposite could have been true in the recent Appeals Court case, where Judge Gorman increased the Wife’s child support by $1,500 while eliminating an alimony order in the same amount. However, the Appeals Court seemed to take a dim view of this argument, holding as follows:
[T]here is no indication in the record that the mother is unable to meet the children’s reasonable needs under the original child support order, especially given that she possesses substantial assets, which the divorce judge noted would be available to her as an additional source of income.
Instead, the Court appeared to focus on two kinds of evidence that the mother would have needed to show in order to justify an increase in child support:
Facts Proving a Disparity in Lifestyles Between the Households – The Appeals Court bemoaned the absence of simple economic evidence such as “each home’s square footage, amenities, furnishings, and the like.” The opinion suggests that increasing an above-Guidelines child support requires parties to provide measurable evidence of differences in lifestyles, such as one party having a larger house or greater “discretionary spending”, which the Court defined as weekly expenses not including fixed housing costs, like a monthly mortgage. Other lifestyle evidence would presumably include comparing the spending between two parties on costly travel, vacations and luxury purchases.
A Substantial Gap in Assets Between the Parties – Throughout the decision., the Court repeatedly made reference to the record being “undisputed that both parties possessed substantial assets at the time of the modification trial — the father having a total net worth of approximately $10 million, and the mother having a total net worth of approximately $8.9 million.” A major factor in the Court’s analysis was the similar level of assets held by the parties. Presumably, if the father’s net worth has substantially exceeded mother’s, this would have provided fertile grounds for the mother’s requested increase in child support.
Actual Evidence of Increased Costs of the Children – Here, the Appeals Court was critical of the judge’s assumption that the “children will ‘continue to have increased expenses’ as they grow older”. Looking again at the actual financial conditions of the parties, the Court noted that “[i]nsofar as the children’s expenses may increase at some point in the future, the father is already obligated under the divorce judgment to cover one hundred percent of their uninsured medical and extracurricular expenses. The father has also generously funded separate 529 accounts for the children to cover their future educational expenses.”
A major takeaway from the Appeals Court decision in Von Rekowsky is the Court’s insistence that the mother present comprehensive evidence of the financial disparities between the parties, rather than mere assumptions. For example, the judge had seen a lifestyle change for the father because he had bought a new home and hired a nanny, but the Court suggests she overlooked the more telling financial data that showed the husband’s discretionary income had actually fallen since the divorce. The Court was also critical of an erroneous finding by the modification judge that the father’s weekly expenses had doubled since the divorce, where the increase came almost entirely from alimony and child support payments. Similarly, the judge’s rationale that aging children typically have more costs also did not hold up – there was simply no evidence that these particular kids were in need of more money.
The Appeals Court ultimately held that the absence of concrete evidence presented by the wife should have prevented the modification judge from increasing child support payments to the wife without being asked to do so. The case highlights the needs for family law attorneys to bring the hard data to modification hearings.
For additional insight into modifying child support in high-income cases, the Supreme Judicial Court’s decision in MC v. TK (2012) provides a useful overview:
Where the parties’ combined gross income exceeds the maximum level at which the guidelines are strictly applicable, a judge has discretion to adjust upward from the “minimum presumptive level of support,” i.e., the award applicable at the maximum combined income level.
Of particular relevance to the issues before us are the principles that responsibility for child support should be calculated “in proportion to, or as a percentage of,” income, and that, where one parent has a higher standard of living, a child is entitled to enjoy that higher standard.2006 guidelines, preamble. See id. at II.D.2 (judge may adjust child support amount “after taking into consideration the parties’ actual time sharing with the children and the relative resources, expenses, and living standards of the two households”). See also Smith v. Edelman, 68 Mass.App.Ct. 549, 554 (2007) (judge may consider “material disparity in the standard of living in the respective parents’ households” in fashioning award of child support); Brooks v. Piela, 61 Mass.App.Ct. 731, 737 (2004) (children’s needs defined in part by parents’ standard of living).
Nothing in the guidelines or in our decisional law, however, espouses the view that child support should be used to equalize living standards in the parental households through a mechanistic equalization of the parties’ incomes. See, e.g., Pearson v. Pearson, 52 Mass.App.Ct. 156, 160-161 (2001)(rejecting “pure income-sharing approach”). Cf. Smith v. Edelman, supra(goal of maintaining standard of living of family as though it had remained intact has limits; increase in child support based solely on increase in income of noncustodial spouse “may have the effect of constructively distributing the noncustodial parent’s estate, and is accordingly disfavored”). Rather, the formulas set forth in the guidelines allow a child to benefit from one parent’s higher income and avoid a “gross disparity” of standard of living, while eschewing equalization.
In MC v. TK, the SJC offered several other types of evidence from which a judge could decide that a disparity in households existed. For example, the SJC suggested that evidence of a difference in parents’ respective abilities to provide “clothing, shoes, toys, strollers, furniture and toiletries” for the child might constitute a gross disparity. Meanwhile, the SJC noted that “both parties enjoyed frequent vacations and travel with the child, owned or leased expensive vehicles, and otherwise exhibited the indicia of upper-middle class living.” Further, the Court noted:
The father testified without contradiction that, when the child was in his household, he paid for “everything that is important to her well-being and development from clothing and toiletries and potty training to vacations, to swimming lessons, to yoga lessons, to music lessons, to museum memberships, to a school facility” that she attended on rainy days. The mother’s financial statements and testimony similarly reflect that she incurred expenses for the purchase of expensive clothing for herself and the child, and for vacations with the child in places such as the Grand Cayman Islands and Marco Island in Florida.
So how does a party seeking an increase in above-Guidelines child support prove their case by showing a gross disparity in lifestyles? There seem to be three main ways: (1.) showing a major disparity in actual housing arrangements based on the square footage of each party’s home and major amenities, (2.) showing a major disparity in assets and/or net worth, such that one parent has significantly more resources to draw upon, and/or (3.) a major disparity on spending on discretionary items, such as travel, vacations, expensive clothes and consumer goods, particularly as such expenditures relate to the children.
It is a poorly kept secret amount Massachusetts family law attorneys that the state’s Alimony Reform Act (ARA), which became effective in 2012, has profoundly affected how child support is calculated for many high-income families. Prior to the ARA, Massachusetts judges regularly entered above-Guidelines child support orders in lieu of alimony in divorce cases, largely because Massachusetts law was so unclear on how much alimony should be paid to a former spouse prior to the ARA.
