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__label__cc	0.749227	0.250773	What Palantir and Asana Mean for Direct Listings: The Information’s Tech Briefing \| Oct. 5, 2020 5:31 PM PDT Photo: An Asana sign at the New York Stock Exchange when the company went public last week. Photo by Bloomberg. Stocks enjoyed a robust rally on Monday—except for the two newest stocks to go public via direct listing, Palantir and Asana. For the fourth consecutive day, both stocks lost ground. Palantir is now down 5% from its close last Wednesday, while Asana is down 13%. Both are down much more from their highs on their opening day. The weak performance of the two stocks isn’t a ringing endorsement of direct listings, at least for enterprise companies that aren’t household names. Because direct listings don’t involve the kind of marketing that occurs in an IPO, companies with high-profile brands have been seen as better candidates to go the direct listing route to the public market. There were hopes that Palantir and Asana could break the mold: The evidence suggests so far they couldn’t.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8287
__label__wiki	0.96307	0.96307	Pandemic leaves McLaren exploring funding options 15 May 2020 - 09:38 By Reuters A McLaren F1 logo in the paddock before practice for the F1 Grand Prix of Australia at Melbourne Grand Prix Circuit on March 13 2020 in Melbourne. McLaren is looking into various funding options to help the sports car maker and Formula One team owner negotiate the coronavirus pandemic, a spokesperson said on Thursday. Sky News reported that British-based McLaren was seeking to raise up to £275m (roughly R6,192,474,354) by borrowing against its Woking headquarters and extensive collection of historic racing cars. It quoted sources as saying McLaren, advised by JPMorgan, could raise the money in the form of new bonds with funding secured from existing or new bondholders. A request for a £150m (roughly R3,378,583,137) loan from the government was recently rejected, according to media reports. “Like many other British businesses McLaren has been severely affected by the current pandemic and we are therefore exploring a variety of different funding options to help navigate these short-term business interruptions,” the spokesperson said, without giving details. McLaren were the first Formula One team to furlough staff in April because of the new coronavirus, with drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz joining senior management in taking a pay cut. The company said then that the temporary three-month wage reduction was part of wider cost-cutting measures due to the impact of the pandemic on its business. The Formula One season has yet to start, a blow for teams who rely on sponsorship and a share of the sport's revenues for much of their budgets. The team announced on Thursday that Australian driver Daniel Ricciardo would be joining in 2021, with Sainz heading to Ferrari. The McLaren Group, including the luxury carmaker and applied technology arm, employs about 3,700 people with about 850 working for the F1 team. McLaren has a collection of cars driven by the likes of the late founder Bruce McLaren and Brazilian triple champion Ayrton Senna. The Formula One team are the second most successful in the sport's history, after Ferrari in terms of race wins and championships, and gave Mercedes' six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton his debut in 2007. The company is majority owned by Bahrain's sovereign wealth fund Mumtalakat. Carlos Sainz is an 'ideal fit' for Ferrari The talk was of luring six-time world champion Lewis Hamilton from Mercedes to Ferrari but in the end it was Carlos Sainz, a driver yet to win ... Daniel Ricciardo moving from Renault to McLaren for 2021 Australian Daniel Ricciardo will race for McLaren in 2021, the British Formula One team said in a statement on Thursday. Charles Leclerc's rise meant the writing was on the wall for Vettel The writing has been on the wall for Sebastian Vettel since September 2018 when Ferrari announced Charles Leclerc as his Formula One team mate	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8289
__label__cc	0.612601	0.387399	Truck accident kills 4, injures 4 others On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 31, 2014 \| Truck Accidents Summer is a time when American families hit the roads in droves. The children are out of school, you’ve got some time off work and you’ve saved up the money to treat yourself and your family to a fun vacation. But part of that road-tripping can involve... Louisiana man killed in car accident On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 26, 2014 \| Car Accidents Cars have become such a part of our everyday lives that it's nearly impossible to imagine living without them. We jump in them for a quick trip to the store. We settle in to them for a long road trip. We use them to get to and from work almost every day. Because we... Bus accident leaves woman with severe facial injuries On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 24, 2014 \| Bus Accidents New Orleans, in large part, is a town that relies on tourism as the engine of its economy. Every year, people flock to the Big Easy to eat Po’ Boys, visit the French Quarter and hear some of the best jazz and blues in the world. Because of this, tour buses are... Louisiana student dies in hit-and-run On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 19, 2014 \| Hit-and-Run Accidents Being involved in an accident is hard enough, but what if the responsible party flees the scene? Not only does this leave you with limited means of identifying them, making compensation claims difficult, but if there are no witnesses to the accident, you risk being... Trucker dies in multivehicle accident in Louisiana With so many vehicles on the roads, accidents are, sadly, not an uncommon sight. Regardless of the type and number of vehicles involved, traffic accidents can often be devastating, resulting in serious injuries or even death for those involved. Trucks are no exception... Woman pinned by taxi suffers multiple injuries On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 11, 2014 \| Commercial Vehicle Accidents Riding in a taxi in New Orleans, as with almost any major city, can be a risk. Your driver could be tired, distracted or even inebriated and you have no control. There are regulations for cab drivers, but taxi accidents happen more often than you might think. In... Accident in Louisiana kills 1, injures 2 others On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 9, 2014 \| Car Accidents A 49-year-old Louisiana woman is dead after a tragic accident that happened June 30. A pickup truck was headed west on Highway 821 in Louisiana when, for reasons that are still under investigation, the driver ran through a stop sign and slammed into the woman’s... Louisiana man hits little girl while fleeing another accident On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 5, 2014 \| Hit-and-Run Accidents Any fatal accident is a tragedy. But hit-and-run accidents, especially when they’re caused by a drunk driver, are especially heinous. One Louisiana family is in immense pain today as they struggle to come to grips with the senseless loss of a loved one.Their... Bus accident leaves 1 dead, 5 injured On behalf of The Law Offices of Tim L. Fields, LLC \| Jul 3, 2014 \| Bus Accidents Passengers found themselves trapped after the bus they were riding in careened off the road and slammed into a building. According to reports, the bus was headed eastbound when, out of the blue, the driver swerved across the street and rode along the sidewalk for a...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8290
__label__wiki	0.792795	0.792795	GTA theatre to borrow a page from Punchdrunk By Richard OuzounianTheatre Critic Toronto’s about to get Punchdrunk, in a manner of speaking. Audiences in both London and New York have been blown away by the “immersive theatre” company known as Punchdrunk. Founded in 2000 by Felix Barrett and a consortium of like-minded artists, it began by exploring classical works like The Cherry Orchard and Oedipus Rex in settings where the audience was free to wander at will, making each experience an individual one. Now it’s Greater Toronto’s turn. No, we’re not getting a visiting company of one of Punchdrunk’s current hits like New York’s Sleep No More or London’s The Drowned Man , despite the best efforts of several local impresarios to make that happen. What is on the horizon is a new piece being created by some of the most innovative people on our theatre scene that is a definite homage to the Punchdrunk school of theatrical wonders. Michael Rubinoff, the associate dean of visual and performing arts at Sheridan College, has teamed up with Outside the March’s Mitchell Cushman and Convergence Theatre’s Julie Tepperman for a megaproject with the working title of Brantwood that will open in Oakville in April 2015. The concept of setting plays outside traditional theatres and letting audiences wander isn’t new. Here in Toronto, Richard Rose’s production of John Krizanc’s Tamara worked with that esthetic as far back as 1981. But Punchdrunk had several aces up their sleeve, most notably a strong commitment to dance as part of the vision and a desire to keep painting their works on larger and larger canvases. My first encounter with them was in 2011 in New York, where set the town on its ear with Sleep No More , which can best be described as Shakespeare’s Macbeth performed in the style of Hitchcock in a series of five-storey interconnected warehouses masquerading as the kind of hotel you might have found in The Shining . It’s an exhilarating experience, which I’ve been through three times, each one totally different. It remains the first thing I recommend to anyone coming to Manhattan in search of something unique. Just recently, I tackled their latest London show, The Drowned Man , which plays out in more than 200,000 feet of space to 600 spectators a night, as it tells of tragedy inside and outside a 1960s movie studio. I don’t think I’ll ever forget the moment when the lead female character stabbed her husband to death and then approached me, still carrying her weapon. I tried not to flinch as she smeared her bloody hands all over the face mask I was wearing. Yes, the spectators all wear masks at Punchdrunk shows. It’s like being in a Kubrick film like A Clockwork Orange or Eyes Wide Shut , not a bad choice since those films’ mixtures of violence and sexuality drive these pieces of theatre. So how will this play out in Ontario? On a somewhat tamer canvas, to be sure. Cushman and Tepperman will be set their show in the building that housed Brantwood Public School in Oakville from 1920 through 2010, when it was closed as part of an urban redevelopment program. Their concept calls for a final school reunion to turn into a ghostly exercise in time travel, when all nine decades of the school’s existence come back to life at the same time. The audience of 200 will be free to wander the space according to their own dictates, just like in a Punchdrunk show, while a company of 70 actors, made up of the Sheridan graduates of 2015 and some students from the classes below them, act through the years with a mixture of text, song and dance. It’s the largest project of this type to date in Canada. It doesn’t reach the heights of ambition that Punchdrunk has scaled, we have to start somewhere. Punchdrunk has proved that this kind of immersive entertainment is what’s needed to turn the under-30 audience, who turn their backs on conventional drama, into devoted playgoers. The last time I went to Sleep No More , I stood next to a wide-eyed 20-year-old, who told me that she came back at least once a month. “Is all theatre like this?” she asked, breathlessly. I regretfully had to tell her that it wasn’t. Not yet, anyway. rouzounian@sympatico.ca Correction - April 17, 2014: This article was edited from a previous version that included an incorrect photo caption.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8292
__label__wiki	0.973481	0.973481	Revealed: a ruthless, pioneering genius who ranks as the best British manager . . . ever! By Alex Murphy SEVENTY years ago today, the greatest pioneer in the history of British football management was buried in Hendon Churchyard, northwest London. The funeral of Herbert Chapman, who led Huddersfield Town and then Arsenal to the pinnacle of the English game, was attended by hundreds of mourners and generous obituaries appeared in every national newspaper. These days, that would be expected; a manager’s fame is at least equal to that of his superstar players. Yet before Chapman, bosses were anonymous, behind-the-scenes figures whose names were rarely known beyond the immediate precincts of their clubs. Chapman changed all that. He invented the modern concept of the football manager and changed the British game for ever in countless ways. As is often the case, Chapman became a great	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8293
__label__wiki	0.984519	0.984519	London Mayor Khan slams foreign investors for leaving homes empty Wealthy foreigners condemned for using flats in the capital as 'gold bricks for investment' 1. London Mayor Khan slams foreign investors for leaving homes emptyCurrently Reading 2. London Mayor Khan slams foreign investors for leaving homes empty Mayor of London Sadiq Khan Jack Taylor/Getty Images Sadiq Khan has rebuked foreign investors for using homes in London as "gold bricks for investment". In his first address to London Assembly members, the new Mayor warned that building thousands of new homes a year in the city to solve the housing crisis would mean nothing if they were all bought by investors in the Middle East and Asia for use as second homes or to sit empty. His comments follow an investigation by The Guardian which revealed the UK's tallest residential building, The Tower, is more than 60 per cent foreign-owned and unoccupied for the majority of the year. Khan said the findings were the consequence of an eight-year obsession with numbers rather than the right sorts of homes and that he hoped to encourage foreign investors to help build houses rather than just buy places to be left empty. "Nobody is against people investing in London trying to get a good rate of return," he said. "The issue is using our homes as gold bricks for investment. People may want to invest in the wholesale side of building homes. That is in stark contrast in buying homes off-plan as an investment which are left empty. " Responding to the Guardian's investigation, James Murray, the deputy mayor for housing, said: "This is another example of where the previous mayor failed to get to grips with London's housing crisis. "Sadiq Khan was elected on a mandate that Londoners should have 'first dibs' on more of the homes built in the capital. We will work closely with our partners to build more new homes for Londoners." The average house price in the capital is now far in excess of £500,000, more than 16 times the average London salary, says Business Insider. London Mayor Sadiq Khan challenged to an IQ test by Trump The war of words between Donald Trump and Sadiq Khan has intensified, with the US presidential hopeful refusing to forgive the London Mayor for calling him "ignorant". Trump challenged the newly elected Muslim mayor to "take an IQ test" after he slammed the presumptive Republican nominee's views on Islam. "He doesn't know me, hasn't met me, doesn't know what I'm all about," Trump said in an interview with Piers Morgan on ITV's Good Morning Britain. "I think they were very rude statements and frankly tell him I will remember those statements. When he won I wished him well. Now, I don't care about him." Incredibly strong comments from Trump re Cameron & Sadiq Khan's 'ignorant' jibes. Going to have real ramifications if he wins. @GMB — Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) May 16, 2016 Asked to respond to the comments, Khan told the BBC: "Well look, it was Trump that began this. My views are quite simple. Donald Trump: your views on Islam are ignorant." Now someone will ask Sadiq Khan to react to Trump, and later ask Trump to again respond to Khan's response to his response... #onandon — Sunny Hundal (@sunny_hundal) May 16, 2016 A Khan spokesperson later mocked Trump's IQ challenge, saying: "Ignorance is not the same thing as lack of intelligence." The billionaire businessman also had strong words for David Cameron, warning that they would not have a "very good relationship" if he wins the US presidency in November. It comes after the Prime Minister last year condemned Trump's plans to ban Muslims from entering the US as "stupid, divisive and wrong". Number 10 Downing Street said that Cameron stood by his views, but was also committed to "maintaining the special relationship" between the two countries, regardless of who won the presidential race. "The PM has made his views on Trump's comments very clear," a spokesperson said. "He disagrees with them and I haven't got anything further to add. He continues to believe that preventing Muslims from entering the US is divisive, stupid and wrong." New London Mayor slams Trump's 'ignorant' view of Islam Sadiq Khan has spurned Donald Trump's suggestion that he could be an "exception" to a proposed policy to ban Muslims from entering the United States. London's new mayor had said he planned to visit the country before November's presidential elections "in case Donald Trump wins". The businessman, who is now unopposed in the Republican contest, has vowed a "total and complete" temporary shutdown of the US's borders to Muslims if he enters the White House. "If Donald Trump becomes the president, I'll be stopped from going there by virtue of my faith, which means I can't engage with American mayors and swap ideas," Khan told Time magazine. Trump later told the New York Times that he would be willing to make an "exception" in Khan's case and said that he was "very happy to see" the Londoner elected. "I think it's a very good thing and I hope he does a very good job because frankly, that would be very, very good," he said. Khan refused the offer, saying: "This isn't just about me – it's about my friends, my family and everyone who comes from a background similar to mine, anywhere in the world. "Donald Trump's ignorant view of Islam could make both our countries less safe. It risks alienating mainstream Muslims around the world and plays into the hands of the extremists." The Mayor added that Trump and those around him think Western liberal values are "incompatible" with mainstream Islam. "London has proved him wrong," he said. London Mayor: Will Sadiq Khan create a 'Labour Party in exile'? London's new mayor has used his first big post-election interview to launch a stinging attack on the Labour leadership. Speaking on the BBC's Andrew Marr Show yesterday, Sadiq Kahn said the party under Jeremy Corbyn was not doing enough to address the concerns of ordinary voters. Unless Labour reached out to the whole of the electorate and not just its natural supporters, the "mission to improve the lives of ordinary working people" would be put in jeopardy, he added. "My point is very simple, we've got to stop talking about ourselves and start talking to citizens about the issues that matter to them," he said. Divisions between the Khan and Corbyn camps were on show throughout the mayoral campaign and the Tooting MP's victory has been read as a shifting of the balance of power within the party. It is clear Khan "will use his position to set out an alternative direction for Labour", says The Observer and his intervention will "reignite the battle" over whether Corbyn's decision to move his party to the left is the correct strategy ahead of the 2020 general election. Some of the Labour leader's inner circle are "concerned that the Mayor intends to use his new office, and the national platform it gives him, to set up a rival power base to Corbyn", says The Independent, which describes the London mayor as "the country's most powerful directly elected leader". Khan has a mandate from 1.3 million voters in the capital, more than five times the number of people who backed Corbyn in the leadership election, and moderates expect him to use it to create a "Labour Party in exile", says The Sunday Times. Key figures within the party are expected to join him in City Hall. Some believe Khan's huge vote "can act as a counterweight to Corbyn's argument that his leadership victory has given him carte blanche", the paper adds. Friday's local election results, according to the BBC, show that Labour lost 18 of its council seats, down to 1326, and retained its 58 councils. The Conservatives lost 48 seats, down to 842, and lost one council to the Liberal Democrats, taken them down to 38. The majority of the lost seats went to the Lib Dems and Ukip. London Mayor Khan slams foreign investors for leaving homes empty - currently reading	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8294
__label__wiki	0.991342	0.991342	‘Star Trek’ Reboot Gets Bryan Fuller as Showrunner Sci-fi classic to return to CBS in 2017 before moving to CBS All-Access Linda Ge \| February 9, 2016 @ 10:06 AM Last Updated: February 9, 2016 @ 10:35 AM Bryan Fuller, creator of cult TV hits like “Dead Like Me” and “Hannibal,” will serve as co-creator and showrunner on CBS’ “Star Trek” reboot. “My very first experience of ‘Star Trek’ is my oldest brother turning off all the lights in the house and flying his model of a D7 Class Klingon Battle Cruiser through the darkened halls. Before seeing a frame of the television series, the ‘Star Trek’ universe lit my imagination on fire,” said Fuller in a statement. “It is without exaggeration a dream come true to be crafting a brand new iteration of ‘Star Trek’ with fellow franchise alum Alex Kurtzman and boldly going where no ‘Star Trek’ series has gone before.” Alex Kurtzman will serve as executive producer for the new “Star Trek” TV series. Kurtzman co-wrote and produced the blockbuster 2009 film “Star Trek” with Roberto Orci, and co-wrote 2013’s “Star Trek Into Darkness” with Orci and Damon Lindelof. Both films were produced and directed by J.J. Abrams. Also Read: First 'Star Trek Beyond' Trailer Shows Enterprise Crew Abandoning Ship (Video) The series will not be related to the third installment in the franchise, “Star Trek Beyond,” which is scheduled to be distributed by Paramount Pictures in summer 2016. It will instead focus on new characters boldly going where no one has gone before. The new series will premiere off with a special preview broadcast on CBS. The premiere episode and all subsequent first-run episodes will then be available exclusively in the U.S. on CBS All Access, the network’s digital subscription video on demand and live streaming service. This marks the first original series developed specifically for U.S. audiences for CBS All Access. The next chapter of the “Star Trek” franchise will also be distributed concurrently for television and multiple platforms around the world by CBS Studios International. Also Read: New 'Star Trek' Series Coming to CBS All Access in 2017 The new series will be produced by CBS Television Studios in association with Kurtzman’s Secret Hideout. Kurtzman and Heather Kadin will serve as executive producers. Fuller previously wrote for “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine” and “Star Trek: Voyager.” He was most recently showrunner on NBC’s “Hannibal” and is currently in production on Starz’s “American Gods” with partner Michael Green. The Neil Gaiman adaptation starring Ricky Whittle is also expected to premiere in 2017. Why New ‘Star Trek’ Series is Boldly Going to Streaming, Not Broadcast By Daniel Holloway \| November 3, 2015 @ 5:30 PM ‘Star Trek’ Is CBS’ ‘Family Jewels,’ CEO Leslie Moonves Says By Joe Otterson \| November 3, 2015 @ 2:51 PM 13 ‘Star Trek’ Alien Races We Want to See on New CBS Series (Photos)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8295
__label__wiki	0.553728	0.553728	AMLO blames the neoliberal model for the murder of 7 year-old Fatima The president said his government is working to stop the femicides and asked female protesters not to paint nor destroy the doors of the National Palace. CIUDAD DE MEXICO – In response to the atrocious murder of seven-year-old girl, Fátima, which has shocked the country, Andrés Manuel López Obrador said that feminicides are a product of the “selfishness and accumulation of wealth in a few hands left by neoliberal policies”, which has gained him strong criticism on social networks. Fátima, was seven years old, she was reported missing since last February 11 and her body was found last Saturday. When found, Fatima’s body was naked, without her organs, inside plastic bags used for garbage disposal Authorities in Mexico City are offering a reward of more than $100,000 USD to find the killer of the little girl. AMLO said that in the face of this serious situation of violence and loss of values there must be a joint effort by citizens, churches, all sectors and the government itself to have a better society. “I maintain that it fell into a decline, it was a process of progressive degradation, which had to do with the neoliberal model,” he said. “I have always said that unemployment, economic growth, and even the number of homicides are measured, but the degree of social decomposition produced by neoliberal policies is not measured” (SIC) AMLO said. He warned that in view of the situation, a “hard-line” policy cannot be applied, but rather the underlying problem must be addressed, seeking both material and spiritual well-being. “These are crimes that have to do with hate, crimes that have to do with social problems, family problems, it is a social disease. This is not only solved by the police, nor by prisons, nor by threats of an iron hand, here we have to attend to the bottom line, that there be material well-being and well-being of the soul, that it be insisted upon to the point of exhaustion that only by being good can we be happy and that we all help to have a better society. This is the rotten fruit of selfishness and the accumulation of goods in a few hands and the abandonment of the majority of our people.” (SIC) he said. The president insisted that public life has to be “purified” with a new current of thought, hence the importance of speeding up the elaboration of the moral Constitution, to prevent the “black stain of individualism” from growing and values from being strengthened. The president’s statements unleashed the fury of Internet users, who blame AMLO’s government for doing nothing to stop the femicides in the country. “Enough is enough! #Fatima was. 7 years-old, 7 years-old!.. Nor did she go out at night.. Nor did she dress provocatively.. Nor did she walk with the groom.. Now what will be the pretext.. “, wrote an Internet user. AMLOFatimaMexico Under a digital format, the countries.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8296
__label__wiki	0.661661	0.661661	(composed using the Publishing ethics resource kit and in compliance with Elsevier recommendations) (These guidelines are based on existing Elsevier policies). The publication of an article in a peer-reviewed Taiwanese Political Science Review is an essential building block in the development of a coherent and respected network of knowledge. It is a direct reflection of the quality of the work of the authors and the institutions that support them. Peer-reviewed articles support and embody the scientific method. It is therefore important to agree upon standards of expected ethical behavior for all parties involved in the act of publishing: the author, the journal editor, the peer reviewer, the publisher and the society. Taiwanese Political Science Association as publisher of Taiwanese Political Science Review takes its duties of guardianship over all stages of publishing extremely seriously and we recognize our ethical and other responsibilities. We are committed to ensuring that advertising, reprint or other commercial revenue has no impact or influence on editorial decisions. In addition, the Editorial Board will assist in communications with other journals and/or publishers where this is useful and necessary. Authors of reports of original research should present an accurate account of the work performed as well as an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the paper. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable. Review and professional publication articles should also be accurate and objective, and editorial “opinion” works should be clearly identified as such. The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism takes many forms, from “passing off” another’s paper as the author’s own paper, to copying or paraphrasing substantial parts of another’s paper (without attribution), to claiming results from research conducted by others. Plagiarism in all its forms constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. An author should not in general publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. In general, an author should not submit for consideration in another journal a previously published paper. Publication of some kinds of articles (e.g. translations) in more than one journal is sometimes justifiable, provided certain conditions are met. The authors and editors of the journals concerned must agree to the secondary publication, which must reflect the same data and interpretation of the primary document. The primary reference must be cited in the secondary publication. Proper acknowledgment of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Information obtained privately, as in conversation, correspondence, or discussion with third parties, must not be used or reported without explicit, written permission from the source. Information obtained in the course of confidential services, such as refereeing manuscripts or grant applications, must not be used without the explicit written permission of the author of the work involved in these services. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. Examples of potential conflicts of interest which should be disclosed include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Potential conflicts of interest should be disclosed at the earliest stage possible. Duties of the Editorial Board The editors of Taiwanese Political Science Review are responsible for deciding which of the articles submitted to the journal should be published. The validation of the work in question and its importance to researchers and readers must always drive such decisions. The editors may be guided by the policies of the journal's editorial board and constrained by such legal requirements as shall then be in force regarding copyright infringement and plagiarism. The editors may confer with other editors or reviewers in making this decision. The editors should evaluate manuscripts for their intellectual content without regard to race, gender, sexual orientation, religious belief, ethnic origin, citizenship, or political philosophy of the authors. The editors and any editorial staff must not disclose any information about a submitted manuscript to anyone other than the corresponding author, reviewers, potential reviewers, other editorial advisers, and the publisher, as appropriate. Unpublished materials disclosed in a submitted manuscript must not be used in an editor's own research without the express written consent of the author. Privileged information or ideas obtained through peer review must be kept confidential and not used for personal advantage. The editors should recuse themselves (i.e. should ask a co-editor, associate editor or other member of the editorial board instead to review and consider) from considering manuscripts in which they have conflicts of interest resulting from competitive, collaborative, or other relationships or connections with any of the authors, companies, or (possibly) institutions connected to the papers. The editors should require all contributors to disclose relevant competing interests and publish corrections if competing interests are revealed after publication. If needed, other appropriate action should be taken, such as the publication of a retraction or expression of concern. The editors should take reasonably responsive measures when ethical complaints have been presented concerning a submitted manuscript or published paper, in conjunction with the publisher (or society). Such measures will generally include contacting the author of the manuscript or paper and giving due consideration of the respective complaint or claims made, but may also include further communications to the relevant institutions and research bodies, and if the complaint is upheld, the publication of a correction, retraction, expression of concern, or other note, as may be relevant. Every reported act of unethical publishing behavior must be looked into, even if it is discovered years after publication. Peer review assists the editor in making editorial decisions and through the editorial communications with the author may also assist the author in improving the paper. Peer review is an essential component of formal scholarly communication, and lies at the heart of the scientific method. Journal of Geographical Science shares the view of many that all scholars who wish to contribute to publications have an obligation to do a fair share of reviewing.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8308
__label__cc	0.668951	0.331049	Home › Poland › Resources & business sector › Infrastructure Polandrozwiń poland, infrastructure, transport, air transportation, railway network, telecommunication Infrastructure in Poland collected with transport, air transportation, railway network and telecommunication. The development of the road transportation network in Poland over the last few years has made exceptional progress. Between 2003 and September 2016, Poland built motorways and expressways with a total length of 3,488.85 km. As of September 2016, there were over 1,646.05 kilometers of motorways and over 1,832.8 kilometers of expressways in Poland. Together they constitute a network of high-speed roads that allows vehicles to travel at speeds exceeding 110 km/h. Thanks to cohesion policy funds, which Poland has tapped into since the accession to the EU, the infrastructural investments have accelerated. The EU’s Infrastructure and Environment Programme for the years 2007–2013 helped to finance transportation development investments worth 25.78 billion EUR out of total available programme funds of 37.69 billion EUR. 75% of the Programme funds were streamed directly from the EU budget. For 2014 and 2020 Poland received from the EU’s budget – EUR 82.5 billion for the cohesion policy and these funds will also be invested in the key road connections from the EU’s budget. According to the National Road Construction Programme for the years 2014–2023, the Polish government will spend PLN 107 billion for the construction of 3.9 thousand km’s of motorways and expressways and 57 new ring roads. The main goal is to complete the road network in Poland and connect the main cities in such a way as to reduce the travel time between them by a minimum of 15%. This will in turn improve road traffic safety. Main new investments in expressways and motorways: Connection between Kraków and Gdansk with S7 road. Connection between Tri-city and Poland’s southern border with A1 motorway. Connection between Szczecin and Tri-city with S6 road. Connection between Warszawa, Lublin and Rzeszów with S17 and S19 roads. Connection between Bydgoszcz, Poznań and Wrocław with S5 road. Connection between Bydgoszcz, Toruń and Wrocław with S10 road. Investments are to be divided into tenders for 20 – 30 km sections with funding spread in time to allow for a stable demand for construction materials. The investments seem to attract foreign constructors who participate in the tenders. The major foreign constructors active in Poland: Astaldi S.p.A., Metrostav a.s. (Czech Republik), Colas S.A. (France), Torpol (Norway), Vinci S.A. (France), SRB (Ireland), Skanska AB (Sweden), Grupo ACS (Spain), PORR Group, Max Boegl (both Germany) and Strabag (Austria). Polish air transportation began in 1919 with a flight between Poznań and Warszawa. In 1929, LOT Polish Airlines was established, and up to this day is the Polish flagship carrier operating from the largest Polish airport Frederic Chopin Airport in Warszawa. Recent years brought large investments in the airport infrastructure that needed modernization to account for rising demand for air travel. EURO 2012 football championship provided an impulse to develop airports in major Polish cities - the Warsaw area gained an airport in Modlin, which is intended to service low-cost carriers, Cities of Wrocław, Lódź, Gdańsk, Rzeszów and Poznań opened new passenger terminals in 2012 while Kraków opened their new terminal in September 2015. There are also three new airports recently built: the Regional Airport in Zielona Góra (providing flights to Warsaw), the Olsztyn Mazury Regional Airport, and the Radom Airport. This rapid infrastructural development that began recently is expected to translate into increased passenger and cargo traffic to and from Poland as well as to promote domestic travel. Railway network in Poland Poland has a dense railway network that serves both regular citizens and industry. In most cities, the main railway station is located near the city centre and is well connected to the local transportation system. PKP Polskie Linie Kolejowe (PKP Polish Railway Lines), a part of the state-owned PKP Group, operates the rail infrastructure. There is an extensive railway network in western and northern Poland, however, eastern parts of the country have less developed network. In total there are 24,828 km of railway tracks in Poland, about 60% of which are electrified – a value comparable to Norway or France. The extent of railway concentration varies from 3.7 km to 15.6 km of line per 100 square kilometres, with the average around 6.3 km/100 km2. PKP Polish Railway Lines maintains over 80,000 structures, including 6,447 bridges and viaducts. The existing infrastructure is still developing and modernizing, 2012 was the break -through year with many vital train stations being refurbished, including landmark investments in Warszawa, Wrocław, Poznań and Kraków. These infrastructural projects were stimulated by the requirements of Euro 2012 football championship. Instead of building extremely expensive high-speed connection between Warszawa, Wrocław and Poznań with speeds exceeding 250 km/h the Polish government has, since 2013, concentrated on the modernization of existing tracks and train stations with the support of the EU funding. The total value of investments in infrastructure spent by PKP PLK between 2012–2014 amounted to 19 bn PLN. In 2016 Poland’s Council of Ministers approved the country railway investment programme. By 2023, PLN 65.8 billion (including PLN 57.8 billion from EU funds) will have been spent upgrading the Polish rail network. Key projects include greater implementation of ERTMS and increasing the number of routes that support line speeds of 160 km/h. The length of the routes where trains will be able to travel at over 160 kmph, is expected to increase from the current 90 to 350 kilometres in 2023. Within the programme PLK will implement a new strategy called the “Great Railway Investment Offensive”, it is meant, first and foremost, to avoid the mistakes of the years 2007–2013. Part of projects will be co-financed by the European Union’s Connecting Europe Facility (CEF). Other projects to be undertaken in the investment period include various capacity improvement and gauge enhancement schemes. The Polish telecommunication infrastructure is developing continuously. Not only has the number of potential providers increased steadily, bit also various new forms of telecommunication have entered the Polish market contributing to growth in numbers f customers. According to the Urząd Komuniakcji Eletrnicznej (office of Electronic Communications) report, the value of the telecommunications sector at the end of the 2015 was PLN 39,5 billion. Poles are using the internet and mobile phones more and more. In 2015, about 90% polish inhabitants used the internet. Mobile telephony is still the most important segment of the Polish telecommunications market. In 2015, the revenues from mobile telephony accounted for almost 43.7% of the total market value. The majority of revenues (81%) was generated by the post -paid customers. Today, the internet is a major source of information. The number of Internet users in Poland reached 14 million in 2015. The most popular access to the internet in households is access services provided primarily through 2G/3G modem 48%, xDSL lines 20%, cable modems of cable TV operators, 18,5%. Approximately 1.3 f the market value come from services provided through mobile modems. The Polish telecommunications market is gradually approaching Wester European market. In order to win over new customers, telecommunication operators are trying to retain their current clients by offering many incentives free minutes and better service quality either at the same price or as an extension to their existing service range. They also offer better packages, including telecommunication services and banking or television services.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8309
__label__cc	0.51703	0.48297	There are many stories of Canadians succeeding abroad, but few have a tale of perseverance like Durrans. He and his parents uprooted their lives in North Van seven years ago to move to Germany for what they saw as a Grand Family Adventure, one expected to only last a couple years, at most. It was Hughes, who was then a youth coach at 1860, who gave Durrans his first opportunity in 2013. His father, Gareth, was friends with Richard Durrans, as both were youth coaches in North Vancouver. Matt and Richard flew to Germany for a 10-day trial, and after a few days on snow-covered pitches, the 1860 staff was impressed enough to offer Durrans a spot in their academy. Hughes, who played in Europe himself, and Altmann are as much family as they are representation.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8311
__label__cc	0.6889	0.3111	Murph, a hard workout for Cross training & fitness fans Posted on mayo 10 2019 One of the most anticipated tests for Cross training & fitness lover takes place every last Monday in May, on Memorial Day, in the United States. It is the feared, beloved and longed-for challenge of facing the "Murph". There is no Cross training & fitness fan who does not know about a hard test that challenges athletes of all levels, who even train a whole year for this type of physical, mental and emotional challenge. A test where the passionate Cross training & fitness leaves everything and gives everything to reach the goal or at least try because that's what it is: follow and continue to reach the goal. "It's one of the toughest WODs, but the most coveted to perform," describes Cross training & fitness lovers to the Murph challenge. Murph: a challenge that is not for everyone When we say that Murph is a challenge, we really say it. That Cross training & fitness lover who has already done this challenge will surely carry in his hands the marks, the traces and the scars registered during this hard training. These same traces and injuries make these athletes, in the initial or advanced stage, of the Cross training & fitness renew their commitment to overcome their own brand and surpass themselves. As you can see, the challenge of Murph in Cross training & fitness not only requires hard skills and physical exercises, but also a 100% mental motivation and be convinced that no matter how many times you can fall during the challenge, but get up and follow ahead. It does not matter how much you delay, but the enthusiasm of how to arrive and fulfill it. Who was Murph and why is this challenge named after him? Surely there are those who already know it, but for those who do not the following information will seem very useful and interesting. Michael Patrick "Murph" Murphy lost his life in a major operation against Al Queda in the country of Afghanistan During the violent shooting, Murph ventured and without caring, only to save the honor of his country, he moved in full field to use your satellite phone, the only means of communication available at that time. At least three of the men who accompanied the lieutenant and leader of the Navy SEAL also died in that battle. All this courageous action of Murph was awarded posthumously and recognized with the Medal of Honor and the protocols according to their value. It is because of this story that the hard challenge called Murph in honor of this hero is carried out every last Monday of May each year. Cross training & fitness coach Julie Gallo working out with weight vest from focusflproductions on Vimeo. What is Murphy's challenge? The Murphy training, an important event in Cross training & fitness, consists of the following steps: - Run 1 mile (approximately 1600 meters) - 100 Pull -Ups - 200 Push-ups - 300 Air squats - Run 1 mile (approximately 1,600 miles) All these exercises are done with a vest of 20 pounds (9 kilograms approximately) which turns the challenge into one of the dreaded tests for all Cross training & fitness lovers. It is important to point out that this is Murph's complete challenge, but there are those who make a minor journey, according to their level and what they think they can do. And this is good. Be honest with yourself and what you can achieve. Later on, you can increase your goal. The important thing is never to stop. Recommendations for the great challenge Murph Like any difficult challenge, it requires good training. But in case it is the first time that you will participate in this challenge or you have been doing it for some time, you have to take into account to advance a few and not try to do all the running challenge. Also, you have to look for an adequate rhythm for a period or time interval regularly long. It also matters the quality, rather than quantity, so you should take good care of the repetitions you make during the Murph challenge. Do not let fatigue crush you! Always give the best of you; however, if you have to stop, listen to your body and do it. Then, continue with your goal. Do not forget to hydrate yourself a day before this Murph's challenge, as well as intake of carbohydrates and electrolytes. Do not forget that you have to have a balance between running out on a full or empty stomach. It also uses the best equipment to protect you and make the challenge safely. Do not forget that a good vest, an important part and one of the protagonists of this challenge, will allow you to meet the Murph challenge fully. Remember that you must carry out the arduous challenge with safety and protection. A good comfortable and safe vest, be sure that it will inspire you to continue and follow and not think about stopping you. A feeling of feeling that you can with everything. Do not forget to prepare not only physically, but also mentally. The Murph is a tough challenge and requires a high capacity to overcome any eventual falls to focus on the objective. It does not matter that you do not finish it, but how you do it and how far you get. Trust yourself! In Unbrokenshop we wanted to give you valuable information for your hard day of Murph. And you're ready for the Murph challenge? Tell us, how do you come preparing? Do you already have a good vest or do you need to renew it? At Unbrokenshop (https://www.unbrokenshop.com) we know and understand your passion for Cross training & fitness, get inspired by reviewing more information about the equipment and accessories you need for this great day of the Murph.