The alimony formula set forth in the ARA changed how high-income child support was calculated by giving judges a clear alternative to determining child support for parents whose combined incomes exceeded $250,000 per year. As a result, it has become standard practice in Massachusetts for judges to calculate child support based on the first $250,000 per year in combined income of the parents, then use the alimony formula contained in the ARA to calculate alimony based on all combined income above $250,000 per year earned by the parties.
There is only one problem with using child support and alimony interchangeably, as so many Massachusetts now do. The durational limits set forth in the ARA limit the duration of alimony based on the length of the parties’ marriage. (For example, under the ARA, if spouses are married for ten years, then the duration of alimony is limited to 7.1 years’ worth of payments.) In contrast, the duration of child support is based on the emancipation of the parties’ children, which may come as late as a child’s 23rdbirthday. In short, in many cases, the duration of child support and alimony orders are not in sync, and it is common for either child support or alimony to drop away years ahead of the other.
As we become further removed from the ARA’s enactment, we should expect to see an increase in cases like Von Rekowsky, where the durational limits under the ARA cause alimony to end long before child support. As noted above, the Appeals Court has repeatedly held that the termination of child support can be grounds for seeking an increase in alimony – with the increase in alimony essentially “replacing” the lost child support. However, as Von Rekowsky makes clear, the opposite argument – i.e. that child support should be increased to “replace” lost alimony – is often more difficult to prove.
The difficult balancing act between child support and alimony for high-income parties is often compounded by the reflexive habits of judges and attorneys, who tend to favor a combination of child support and alimony, even in cases where alimony will end far in advance of the children’s emancipation, and child support under the Guidelines will prove insufficient to cover the children’s needs once alimony ends.
Readers of this blog know that the 2017 Massachusetts Child Support Task Force held public meeting last year in preparation of the issuance of a new Child Support Guidelines Task Force Report that is scheduled to be released any day now in June, 2017. The Task Force Report will contain a draft of the new Massachusetts Child Support Guidelines, which will go into effect in August of 2017.
It is possible that the Task Force will recommend an increase in the combined gross income affected by the Guidelines above the current cap of $250,000 per year. Indeed, by the time you read this blog, it quite likely that the Task Force’s report will be published, with ample coverage in this Blog.
About the Author: Kimberley Keyes is a Massachusetts divorce lawyer and Massachusetts family law attorney for Lynch & Owens, located in Hingham, Massachusetts and East Sandwich, Massachusetts. She is also a mediator for South Shore Divorce Mediation.
Schedule a consultation with Kimberley Keyes today at (781) 253-2049 or send her an email.
July 9, 2019 How Do Massachusetts Courts Treat Out-of-State Prenuptial Agreements in a Divorce? Read More
June 21, 2019 Why Underinsured Motorist Coverage Is So Important Read More
June 10, 2019 How Do Courts Decide Child Custody Cases? Read More
May 28, 2019 The DCF Fair Hearing Process: Appealing Supported Findings of Child Neglect or Abuse Read More
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Macclesfield Hospital
Tighter security after garden find
MACCLESFIELD Hospital has pledged to tighten security measures after a blunder which saw medical records of more than 60 patients turn up in a garden.
Macclesfield Express
East Cheshire NHS Trust was found to be in breach of the Data Protection Act over the incident, which saw sensitive A&E register notes – containing details of patients’ physical and mental states – dumped in a skip in February of this year.
The company responsible had been emptying buildings in the Blue Zone area of the hospital, which has been disused since last year.
A stunned householder discovered the paperwork in the garden of their home in Newcastle-under-Lyme and alerted the hospital, which then reported the loss to the Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO), as it is duty bound to do.
Following an ICO investigation, the trust has signed an undertaking committing it to tightening security procedures over patient data – including ensuring all third party suppliers sign contracts.
The ICO report concluded that documents had previously been discarded in open skips and that – despite the trust becoming aware of the practice – it was far too slow to react and prevent the loss of some of the records.
Mick Gorrill, from the ICO, said: "It is vital that sensitive personal information, such as patient information, is handled securely. This is an important principle of the Data Protection Act.
"Organisations must implement appropriate safeguards to ensure personal details about patients are stored and disposed of securely. I am pleased that the trust is taking remedial action to improve data security."
John Wilbraham, chief executive of East Cheshire NHS Trust, said: "The Trust takes the safeguarding of personal information very seriously.
"An extensive review of the data protection systems and procedures within our hospitals has taken place to establish what further improvements can be made, including compulsory staff training on the policy for storage and use of personal information."
HomeFormer charity worker accused of stealing more than £50,000 from disability groupFaraz Ahmed, 22, of Macclesfield, appears alongside two family members and enters no plea to fraud charges
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Quebir Massacres in Syria Are Final Straw, President Bashar Al-Assad Must Go
By Nolan Kraszkiewicz
Roughly a year ago, the Syrian government failed to adequately protect the American embassy in Damascus. In response, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton slammed the Assad regime by declaring it had "lost its legitimacy." She followed this comment by declaring that "President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power." Her powerful comments lead many to believe that tough action would be taken against Assad in an attempt to quickly bring about an end to the country's conflict.
As I noted, that was a year ago. In the time since, roughly 8,000 more Syrians have been murdered and most recently, there have been two abhorrent massacres in as many weeks. The Houla and Qubeir massacres have targeted women and children with the implicit tactic of trying to instill fear in the anti-Assad denizens.
As a response to these kinds of atrocities, the UN has sent observers into the area with the hope of preventing these sort of massacres. Quite obviously, this diplomatic approach has utterly failed. Even with the presence of these UN observers as an integral component of the Kofi Annan peace plan, these massacres are still taking place.
With the Houla massacre, the UN observers had an immensely difficult time making it to the site. And when they were finally able to, they quickly determined that it was the fault of the Syrian regime. Evidence showed that over 100 people were massacred, including more than 30 children; all at the hands of tanks and other heavy artillery.
The setting this time was macabre and potentially fatal for the UN observers. In their attempt to reach the site of the massacre in Quebir, the UN envoy took fire. Fortunately none of the observers were killed in the minor skirmish. But nonetheless it shows the escalation of the Syrian regime's cockiness.
In the wake of this latest atrocity in Hama, Turkey has rebuffed its harsh condemnation of Assad and the Syrian regime. Furthermore, UN Secretary General Ban Ki Moon had echoed the global claim that Bashar Al-Assad has now "lost all legitimacy." After 11 months, the UN is now on the same level as the U.S. with respect to the Syrian regime.