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8313
__label__wiki	0.536314	0.536314	2002 ZIM: Evaluation of the National Prevention of Mother-to-Child Transmission of HIV Pilot Project of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare Author: Chingono, A.; Chandiwana, B.; Kambabrami, R. The Ministry of Health and Child Welfare established a PMTCT of HIV task force to spearhead PMTCT of HIV in Zimbabwe. This two-year pilot project was carried out at 3 urban clinic sites: Highfield in Harare, Zengeza in Chitungwiza and Pelandaba in Bulawayo. The purpose was to reduce Mother-to-Child HIV transmission and then apply the learnt experiences to do the same in Zimbabwe at large and in other countries. The main components of the Project were: provision of VCCT services for expecting women/couples; provision of female and male condoms to lactating mothers; administration of AZT to consenting pregnant women; and minimisation of invasive procedures during pregnancy and delivery. The Project encompassed 3 urban clinic sites, with a total population of the 3 urban centres constituting about 20% of Zimbabwe's 12.5 million inhabitants. About 4.4% of the population at any given time are pregnant women, coming up to just over 10,000 in the 3 catchment areas of the pilot. The birth rate in the cities had gone down since the mid-80s due to a good National Family Planning Programme but mortality rates (crude mortality rate, IMR, PMR, etc.) had gone up significantly during the same period, generally as a result of the HIV/AIDS epidemic. While Projections were that 1500 women would benefit from the Project, only 453 women (30.2% of the expected) actually participated in the Project. Some of the reasons for the low uptake of the Project were related to stigma on HIV/AIDS, which is still high in the communities despite the fact that there are many people who are known to be HIV positive and are living among communities. The objectives of the evaluation were to: assess achievements, determine strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats, assess project acceptability and accessibility, establish reasons for low uptake, assess establishment of partnerships, look into management issues, and make recommendations on future management of the project, required including policy-related aspects. Interviews with planners at national level, planners and managers at City Health Directorate level in the three cities, collaborating and implementing partners included mainly UN agencies, site project managers, PMTCT counsellors, nursing staff and non nursing staff at the sites The extent of the MTCT of HIV problem was inferred from the seroprevalence surveillance studies of women attending ANC and that of the general population. However, a needs assessment prior to planning and implementing the pilot project so as to characterise the nature and magnitude of the problem as well as the needs of potential clients, was not done. Hence, the scope of the anticipated demands and the prevailing community attitudes towards PMTCT were not factored into the pilot project planning and its execution. Although a consultant was hired to do a situation analysis in selected areas, no inventory of what complimentary care and psychosocial support services were in existence was compiled. The policy position on infant feeding was not clear at the time of the pilot study and there was confusion on the ground resulting in contradictory messages being given to clients, depending on which particular health worker was giving them. There were no written clinical care guidelines on PMTCT. Policy on confidentiality was given verbally and was based on the national AIDS policy document. There were no PMTCT-specific teaching materials for mothers such as posters and pamphlets. Breast feeding was the main mode of infant feeding. Free formula was promised to mothers but not delivered. Reasons for non-delivery were not communicated. Condoms were supplied by the existing city health system and male condoms were always available. Female condoms were only occasionally available. AZT was supplied by the project through GMS, MOH&CW at no cost to clients and was used as a DDA drug. Generally, there had been no disruptions of supply, no thefts, or AZT wastages. HIV testing was not done on site and the ELISA test was used. There were no undue disruptions, lost specimens or lost results. The only major disruption of services during the pilot occurred due to non-payment for services rendered by NBTS. The cost of an HIV test was US $6.25 per test. NBTS services were very good otherwise. Turn around time was on average 1-2 weeks. Results were kept locked up in cupboard and nothing was written on the ANC card to identify the women. Results were not disclosed to family members. All clinic staff received verbal but specific instructions on confidentiality. Beyond the usual existing referral systems, no mechanisms for referral were established for clients, particularly HIV-positive pregnant patients taking ZDV. Needed referral networks had included services for complicated labour, social services, continued psychosocial support, STI services and others. No arrangements were made for continued care for HIV-positive clients and the clinic found themselves ill-equipped to offer continued services. The training needs of the various cadres were not systematically assessed and no follow-up to assess the adequacy of training carried out was done. In terms of specific counselling focus and inputs, most counselling sessions were devoted to individual pre- and post-test counselling, with a few being devoted to group pre-test counselling. Major causes of problems encountered by counsellors during their were work load, lack of ongoing training, lack of emotional support, staff being moved to other posts within the clinic, and staff leaving the clinic to work elsewhere. The training received in all these areas was rated as having been good though they felt there were areas in which they needed more training, particularly on infant feeding and supportive counselling. All the counsellors also felt that there had been a real need, during the pilot phase, to improve on on-going training and support for counsellors, supervision of counsellors, availability of patient education material and the implementation of a community education strategy. Community leaders were not sensitized on the benefits of PMTCT, as a result of which they were not involved in any community mobilization. Likewise, community opinion shapers and educators were not sensitized on the benefits of including PMTCT in their usual community education endeavours. PLHA were also not involved from the very onset, only coming on board later in relation to the provision of psychosocial support through support groups. Potential clients sensitized were women attending ANC who received group IEC lectures. No extra efforts were made to penetrate the community with a well-defined, multi-sectoral educational strategy that capitalized on past successes in reaching intended clients and their significant others. Clients were verbally informed about the project when they came for ANC and invited to join the project. In most cases, this was the first time the clients heard about PMTCT for HIV. Counsellors were of the opinion that community sensitization, male involvement, provision of free formula feeds, widespread nurse training, targeting decision makers within households, involvement of other sectors in community mobilization and a sustained education strategy would have facilitated the uptake of PMTCT services by clients. Regarding male involvement, counsellors suggested a number of strategies including the introduction of 'man-friendly ANC', extending opening hours for PMTCT services into the weekend to accommodate working men, workplace-based sensitization and education sessions, and the development and distribution of IEC materials targeted at, and relevant to, men. The PMTCT pilot project developed a highly confidential and secure record keeping system in the form of registers whose access was highly restricted. There was an assumption that the integrated services that obtain at PHC level would take care of the continuum of care and support services. However, the perceived quasi-vertical nature of the PMTC pilot project and the absence of a city health directorate level mandate for coordinating PMTCT-related services, militated against a team approach that was inclusive of all health workers. Although there was a focal person for PMTCT at national level, staffing levels within the PMTCT unit head office were said to have been inadequate, as a result of which the capacity of the PMTCT section within the AIDS & TB Unit to coordinate the various components of the programme was said to have been limited. This had ramifications on the unit's ability to manage and proactively monitor programme activities, especially at the site level. The resource mobilization strategy adopted was, by and large, donor dependent especially for the provision of commodities/inputs such as anti retroviral drugs, testing kits, gloves, syringes and other services. At local levels, municipalities chipped in with transport, facilities and manpower in support of PMTCT activities. No strategies were developed at local levels to secure long-term funding for scaling up of PMTCT using AZT beyond the scope of the pilot period. There was strong networking among implementing partners at national level in the form of consultative and planning meetings, especially at the outset. The usual health services management structures should be mandated to take leadership and responsibility for managing PMTCT services within the context of integrated MCH provision. Events have overtaken the piloted PMTCT model that used ZDV as ARV and ELISA as the testing strategy. Any future attempts at scaling up PMTCT services should be informed by latest developments in these technical areas. As things stand currently, on-site VCT using rapid testing and nevirapine, is recommended. Community sensitization and mobilization is a critical stage in the successful introduction of PMTCT services. Creative approaches to reaching communities should be identified and developed through participatory consultations and multisectoral involvement of all stakeholders. Follow-up care and psychosocial services are an absolute must for the provision of a comprehensive model of care and support. A mechanism for establishing networks for follow-up care should be put in place as part of planning for the continuum of PMTCT care and support services. PMTCT should be mainstreamed into District AIDS Action Committee plans as a strategy for resource mobilization. Policies provide an enabling environment for service provision; therefore, a comprehensive PMTCT policy should be developed that will facilitate the integration of PMTCT activities within MCH services. Quality assurance is necessary for the standadization of care practices. Guidelines on PMTCT care and psychosocial support should be developed and disseminated to implementing sites. Staff training should be an ongoing activity. Partnerships at all levels, from the national to the local, should be established and/or strengthened as part and parcel of multisectoral collaboration to ensure sustainability and a wider sense of ownership and involvement. A team headed by MoHCW should be constituted and tasked with developing an action plan that outlines specific roles and responsibilities for each actor in PMTCT - this will facilitate due accountability and ensure a holistic approach. Other sector ministries, DACs, WACs, NGOs, etc. should also be included. This has already been done. HIV/AIDS - PMTCT MoHCW AIDS and TB Unit, Local Municipalities, UNAIDS, UNFPA, WHO	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8315
__label__wiki	0.74571	0.74571	Kevin Barker '13 MAJOR: Japanese and Visual Arts, Interdepartmental "Professor Wimer instilled in me the importance of organization. Learning how to properly plan out an art project has been vital to my success as a graphic designer. Graphic design is all about being prepped for the next step, so learning about discipline and workflow in a classroom setting gave me a huge advantage." In winter 2017, Sandra Wimer, senior lecturer in visual arts, was curating an exhibit of Japanese woodblock prints – or moku hanga – when she reached out to Kevin Barker ’13. She vividly remembered his passion for this ancient Japanese printing technique. In fact, one summer, thanks to Wimer’s encouragement and success in securing funding, Barker was able to travel to New York City to work with noted moku hanga artist Takuji Hamanaka. Now Hamanaka was coming to Union as a guest artist whose works were in the show Wimer was mounting with Sheri Lullo, assistant professor of art history. “I know you did your senior thesis project using the technique of Japanese woodcut and that your project involved the theme of vintage style tattoos,” Wimer wrote to Kevin. “Prof. Lullo and I will be teaching a class in Japanese woodcut. We have curated a show, and actually, Takuji will be coming as a guest artist.” Currently a graphic designer in Sydney, Australia, Barker, Kevin was delighted to hear from his former professor. “That class sounds like it would be so much fun,” he wrote back. “My woodcut printing project was definitely the highlight of my senior year. And I really enjoyed learning from Takuji that summer.” Over the next few days, the email exchanges flew between Schenectady and Sydney as the pair reminisced and caught up. Kevin related that he’d put his interdepartmental major in visual arts and Japanese to good use right after graduation. “I moved to Tokyo and started my career as a graphic designer,” said the Armonk, N.Y., native. “After about three years, I moved to Sydney and started a design position at a video and digital production agency called Elastic Studios. I’ve gotten the chance to work closely with some big name brands like Barilla, Subaru, Kia, and eHarmony, so it’s been a pretty exciting past few years.” “Goodness!” Wimer replied. “You have accomplished quite a bit in the last four years.” For Kevin, the unexpected missive from his alma mater was a welcome reminder and validation of his printmaking days, when hours spent in the studio seemed like minutes, so involved was he in the artistic process. In fact, he credits the time he spent in Wimer’s class as having a significant impact on his future. “Professor Wimer instilled in me the importance of organization. Learning how to properly plan out an art project has been vital to my success as a graphic designer. Graphic design is all about being prepped for the next step, so learning about discipline and workflow in a classroom setting gave me a huge advantage when I started my career. It’s second nature to me now whenever I start a new project. It’s so important that I make it a point to teach junior designers about the importance of this, too.” And while his flourishing design career has left little time for woodcut work these days, “I’ve been coming up with ideas for new projects over the years, and this email might have just given me the inspiration to finally get back into it.” “I was always impressed with the way you worked on your senior project,” Wimer said. “Every week you had a new print for me to look at with you. In fact, I use you as an example with my other seniors, letting them know what a solid work pattern looks like.” Said Kevin: “I had a lot of fun working on my prints every week.” “I hope you may have some time to make more images,” Wimer said. “If you do, please share them with me.” “I have my tools with me here in Sydney,” Kevin said. “I’ll definitely keep you in the loop for any new projects that I start!” For student and mentor, lasting impressions are clearly what matter. ‹ More alumni profiles	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8317
__label__wiki	0.739855	0.739855	Keywords: Cookbook x The Barbarians’ Cookbook in Food and Fantasy in Early Modern Japan The Southern Barbarians' Cookbook is a culinary text that speaks to important changes in Japan's foodways in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Written in the seventeenth century, if not ... More The Southern Barbarians' Cookbook is a culinary text that speaks to important changes in Japan's foodways in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Written in the seventeenth century, if not earlier, the book is a collection of Portuguese and Spanish recipes, making it unique among premodern culinary writings in Japan. Accordingly, it offers insight into historical developments outside of cooking and is the missing link in the transition from culinary texts to culinary books. The Barbarians' Cookbook also reveals broader developments in foodways in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It describes the introduction of new food ingredients, cooking techniques, and dishes that would reshape the Japanese cuisine. The book may not have been widely circulated until modern times, but it offers a chance to examine the links and the gaps between the elite medieval culinary world and the developing popular trends in the Edo period in terms of ingredients (food) and thinking about food (fantasy).Less The Southern Barbarians' Cookbook is a culinary text that speaks to important changes in Japan's foodways in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Written in the seventeenth century, if not earlier, the book is a collection of Portuguese and Spanish recipes, making it unique among premodern culinary writings in Japan. Accordingly, it offers insight into historical developments outside of cooking and is the missing link in the transition from culinary texts to culinary books. The Barbarians' Cookbook also reveals broader developments in foodways in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. It describes the introduction of new food ingredients, cooking techniques, and dishes that would reshape the Japanese cuisine. The book may not have been widely circulated until modern times, but it offers a chance to examine the links and the gaps between the elite medieval culinary world and the developing popular trends in the Edo period in terms of ingredients (food) and thinking about food (fantasy). Keywords: Southern Barbarians' Cookbook, Japanese cuisine, foodways, recipes, cooking, culinary books, food ingredients, Edo period, fantasy, Japan Conclusion After the Fantasies Sashimi, tempura, and sushi are foods associated with Japanese cuisine found in restaurants worldwide today, and this book has touched on their history. However, there is more to the history of ... More Sashimi, tempura, and sushi are foods associated with Japanese cuisine found in restaurants worldwide today, and this book has touched on their history. However, there is more to the history of Japanese cuisine than the stories of just a few representative dishes or even a few esoteric ones such as crane soup. The Southern Barbarians' Cookbook, which probably dates to the early 1600s, and which contains mostly Iberian recipes, lacks a recipe for tempura but includes one for tenpurari, a type of fried chicken. Simmering and grilling were methods of cooking familiar to medieval chefs called hōchōnin, who worked for the military and imperial elite, and these methods remain central to preparing Japanese food. Cookbooks, like plays and novels, present ideals, not direct reflections of reality. What defines cuisine is not necessarily a particular dish or style of cooking, although these are important; rather, a cuisine, according to the approach used in this book, is a way to conceptualize food. Cuisine is an association of food with the imaginary, or a fantasy with food.Less Sashimi, tempura, and sushi are foods associated with Japanese cuisine found in restaurants worldwide today, and this book has touched on their history. However, there is more to the history of Japanese cuisine than the stories of just a few representative dishes or even a few esoteric ones such as crane soup. The Southern Barbarians' Cookbook, which probably dates to the early 1600s, and which contains mostly Iberian recipes, lacks a recipe for tempura but includes one for tenpurari, a type of fried chicken. Simmering and grilling were methods of cooking familiar to medieval chefs called hōchōnin, who worked for the military and imperial elite, and these methods remain central to preparing Japanese food. Cookbooks, like plays and novels, present ideals, not direct reflections of reality. What defines cuisine is not necessarily a particular dish or style of cooking, although these are important; rather, a cuisine, according to the approach used in this book, is a way to conceptualize food. Cuisine is an association of food with the imaginary, or a fantasy with food. Keywords: Japanese cuisine, cooking, recipes, fantasy, cookbooks, hōchōnin, dishes, tempura, sashimi, Southern Barbarians' Cookbook From Grandma’s Recipe Box: How Cookbooks Sell Comfort and Help Create America’s Consumer Cooks The rhetoric of commercial cookbooks mirrors the “death of home cooking narrative” by promising to provide the fulfilment that Americans are seeking. Creating an idealized picture of cooking at home, ... More The rhetoric of commercial cookbooks mirrors the “death of home cooking narrative” by promising to provide the fulfilment that Americans are seeking. Creating an idealized picture of cooking at home, commercial cookbooks sell “comfort cooking” in which the kitchen becomes an oasis that allows the reader to shut out all of the stress of modern life and reconnect with family, community, and food. The first step in creating a healthy meal, comfortable home, and happy family is, of course, buy the cookbook.Less The rhetoric of commercial cookbooks mirrors the “death of home cooking narrative” by promising to provide the fulfilment that Americans are seeking. Creating an idealized picture of cooking at home, commercial cookbooks sell “comfort cooking” in which the kitchen becomes an oasis that allows the reader to shut out all of the stress of modern life and reconnect with family, community, and food. The first step in creating a healthy meal, comfortable home, and happy family is, of course, buy the cookbook. Keywords: Cookbook, Consumerism, Cooking from scratch, Comfort cooking On Edna Lewis’s The Edna Lewis Cookbook Susan Rebecca White in Edna Lewis: At the Table with an American Original Critically acclaimed author Susan Rebecca White fondly recalls the comforts of cooking from The Edna Lewis Cookbook during a difficult period in her life. Lewis’s prose smoothed White’s path, leading ... More Critically acclaimed author Susan Rebecca White fondly recalls the comforts of cooking from The Edna Lewis Cookbook during a difficult period in her life. Lewis’s prose smoothed White’s path, leading her away from her southern roots and eventually back home to Georgia.Less Critically acclaimed author Susan Rebecca White fondly recalls the comforts of cooking from The Edna Lewis Cookbook during a difficult period in her life. Lewis’s prose smoothed White’s path, leading her away from her southern roots and eventually back home to Georgia. Keywords: Scott Peacock, New York, Edna Lewis Cookbook, Cafe Nicholson, southern, white How to Talk about Miss Lewis?: Home Cook. Writer. Icon. One Young Black Woman’s Act of Remembering. Caroline Randall Williams Caroline Randall Williams—culinary author, young adult novelist, and poet—writes of the profound influence that Lewis has had on her life. She recalls listening to her mother’s stories of Lewis in ... More Caroline Randall Williams—culinary author, young adult novelist, and poet—writes of the profound influence that Lewis has had on her life. She recalls listening to her mother’s stories of Lewis in childhood, cooking from The Edna Lewis Cookbook as an undergrad, and being inspired by Lewis’s works to write her very own cookbook.Less How to Talk about Miss Lewis? : Home Cook. Writer. Icon. One Young Black Woman’s Act of Remembering. Caroline Randall Williams—culinary author, young adult novelist, and poet—writes of the profound influence that Lewis has had on her life. She recalls listening to her mother’s stories of Lewis in childhood, cooking from The Edna Lewis Cookbook as an undergrad, and being inspired by Lewis’s works to write her very own cookbook. Keywords: Caroline Randall Williams, Edna Lewis Cookbook, race, blackness, memory, Freetown, cookbook	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8318
__label__cc	0.637596	0.362404	Keywords: english political culture x in Political Communication and Political Culture in England, 1558-1688 This chapter explores the whole spectrum of available venues and genres in which political ideas were expressed and through which the English people received and contributed to their general ... More This chapter explores the whole spectrum of available venues and genres in which political ideas were expressed and through which the English people received and contributed to their general political culture from the reign of Elizabeth to just prior to the transformation of 1688. Genres or forms of expression offer a useful window for exploring political life. The term “genre” is used to indicate a recognizable form of expression typically following a set of known rhetorical features. This study addresses the channels of early modern English political culture. The period focused upon in this book is 1558–1688. Deeply held religious beliefs, identifications, and habits of mind were embedded elements of the English political culture in which the genres of political expression were at play. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is given.Less This chapter explores the whole spectrum of available venues and genres in which political ideas were expressed and through which the English people received and contributed to their general political culture from the reign of Elizabeth to just prior to the transformation of 1688. Genres or forms of expression offer a useful window for exploring political life. The term “genre” is used to indicate a recognizable form of expression typically following a set of known rhetorical features. This study addresses the channels of early modern English political culture. The period focused upon in this book is 1558–1688. Deeply held religious beliefs, identifications, and habits of mind were embedded elements of the English political culture in which the genres of political expression were at play. Finally, an overview of the chapters included in this book is given. Keywords: English political culture, Elizabeth, genres, religious beliefs, political expression Drama and Political Education This chapter looks at history plays and tragedies. It pays attention to the changing link between English historical writing and the dramatic treatment of historical events. It specifically analyzes ... More This chapter looks at history plays and tragedies. It pays attention to the changing link between English historical writing and the dramatic treatment of historical events. It specifically analyzes the role of drama in early modern English political culture. Poetry, and therefore drama, was considered as a powerful force for moral and political reform. The masque on the ruler was regarded as divine authority and a beneficent source of wealth and peace. The outbreak of the civil war resulted in the diminution and the surcease of the masque. Numerous plays between 1678 and 1682 have evidenced the conflicting ideologies of the emerging Whigs and Tories. It is observed that Roman plays showed the contrasting vision of republican and imperial regimes and values. Changes in the political climate may have then transformed a politically innocuous play into a dangerous one or vice versa.Less This chapter looks at history plays and tragedies. It pays attention to the changing link between English historical writing and the dramatic treatment of historical events. It specifically analyzes the role of drama in early modern English political culture. Poetry, and therefore drama, was considered as a powerful force for moral and political reform. The masque on the ruler was regarded as divine authority and a beneficent source of wealth and peace. The outbreak of the civil war resulted in the diminution and the surcease of the masque. Numerous plays between 1678 and 1682 have evidenced the conflicting ideologies of the emerging Whigs and Tories. It is observed that Roman plays showed the contrasting vision of republican and imperial regimes and values. Changes in the political climate may have then transformed a politically innocuous play into a dangerous one or vice versa. Keywords: history plays, history tragedies, English historical writing, historical events, drama, English political culture, masque, civil war, Whigs, Tories Political Communication and Political Culture in England, 1558-1688 Barbara J. Shapiro This book surveys the channels through which political ideas and knowledge were conveyed to the English people from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the Revolution of 1688. It argues that ... More This book surveys the channels through which political ideas and knowledge were conveyed to the English people from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the Revolution of 1688. It argues that an assessment of English political culture requires an examination of all means by which this culture was expressed and communicated. While the discussion focuses primarily on genres such as the sermon, newsbook, poetry, and drama, it also considers the role of events and institutions. This book explores and elucidates the entire web of communication in early modern English political life.Less This book surveys the channels through which political ideas and knowledge were conveyed to the English people from the beginning of the reign of Elizabeth I to the Revolution of 1688. It argues that an assessment of English political culture requires an examination of all means by which this culture was expressed and communicated. While the discussion focuses primarily on genres such as the sermon, newsbook, poetry, and drama, it also considers the role of events and institutions. This book explores and elucidates the entire web of communication in early modern English political life. Keywords: sixteenth-century England, seventeenth-century England, Elizabeth I, Revolution, English political culture, sermon, newsbook, poetry, drama, political communication News, Information and Political Controversy This chapter concentrates on news and other forms of information and printed polemic with the aim of showing the extent to which the English were informed about personalities and events of political ... More This chapter concentrates on news and other forms of information and printed polemic with the aim of showing the extent to which the English were informed about personalities and events of political significance and about major political controversies. News, particularly printed news, developed a set of conventions and norms. In 1640 serial news in printed form dealing with domestic politics was the most obvious innovation. The news media were hardly champions of free speech versus an authoritarian government. Coffee house conversation about news and politics were a striking characteristic of English political culture. The coffee house also became an accepted part of political life. In general, the explosion of the news media during the periods 1640–42 and 1679–81 offers some sense of what the news marketplace would have been like without government counter-pressure.Less This chapter concentrates on news and other forms of information and printed polemic with the aim of showing the extent to which the English were informed about personalities and events of political significance and about major political controversies. News, particularly printed news, developed a set of conventions and norms. In 1640 serial news in printed form dealing with domestic politics was the most obvious innovation. The news media were hardly champions of free speech versus an authoritarian government. Coffee house conversation about news and politics were a striking characteristic of English political culture. The coffee house also became an accepted part of political life. In general, the explosion of the news media during the periods 1640–42 and 1679–81 offers some sense of what the news marketplace would have been like without government counter-pressure. Keywords: news media, serial news, printed news, domestic politics, coffee house, English political culture, news marketplace	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8319
__label__wiki	0.683033	0.683033	WWII Marine Raider Shares His Stories With Marines by U.S. Marine Corps Pfc. Melissa Ugalde It was humid and hot inside the courtyard of The Chateau at Harveston, so 92-year old veteran Charles J. Kundert sat in the shade and watched as the color guard from 1st Marine Raider Support Battalion presented the colors. Kundert was visited by members of 1st Marine Raider Battalion on June 11, 2019 to honor his service as a Marine Raider during World War II. June 11, 2019 - Marines recognize 92-year old Marine Corps and WWII veteran Charles J. Kundert (on left during WWII) for his gallant service as a Marine Raider during World War II. (Image created by USA Patriotism! from U.S. Marine Corps photos by Pfc. Melissa Ugalde) “Mr. Kundert embodies Spiritus Invictus, meeting one of the original raiders of World War II was both an inspiration and truly an honor,” said a Marine Raider present at the event who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns. In preparation for the visit, Kundert laid out a display of all of his World War II memorabilia, including notebooks where he wrote his experiences every day during the war. He explained each one in detail to the 10 Marines present. At the start of World War II, Kundert was still in high school finishing his senior year. “We quickly realized that we were very vulnerable. On the west coast we had nothing. It didn’t look very good,” said Kundert. A Temecula, California resident, Kundert enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in 1942 at only 17 years old. “I went to boot camp in San Diego, infantry training at Camp Elliot and on July 1, 1943 ... I set sail for the South Pacific.” While going through infantry training, Kundert volunteered to become a part of the newly founded Marine Raiders. The Marine Raiders were established during World War II to conduct raids behind enemy lines in light amphibious craft. They are often considered to be the first United States “special forces” of the war. Kundert served honorably in World War II with 3rd Marine Raider Battalion. He reminisced on major events of World War II he was a part of. “Bougainville was nasty, dirty, wet. It rained all the time and we were living in a swamp which makes it very uncomfortable. “ Alison Jordan, his daughter, and Anaya, his great-granddaughter watched along proudly as he talked passionately about his time to fellow Marines. U.S. Marine Corps and WWII veteran Charles J. Kundert (92) discusses his World War II memorabilia with 10 Marines, who were visiting him at The Chateau at Harveston, Temecula, California ... as his daughter and great-granddaughter watch on June 11, 2019. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Pfc. Melissa Ugalde) “He was very excited about this meeting,” Jordan said. “When he ended his enlistment they disbanded, The Raiders were no more. I think that always bothered him a little bit. When they brought The Raiders back he was excited about that. He was very excited to be able to share his stories and the memorabilia with the new Raiders. He was really looking forward to this.” In 1944, the Marine Raiders was disbanded. Men who previously served in Raider units went on to serve with distinction from 1944 to 1945. In 2006, the activation of United States Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command (MARSOC) paid homage to the Marine Raiders by incorporating the Marine Raiders famous knife, the Marine Raider Stiletto, in their detachment’s insignia. In 2014, MARSOC announced that all units within MARSOC would undergo a name change. This changed Marine Special Operations Battalion to Marine Raider Battalion. Thus reviving the Marine Raider legacy. “Meeting any military member of the greatest generation is an experience in itself, meeting a Raider hits just a little bit harder knowing he’s one of us,” said another Marine Raider present at the event who asked to remain anonymous due to security concerns. Kundert waited over 30 years before he began reaching out to those who served alongside him and telling his stories. “Not until probably 30 or 40 years later did he reconnect with them. He closed that chapter and moved on. It wasn’t until much later that he started being interested again,” said Jordan. Now, Kundert is extremely proud of his service. His photo hangs on a wall in the lobby of his retirement home alongside all the veterans who reside there with him. "There’s only one branch,” Kundert said. “United States Marine Corps.” The U.S. Marines \| Marines - The Few, The Proud \| U.S. Marines Gifts \| U.S. Marine Corps \| U.S. Department of Defense	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8321
__label__wiki	0.642626	0.642626	Cost CalculatorTrips & EventsBus Wraps Corporate TripsGovernmentConvention & EventTransport ServicesEmergencyShuttle Bus ServicesLogisticsBus Wraps AboutOur StorySafetyEnvironmental ImpactFAQsAlex's Lemonade Your Bus Your Group Your Way Free Cost Calculator View Terms > YOUR GUIDE TO A CHARTER BUS TRIP TO CINCINNATI When it comes to fun-loving towns, Cincinnati's right at the top. You have to love a city that proudly calls itself "Porkopolis" (a tribute to its rise as a pork packing center back in the 1800s). With a strong Eastern European heritage, it's also long been a major producer of great beers. It's where Major League Baseball started and is renowned throughout the Midwest for its vibrant arts and cultural scene. But Cincy is still a big city. You don't want to spend your time here buried in a map, battling traffic or trying to find a place to park. With a charter bus rental from US Coachways, you can truly enjoy yourself while someone else handles all the details. The Easy Decision — Take a Charter Bus to Cincinnati When you're planning a group outing, there are many factors to consider. None of them, though, may be as important as your choice of ground transportation. Any difficulty with getting there and back can leave a bad taste in the mouths of many of your participants. That's why charter is such an excellent option: You'll have unmatched flexibility — There's no other way to travel that gives you the freedom and control of a charter bus. You determine when you'll travel, where you'll go, how long you'll stay and what you'll see. In many instances, you can even make last minute or real-time changes to your schedule. You won't find that with any other mode of transportation. You can depend on a charter bus — With other types of travel, delays and cancellations are relatively common. In the airline industry, for example, about 40% of travelers arrive late at a destination every day! With a charter bus, your driver will have the ability to anticipate potential traffic problems, and the tools to find alternate routes to get you to your destination on time. Furthermore, because of our access to a vast fleet of coaches nationwide, we can usually find a replacement vehicle with short notice. It's the most stress-free way to travel — With other methods of travel, there's a fair amount of work involved. Someone has to check the map or keep an eye on the clock. Someone has to navigate traffic and find a place to park. On a charter bus, everyone can relax while your driver takes care of those matters. You won't need to sprint to make a connection or have any worries about your bags, either. You'll be on the same coach from start to finish, and your luggage will accompany you. There's no TSA line with a charter bus, so you won't have to remove your shoes or submit to a body search. Your phone won't affect the navigational system on the bus, so you can stay online at all times. You'll ride in comfort and style — The seats are wide and there's no middle one! Charter buses also have more leg room than any other type of transportation. You can also move through the aisles with ease and at your leisure. You'll be safe and secure — Your driver is a trained professional, with the skill to safely negotiate any traffic situation. Access to your coach is limited, too, so you won't have to worry about uninvited guests. You and your personal items will be secure. You can take advantage of the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes — That's very helpful when you're making your way to and around Cincinnati. You won't spend an arm and a leg to get there — When you ride on a charter bus, you share many of the costs of travel with fellow passengers. That makes charter bus travel consistently more affordable than other modes of travel. You'll help the environment on a charter bus — When you fill a full-sized charter bus, that can take up to 20 private vehicles off the roads, lowering emissions significantly. At US Coachways, we have been standard bearers in the charter bus rental business for more than 30 years. Use our convenient online Cost Calculator to find out the cost of a charter bus excursion to Cincinnati. Call us at 1-855-287-2427 to learn more about the services we offer. The Sights, Sounds and Smells of Cincinnati Cincinnati is a modern city with an old school vibe, a treat for the senses: The things you'll see — There's much to feast your eyes on in Cincinnati. Watch the beloved Reds (originally known as the "Red Stockings" at Great American Ball Park. Stop by the Cincinnati Art Museum, the Taft or the Contemporary Arts Center for paintings and other art from the past 6,000 years. In fact, just take a look at the skyline, where you'll see some of the most distinctive and unusual architecture anywhere, all against the backdrop of the mighty Ohio River. The things you'll hear — From classical to jazz, blues to classic rock, hip hop to Americana, there's a venue somewhere in Cincinnati to delight your ears. The renowned Cincinnati Symphony plays at historic Music Hall. The big national touring shows often play at Paul Brown Stadium or the U.S. Bank Arena. You'll also find music of all genres at pubs, taverns and small clubs in and around the city. Cincy also boasts a thriving live theater community, with both local productions and touring Broadway shows. The things you'll taste — You'll never think of chili the same way again. In the 'Nati, they ladle it over spaghetti (with a mountain of shredded cheese on top) or pile it on a hot dog with chocolate, cinnamon and other spices.You'll also find a Reuben that has a potato pancake, a pound of corned beef, a pile of sauerkraut and special dressing, all on a poppy seed bun. If you can eat the whole thing in 30 minutes, it's free! Cincinnati is also famous for its goetta, a type of German sausage made with meat and mush, usually served for breakfast. The things you'll smell — They've been brewing beer in Cincinnati for a couple hundred years, so you'll likely get a whiff of hops just about anywhere you go. After all, there are more than 50 breweries within a 25 mile radius of the city. Many of the historic breweries, such as Hudepohl and Moerlein, are still popular. You can tour the old underground tunnels used during Prohibition. But Cincy has embraced the craft beer movement, with many new and innovative brewers offering up tasty quaffs. The Right Coach — Key to a Successful Trip Choosing a charter bus is only the first step to a great group excursion. It's just as important to get a coach that's well-suited for your group, one that has plenty of room, but little unnecessary space. At US Coachways, we have longstanding relationships with charter bus services providers across the country. We'll look at the details of your trip—how many people are attending, how long you'll be on the road, what you'll want to bring or take home. Then we'll go to our vast network of charter bus vendors to find the bus that best fits your needs. If your visit to Cincinnati is with a mid-sized group, consider the mini-bus. There's room for 24 to 35 passengers and ample space for luggage and other personal items. If you're traveling with a larger group, book the full-sized bus, which seats up to 57. Multiple bus rentals are an option. Most of the charter buses include a number of modern conveniences as standard features. That includes Wifi, charging stations for your devices, DVD players and stereo/PA systems. Additional amenities, such as on-board bathroom facilities, are optional on some coaches. The features vary from bus to bus, so ask your booking agent about availability. The Preferred Mode of Travel for Any Group Trip — A Charter Bus The comfort, convenience and confidence a charter bus offers makes it well-suited for any type of outing, including: School Trips — When you're heading out on the road with young people, there's a need to safety and accountability. A charter bus makes it easy to keep track of everyone and lets you travel safely and securely, whether you're going to an athletic event, taking a club or class trip, or enjoying an arts or cultural offering. Business or corporate events — With a charter bus, it's easy to get employees to and from any occasion, from