Even the figurehead at the center of the attempt to resolve the Syrian crisis by diplomatic means, Kofi Annan, has changed his tone. Annan acknowledged that his peace plan has failed to be implemented -- which comes as no surprise to many. Furthermore he stated that "brutal repression, massacres, sectarian violence, and even all-out civil war" face Syria on the road ahead.
I don't know where Kofi Annan has been, but Syria is already in the thick of what he described. I was quite optimistic about Annan's efforts for conflict cessation in Syria, but never really thought it would hold. My predictions from last year, civilian massacres, mass atrocity crimes, and violations of human rights have been unfortunately coming to fruition. I know I write a piece about this nearly every week, but the problem is not going away. It is getting worse. My predictions and assumptions have yet to differ from what eventually transpires.
It's certainly easy to discuss these matters in terms of diplomatic theory and hypotheticals. Yet the fact still remains, the death of 15,000 Syrians is not some theoretical scenario. Stronger action must be taken. The situation in Syria is more dire than what happened in Libya, and eerily similar to Bosnia in the early and mid 1990's; the Syrian's cry for democracy is just as deafening as Egypt's was. The international community must act.
Now, I'm certainly not advocating an Iraq style invasion. Turkey has repeatedly said that it could invoke the support of NATO's Article 5 to combat the Syrian regime. NATO has consistently backed up these claims of Turkish defense meaning that the burden would not be squarely on America, whether financially or militarily. A la Operation Odyssey Dawn, we could lead from behind, gradually easing in with a no-fly zone.
To continue this pattern of American abdication in Syria will be a deleterious mark on America's record in history. The claim that Syria is just Iraq version 2.0 holds no water. This time the premise for the international community to intervene is starkly different. Just because a country is in the Middle East does not mean it parallels their neighbors in the region. That said, the claim for human rights is universal. People suffering at the hands of their own government should never be abandoned, regardless of the geographic location. The time to act is now. The global community needs to rally behind the latest calls of Hillary Clinton and Ban Ki Moon. Hopefully in pursuing this course, these most recent massacres could be some of the last.
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Israel to build 2,300 ultra-Orthodox houses on site of Deir Yassin massacre
November 29, 2018 at 12:59 pm | Published in: Israel, Middle East, News, Palestine
An aerial image shows the proposed location of the new neighborhood in Jerusalem [Society for the Protection of Nature in Israel]
The Israel Land Authority (ILA) plans to build 2,300 housing units for Jerusalem’s Haredi (ultra-Orthodox) population on the historic site of the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin, which witnessed a massacre in 1948.
The ILA’s plan would see an extension of the Har Nof neighbourhood, situated on the western edge of Jerusalem, with 2,300 housing units being built on 648 dunams (162 acres) of land. The land is currently covered by the Jerusalem Forest which, combined with Har Hof and the nearby Givat Sha’ul, sit on the ruins of the Palestinian village of Deir Yassin.
According to Haaretz, the initiative “is still in the preliminary planning stages” but approval of the plans “would be handled by means of the fast-track process that has been put in place to boost [Israel’s] housing inventory [to] counter rising prices”.
An ILA document detailing the plans explained that: “The plan’s major advantage is the fact that the increased [housing] inventory would be created in close proximity to the edge of an existing ultra-Orthodox neighborhood: Har Nof.”
The plans have been vehemently opposed by Israeli environmentalists, but no mention has been made of the location’s historical significance.
READ: Israel administratively detains Palestinian MP expelled from Jerusalem
Many of Israel’s forests have been built to cover the ruins of Palestinian villages destroyed and forcibly depopulated during the Nakba of 1948. According to Zochrot, an Israeli not-for-profit which works to promote awareness of the Nakba, “more than two-thirds of KKL [Keren Kayemeth LeIsrael, part of the Jewish National Fund (JNF)] forests and sites – 46 out of 68 – conceal or are located on the ruins of Palestinian villages demolished by Israel”.
The JNF has also claimed ownership of vast swathes of land in order to further dispossess Palestinians. Earlier this week, the JNF secured victory in a 22-year-long legal battle in which it claimed ownership of 522 dunams (130 acres) of land which forms part of the Gush Etzion settlement bloc, south east of Bethlehem. Gush Etzion’s illegal settlers claimed the JNF purchased the land from a Palestinian Christian family in 1944, before the Nakba, but Palestinians contradicted this by providing ownership documents for the land. Despite this, Israel’s Supreme Court ruled in favour of the settlers and the JNF.
Israel has sought to remove any trace of Deir Yassin in order to cover up its massacre of between 100 and 250 Palestinians from the village during the Nakba. On 9 April 1948, 120 members of underground Jewish militias – the Irgun (National Military Organisation) and Lehi (Fighters for the Freedom of Israel, also known as the Stern Gang) – attacked Deir Yassin, despite the fact that the village had signed a non-aggression pact. Reports of mutilations, rapes and survivors being paraded through Jewish neighbourhoods before being summarily executed, have since emerged, with the massacre becoming one of the most infamous in the history of the Nakba.
READ: Israel expropriates almost 70 acres of Catholic Church property
IsraelMiddle EastNewsPalestine
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MERCY JUNCTION
JUSTICE AND PEACE CENTER
Mercy Junction Staff
Rev. Alaina Cobb
Pastor / Director
Rev. Alaina Cobb is the founder of the Trans Crisis Ministry Network, Co-Chair of the Leadership Council of the Progressive Christian Alliance, a Counselor, an Activist, a Poet, a Trans Woman, and a Mom
Maddie Boyd-Nix
Lay Minister of Hospitality
Maddie Boyd-Nix has lived in Chattanooga Tennessee all of her life, she attended Chattanooga State and UTC and been involved in activism since the early 80's. She has been with Mercy Junction since 2012.
Mercy Junction Elders
Beth Foster
Honored Elder
Rev. Jeannie Alexander
Kaitlyn Brock
Mercy Junction Elder
About Mercy Junction________________________________________________________________________________________________
The Justice and Peace Center is a ministry of the Mercy Junction interfaith congregation. Mercy Junction was founded by the Presbytery of East Tennessee and the Rev. Brian Merritt. Mercy Junction is also one of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship's “Peace Communities” and affiliate of the Fellowship of Reconciliation.
MERCY JUNCTION STATEMENT OF PURPOSE: "Mercy Junction is an interfaith community of artists, activists and people of faith, rooted in justice, hospitality and peacemaking, to express love for all creation by providing a sacred framework for social justice in the Southeast."
As the Council of Elders for the interfaith congregation of Mercy Junction, we commit this faith community and ourselves to this shared work and these agreed upon values.
We practice RADICAL HOSPITALITY, Welcoming both strangers and neighbors, and offering friendship. Practicing hospitality means using our resources to feed the hungry, shelter the homeless, care for the sick, and free the prisoner. We open our doors in sanctuary to human and non-human sisters and brothers in need of refuge. We use our resources to dismantle capitalism and other systems that leave our sisters and brothers with unmet needs while a few are allowed to hoard necessities. The practice of radical hospitality is one way in which we worship together.
We practice RADICAL PEACEMAKING, making our spaces and gatherings sacred places of non-violence. We do not allow weapons, no matter in whose hands they may be. We do not allow badges, flags, uniforms or other symbols of state violence. We maintain our spaces and gatherings as places of non-violence for all creation and allow only vegetarian foods to be served there. We use our resources to dismantle capitalism, the military industrial complex, mass incarceration, corporate animal agriculture and other systems that create violence. The practice of radical peacemaking is one way in which we worship together.
We practice RADICAL EQUALITY, making decision using a consensus process and striving to organize all of our work in horizontal structures. Mercy Junction offers all services, membership and leadership opportunities to all people regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, citizenship status, race or age. We require that anyone with whom Mercy Junction partners also offers all services, membership and leadership opportunities to all people regardless of sex, gender, sexual orientation, religion, nationality, citizenship status, race or age. We use our resources to dismantle white supremacy, patriarchy, heterosexism, ageism, ableism and other systems that create inequality. The practice of radical equality is one way in which we worship together.
We are RADICALLY INTERFAITH, with our community including and welcoming Christians, Jews, Muslims, Shamans, Buddhists, Pagans, Humanists and others. We recognize our heritage of being founded by and a validated ministry of the Presbytery of East Tennessee, and of being recognized and supported as one of the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship's "Peace Communities." We use our resources to create a spiritually nourishing space and community that is inclusive of all believers and non-believers. The practice of sharing the best of the faith that each of us brings into Mercy Junction is one way in which we worship together.
We are RADICALLY COMMITTED TO SOCIAL JUSTICE, which we define as the equality of all humans and peace for all creation. This takes the form of striving to operate within our ideals of social justice within our own community, and engaging in public witness, protest, demonstration, organizing, and prayer, meditation and other religious practices that are aimed at creating the "world as it should be" outside our community. Social justice activism is one way in which we worship together.
The radical ministry of Mercy Junction is a justice and peace center that not only provides a home to our interfaith congregation, but that creates a community of artists, activists and people of faith where the values to which we have ascribed and the work to which we have committed can be lived out on a daily basis. Creating and maintaining this ministry is one way in which we worship together.
Mercy Junction aims to create "the world as it should be" every day as we hold space for our community. Seeking to follow in the tradition of the peace churches, we are one of seven "peace communities" recognized and supported by the Presbyterian Peace Fellowship. As part of our commitment to non-violence we have established the center as a "safe space" and ask that no weapons -- no matters in whose hands they may be placed -- be brought into the center. We also ask that uniforms and badges not be worn into this building that has been established as a house of peace and safety for all of God's children.
Mercy Junction Justice and Peace Center at Pilgrim UCC, 400 Glenwood Dr, Chattanooga TN 37404/423.521.0642 /Pastor@mercyjunctioncenter.org
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Funeral Held for West Point Cadet Who Died in Rollover Accident
WABC-TV reports speakers included former president Bill Clinton — Morgan's father had been part of the president's security detail
Published Jun 16, 2019 at 1:57 AM
A West Point cadet killed during a training exercise has been laid to rest at the academy's cemetery.
The funeral for Christopher J. Morgan was held Saturday at the United States Military Academy.
WABC-TV reports speakers included former president Bill Clinton. Morgan's father had been part of the president's security detail.
West Point's Commandant of Cadets, Maj. Gen. Steve Gilland, called the 22-year-old "an exemplary classmate and teammate" and said the young man from West Orange, New Jersey, was "tremendously proud to be a cadet."
Morgan was killed last week when a tactical truck overturned on the way to a military training camp. Nineteen cadets and two soldiers operating the vehicle were injured in the accident.
At West Point, Morgan studied law and was on the Army's wrestling team.
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You are here: Home » Services » Workforce and Economic Development » Enjoying The Journey
“I plan to be a millionaire by the time I’m thirty.” Esperanza Maldonado
Ask Esperanza Maldonado about the future, and she jokes, “I plan to be a millionaire by the time I’m thirty.” The goal is ambitious, especially for someone who is 27, but success is certainly part of the picture for the talented student at the Youth Automotive Training Center.
Like a number of her fellow students, Ms. Maldonado entered YATC when she was living at a halfway house. She so impressed YATC founder Richard Liebler that he hired her as a sales person at his auto dealership in Hillside.
“I have the gift of gab,” Ms. Maldonado says. “I love selling cars. It’s a blessing really. I could never have gotten a job like this anywhere else.”
The mother of a seven-year-old son, Ms. Maldonado says that she became interested in YATC because she likes cars. “I’ve really enjoyed YATC,” she says. Ms. Maldonado will graduate in August and plans to open her own auto body shop after she returns to school to get a degree in business and marketing.
The salesperson and student keeps a crushing schedule. She lives in Paterson and does not have a driver’s license because of fines imposed when she was arrested. To get to YATC in Newark, she leaves home at 6 AM and takes two different buses, the Newark subway and another bus. Then, when classes are finished at 1PM, she takes two more buses to get to work at Hillside Auto Mall by 2PM. If she can’t snag a ride from a coworker, Ms. Esperanza does not get home until 11:30.
Recently, Ms. Maldonado testified before a legislative committee in Trenton in favor of provisional drivers licenses that would allow a person to drive to and from work or school.
“You do things and there are consequences, but when do they end?” she says.
Ms. Maldonado wants to pay off her fines and have driver’s license again by the end of summer. “I feel like I’m in an upward spiral,” she says. “I’ve already been at the bottom so there is no place to go but up and I’m enjoying the journey.