conventions and conferences to team-building exercises, training sessions, business meetings and company parties/celebrations. Use your travel time to brief or debrief workers, or to build esprit de corps. Family gatherings —A charter bus makes it easy for everyone to get to a wedding, rehearsal dinner, engagement party, reunion, bar mitzvah, graduation celebration or birthday, retirement or anniversary party. Catch up with family members while you roll on down the road. Church matters — Take the hassle out of travel for mission work, community volunteer projects, choir tours or youth group outings. Special events — When you're going to a big spectator event, whether it's a concert, game, Broadway show, festival or rally, it's just a lot more fun to go with a group of like-minded individuals. On a charter bus, you'll be able to enjoy the whole trip. Book Your Charter Bus Excursion to Cincinnati At US Coachways, we have more than three decades of experience helping groups and group leaders find effective solutions to their transportation needs. For a free estimate on the cost of a charter bus trip to Cincinnati, visit our online Cost Calculator. To learn more about the full scope of our services or to get answers to your questions about group transportation, call 1-855-287-2427 to speak to one of our experienced customer service representatives. CALL 24/7 FOR A FREE QUOTE 1-855-287-2427 HomeBlogBecome A VendorPrivacy PolicyArea ServedTerms & Conditions ©2021 uscoachways.com \| All images and text site wide are copyright of uscoachways.com	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8322
__label__wiki	0.687895	0.687895	London's most dynamic new events space pops up this December - Leake Street Arches events space Below Waterloo station’s platforms and rumbling tracks and next to Banksy’s famous graffiti tunnel that provides a constantly changing canvas for street artists, taggers, tourists and locals alike to legally express themselves through art, is a new private events space like no other. As vibrant, gritty and exciting as its surroundings, the Leake Street Arches (LSA) Pop Up, launching on 1st December, is located in one of the eight former railway arches that are being brought back to life and will offer a curated collection of independent restaurants and bars that capture the essence of urban culture. Located in Unit 7, a seven-metre high exposed brick arch, the LSA Pop Up is a totally unique space that can host events for up to 300 people standing and 150 seated. The pop up’s raw, industrial surroundings are complemented by light and mirror installations dedicated to music and up-cycled functional art by Cristina Reyes, an award-winning artist who uses hand-drawn characters and typography to create surreal worlds filled with hybrid creatures and whose work has been exhibited around the world, Kensington Palace included. The LSA Pop Up is not only an incredible setting for any type of event, it also boasts state-of-the-art facilities, including innovative lighting and a Pioneer Pro Audio speaker sound system, favoured by the world’s leading clubs, that offers guests a powerful, rich and immersive audio experience like no other. Fresh seasonal cocktails prepared by London's top mixologists are complemented by an equally exciting, and versatile, food menu courtesy of the brilliant Ginger Jar, whose incredible creations – from Alpine Mac ‘n’ Cheese with raclette, gruyere & truffle crumb topping to Venison & cranberry slider in brioche with house pickles & smoky ketchup – put them in a class of their own. Prices start from just £21 per person. Ensuring that any gathering held at the LSA Pop Up is a truly experiential event is a stunning array of scented candles by Azzi Glasser. A multi-award-winning perfume designer, Azzi has created fragrances for some of the most iconic personalities, events and brands, from Kylie Minogue and Tom Hardy through to YSL and Giorgio Armani. Bespoke creations are also available on request. With some of the world’s top DJs signed on to the project, and the benefit of a late licence, the LSA Pop Up is an event space without equal. The Leake Street Arches Pop Up will be available for private hire only from 1st December 2017 until spring 2018. The wider Leake Street Arches development is on course to open to the public in early 2018. Leake Street Arches Pop Up @ Leake Street Tunnel, Lambeth, London SE1 7NN www.leakestreetevents.com	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8324
__label__cc	0.639962	0.360038	We are pleased to announce that we have raised two new funds. The 2019 Core Fund has commitments of $200 million (up slightly from our last few core funds which were $175 million) and the 2019 Opportunity Fund is at $250 million (also up from our last 2014 Opportunity Fund of $175mm). We have made investments from the new Opportunity Fund already, including Marley Spoon and several more about to close. We are also about to close the first investment from the new Core Fund. These will be USV’s sixth early stage and third opportunity funds, respectively. As part of these new funds, we’ve continued to expand our team. First, we are excited to announce that Gillian Munson has joined the USV team as a partner. Gillian has been a longtime friend of the firm dating back to her days at Allen & Co. She will be taking on many of the financial responsibilities that John has handled for many years and also be making investments and taking board seats. Also, Nick Grossman, who has been a longstanding member of the USV team, has become a partner and will be announcing an investment that he is leading shortly. Nick will continue with some of the policy work he has been doing with an ongoing focus on all things crypto. We will continue to invest with a thesis-driven approach and you can always find our latest thinking on our website (stay tuned for an upcoming design refresh). Investing in blockchain and crypto currencies is part of our current thesis — which is why we talk about investing in companies and projects — but it has been and will continue to be a fraction of our overall investing. It is also worth noting that we continue to invest in the USV Network. The Network team has now grown to four (you can find out more about all the amazing things they do for people working at our 85 active portfolio companies on the USV Network page). Among other things you will find there is the USV talent network which is a way of raising your hand that you want to work at one of our portfolio companies. A big thanks to all our investors for their continued support and a few new ones for joining the USV family. We are looking forward to working with all the companies in our existing portfolio and adding new ones over the coming years. USV Opportunity Fund, circa 2016	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8327
__label__wiki	0.628398	0.628398	Learning on the Job. In Class. New Course Deepens Internship Experience for Arts & Sciences Students 20180405_Sticky_Brand_Intern-22.jpg After interning at The Sticky Brand, a Burlington creative firm, and taking an accompanying course, senior Studio Art major David Bernier received a job offer from the company. (Photo: Sally McCay) It’s an unlikely setting for a three-credit course: a narrow staircase next to Ahli Baba’s Kabob Shop on Burlington’s Main Street that leads to an open room dominated by a long table. But there senior Studio Art major David Bernier stands, racking up academic credit by peeling stickers off big sheets. They aren’t just any stickers, though; Bernier both designed them and oversaw their production, work he performed during a semester-long internship at The Sticky Brand, a Burlington-based creative shop whose roster of 700 clients includes national brands like The North Face and Burton Snowboards. And it’s not just any internship. Bernier is one of 30 students taking a new course in UVM’s College of Arts and Sciences, AS 190, that’s designed not to land internships for students (though the course can do that, too) but to make sure they get the most out of them. Internships + Bernier and his classmates – Economics, Chemistry, English, Poli Sci and other majors – spend 10 hours a week interning at places like The Sticky Brand, the Echo Museum, the Public Defender's Office, the Lake Champlain Chamber of Commerce, Putumayo World Music and National Life Insurance. Then, six times a semester, they meet for an hour-and-fifteen- minute class where they talk about the challenges they’re facing, reflect on what they’re learning, relate the internship back to their academic work and pick up practical job search skills. “We’re processing the internship experience into something that’s more valuable, both in helping students land other internships and, ultimately, in finding a job and setting a career direction,” says Richard Watts, director UVM’s Center for Research on Vermont, the well-connected longtime Vermonter who teaches the course. It’s worked for Bernier, who was offered a full-time position at The Sticky Brand after he graduates in May, one of several students from the class whose internship supervisors offered them jobs or paid internships. The course “definitely helped” make him a stronger candidate, he says, pointing to regular assignments Watts makes, like asking students to write up an example of when they took initiative, which often prompts them to do just that. Alex Gessman – a Political Science major who’s interning at the Lake Champlain Regional Chamber of Commerce, where she raises funds to support innovative start-up companies – says AS 190 has made the internship different from any other she’s had. “They were kind of the same thing every day; I never put any thought into it,” she says. “Now I think more about the internship; you’re just more aware of everything that goes on.” Gessman can thank the class for helping her find a career path she’s passionate about, prompted by an exercise that asked students what tasks they liked and would want to do in a job. What she liked most about the internship, she realized, was researching and tracking down companies that were most likely to contribute funds to the start-ups. Now she's looking at careers in "business development and market research because that’s essentially what I did. I loved it." In addition to encouraging students to look inward, the course has a distinctly practical side, helping them develop strong LinkedIn accounts, buff up their resumes and hone their interviewing and job-search skills. “Before the class I didn’t have a LinkedIn account and I didn’t see the value of one,” says Arielle Cheifetz, a junior Environmental Studies major who is interning at the Vermont Climate Pledge Coalition, where she recruits new members and keeps current ones engaged. After a LinkedIn presentation from UVM’s Career Services office, she saw the light. “It was just like, whoa, there’s this whole resource here that I had never thought of ever.” Larger effort AS 190, which is offered in the spring, summer and fall – and may expand to more sections in the future – is part of a larger vision College of Arts and Sciences dean Bill Falls has to make internships widely available to students in the college, which enrolls about half of UVM’s undergraduates. AS 190 joins other several other classes that help upper level students process their internship experiences, in Economics, Psychological Science, Sociology, Fine Arts and Museum Studies. Falls has also affiliated the college with The Washington Center, a 40-year old program based in the nation’s capital that will make more than 600 internship placements, housing and affiliated courses available to UVM students, and Semester in the City, a similar program in Boston that places students with social-justice organizations. And at Fall’s direction, the college has created an internship office, managed by Watts and his colleague, Sophia Trigg, that connects students to the many internship resources at the university. Through the office, Watts and Trigg found internships for about half the students in AS 190, including Cheifetz and Gessman. For students like Bernier, the class, and the internship, have been invaluable. He was thrown into the fray from day one, when he was asked to finish a design a co-worker had started. “It was a little intimidating, because I was working around someone else’s art, but it came out nice. And the client was into it.” Bernier thinks internships are the best direct route to a job. “If you’ve shown what you capable of and that you’re a hard worker and you want to be in an industry,” you have a good chance of being hired, he says. That’s the driving philosophy behind AS-190, Watts says. “Internship can seem overwhelming, if don’t know where to start,” he says. “We want to take the anxiety out of finding one – and then turn the experience into something that can really get students started on their careers.” Jeffrey R. Wakefield	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8328
__label__wiki	0.847893	0.847893	Brazilian guitarist specializes in ‘putting music into your heart’ January 27, 2017 /in 2017, Performances, Press Release, Winter Series /by Vail Jazz Diego Figueiredo teams up with Chiara Izzi for Vail Jazz performance Even before he starts strumming the guitar, a warm and inviting vibe emanates from Diego Figueiredo. Maybe it’s his large, disheveled hairdo of tight curls or his genuine and nearly constant ear-to-ear smile. Maybe it’s the prominent fingernails on his right hand that serve as natural guitar picks and immediately identify him as someone who not only plays music, but embodies it. Once the Brazilian strikes his first note – slowly and thoughtfully passing each finger over its targeted string – his allure takes on a level of near-hypnosis. Add the enchanting voice of Italian singer Chiara Izzi to the mix and the swoon is complete. Introduced to the guitar and to Brazilian samba music at a very young age, Figueiredo has fused the traditional sounds of his mother country with his own infectious style. He has produced 23 albums and performed on major stages throughout the world, including the Montreux Jazz Festival, the Hong Kong Jazz Festival, the Copenhagen Jazz Festival, and of course, the Vail Jazz Festival. Although he’s on the road most of the year, back home in Brazil, where he’s considered one of the greatest guitarists ever born, Figueiredo is always freshly inspired for new arrangements. “I feel when I’m at home, I’m completely relaxed. I get the old vinyls that my father gave me when I was nine or 10 years old and listen to the traditional Brazilian samba. It is the base of my heart and my style. I can get more ideas for this and when I’m traveling, I discover things that I add to it,” he says. Of his many performances in Vail over the years, the 36-year-old once performed with award-winning French vocalist Cyrille Aimée, to whom he likens Izzi’s tone and style. A Montreux Jazz Festival Vocalist winner (2011), Izzi’s vocal approach blends jazz, pop and world music. “Two years ago I met her in New York,” Figueiredo says of Izzi. “She has a very nice accent in jazz for Latin music and can sing in English, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. I love when she sings in Spanish, because she has the balera, the strong Latin accent. I grew up with my mom and grandmother who loved the balera and I have a lot of reference to this style. She sings hundreds of traditional Brazilian songs, the old ones. She can sing anything. We have played many concerts together and are preparing a special repertoire for Vail.” In addition to their very unique take on jazz standards, Figueiredo and Izzi will perform some original Brazilian Samba tunes as well as Bossa nova and a few other rare treats at their Feb. 2 performance in Vail. Although Figueiredo has performed and recorded with musical icons throughout the world – including Al Di Meola, John Scofield , Yellowjackets, Hermeto Paschoal and Geraldo Azevedo to name a few – and played for massive audiences, it’s the intimate shows that he appreciates the most. “I am more comfortable in small venues,” he says. “Sometimes I play New York for people who really know and really understand jazz, sometimes in places [where] there are all kinds of people – people with families and dogs, people who like country and rock and come for fun, not for the music. But everywhere, when people stop to listen, their reaction is the same.” Among the most memorable reactions Figueiredo has elicited from a crowd was at a performance in the small town of Rexburg, Idaho a few years back. “I played for 800 people in a nice theater and after there was a standing ovation for 10 minutes,” he recalls. “Signing the CDs, there was a huge line of 200 people. Moments like that make me more strong. Even at small concerts for 50 people, the reaction is so nice and so close. I’m very happy when I can see how I put my music in their hearts.” Brazilian guitarist Diego Figueiredo and Italian vocalist Chiara Izzi perform at the 2017 Vail Jazz Winter Series at Ludwig’s Terrace in The Sonnenalp on Feb. 2. The evening features two 60-minute performances, the first seating takes place at 6 p.m. (doors at 5:30 p.m.) and the second seating at 8:30 p.m. (doors at 8 p.m.) Tickets to each performance are $35 in advance. Seating is jazz club style around small tables. Dinner service and a full bar will be available. For tickets or more information, click here or call 888-VAIL-JAM. https://www.vailjazz.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/diego.jpg 333 500 Vail Jazz https://www.vailjazz.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/VailJazz_RGB_Web_348x348_small-300x300.png Vail Jazz2017-01-27 09:47:102017-01-27 09:47:10Brazilian guitarist specializes in ‘putting music into your heart’ Vail Jazz Goes to School brings free education to young generations throughout... A cool combo of bass and vocals	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8329
__label__wiki	0.893024	0.893024	Under current law, a person arrested in connection with a crime is usually required to pay a certain amount of money, also known as bail, in order to be released from jail and assure a return to court. That sum of money is determined by a “bail schedule,” which is a court-adopted document setting certain amounts for different crimes. That amount can later be increased or decreased by a judge pending an attorney’s request. In Ventura County, a pilot program in place since 2013 has offered a different approach for people arrested in connection with certain felony crimes. For eligible inmates, probation officers use a risk-assessment tool, which includes a series of questions, to determine their probability of re-offending and showing up for court. Based on the low, medium or high score, probation officers make a recommendation to the court about whether an inmate should remain in custody, be released on their own recognizance or be released under some form of supervision. Under the system to be enacted under Senate Bill 10, a version of this assessment process would become statewide practice for those arrested on suspicion of felonies and some misdemeanors. Those jailed on certain misdemeanor offenses or who obtain a certain score would be released within hours and in the other cases a judge would give the final say. MORE:California’s ‘cautionary tale’ for others considering no-cash bail system Ventura County District Attorney Greg Totten said the new law evens the playing field and makes it so that the jail consideration, in part, relies on the seriousness of the crime. The law gives officials until Oct. 1, 2019, for implementation. However, a proposed voter referendum to overturn Senate Bill 10 was filed with the state Attorney General’s Office a day after Brown signed the measure into law. If it gets the nearly 366,000 signatures required to get on the ballot, voters would decide on it in 2020. Local officials are keeping an eye on the petition as it goes forward and while the planning and implementation occur. Mike Planet, the Ventura County Superior Court executive officer, said the local court is in a better spot than most because of the experience and infrastructure already built into the county’s criminal justice system. “Imagine you’re a county or a court or a justice system where you’ve never worked with an assessment tool, where you don’t really have a pre-trial program or resources. You don’t have the community-based resources, you don’t have the network,” Planet said. “That’s really starting from scratch. We’re lucky from the standpoint that we’re not having to start from scratch.” MORE:Remembering the deadly Metrolink crash 10 years later So far, $15 million has been allocated by the state to jump-start the planning, with an estimated $200 million more given for implementation, Planet said. He said once the criteria for the funding allocation is known, he will know more about resources and staffing. Funding is among the five items he compiled about the new law that his office must address. Also on his list are data collection on the process, which is required to be submitted every other year, the local court rules that are to be adopted, the impact the hearings will have on the court and the risk assessment tool. Howeth said the Ventura County Probation Agency has been successful in its use of the tool and program so far. Totten lauded the hard work and effort of probation officers. Even with that support, Ventura County Chief Probation Officer Mark Varela said there needs to be more education and research about the questionnaires, especially in the community. “The use of validated risk assessments to determine whether or not a person should be released pending criminal charges or whether or not they should be kept in custody, needs a lot of work about how accurate they are,” Varela said. It’s up to the court to choose who does these assessments but Varela said it’s likely his agency will be contracted to do it. He said his office will be involved in conversations with law enforcement, local attorneys and the courts about the law. One such meeting happened around the time Brown signed the measure into law, Varela said, and future meetings will likely involve research into these assessments. The law also provides guidance from the California Judicial Council, the state courts’ governing body, over which tools are to be used. The law’s unknowns Like Varela, Totten and Howeth have concerns about how the assessments will work on a more widespread basis. Howeth said there’s been research about how they are not race-neutral and can be problematic in context of a system in which minorities are found to be arrested at statistically higher rates. Furthermore, the law gives judges broad discretion in cases in which a hearing is held about custody, he said. “It gives such wide-ranging discretion to judges and judges, they tend to over-detain, in my opinion, and overestimate dangerousness,” Howeth said. In practice, this law could mean that more people who aren’t a risk to public safety will be jailed, he said. MORE:Colorado River boat crash: 'We will remain steadfast' in search, sheriff says Totten, on the other hand, also had concerns about the accuracy of the assessments, saying some low-level offenders can be dangerous. “The very nature of what you’re trying to do is take a calculated risk, so it’s not a failsafe. It’s not completely perfect. Mistakes are going to be made,” Totten said. “But the same can be said of bail,” he said. The law allows prosecutors to file a motion for a “preventive detention” hearing, should they wish to argue for a person to be kept in custody pending trial. ’Great faith’ in judges Ventura County Sheriff Geoff Dean, who heads the law enforcement agency overseeing the county’s jail, said he does not have public safety concerns in light of the new law. “I think it might actually increase public safety,” Dean said. Contrary to popular belief, he said, the jail already releases low-level offenders, so that’s not necessarily new for the facility. Dean said he was also happy with provisions of the law that were put in place when considering release of inmates that pose a risk to the community. Certain factors will stop an inmate’s release regardless of an assessment score that would provide for that. The sheriff has “great faith” in the judges who would have authority in those cases to conduct an evaluation and make a decision. He also said the bill satisfactorily deals with those accused of serious and violent crimes and either their violent history and/or probability of not returning to court. Had the law been in place this year, he said U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions may not have called out Ventura County for releasing an accused child molester and immigrant in the U.S. without legal permission. Sessions made the remarks in March when discussing a lawsuit the U.S. Department of Justice filed against California over laws that he claims prohibit federal authorities from conducting immigration enforcement. The defendant, Jose Vaca, was arrested in connection with the sexual abuse allegations Jan. 1, the day one of the laws went into effect. He posted bail in the Moorpark case and has not appeared in court for the proceedings. Authorities believe he fled to Mexico. Under Senate Bill 10, Vaca’s alleged crime means he is not eligible for release prior to appearing before a judge. “In all likelihood, he wouldn’t have been able to be released,” Dean said. MORE:Lawmakers move to cap prison time for felons, including robbers, murderers	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8333
__label__wiki	0.608499	0.608499	lakeland college basketball division Athletics is about competition. Lakeland University is a liberal arts college with its main campus located in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Originally from Salem, IN, Trent graduated from Indiana University, Bloomington in the summer of 2017 with a degree in Law and Public Policy. Women's sports include basketball, cross country, golf, soccer, softball, tennis, track & field, volleyball, and Wisconsin's first intercollegiate women's wrestling team. Lakeland College Location: Sheboygan, WI. PLYMOUTH - The Lawrence University men's basketball team cut a 29-point deficit to four Thursday night before Lakeland University held on for an … Shayne Midford. Cancellation of the NCAA Tournament cost the NCAA $375 million in revenue, so the organization that runs college sports was determined to get through the 2020-21 season. On the men's side, Lakeland offers soccer, basketball and baseball. 2.1K likes. Adam Price led Lake Land with 25 points and went 3-for-5 on 3-pointers. League Co-ordinator. Lakeland College Location: Sheboygan, WI Here you'll receive information regarding the school and details on their Men's Basketball program like who to get hold of about recruiting, names of past alumni, what scholarship opportunities are presented and ways to begin the recruiting process. Lakeland traces its beginnings to German immigrants who, seeking a new life, traveled to America and settled in the Sheboygan area. Most Rustlers teams are part of the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference (ACAC). [5] Lakeland also has seven evening, weekend, and online centers located throughout the state of Wisconsin—in Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin Rapids, Chippewa Falls, Neenah, Green Bay, and Sheboygan—and a two-year international campus in Tokyo.[6]. Up-to-date NBA Division Standings on MSN Sports. Lakeland College competes in the Alberta Colleges Athletics Conference, a division of the CCAA (Canadian Colleges Athletic Association). Athletes, coaches and staff do clinics, run camps, coach community teams and work with youth. Introduction to SBA Programs … Women's Basketball. "They mean a … Lakeland provides traditional undergraduate, graduate, and online college programs through its main campus. Lakeland College offers a university-calibre college education through a variety of college programs specializing in leading learning opportunities & hands-on, live the learning, delivery. LakeLand Community CoLLege men's BasketBaLL year-By-year resuLts Year Overall recOrd cONFereNce recOrd cONFereNce FINISH POSTSeaSON cOacH 2009-2010 19-12 Bowe 2010-2011 24-12 regION 12, dISTrIcT 10 cHaMPIONS Bowe 2011-2012 27-9 regION 12, dISTrIcT 10 cHaMPIONS NJcaa dIvISION II NaTIONal SeMIFINalIST Bowe According to Fearday, the closeness of Lake Land played a big role in her decision. The official Women's Soccer page for the Lakeland University Muskie MATTOON – The Lake Land men’s team completed the school’s Saturday sweep of Rend Lake College, picking up a 107-86 win. The Lake Land women's basketball team's run to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament has been put on hold. Trent Pennington joined the Lakeland Magic in October 2018 as the Basketball Operations Associate. Student always comes first. [17] The university also has an international campus in Tokyo, Japan. view composite calendar. Basketball Operations Associate – Lakeland Magic. LAKELAND, Fla. - The NCAA recently announced that Florida Southern College, in conjunction with Central Florida's Polk County Sports Marketing, will host the 2022 and 2025 NCAA Division II Men’s and Women’s Cross Country Regional Championships. 2020 ACAC Women's Basketball Gold Medalists . Sign up to receive the latest news updates. With its BlendEd format, students always have the option of attending classes in person or accessing courses and completing their work entirely online. Lakeland Community College is proud to offer seven varsity athletic teams. [7] Milestones in the college's history include: Lakeland University is a bachelor's and master's degree-granting liberal arts institution related to (though not controlled by) the United Church of Christ with nearly 3,500 students (850 traditional undergraduate students and 2,600 evening, weekend and online students) from 24 countries, 10 on-campus residence halls and more than 30 majors.[14]. This change resulted in the creation of three schools, a School of Business & Entrepreneurship; a School of Science, Technology & Education; and a School of Humanities and Fine Arts as well as new academic offerings. Welcome to the Lakeland College AB Men's Basketball scholarship and program information page. Our Mission - The Lakeland Youth Basketball League is an organization composed of volunteers dedicated to helping the youth of the Lakeland School District develop fundamental knowledge, skills, and love for the game of basketball. 5209-48th Ave Cold Lake, Alta. We are proud of our national Academic All-Canadians. smidford@lrcssd.ca. We promote academic achievement in a number of ways from team study halls to highest academic achievement awards for each sport. LAKELAND, Fla. – The preseason No. Titles and championships measure the success of our entire program. Lock In Your Seats For Next Season With A Fully Refundable $20 Deposit Get All of Our Latest Content on Instagram, Twitter and Facebook Animal Science Technology: Beef Science Major, Animal Science Technology: Livestock Major, Real Estate Appraisal and Assessment Major, Small Business and Entrepreneurship Major, Bachelor of Applied Science in Environmental Management, Conservation & Restoration Ecology (CARE), Renewable Energy & Conservation (Certificate/Diploma), Student-Environmental Consulting Office (S-ECO), Bachelor of Applied Business in Emergency Services, American Sign Language and Deaf Culture Studies, Establish an Award, Bursary or Scholarship, Searchable Awards, Bursaries & Scholarships Listing, Convocation & Recognition Ceremony Archives. In 1956, the college adopted the name Lakeland and began focusing on a liberal arts education. Games Pts per game FG % 3PT % FT % Reb per game Ast per game; 31 : 92.2 : 46.8 : 37.2 : 68.0 : 43.7 : 17.9 Thanks for visiting the Lakeland University Men's Basketball scholarship and program info page. And, are just as proud of every diploma our athletes earn. Lakeland College Rustlers, Lloydminster, Alberta. Titles and championships measure the success of our entire program. Vermilion, AB, T9X 1K5, Lakeland College I didn't even know I would be playing college basketball." [4] Lakeland University is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. ONLINE Book Discussion Group - Wednesday, December 2, 2020 [12.2] Library. Men's Volleyball. College Closed - Thanksgiving Break [11.28] Primary Lakeland. Lakeland was a former member of the Lake Michigan Conference until the spring of 2006. 5707 College Drive Our rowing crew compete against universities in Western Canada. Finally, we believe in giving back to the community. In 1978, Lakeland launched the state’s first degree-completion program for working adults by offering evening classes. In 1862, the founders built Missionshaus (Mission House), a combined academy-college-seminary. Central Wisconsin Center (Wisconsin Rapids, WI), Chippewa Valley Center (Chippewa Falls, WI), This page was last edited on 28 November 2020, at 05:52. Courses typically meet once per week during evening hours, over 14-week semesters in the fall and spring and over 10-week semesters in the summer. It was the third time in six games the Lakers topped 100 points. UPCOMING. Coordinates: 43°50′32″N 87°53′01″W / 43.84213°N 87.88372°W / 43.84213; -87.88372, Private liberal arts college in Plymouth, Wisconsin, United States, 'Wisconsin Blue Book 193-1994,' Biographical Sketch of Calvin Potter, pg. Lakeland University is affiliated with the United Church of Christ and offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees. Lakeland University is a liberal arts college with its main campus located in Plymouth, Wisconsin. Our rodeo athletes are part of the Canadian Intercollegiate Rodeo Association. In addition to the main campus in Plymouth, Lakeland has seven evening, weekend and online centers, located in Milwaukee, Madison, Wisconsin Rapids (Central Wisconsin), Chippewa Falls, Fox Cities, Green Bay, Sheboygan. [15] Lakeland's official colors are navy blue and gold.[16]. Tel: 780-594-4050 Fax: 780-594-3585 Men's sports include baseball, basketball, cross country, football, golf, soccer, tennis, track & field, volleyball and wrestling. The Braves have won 20 games the last three seasons after he started 5 … Effingham High School's Carsyn Fearday signed her national letter of intent to attend and play basketball at Lake Land College in Mattoon, Ill. Outlook: Wardle, a Hinsdale Central graduate, has righted the ship in Peoria. In 1991, Lakeland founded a campus in Tokyo, Japan and in 2005 it was recognized as an overseas campus, allowing it to sponsor visas for students. Lakeland's team is known as the Lakers and they participate in Region XII of the NJCAA and the Ohio Community College Athletic Conference (OCCAC). 2019 ACAC Women's Volleyball Bronze Medalists. Here you will get specifics on the school and information on their Men's Basketball program like who to get hold of about recruitment, names of past alumni, what scholarship opportunities can be had and ways to begin the recruiting process. Lakeland College This includes basketball, cross country, curling, futsal, soccer, volleyball. Main Navigation Menu. Our Rustlers are student-athletes. 6 Florida Southern College men’s basketball program has announced the team captains for the upcoming 2020-21 season. Matt Peck. College basketball, like the rest of the sports world, was thrown into disarray last March when the surging coronavirus pandemic shut down everything. Our Rustler tradition is built on our school motto: For schedules, rosters, stories and more visit. Tel: 780-594-4050 Fax: 780-594-3585 Assumption School. Brianne Hergott. Shayne Midford. Women's sports include volleyball, basketball, and softball. 2602 59 Avenue Watch Lakeland College basketball livestreams, replays, highlights, and download the games. Lakeland also offers seven different center locations across Wisconsin. Feature Alumni. Twitter 2019 ACAC Women's Basketball Bronze Medalists. In the fall of 2017, Lakeland launched a cooperative education model which allows Lakeland students to gain 12–18 months of professional work experience with local companies, along with the ability to earn more than $100,000 to minimize post-graduate student debt. Assumption School. Lakeland University teams participate in the National Collegiate Athletic Association's Division III. Lakeland University offers 10 undergraduate majors and three graduate degrees. Seniors On Medicare Are Getting a Big Pay Day in 2020 Lloydminster, AB, T9V 3N7. Lakeland Magic Face Coverings Now Available for $10! College Closed - Thanksgiving Break [11.29] Primary Lakeland. League Co-ordinator. "I'm really close with my family," Fearday said. The change was fueled by many factors, including desire to increase international recruitment and clear up confusion with. ... @ Lakeland College. Skip To Main Content. Athletics is about competition. smidford@lrcssd.ca. The Muskies are a member of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC). 5209-48th Ave Cold Lake, Alta. Official Athletics Site of the Lakeland University Muskies Lakeland University Athletics. ... Lakeland. However, at the most basic level we want our athletes to compete at … Lakeland University is a private liberal arts college in Sheboygan, Wisconsin focused on innovating the way higher education is offered. However, at the most basic level we want our athletes to compete at their highest level through their effort and integrity. Feature Team. Check out this NCAAM Schedule, sortable by date and including information on game time, network coverage, and more! The official athletics website for the Lakeland University Muskie. Lakeland-College basketball, scores, news, schedule, roster, players, stats, rumors, details and more on usbasket.com 38, Learn how and when to remove this template message, "U.S. and Canadian 2019 NTSE Participating Institutions Listed by Fiscal Year 2019 Endowment Market Value, and Percentage Change in Market Value from FY18 to FY19 (Revised)", http://www.sheboyganpress.com/story/news/2016/12/12/lakeland-university-president-steps-down/95335510/, "Lakeland University launching food safety and quality major based on employer demand", "Lakeland College Japan Acquires University Status \| Stripes Okinawa", "Lakeland College to be called Lakeland University", "Reformed Churches in Wisconsin \| Wisconsin Historical Society", "Lakeland College celebrates 30 years of adult education at Madison Center", "Lakeland College to become Lakeland University on July 1", "The Official Athletic Website Of Lakeland College", "Pat Curran elected to NAIA Hall of Fame", Wisconsin School of Professional Psychology, Lac Courte Oreilles Ojibwa Community College, United Theological Seminary of the Twin Cities, Wisconsin Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lakeland_University&oldid=991091013, Educational institutions established in 1956, Universities and colleges affiliated with the United Church of Christ, Private universities and colleges in Wisconsin, Articles needing additional references from March 2018, All articles needing additional references, Instances of Infobox university using image size, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Get the latest NCAA college basketball news, the official March Madness bracket, highlights and scores from every division in men's college hoops. Lakeland College sports news and features, including conference, nickname, location and official social media handles. On July 1, 2016, Lakeland College became Lakeland University. Dental Laboratory Technician Job Outlook, Costa Rica Storm Eta, 5th Grade English Worksheets Pdf, Hewitt 401k Login, Lg Range Convection, Are Dried Fish Skins Good For Dogs, Xhosa Poem Uthando, How Long Are You Drunk For Your First Time, African Wild Dog Fun Facts, lakeland college basketball division 2020	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8337
__label__cc	0.693183	0.306817	Home/Newsletter/“Teaching the 2015 Baltimore Uprising” Partnership When the video of Freddie Gray’s arrest went viral and the news of his death reverberated throughout the streets of Baltimore in late April of 2015 it was clear that before things got better they were going to get worse. Community organizers and city officials struggled to stay on top of the growing discontent of the Black community and those who sympathized with their pain and suffering as the protest of Freddie Gray’s death grew. When protests turned into violence and outrage things really became intense. With the swift action on the part of the Baltimore City State’s Attorney’s Office in the charging of the officers involved in Freddie Gray’s death and the violence subsiding, most of the nation returned to business as usual. But, for a generation of Baltimore City youth their lives have been impacted and changed forever by the 2015 “Baltimore Uprising.” Sitting in my office I thought back to my youth growing up in Newark, NJ during the 1967 riots. I remembered seeing the tanks rolling down the streets and my mother telling me to stay away from the windows. I was too young to realize all that was going on but those images helped shape my view of my city and where I fit in the world. So, I thought what could we do at The William J. Watkins, Sr. Educational Institute, Inc. to help Baltimore city’s youth deal with their experience in the 2015 Baltimore Uprising? How could we contribute to making this experience a positive one and how could we contribute to the healing process? Our mission at the Watkins Educational Institute is in the service of those who are under-served and under-resourced. Thus, we endeavored to provide additional resources from an educational standpoint to help the city’s youth move forward. So, we established a partnership with the Reginald F. Lewis Maryland Museum of African American History and Culture and the Maryland State Department of Education to create a mini-unit to supplement the MSDE’s African American History curriculum. The goal of the three lesson unit is for students to create solutions to the issues that caused the unrest. The lessons focus on three questions: what were the causes of the uprising, what actually happened during the uprising and what can be done to move the city forward in the aftermath of the uprising? The most important outcome of the unit is for students to participate in developing and implementing solutions to the issues that lead to the unrest and to be part of the problem solving process. The projects they create will be highlighted during the Lewis Museum’s Martin Luther King, Jr. birthday celebration in January. Along with our writing of the unit we conducted a professional development workshop hosted by the Lewis Museum’s education department with the support of its Director Dr. Roni Jolley and Coordinator Terry Taylor as well as the MSDE’s liaison Rose Wiggins. Twenty five educators from throughout the Baltimore metropolitan region attended. They were treated to a tour of the Devin Allen exhibit on the Baltimore Uprising “Awakenings in a New Light,” on display in the Lewis Now public space. There was a very lively and informative public forum with mayoral candidate Senator Catherine Pugh, activists Kwame Rose and Makayla Gilliam-Price along with community organizer Paulo Harris and David Guzman, principal of Mathew A. Henson elementary school in west Baltimore. The afternoon session was devoted to presenting and practicing the activities in the lessons in the unit. The unit is available to the public online at our website as well as the Lewis Museum and the MSDE. We are continuing to work together with the Lewis Museum and the MSDE to get this valuable resource in the hands of as many educators as possible. Look for more on this in the future.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8338
__label__cc	0.501085	0.498915	Education head Betsy DeVos quits, cites Trump rhetoric WASHINGTON (AP) – Education Secretary Betsy DeVos has become the second Cabinet secretary to resign a day after a pro-Trump insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. In a resignation letter Thursday, DeVos blamed President Donald Trump for inflaming tensions in the violent assault on the seat of the nation’s democracy. She says, “There is no mistaking the impact your rhetoric had on the situation, and it is the inflection point for me.” Photos show damage to historic Capitol building Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao tendered her resignation earlier Thursday. News of DeVos’ resignation was first reported by the Wall Street Journal. In a farewell letter to Congress earlier this week, DeVos urged lawmakers to reject policies supported by President-elect Joe Biden, and to protect Trump administration policies that Biden has promised to eliminate.