Financial Opportunity Center
Health Care Training
NCCTI Institutional Written Plans
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Buy Amazing Spider-Man comics below
Amazing Spider-Man Comic Books 1963 series
Sales Rank #1 See Top 2,500
Publisher Marvel • Super-hero Spider-Man Ages_7-12 Ages_13-16
First Issue #1 - March 1963 Last #441 - November 1998
Continued from Amazing Fantasy (1963 series) Continued in Amazing Spider-Man (1999 series)
This is the original series of Spider-Man comic books. After issue #441, Marvel Comic books re-started the numbering at #1. The next 58 issues are listed at NewKadia as Amazing Spider-Man (1999 series). After #58, Marvel numbered the next issue #500 (441 + 58 = 499). These comic books are listed as Amazing Spider-Man (2003 series). Early issues are reprinted in Marvel Tales (1964 series). Issue #1 is reprinted in Marvel Milestone Edition.
176-200 201-225 226-250 251-275 276-300 301-325 326-350
We have 114 of the 441 issues.
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Amazing Spider-Man comic books
Since 2000, Amazing Spider-Man comics have been the best selling comic books at NewKadia.com. For customers who buy Amazing Spider-Man comic books, NewKadia is the place to shop. Although the Amazing Spider-Man series is the most popular, hundreds of other Amazing Spider-Man comic books are for sale here. They range from 2 issue mini-series to longer series, such as Spectacular Spider-Man. In each case, when you buy Amazing Spider-Man comic books at NewKadia, they come with our 100% money-back guaranted. So, if you want to buy Amazing Spider-Man comic books, our collection of thousands of issues is the largest collection available on one website.
Why You Should Collect and Buy
We've been tracking the biggest selling comics at NewKadia for 15 years -- 180 months, and incredible as it may seem, Amazing Spider-Man (1963 series) has been the best selling comic here for 178 of the 180 months.
So, the natural question is: "Why?" Well, my friends, the answer is pretty easy. It's because the stories and plots of the original series are among the best ever written and drawn.
Starting with the story of the high-school aged Peter Parker, boy-nerd, turning into a super-hero, the basic themes of the character have touched two generations of readers. The early issues, drawn by Steve Ditko, captured the skinny little Parker character just perfectly. This super-hero was so different, in so many ways, the creative blast was overwhelming to readers then, and remains strong even now.
The movie "Spider-Man 2" captured Parker's angst nearly perfectly (and that's why Roger Ebert called it "the best super-hero movie ever filmed"). Even if you took the big action scenes out of the film, the remaining emotional story line -- Parker's inability to relate to girls -- perfectly captured the spirit of the comic book series and the reality of young adulthood.
If you haven't jumped on board the bandwagon, you should. It is groundbreaking, and often imitated. Whenever a super-hero has had self doubts, or a befuddled state of mind, it's a rip off of this series.
Strip away the super-hero theatrics and the series has great love stories (Peter and the ill-fated Gwen Stacy; Peter and Mary Jane), and the never-ending tale of Peter's blaming himself for his uncle's death.
This original series ran for 441 issues, until they re-started the series in 1999 with issue #1. But, 58 issues later Marvel came back to its senses, and starting with issue #500 re-adopted the original numbering system.
So there you have it. if there ever was an "Academy Award" or "Nobel Prize" for the best ongoing series of the past 50 years, this is the winner if the voters are the customers who have spoken with their wallets.
To buy Spider-Man comics go to Amazing Spider-Man comic books for sale
Go to 250 more reviews of
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AB de Villiers named South Africa’s Cricketer of the Year
AB de Villiers was named South Africa’s Cricketer of the Year for the second successive year at Cricket South Africa’s annual awards on Wednesday, June 3. He was also awarded the ODI Cricketer of the Year, Player’s Player of the Year and Fans’ Player of the Year.
De Villiers has scored 1610 runs in 28 ODIs at an average of 80.50 since the start of 2014, including four centuries, and has had a sensational 2015. He set the record for the quickest century in ODIs (100 off 31 balls against West Indies in Johannesburg), followed by the fastest 150 in ODIs – off 64 balls – decimating the same opposition during a World Cup game in Sydney. He has also scored 779 runs in nine Tests at an average of 55.64 in the same time period.
Hashim Amla, who won South Africa’s Cricketer of the Year twice in 2010 and 2013, was awarded Test Cricketer of the Year. Since January 2014, he has scored 801 runs in nine Tests at an average of 66.75. Rilee Rossouw, who made his ODI debut in August 2014 and has already notched up 626 runs in 20 matches in the format, was named South Africa’s Newcomer of the Year, ESPN Sports media reported.
Haroon Lorgat, CSA’s chief executive officer, was delighted with the progress that South Africa and de Villiers had made over the past year. He stated that this has been another great year with truly wonderful achievements from our top players and added that AB is just so special and surely he must be the best all-round cricketer in the world.
« Novak Djokovic dethrones Rafael Nadal Serena Williams wins 20th Grand Slam title »
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Let people most affected by gene editing write CRISPR rules
Health 29 April 2016
CRISPR-CAS9 gene editing complex from Streptococcus pyogenes. The Cas9 nuclease protein (white) uses a guide RNA (blue) sequence to cut DNA (red) at a complementary site. Used in genome engineering and gene therapy. Illustration.
By Jessica Hamzelou in Paris
Who stands to benefit from – or lose out on – gene editing? Advances in our ability to tweak the human genome using CRISPR Cas-9 and similar techniques won’t only affect those at risk of genetic disorders. Women and disabled people are likely to be disproportionately affected. And people living in poor countries – who are at the greatest risk of disease – could miss out on the benefits.
These were among the points raised at a summit held by the US National Academies of Science and Medicine’s Committee on Human Gene Editing in Paris today. The committee will draw up a set of recommendations based on the questions and comments raised by the audience – a mix of scientists, ethicists and lawyers.
The CRISPR editing tool offers scientists a way to cut out sections of DNA and potentially replace them with others. Since it took the research world by storm last year, some have suggested it could be used to treat genetic disorders by precisely targeting the responsible genetic mutation. Disorders like Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which causes muscle degeneration, and osteogenica imperfecta, known as brittle bone disease, have been flagged as potential beneficiaries.
But the people who will probably be the first to have their lives altered by gene editing were missing from the discussion, says Jackie Leach Scully, a bioethicist based at Newcastle University in the UK. When researchers focus on correcting genetic mutations, they may be overlooking the individual’s personal experience of disability, she says.
“There are lots of intervening steps in between a person’s genotype and their experience of phenotype,” says Leach Scully.
Spectrum of opinion
Disability exists on a spectrum, and impacts each affected person’s life in a different way. Some will be happy to live with their disability, says Leach Scully. “Disabled and chronically ill people will hold a broad spectrum of opinion.”