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8339
__label__wiki	0.682041	0.682041	Viking is proud to have partnered with National Geographic as a presenting sponsor of the Genius series, which builds on our ongoing commitment to provide enriching cultural programming, both on our itineraries and at home. The series focuses on the most celebrated and brilliant minds, immersing fans deep into the world of the innovative genius. Guests can enjoy Season 1, Genius: Einstein, and Season 2, Genius: Picasso, on board our ocean and river ships. Through our partnership with the Metropolitan Opera and its award-winning Live in HD series, guests on board can enjoy an exclusive film viewing of Puccini’s Turandot. Viking is proud to be a loyal and longtime sponsor of the award-winning series MASTERPIECE, which remains steadfast in its commitment to bringing the best in drama to American public television audiences. Viking is proud to partner with TED, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization devoted to spreading bold new ideas and sparking conversation. Curious minds watch TED's short, powerful talks focused on the arts, history, geography, science, longevity and more to gain a deeper understanding of the world. TED Talks are screened on board Viking’s ocean fleet and are also available on stateroom televisions. Ballet Sun Valley Sponsored by Viking, the annual international Ballet Sun Valley festival brings together dancers from the world-class Mariinsky Ballet, London’s Royal Ballet, American Ballet Theatre and more. Viking guests can also enjoy this inspiring art form on cruises through Russia. Our guests can view BBC HD live and catch their favorite shows and documentaries, many of which feature places they can visit while sailing our ocean itineraries. Viking has partnered with Classic FM to sponsor its Classic FM Live events at the Royal Albert Hall in London. Since it began broadcasting in 1992, Classic FM has brought classical music to millions of listeners across the UK. We are proud to offer streaming of Classic FM on board our river and ocean fleets. Hermitage Foundation Through our collaboration with the Hermitage Foundation, Viking offers guests a unique tour experience and exclusive, in-depth look at one of the world’s most prestigious art collections. We are also proud to have sponsored the Hermitage Foundation’s first film, showcasing the extraordinary exhibitions at the Hermitage Museum in St. Petersburg, a living monument to Russian history. Guests can enjoy the tour and film as part of the immersive, Privileged Access experience on our Scandinavia and Northern Europe itineraries. Heywood Hill is one of the world’s leading literary collectors and experts in curating libraries for more than 80 years. Through a shared curiosity and interest in the world’s people and places, together Viking and Heywood Hill have carefully curated an exclusive selection of books to enhance Viking guests’ experience through exploration, cultural immersion and enrichment, both on board and off. Guests can peruse our libraries at their leisure in reading corners on board Viking river and ocean fleets. Focusing on cultural exploration, Viking offers exclusive Privileged Access experiences, providing our guests with behind-the-scenes insight into the world’s finest museums and stately homes. Since 2014, Viking has offered a glimpse into Highclere Castle, home of the hit series and feature film, Downton Abbey, with a Privileged Access tour of the estate. While on board, guests may purchase all-natural soaps, decorative aprons and the Countess of Carnarvon’s New York Times best-selling books. In alignment with our continued support of cultural enrichment through musical performance, Viking is proud to support the US tour of LIBERA. The recordings of this acclaimed English boys choir hold their place alongside major international artists. Their new album, Christmas Carols with Libera, a collection of enchanting holiday classics, can be purchased on iTunes or Amazon. Viking was proud to sponsor the Los Angeles Ballet’s 2018–2019 season. The city’s only professional classical ballet company travels throughout the Los Angeles region, performing both classical ballets and new works with residencies at multiple venues across Southern California. Viking guests can experience this beautiful and inspiring art form on several itineraries through Russia. Since 2013, Viking has been the official cruise line of the Hollywood Bowl, the historic summer home of the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Each summer, Viking has sponsored Los Angeles Philharmonic concerts featuring music of renowned European composers such as Mozart, Rachmaninoff and Tchaikovsky. Guests can enjoy classical and contemporary performances from Viking Resident Musicians and regional talent on all our river and ocean itineraries. Proud partner of the Mariinsky Theatre, established in St. Petersburg in 1860. This historic venue, upon whose stages have debuted the masterpieces of such great composers as Peter Tchaikovsky, is home to the world-renowned Mariinsky Ballet, Opera and Orchestra, among the oldest in Russia. Our exclusive relationship with Oslo’s Munch Museum allows guests to see carefully curated paintings by Norway’s master expressionist. Viking hosts one of the largest collections of his works outside of the Munch Museum on board our ocean ships. Viking is a proud supporter of the Royal Horticultural Society, the world's leading gardening charity. RHS Hampton Court Palace Garden Festival is one of the best-loved events in the UK gardening calendar. Viking has been the headline sponsor of the festival since 2016, winning a gold medal for our 2019 garden, The Viking Cruises Lagom Garden, designed by Will Williams. Santa Rosa Symphony The third oldest in California, the Santa Rosa Symphony values the engagement and inspiration found in musical performances and educational programs. Our select sponsorship of the Classical Series aligns with our goal to bring curious adults and like-minded travelers closer to local art and culture, both on our itineraries and at home. Viking itineraries in China provide guests with the opportunity to visit one of the world’s most amazing excavation sites—the mausoleum of Emperor Qin Shi Huang with its sea of life-size Terra Cotta Warriors, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Viking is proud to support the many UNESCO World Heritage Sites our guests can explore through our culturally immersive river and ocean itineraries. TUTANKHAMUN: TREASURES OF THE GOLDEN PHARAOH Viking was proud to present the London showing of TUTANKHAMUN: Treasures of the Golden Pharaoh, a captivating exhibition featuring more than 150 original artifacts from the legendary tomb of the golden king, most famous of the pharaohs. On board our Egypt ships, our expert Egyptologists bring guests even closer to Egypt’s ancient secrets and rich history while they explore the treasured cities nestled along the banks of the Nile. Under the tutelage of Dr. Charles Doherty, Chief Viking Resident Historian, the Viking Resident Historian program offers guests on board Viking ocean ships a high-level historical and cultural education specific to their journey through iconic lectures, roundtable discussions and daily “office hours.” Oslo’s Viking Ship Museum offers insight into the Viking Age through immersive exhibits and artifacts. With funding from Viking, the museum has launched The Vikings Alive, a new interactive film that tells the story of a Viking ship. Viking is a proud partner of the Royal Academy of Arts, one of the most prestigious art institutions in the UK which was founded in 1768. Based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London, it is an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Viking is a corporate partner of the British Museum, a public institution dedicated to human history, art and culture. Founded in 1753, the British Museum was the first national public museum in the world and has always granted free admission to all 'studious and curious persons'. In addition to the vast permanent collection which spans over two million years of human history, the museum’s special exhibitions, displays and events are all designed to advance understanding of the collection and cultures they represent. While onboard our ocean ships, guests can view and explore Viking’s own collection of carefully curated artwork and replica artifacts using our Viking Art Guide app. Page Viking Ocean Cruises – Cultural Partners Our premier partnerships build on our continued commitment to support enriching cultural programming and events.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8341
__label__wiki	0.991616	0.991616	Farrell Jack Image 2 Southampton 1897 Home/England & Wales 1890 - 1900, England & Wales 1901 - 1910/Farrell Jack Image 2 Southampton 1897 Farrell Jack Image 2 Southampton 1897 quantity SKU: farrell-jack-image-2-southampton-1897 Categories: England & Wales 1890 - 1900, England & Wales 1901 - 1910 Tags: New Brighton Tower, Northampton Town, Southampton, Stoke City, West Ham United Tunstall, Stoke on Trent, Staffordshire born centre forward Jack Farrell began his football career with Dresden United in 1893 and joined First Division hometown club Stoke for a fee of £40 in October 1894, making his Football League debut against Small Heath (now Birmingham City) towards the end of the same month, scoring in a 2-2 draw. In his first League season he made 16 league appearances, scoring six goals as Stoke finished the season in 14th place and had to play-off against Newton Heath (now Manchester United) to retain their First Division status. Stoke easily overcame their Second Division opponents with Farrell scoring one of the three goals. In the spring of 1895, Charles Robson, the newly appointed secretary-manager of Southampton St. Mary’s, and Alfred McMinn, one of the club committee, visited The Potteries in search of new players to strengthen the team ready for their second season in the Southern League. McMinn was a native of Staffordshire and was “most persuasive on his home turf”. On this trip, Robson and McMinn signed six players: Farrell, Samuel Meston and Willie Naughton from Stoke, Watty Keay from Derby County, Joe Turner from Dresden United and Alf Wood from Burslem Port Vale, as well as recruiting Stoke’s long-serving trainer, Bill Dawson. The Saints’ Committee were anxious to secure their services and signed them before the Football League season was over. Port Vale and Stoke lodged a complaint with the Football Association (FA) about “poaching”, and an emergency FA meeting was held at Sheffield, resulting in Southampton being severely censured for negligence. St Mary’s were ordered to pay their own costs, plus £4 6s 3d to Stoke and £1 13s to Port Vale. McMinn was suspended for a year and Dawson for a month. Wood’s registration with St Mary’s was cancelled (shortly afterwards he moved to Stoke). At the time of his arrival at The Antelope Ground, the local press described Farrell as “fast, tricky and reliable”, he soon justified his reputation with a series of impressive displays as centre forward. He made his debut for Southampton in the opening match of the Southern League season, a 1-0 defeat at Champions Millwall Athletic. The Saints started the season with five away matches, four of which were defeats, with Farrell scoring twice in the only victory, a 2-1 win over Royal Ordnance Factories on 5th October. Eventually, under trainer Dawson’s guidance, the team’s form improved and there were only two further League defeats as the team ended the season in third place, with Farrell top scorer with ten League goals from his 17 appearances, plus four goals from five FA Cup matches. In addition to the Southern League and FA Cup matches, the club were involved in several high scoring friendly matches, including a 9-0 victory over the Dublin Fusiliers, a 9-1 victory over the Manchester Regiment and a 13-0 victory over the City Ramblers, in each of which Farrell scored five goals. Farrell was again the club’s top scorer in 1896-97 as, ever present, his 13 goals from 20 appearances helped The Saints claim the Southern League title for the first time, going the whole League season without defeat. By now team captain, Farrell received the Championship Shield from Dr. Russell Bencraft, who was both President of the League and of the club, at a ceremony in the Artillery Drill Hall in Southampton. In the FA Cup, The Saints reached the Second Round proper where they were defeated 3-1 at Newton Heath in a replay. Farrell played in all seven cup matches, scoring seven goals, including a hat-trick in an 8-2 victory over Swindon Town at The County Ground on 2nd January 1897. In 1898, Farrell helped guide The Saints to the semi finals of the FA Cup, scoring in the emphatic 4-0 victory over First Division Bolton Wanderers in the quarter finals. Farrell was injured in the first semi final match, a 1-1 draw with eventual winners Nottingham Forest at Bramall Lane, and took no part in the replay when Southampton were eliminated in a controversial 2-0 defeat in a blizzard. After a scoreless first half (in which Joe Turner missed a penalty for Southampton), in the second half Saints were on top when, with ten minutes left to play, referee John Lewis stopped the match for a time and the players left the pitch. No sooner had the game restarted than the weather worsened but the referee decided that the match should continue. The Saints’ goalkeeper, George Clawley, had his eyes “choked with snow” and conceded two goals in the final minutes of the game. Despite Southampton’s protests the Football Association decided that the result should stand, perhaps not surprising as Lewis was an eminent member of the FA Board. As a result of the injury sustained in the FA Cup semi final, Farrell missed most of the last six weeks of the League season, with David Steven coming into the side at inside right to replace Robert Buchanan who took Farrell’s place at centre forward, to guide the Saints to the Southern League title for the second successive season. In the 1898 close season, Farrell returned to Stoke together with George Clawley and Joe Turner. Farrell was unable to reproduce his goalscoring form at The Victoria Ground, scoring just 5 goals from 25 appearances. Farrell returned to Southampton, now playing at The Dell, in May 1899 to replace Abe Hartley who had moved on to Woolwich Arsenal. Both he and the club started the League season well with twelve wins from the first fifteen games, in which Farrell scored eleven goals, until an injury in February put Farrell out for several weeks, allowing Roddy McLeod to stake a claim for the centre forward position. Although Farrell returned to the side in mid-March after a run of three League defeats, he was unable to find the form of the early part of the season and was in and out of the side, scoring only once from his last six appearances. Southampton finished the season in a disappointing third place having lost five of their last seven games. In the FA Cup, Farrell and McLeod also vied for the centre forward berth. Farrell had played in the First Round match against Everton before sustaining a dislocated collar bone against Newcastle United in the Second Round on 10 February. This match was abandoned after 55 minutes because of heavy snow and in the rematch a week later Farrell was replaced by McLeod who scored twice in a 4-1 victory. Although McLeod had scored three goals in the first three rounds, the selectors decided to play Farrell in the semi final against Millwall, won 3-0 after a replay on 28th March at Elm Park, Reading, and in the Cup Final, played on 21st April at Crystal Palace against Bury of the Football League First Division. On the day, the Southampton team failed to produce anything like their best form, conceding three goals in the first 20 minutes to eventually lose 4-0. The poor result was blamed by the local press on internal bickering between the English and Scottish players in the team, with the Scots favouring McLeod rather than the English Farrell. This was confirmed by an article in the Southampton Pictorial twelve years later: “It was clear that Farrell had fallen out of favour and had upset Southampton’s football journalists after physically threatening one of them after he had published criticism of Farrell, whereas McLeod had deputised successfully for him and had made himself popular with both the fans and the press. Whilst Farrell had the better skill when fully fit he tended to be temperamental, and many of the team preferred McLeod for his more selfless contribution to the side.” In the event, both players left the club at the end of the season with McLeod moving to Brentford and Farrell joining New Brighton Tower in June 1900, having scored 54 goals in 97 appearances for The Saints across his two spells. Farrell spent a season at New Brighton Tower in the Second Division at the end of which they finished in a creditable fourth place in the table but were forced to fold because of financial difficulties, Farrell having scored 6 goals in 33 appearances. He then returned to the Southern League with Northampton Town for the 1901-02 season. On 29th December 1901, he returned to The Dell with Northampton, but was on the wrong end of an 11-0 scoreline, with Farrell’s eventual replacement Albert Brown scoring seven of the goals. Farrell’s football career ended with a season at West Ham United where he made 21 appearances for The Irons in 1902-03, scoring three goals before his retirement. His penultimate appearance was back at The Dell when he was once again on the losing side, as West Ham lost 6-0 to The Saints, with a hat-trick from England international Archie Turner, who thus claimed the Southern League title for the fifth time in seven years. Robinson Jack Image 4 Southampton 1902 Raybould Sam Image 1 Liverpool 1902 Stanborough Hugh Image 2 Corinthians 1901 £4.95 – £49.95 Thomson John Image 3 Glasgow Celtic 1931 £8.95 – £49.95 Geddes Jimmy Image 2 Albion Rovers 1922 £8.95 – £49.95 Richardson Frank Image 1 Plymouth Argyle 1922 £8.95 – £49.95	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8343
__label__wiki	0.973681	0.973681	Local artist gives fresh look to community park in rural Tulare County Working from right to left, AJ Gomez transformed the side of a storage container into a vibrant portrait of the surrounding community. "It's a succession of César Chávez and field workers' rights, and then their children graduating successfully," the muralist and part-time tattoo artist said of the project, which took him about 20 hours to complete. Another side of the container adds a literary element to the piece, with a father reading to his child and a girl engrossed in another story while sitting atop a stack of books. The people's thought bubbles transform into birds in a pink and orange sky. Later, a quote will be added above the readers and a free little library will be built next to the container. The colorful artwork accents a new playground built near the Diane P. Hodges Community Center in London, an unincorporated town of about 1,800 people in northwest Tulare County. Gomez drew inspiration from conversations with community members and from Connie Huerta, the community resource liaison for Proteus, Inc., an organization that runs the center and provides education, job training, job placement and other support services to farm working families in the Valley. Gomez wanted to illustrate the different facets of the community in his work. "Because there has been not just farmworkers in London, but also kids who have gone to school and become successful in other areas, we painted some graduates," he said. The mural is part of a larger beautification project around the community center, which includes the playground and plans for a new soccer field and improvements to the basketball courts. "The kids don't have anything else here besides the library," Huerta said. "And right now with COVID, that's shut down." The playground area was completed earlier this year. Before the pandemic, many of London's children spent their time inside the community center, playing PlayStation, watching TV or doing homework on the center's computers. Some teenagers worked on the mural under Gomez's guidance, Huerta said, but not as many helped as originally planned. "The whole COVID situation kind of threw us off," she said. The beautification project was partially funded through Step Up Tulare County, which contributed $5,000. Those funds helped with a stipend for young people to work on the different aspects of the project and gain job skills and leadership opportunities while contributing to efforts to improve their town. The rest of the $30,000 project was funded through other sponsorships and community fundraising, which started in March 2019, Huerta said. "The community sold dinner plates; there were little girls who sold apples. The community came together to make this happen," she said. "We ended up fundraising about $10,000." Huerta was connected to Gomez, a part-time tattoo artist at Darkside Ink in Dinuba, when she came in and saw his murals at the tattoo parlor. Gomez has also painted numerous other public murals in Tulare and Fresno counties. See more of Gomez's work on Instagram @gomez_aj88 and on Facebook @AngelMurals88.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8344
__label__wiki	0.967353	0.967353	China Tests Anti-Satellite Weapon Space experts have confirmed a report that China successfully tested a new anti-satellite weapon last week, firing the weapon to destroy one of its own old satellites. VOA's Al Pessin reports from the Pentagon. The report of a new Chinese space weapon first appeared in the publication Aviation Week and Space Technology. And on Tuesday the director of the private Center for Defense Information, space security expert Theresa Hitchens, said she and other specialists have been able to confirm it. "There has been some confirmation through the tracking data of the satellite that's been released by the U.S. Air Force. And there has also been tracking of the pieces of debris," she said. Hitchens says it is difficult to know what China plans to do now that it has successfully tested the anti-satellite weapon. "You might look at this as a Chinese shot across the bow (warning shot), thinking that they would not be taken seriously until they had a hard power response," she said. Hitchens says China might want to spark negotiations on space weapons, which the United States has resisted in recent years, or it might be trying to establish supremacy in a type of weaponry the United States has not pursued for the last 20 years, as far as is known. "It shows the urgency for the space-faring powers to come together to establish rules of behavior, and establish what is acceptable behavior in space and what is unacceptable. It seems to me that the policy of refusing to discuss these issues with China or any other nation has backfired," she said. U.S. policy has been not to engage in negotiations on the use of space so as not to limit U.S. freedom of action in space. The spokesman for President Bush's National Security Council, Gordon Johndroe, gave the U.S. government's official comment on the Chinese test. "The United States believes China's development and testing of such weapons is inconsistent with the spirit of cooperation that both countries aspire to in the civil space area. We and other countries have expressed our concern to the Chinese," he said. China's successful test comes after a series of warnings by U.S. officials that China and Russia were developing space weapons. Last October, the White House issued a new space policy that emphasized the need for freedom of action in space. The policy document does not endorse or prohibit U.S. government agencies from developing space weapons, but officials say the United States currently has no such weapons. Hitchens says the United States launched a weapon and destroyed one of its own satellites 22 years ago, but abandoned the anti-satellite weapons program after that. She says that is a good thing. "The testing and use of weapons in space, and particularly these kinds of weapons, kinetic energy weapons, are bad for U.S. national security because they threaten our satellites," she said. Hitchens says U.S. society relies on satellites much more than most other countries, making the United States more vulnerable to attacks on those satellites.