Because of all this diversity, disabled people themselves must have a say in any policy recommendations, she says. Some might not like the idea of gene editing, and, at any rate, governments could be doing a lot more to improve the wellbeing of disabled people before planning on editing their genes.
Women also stand to be disproportionately affected by advances in gene editing. For a start, women tend to take on the bulk of caregiving for disabled people, and so will have to deal with the fallout of changes to treatments.
But women are also likely to be the first recipients of gene therapies to improve fertility. Just a couple of months ago, a UK-based team were given the go-ahead to experiment on human embryos, with the aim of identifying genes linked to embryo health, fertility and miscarriage. A team based in Sweden is set to start a similar project. “Both initial research and ultimately treatment involves early embryos or eggs,” says Leach Scully.
All the world
At the same time, people living in poor countries are left out of the conversation. While CRISPR debates over designer babies, cosmetic improvements and super-human enhancements rage on, researchers need to remember that developing countries stand to benefit hugely from gene editing, says Gemma Ortiz Genovese of charity Doctors without Borders, or Medicins Sans Frontieres.
“Based on the presentations [made at the summit], we’re looking at an elitist treatment,” she says. “We [at MSF] want to know how the benefits will be shared equally.”
Ortiz Genovese listed sickle cell disease, malaria and dengue among the diseases that collectively are responsible for hundreds of thousands of deaths per year in the developing world. Some research teams are looking into ways to gene edit mosquitos – which spread dengue and malaria – into oblivion by rendering them unable to reproduce.
“We think it’s important that technologies are managed through governance to ensure that the needs of people in developing countries are met,” she says.
The best way to do this is to provide incentives for companies to invest in the technology, says Soren Holm at the University of Manchester in the UK. “In the past that has been done by shaming them when they do not do it,” he says.
DIY biology
Any policy on human gene editing will also have to account for the DIY biology community – “citizen researchers” who do their own low-budget genetic experiments.
“People build their own hardware and teach themselves genetics,” says Bethan Wolfenden of Bento Bioworks. Wolfenden works with biology hobbyists, providing them with low-cost scientific equipment. “I’ve been approached by a lot of people who are interested in CRISPR and how they might be able to use it,” says Wolfenden.
While some may want to use the technique to improve their health, others just want feel they are experiencing the bleeding edge of technology first hand, says Wolfenden. And although DIY CRISPR may be some way off, it’s worth thinking about, she says. “Once they have access to the knowledge, we need policies in place to help them manage those projects.”
It is vital that gene editing community listen to the opinions of the people future treatments are likely to affect, says Leach Scully. “We don’t know a lot either about the science or the views of those people who we hope will benefit from these therapies,” she says. “We need to bear humility and modesty in mind.”
Magazine issue 3072 , published 7 May 2016
Australian entrepreneur struggles to prove he is Bitcoin's daddy
Beech marten halts LHC after chewing on a power cable
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Glaucoma 360 Benefit Gala Raises $520,000 for Essential Glaucoma Research and Education Programs
Gala included presentation of the 2017 Catalyst Award and the 2017 Visionary Award
16-Feb-2017 7:05 PM EST
Glaucoma Research Foundation
Janette Marquez performs at the Glaucoma 360 Annual Gala
Credit: Photo by Trish Tunney
Bill Link (right) presented the 2017 Catalyst Award to Eugene de Juan, Jr. MD
Janette Marquez received the 2017 Visionary Award and performed at the Gala
Technology, Vision, Local - California
Glaucoma, GALA, Event
Newswise — San Francisco, CA – February 16, 2017 – Glaucoma Research Foundation honored renowned ophthalmologist Eugene de Juan Jr., MD and opera singer Janette Márquez at the Glaucoma 360 Annual Gala on February 2, 2017 at the Palace Hotel. Now in its 11th year, the benefit gala and auction raised $520,000 to support Glaucoma Research Foundation’s innovative research and education programs.
The Catalyst Award was presented to Eugene de Juan Jr., MD in recognition of his outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing ophthalmology. Dr. de Juan is Founder and Vice-Chairman of ForSight Labs in Menlo Park, California, and the Jean Kelly Stock Distinguished Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of California, San Francisco. “Dr. de Juan is an extraordinary physician and teacher, as well as a successful entrepreneur,” said Thomas M. Brunner, President and CEO of Glaucoma Research Foundation. “Gene has dedicated his career to the development of new and innovative technologies to preserve vision. Glaucoma Research Foundation is thrilled to have this opportunity to recognize Gene for his many contributions to medicine and improving the lives of patients with blinding eye diseases.”
The Visionary Award was presented to Janette Márquez, a talented and accomplished opera singer who is blind from congenital glaucoma. She made her official debut at the National Theater of Dominican Republic where she shared the stage with some of the most important artists in her country. Mr. Brunner said, “Despite her visual challenges at such a young age, Janette was determined to realize her dream of being singer. Her performance at the Gala was truly inspirational, and we are grateful for Janette’s dedication to raising awareness about glaucoma.”
Co-chaired by Nobuko Saito Cleary and Gary Cleary, PharmD, PhD, the Annual Gala included the President’s Reception and silent auction, an enthusiastic live auction, a report from the researchers working toward better treatments and a cure for glaucoma, and dinner and awards to celebrate the catalysts and visionaries who believe in Glaucoma Research Foundation’s mission to prevent vision loss from glaucoma by investing in innovative research and patient education.
Glaucoma is a complicated eye disease in which damage to the optic nerve leads to progressive, irreversible vision loss. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness, and in its most common form, there are virtually no early-warning symptoms. It is estimated that over 3 million Americans, and over 60 million worldwide, have glaucoma but only half of those know they have it.
About Glaucoma Research FoundationFounded in 1978 and headquartered in San Francisco, Glaucoma Research Foundation is America's oldest and most experienced nonprofit dedicated solely to its mission of preventing vision loss from glaucoma and ultimately finding a cure. Glaucoma Research Foundation has invested more than $50 million into research and education to prevent vision loss from glaucoma. Glaucoma 360 is a unique series of annual events presented by Glaucoma Research Foundation that includes the New Horizons Forum—a full-day meeting dedicated to innovations in glaucoma therapy — plus Glaucoma Symposia to highlight the latest advances for practicing ophthalmologists and optometrists. All proceeds from Glaucoma 360 support Glaucoma Research Foundation’s research and education programs. More information is available at www.glaucoma.org.
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Wellingborough academy 'requires improvement' says education watchdog
Tim Redigolo
Education watchdog inspectors have ruled a Wellingborough academy 'requires improvement' after their most recent visit.
Oakway Academy bettered its previous 'inadequate' rating from 2017 and although adjudged to need improvement it was found to be 'good' in three of the five inspection categories.
The school, part of the Hatton Academies Trust, was judged as 'good' in its effectiveness of leadership and management, its personal development, behaviour and welfare, and its early years provision.
It 'requires improvement' in its quality of teaching, learning and assessment, and its outcomes for pupils.
"The quality of teaching and pupils’ learning and progress are inconsistent," wrote lead inspector John Lawson.
"Some pupils do not achieve as well as they should.
"Leaders have not ensured that some of their initiatives are applied consistently well.
"Those responsible for governance are not as effective as they could be in holding the school to account.
"Teachers sometimes do not ensure that pupils, including those who speak English as an additional language, understand and use important vocabulary in different subjects.
"Pupils’ writing is sometimes let down by weak spelling, grammar and punctuation."
Among the positives noted by Mr Lawson were the improving standards of leaders who are "establishing a culture of higher expectations".
The academy has an "ethos of mutual respect" and the pupils - who are described as well behaved with good manners - progress well from starting points in the early years.
"Staff promote pupils’ personal development very well," the report states.
New campaign to fund Wellingborough A&E facility
"Pupils are taught to have increasingly high aspirations for themselves.
"The quality of teaching is improving. Pupils, including those who are disadvantaged, are making improving progress. Outcomes are improving."
Inspectors found the school's curriculum to be "broad and balanced" and was enhanced by a wide range of extra-curricular opportunities.
Oakway Academy Principal Clare Wallace said: "I am very proud of the progress Oakway Academy's children, staff and parents have made over the past two years.
"The recent acknowledgement of our progress by both Ofsted and challenge partners will enable us to continue to plan and prioritise, continually improving outcomes for all of our children.
"I am looking forward to working with the children, staff and parents in the coming months to celebrate our successes and move forward in our journey of improvement."
Rob Hardcastle, the acting CEO of Hatton Academies Trust, said he was extremely proud of the staff, pupils and parents at the school.
"We are pleased that Ofsted has acknowledged that the principal and senior leaders have an uncompromising drive and ambition to improve the school and have complete confidence that this journey is well underway," he said.
The full report can be read here.
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Rosenborg wins Tippeligaen 2016
By far the winningest team in the bunch, Trondheim tops the elite league for the 24th time
Photo: Knut Inge Røstad / RBK.no
Rosenborg celebrates after topping Tippeligaen for the 24th time.
Jo Christian Weldingh
Rosenborg became league champions after beating archrivals Molde 3-1 at Aker stadium on Sept. 24 with five games remaining in the season. Never before has a league title been won with so many games left to play.
Rosenborg and the whole city of Trondheim were ready to celebrate before the game at the home stadium of their archrivals. With a draw, the league title would be theirs for the second season in a row. Rosenborg has won the league with four games left to play on three occasions: 1996, 2003, and 2009.
Molde manager and Manchester United legend, Ole Gunnar Solskjær, said before the game that his team would do anything in their power to avoid a Rosenborg-celebration at Aker stadium.
“We will not concede points tonight. We will not let Rosenborg celebrate their league championship in Molde. We will ruin their party and give them a warning about what is to come next season,” he said. Molde won the league in 2014 but has been a huge disappointment to their fans this season, finishing in fifth place.
Rosenborg didn’t have a single chance in the first half. The hosts dominated the game and had several chances to score. When Bergmann Sigurdson scored with a clinical finish after 30 minutes, it was not undeserved.
In the second half, Rosenborg was back to their true self and even more dominant than Molde was in the first. After 50 minutes, team captain Mike Jensen scored with a beautiful finish after a cross by defender Jonas Svensson. Molde did not play as well as they did in the first half, and Rosenborg seemed to gain confidence throughout the game. After 62 minutes the turnaround was complete when substitute Pål Andre Helland passed to striker Christian Gytkjær: Tippeligaen’s top goal scorer did what he does best and headed the ball into the net. Mike Jensen finished off the night when he scored the last goal after 89 minutes.
“Mike Jensen has been Tippeligaen’s best player this year,” several members of the press stated after the game. “It feels fantastic; it’s hard to describe,” Jensen said after the final whistle. “Everyone in the team has been focused on this and to finally stand here as champions is an incredible feeling.”
Solskjær had to eat his words. Rosenborg won the league on archrival Molde’s home grounds after all. “Disappointing,” Solskjær said after the game. When asked if Molde will be able to compete with Rosenborg for the title next season, he answered with a decisive “Yes.”
Coach Kåre Ingebrigtsen gets most of the credit for Rosenborg’s success the last couple of seasons, and many experts have compared him to Nils Arne Eggen, the legendary coach who won 13 consecutive league titles from 1992 to 2004. When asked how he feels about winning his second league title, Ingebrigtsen answered with a quote from his old coach and idol: “Any idiot can do it once, but doing it twice is much harder,” he said. “It’s not just about players and coaches, it’s about a whole club that has been doing things right for a long time.”
In reality, Rosenborg’s league title was never threatened this year. After losing the first game of the season, the team from Trondheim started winning and never looked back. At one point they were more than 20 points ahead of runner-up Brann. This is Rosenborg’s 24th time winning Tippeligaen, which is a record.
Jo Christian Weldingh grew up in Lillehammer, Norway, but is currently living in Oslo. He has a BA in Archaeology from The University of Oslo and a BA in Business Administration from BI Norwegian Business School.
This article originally appeared in the Dec. 2, 2016, issue of The Norwegian American. To subscribe, visit SUBSCRIBE or call us at (206) 784-4617.
Tags: Jo Christian WeldinghRosenborgsoccerTippeligaen
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Corridors to community care
Celebrating a decade of medical education in Springfield and Eugene
By Suzi Steffen
Spring 2017 Bridges magazine
Photo credit: Amiran White
Dr. Katelyn Clark (left), alumna and Eugene surgeon with NW Surgical Specialists, rotated at PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center as an OHSU medical student. Today, she pays it forward, precepting current M.D. students Ellen McCleery (center) and Jasper Bash (right) as volunteer faculty at the PeaceHealth Center for Medical Education & Research.
Sam Warn stands in a pediatric room at Springfield’s PeaceHealth Sacred Heart Medical Center at RiverBend while a physician speaks with a young woman and her parents. Warn is a second-year M.D. student in the OHSU School of Medicine, and it’s early in his second week of a clerkship at RiverBend. He’s tired and missing his fiancée in Portland.
But Warn is also thrilled. He is one of a number of M.D. and P.A. students who will participate in clinical clerkships in the Eugene area this year.
The PeaceHealth Center for Medical Education & Research recently turned 10 years old, marking a successful affiliation with the OHSU School of Medicine. And it’s roaring ahead with more than 150 clerkships planned this year. Students work with Eugene and Springfield’s physicians in everything from core areas such as family medicine and surgery to electives such as infectious diseases and sports medicine.
“It’s so different,” Warn said, “because you’re directly with the attending, and that’s just fantastic.”
That direct interaction is something that CMER Director Christine Traver and Medical Director Gary Halvorson, M.D., value as well. They say that students who come through the PeaceHealth system get far more time with an attending than they would in other clinical settings, where medical students are learning next to interns and residents.
CMER began “with a handshake deal” between PeaceHealth and OHSU leaders in 2007. The School of Medicine wanted to expand the size of its medical classes to help address the physician shortage, but that was partly limited by Portland area hospitals’ ability to precept M.D. students.
The school has another important motivation. “The vast majority of physicians practice not in the tertiary and quaternary environment of an academic health center but in a community, so it’s vital that students experience those outpatient settings,” said Tracy Bumsted, M.D., M.P.H.,associate dean for undergraduate medical education, OHSU School of Medicine.
More than 40 physicians at Sacred Heart volunteered their time after the initial call, and now the program has placed students with more than 200 providers affiliated with Sacred Heart Medical Center.
Dr. Halvorson has seen firsthand how influential the Springfield and Eugene clerkships can be, helping students pinpoint their passion and where they want to practice.
“If you get students out there, you have a good chance of recruiting them back into the community,” added Dr. Bumsted.
That was true for Katelyn Clark, M.D. ’11 R ’16, who came to RiverBend for several clerkships as a student. She was deadset against surgery before she experienced it at RiverBend and discovered that – actually – she loved it. Dr. Clark completed her surgical residency at OHSU, all the while staying in touch with her PeaceHealth preceptor, David DeHaas, M.D., F.A.C.S. Now she’s back in the Eugene/Springfield area, working with Dr. DeHaas and other surgeons at Northwest Surgical Specialists and teaching OHSU students.
In fact, seven M.D. and eight P.A. graduates have begun practice in the Eugene area in the last few years, largely due to CMER.
Even Lane County’s medical examiner wants in on training and working with students. Traver gets calls at 7:30 a.m. when the office has a particularly interesting death. “The students report back to us that assisting in an autopsy was an excellent educational experience,” she said.
“Without question, our collaboration with PeaceHealth is a success,” said Dr. Bumsted. “It’s a model for how we create educational affiliations around the state.”
Bash and Dr. Clark confer with Dr. David DeHaas, a fellow surgeon with NW Surgical Specialists and the center’s surgery course director.
Dr. Clark rounds with Bash and McCleery.
By Northwest Surgical Specialists| 2017-06-06T14:26:33+00:00 June 6th, 2017|
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Needed: A quiet cultural revolution: Having more women in politics is only the beginning
By Errol Louis
| Daily News Columnist |
Dec 11, 2018 | 5:00 AM
A woman's place in the House. (J. Scott Applewhite / AP)
We all should be loudly applauding the current surge of political energy among women, while realizing that America has a lot of unfinished business when it comes to making society more fair, kind and inclusive.
It is wonderful to see girls and women gravitate toward politics, whether as candidates, protesters, campaign professional or volunteers. But scratch the surface at most workplaces or social settings, and you encounter the kind of deeply ingrained sexism that fuels job and wage inequality, exclusion from key political and civic leadership roles and other forms of discrimination.
We see it in business meetings where men will still ignore the ideas of a woman at the table — only to praise a man who makes the same point seconds later. We see it in the epidemic of violence against women: The Washington Post recently analyzed 4,484 killings of women in 47 cities over the last 10 years, and found that 46% died at the hands of intimate partners.
The problem is deeply rooted in our culture. We still train young boys to be assertive, aggressive and disconnected from feelings of kindness and care. We still squelch overly independent girls, letting them know that being “good” or popular means remaining silent at times and putting others’ needs before their own.
More than 30 years ago, author and psychologist Carol Gilligan sparked a revolution with the publication of “In a Different Voice,” which laid bare the phenomenon of women being ignored, silenced, misinterpreted or simply not heard.
[More Opinion] Struggling to die in peace: A family fights to turn off a pacemaker »
Gilligan, a professor at NYU, has revisited the topic with co-author Naomi Snider in “Why Does Patriarchy Persist?” The book is based on a decade’s worth of conversations with young people about the key moments when culture — peers, parents, teachers, the media — pressed them into traditional roles.
“For the girls, it’s ‘If you want to be one of those girls people want to be with, then don’t say what you think and feel — this is what you should say,’ ” Gilligan told me.
As for boys, says Gilligan, “Around 4, and 5 and 6 years old, if you’re not one of the boys, then you’re called girly or you’re called gay. And you’re teased. So if you want to be a so-called real boy or a good girl, then you have to conceal those aspects of yourself that would lead you to be seen as not a real boy, or not the kind of girl people want to be with.”
[More Opinion] The Republican Party owns all of Trump, not just the parts they like »
According to Gilligan, most of us simply yield to the pressure to conform to stereotypical roles, not recognizing the psychological harm — Gilligan calls it trauma — that comes from betraying our own desires.
She quotes a young woman named Neeti who complains about the burden of being made to feel she has to put others’ needs before her own. “The voice that stands up for what I believe in has been buried deep inside me,” says Neeti.
Another woman, Carrie, says: “You become so much less of a person when all you’re doing is trying to please others. You are not being who you are and after a while you lose who you were.”
[More Opinion] Where’s the equity for adjuncts? »
A man named Adam recalls distancing himself from a best friend who turned out to be gay. “It was as if something was telling me that I needed to separate my mind from my emotions, but I wasn’t aware of what exactly it was.”
Gilligan wants us to be conscious of how we’ve been raised — and to rebel against it, politically and culturally.
Much will be made of the laws and policies that newly elected women and leaders of the #MeToo movement are pushing for. But deeper change will require a thousand small acts of introspection and personal transformation. The change starts with you.
Louis is political anchor at NY1 News.
Struggling to die in peace: A family fights to turn off a pacemaker
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