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8347
__label__wiki	0.723396	0.723396	Home PRESS RELEASES PSC: Receives 124 applications for State Broadband Expansion Grants PSC: Receives 124 applications for State Broadband Expansion Grants MADISON – The Public Service Commission of Wisconsin (PSC) announced today that it received 124 applications requesting more than $62 million in the most recent round of funding in the State Broadband Expansion Grants program. The applications seek to fund projects that will expand high-speed broadband internet access to underserved areas of the state. This is the second round of funding appropriated in the 2019-2021 state biennial budget and the highest request for broadband expansion grants in the state’s history. Since last year, the PSC has received more than $112 million in requests to fund the expansion of broadband internet. “Once again, we received an overwhelming response demonstrating an immense need for funding to provide broadband service. This spring we will decide which projects to fund, but clearly, there is a pattern of higher demand for these grants than what is available”, said PSC Chairperson Rebecca Cameron Valcq. “Governor Evers’ commitment to connect all of our residents is unwavering and I want to thank him for this investment.” “We hear from folks around the state about the need for access to high-speed internet. COVID-19 has underscored this demand and the need to continue to support broadband grant funding, as well as all other alternatives to get people connected,” said Governor Tony Evers. “Our investments are connecting people, but the demand for funding is clearly outpacing supply, so we look forward to continuing our work to expand access to broadband across Wisconsin.” The 2019-2021 biennial budget, which Governor Evers signed last year, provided $48 million over the biennium for broadband expansion grants. While the Governor’s original budget proposal included over $78 million for broadband, $48 million remains an historic investment. The broadband expansion grants help find a path to return on investment in areas of the state that are challenging to serve due to population density. Since 2014, 210 grants have been awarded and have connected or are in the process of connecting over 7,000 businesses and 117,000 homes to high-speed broadband internet service. The PSC’s State Broadband Office made the second round of grant applications available on September 1, 2020 and were due on December 1, 2020. For the first round of funding, the PSC received 143 applications requesting $50.3 million. In March of 2020, the PSC awarded 72 grants to extend high-speed broadband internet access to as many as 3,182 businesses and 46,537 homes, including 39,778 locations currently unserved. The PSC is expected to award the remaining $24 million in grants by spring of 2021. Click here for a list of 2021 grant applicants and here for more information about the Broadband Expansion Grant Program.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8366
__label__wiki	0.592954	0.592954	Whitestown starts work on new police headquarters Whitestown breaks ground on new police headquarters WHITESTOWN, Ind. (WISH) — Town leaders on Monday broke ground on a new police headquarters. The $3 million, two-story will be nearly 22,000 square feet. It will be located in what is now a grassy area just northwest of the Whitestown Municipal Complex on Veterans Drive. Among the features of the new building is a computer forensic lab, a first for Boone County. Dennis Anderson, Whitestown’s chief public safety officer, said, “We started our process about five years ago of getting officers trained up. This is the direction law enforcement is going to wind up going. You’ll always have that need for a beat officer or investigator street level to go out, but cybercrime is what’s becoming the future investigative tool.” The police department hopes to move into the new space by fall 2020. The town plans to break ground on a new fire department headquarters later this year.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8369
__label__wiki	0.987617	0.987617	Meghan Markle, Prince Harry announce name of royal baby Two tired but beaming parents and one blissfully sleeping baby posed for cameras Wednesday as Prince Harry and Meghan helped satisfy a huge global appetite for images and details about their newborn son. Welcome to the world Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Standing in a vast, red-carpeted hall at Windsor Castle, Meghan declared the baby “a dream” and motherhood “magic.”Harry cradled his son in his arms as the couple, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, posed for cameras — the first in a lifetime of photo calls for the two-day-old baby, who is seventh in line to the throne. Meghan declared motherhood to be “magic.”“It’s pretty amazing,” said the 37-year-old American formerly known as Meghan Markle. “I have the two best guys in the world, so I’m really happy.”She said the baby had “just been a dream.”“He has the sweetest temperament. He’s really calm,” she said.Harry quipped: “I wonder who he gets that from.”Asked which parent the baby took after, Harry said it was too soon to tell.“Everyone says that babies change so much over two weeks,” said the 34-year-old prince. “We’re basically monitoring how the changing process happens over this next month really. But his looks are changing every single day, so who knows.“We’re just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy,” he added. The couple later announced the baby's name on Instagram. "This afternoon Their Royal Highnesses introduced Her Majesty The Queen to her eighth great-grandchild at Windsor Castle. The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duchess’ mother were also present for this special occasion," a post read. Baby Sussex was born Monday at 5:26 a.m. (0426 GMT; 12:26 a.m. EDT) at an as-yet-undisclosed location. He weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces (3.26 kilograms).Family members have welcomed the new arrival, with Prince William saying on Tuesday he was “absolutely thrilled.” WINDSOR AND MAIDENHEAD, England — Two tired but beaming parents and one blissfully sleeping baby posed for cameras Wednesday as Prince Harry and Meghan helped satisfy a huge global appetite for images and details about their newborn son. Welcome to the world Archie Harrison Mountbatten-Windsor. Meghan Markle makes first public appearance since giving birth to baby Archie Dominic Lipinski Standing in a vast, red-carpeted hall at Windsor Castle, Meghan declared the baby “a dream” and motherhood “magic.” Harry cradled his son in his arms as the couple, known as the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, posed for cameras — the first in a lifetime of photo calls for the two-day-old baby, who is seventh in line to the throne. Meghan declared motherhood to be “magic.” “It’s pretty amazing,” said the 37-year-old American formerly known as Meghan Markle. “I have the two best guys in the world, so I’m really happy.” She said the baby had “just been a dream.” “He has the sweetest temperament. He’s really calm,” she said. Harry quipped: “I wonder who he gets that from.” Asked which parent the baby took after, Harry said it was too soon to tell. “Everyone says that babies change so much over two weeks,” said the 34-year-old prince. “We’re basically monitoring how the changing process happens over this next month really. But his looks are changing every single day, so who knows. “We’re just so thrilled to have our own little bundle of joy,” he added. The couple later announced the baby's name on Instagram. "This afternoon Their Royal Highnesses introduced Her Majesty The Queen to her eighth great-grandchild at Windsor Castle. The Duke of Edinburgh and The Duchess’ mother were also present for this special occasion," a post read. Baby Sussex was born Monday at 5:26 a.m. (0426 GMT; 12:26 a.m. EDT) at an as-yet-undisclosed location. He weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces (3.26 kilograms). Family members have welcomed the new arrival, with Prince William saying on Tuesday he was “absolutely thrilled.”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8370
__label__wiki	0.979695	0.979695	George Kittle: From fifth-round pick to Pro Bowler SANTA CLARA (KRON) — George Kittle, the people’s tight end. But how exactly did Kittle go from “he wasn’t much on anyone’s radar” to the dominant force that he is? The 26-year-old was born in Madison, Wisconsin and moved to Iowa at an early age. He spent a lot of his time playing sports with his older sister, Emma. His family says Emma used her size and age advantage to dominate George growing up. But that changed as he got older, bigger and stronger. Kittle decided to stay in the state and commit to the University of Iowa to play college football. He played at Iowa from 2012 to 2016, but didn’t really shine until the 2015 season. He scored his first collegiate touchdown on a 43-yard reception from quarterback C.J. Beathard, yes the same C.J. Beathard that plays for the Niners. He had 20 receptions for 290 receiving yards and a total of six touchdowns in the 2015 season. Kittle had his best statistical game during his senior season. Against North Dakota State, he had five receptions for 110 receiving yards. He finished that season with 22 receptions for 314 receiving yards and four receiving TDs. SANTA CLARA, CALIFORNIA – JANUARY 11: George Kittle #85 of the San Francisco 49ers reacts to winning the NFC Divisional Round Playoff game against the Minnesota Vikings at Levi’s Stadium on January 11, 2020 in Santa Clara, California. The San Francisco 49ers won 27-10. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images) In total, he completed his collegiate career with 48 receptions for 737 yards and 10 touchdowns. Kittle was a top tight end prospect. He was one of 19 collegiate tight ends who received an invitation to the NFL Combine. He was projected to be a third or fourth round pick in the 2017 NFL Draft by experts and scouts. So when Kyle Shanahan and his staff noticed Kittle still sitting there in the fifth round, he took action. The 49ers head coach said he was shocked Kittle had not been picked yet. “We had him as who we thought was the best tight end, or one of the best tight ends in the draft,” Shanahan said. “But he wasn’t much on anyone’s radar so we assumed he was going to be a third round guy and we had to go a different direction in that round. We were just shocked that we was just sitting there in the fifth.” The San Francisco 49ers selected Kittle in the fifth round, 146th overall. On Oct. 8, 2017 he caught his first NFL touchdown, along with collecting seven receptions for 83 yards in a 26-23 OT loss to the Colts. The 6-foot-4 tight end finished his rookie season with 43 receptions for 515 yards and two touchdowns in 15 games. The following season, Kittle set an NFL record for most receiving yards in a season by a TE with 1,377. He completed the 2018-19 season with 1,377 yards. Fast-forward to present day — 2019-20 season, the 49ers are 13-3 and competing in the NFC Championship for a trip to Super Bowl LIV. He is not only an absolute animal on the field, but fun to watch as well. The #49ers had George Kittle Mic’d up for his first playoff game and it was a thing of beauty. 🎙 🎥: @49ers pic.twitter.com/NUk5lODX0X — OurSF49ers (@OurSf49ers) January 14, 2020 Even if you’re not rooting for the Niners, you love to watch him perform. This season, he reached 2,000 career receiving yards in 33 career regular season games, which ranks 3rd in NFL history as the fastest tight end to reach 2,000+ career receiving yards. Since entering the league in 2017, Kittle ranks 2nd in the NFL in receiving yards among all TEs. The numbers and accolades go on and on, but as Coach Shanahan says — stats don’t tell you much. “Stats don’t tell you much, it’s how you move,” Shanahan said. How will Kittle and the Niners move for Sunday’s big game? Hopefully, a lot better now that Kittle’s ankle is feeling better. He didn’t participate in practice earlier this week which sent out a brief scare. But he returned to practice the following day and said he felt “fabulous”.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8371
__label__cc	0.530925	0.469075	Why they hate me: An Arab student speaks out Whoever said that the university stands as a pillar of civilization has obviously never been to Arizona State. Arizona's public universities, now infamous for their broad progressive curricula composed of subjects to the likes of queer pulp fiction, postmodern pornography and special workshops on "sex workers," have always been a string of lone islands surrounded by a reality that remains alien to the hermitic Marxists lying within their academic workings. There is indeed a dark underside lurking beneath the trite silliness of academic department heads – who for the most part missed out on the latest social and political developments of the 20th century (Pardon my boorishness professor, but didn't we win the Cold War?). The nature of the story that I am about to tell can be best described by paraphrasing an old 17th-century adage: Hate doth never prosper, for if it prosper, none dare call it hate. How true were those words to prove within the confines of what I had perceived to be an institution where truth and freedom of thought were all that mattered. I was wrong … for my naivete, I paid dearly. It all began last year when, immediately following the terror attacks of 9-11, a slew of "teach-ins" were held – sponsored in part by university funds – imploring fellow ASU students to "understand the reasoning behind 9-11." This, in turn, became a series of hour-long sessions dedicated to "educating" the students on how "imperialism" and America's lack of concern for "international social justice" led to the horrific attacks. In essence, we were being sold the seditious lie that it was "America's fault," that the terrorists were merely reacting to far greater atrocities on our part. Never mind the fact that countless Arab and Muslim families like mine found refuge in the freedom and prosperity that this great nation bestowed upon them. Never mind the fact that no other Arab country on earth could provide my family the same luxuries and liberties that they enjoy now as American citizens. I, as most people do, see this nation of ours as being fundamentally good and generous to those that have come to seek refuge from the tyranny and oppression plaguing the majority of humanity. The fact that my university was actively sponsoring an educational environment where that very goodness was being vilified and defamed, frankly, revolted and enraged me. I had made a decision: This injustice being played out in front of my eyes could not be allowed to continue – something must be done. I owed that, at the very least, to my country. In my position as chairman of the student government finance committee, I introduced a bill before the full student senate that effectively left a slew of student-government-sponsored funds that went to fund these acts of hate financially impotent (this action in itself was really more symbolic, if anything, as Arizona State continues to fund – in the latest count nearly $250,000 – the Multicultural Student Center and Campus Environment Team which finances the bulk of the anti-American teach-ins and guest lecturers). My unwavering stand against these institutional forces that, in my opinion, threatened to take our country back to a darker time of segregation and state-sponsored hate had turned me into a persona non grata to radical, leftist student organizations and university administrators alike. It all began when the president of the campus Young Socialists, Fabricio Rodriguez, being the grand pooh-bah of the proletariat that he was, accosted me outside my student-government office, threatening that I "had better watch my back" in front of a half dozen witnesses. The university took no action. Later, I discovered that my car's gas tank had been tampered with – so much sugar was poured in that it totally destroyed my car and posed a serious hazard to anyone driving the car at the time. Grave physical harm could have resulted had I not discovered this cowardly act in time. How could this be? Was this the Twilight Zone? Was a true real live American Arab Muslim facing possible bodily harm and acts of oppression in a post 9-11 world, and no one from one of the most traditionally liberal institutions in American history was willing to come to his aid? But, wait, it gets worse. A couple of months following the 9-11 attacks, a handful of conservative friends and I stood outside the student commons playing patriotic music on loudspeakers (during the allotted time for amplification that the university mandates) and handing out literature decrying the pacifistic overtones being constantly echoed by university professors and progressive activists. We hadn't been standing outside for more than 10 minutes before a university official escorted by campus police (a reoccurring theme maybe?) cited us for "obstructing the student walkway" and proceeded to forcibly take away the amplifying equipment which we had paid a deposit for. These storm troopers were so eager to silence us that they had no qualms whatsoever in ripping down – in broad daylight – a large American flag that we had draped over one of the loudspeakers. No such action was taken when the campus Progressive Alliance placed a large mural depicting a map of the U.S. spray painted with slogans such as "Racist Nation," "What about the Arabs?," "Imperialist Oppressor," etc. right outside the student commons. Not one to be easily dissuaded by the petty thuggery of these tyrants-in-training, I along with a group of conservative students decided to hold a teach-in of our own to commemorate the tragic events and to illustrate to our student populace that patriotism is actually (shock!) "cool." So, we brought in guest speaker Dinesh D'souza, author of the recent bestseller "What's So Great About America," a prominent social critic and renowned intellectual. The university, in turn, sponsored a symposium titled "Sexual Politics and Globalization, post 9-11." (That's right, you guessed it, the hijackers being so distraught as they were with the societal rejection of their cross-dressing tendencies had no choice but to blow up 3,000 of our fellow Americans.) But, wait again, it still gets worse. Immediately following our event, the left-wing coalition in the student senate attempted to remove all conservative students in student government who were involved in perpetrating this dastardly act of patriotism. By now, I had become simply too uppity for these tyrants-in-training, clad in academic tweeds. Once this measure failed, university officials naturally reverted to the age-old Orwellian method of "erasing" the dissident. A personal decree signed by the dean for student judicial affairs immediately and unconditionally banned me from attending any student-government meetings or having any dealings whatsoever with any student-government related matter. In addition, I was suspended for the duration of two weeks without any semblance of due process or justifiable cause. To add icing to the cake, the university dispatched five very intimidating police officers to come and "escort" me outside the premises of campus grounds on the threats of trespassing minutes before I was scheduled to take an important midterm. My lawyer and I would later learn that the university was officially making the dubious claim that I was an "immediate threat to campus safety." Coincidentally, university officials produced a "threatening e-mail" supposedly sent by me to another ASU student as "reason" for their actions. But the university had failed to account for one crucial matter in their cynical plot to silence me. I happened to be doing a live on-air interview scheduled at the last minute with the local student radio station during the exact time period in which the university claimed that I "sent" the threats. So, following seven signed affidavits and a recorded audio and videotape placing me in the right place at the right time, the university finally relented and I was allowed to go back to school after having served a total of one week of suspension. But the damage had already been done, I had missed a total of two crucial midterm exams that I was not allowed to retake – as well as falling far behind in the rest of my classes. One would have thought that this game of crucifying the conservative would have ended there, but taking a page straight out of the legal codes of Stalin's infamous kangaroo courts, the dean for student judicial affairs made it clear that if the evidence proved my innocence, then well, more evidence was necessary to find otherwise. In a recent meeting, she handed down the claim that I was still a threat to the campus climate due to numerous "complaints" from "certain" students (she refused to inform us who actually did the alleged "complaining" or show us any of the complaints in writing) who were offended at the "hateful and offensive" nature of my "propaganda." My original "sin" of being a conservative would not escape me in this ongoing delirious inquisition. As such, the university has permanently banned me from running for any student-government position and attending any student-government meeting despite the blatant civil-rights violation to my freedom of speech and right to attend public assemblies. Sadly, this tragedy is being replayed in countless other universities; with more unknown students fighting the goliath of a corrupt university system that refuses to recognize their rights, much less their humanity. Mass burnings of campus conservative newspapers, physical threats, harassment and intimidation of the lone conservative voice have become regular features on university grounds all over the nation. From Berkeley to Brown, Amherst to Vanderbilt, conservative activists are being actively persecuted at the hands of a relentless progressive pogrom. Yet, after having endured all this, I remain optimistic that one day the long, hard-fought road traveled by the civil-rights movement will reach the doorsteps of Arizona State. For it is apparent, now more than ever, that the American university must be reclaimed by the real America that I know and love – lest we face the cold bleak future of having to wake up one day to an America lost in the lunacy currently being preached within the impregnable walls of the ivory tower. Oubai Shahbandar is one of the nation's leading young conservative activists and currently a senior studying philosophy and political science at Arizona State University. He currently holds the proud distinction of being the first and only conservative student activist barred by his respective university from holding or running for any student government office.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8373
__label__cc	0.723547	0.276453	No joke! 'Schmoozing with Terrorists' only $4.95! Talk radio legend G. Gordon Liddy says WND's Aaron Klein is "the most accurate, talented reporter in the Middle East. He has better access to the terrorist bad guys than Muhammad would if he came back from the dead." Klein proves it in his audacious new blockbuster "Schmoozing with Terrorists" – in which he interviews, face-to-face and eyeball-to-eyeball, top terror leaders in the Middle East. And for two days only, WND readers can get this book for just $4.95! – a $21 discount from the normal $25.95 price! What's this all about? Notorious jihadist leaders sounding off about U.S. politicians and offering their election picks for the 2008 presidential race? Aspiring Palestinian suicide bombers drinking tea with a proud Jew? Terrorists dishing U.S. celebrities? It all happens in "Schmoozing with Terrorists," subtitled "From Hollywood to the Holy Land, Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – To a Jew!" What kinds of things did terrorists say to author Aaron Klein, WND's Jerusalem bureau chief, while he was conducting interviews for his new book? "Once Islam dominates America, anyone living inside must abide by our rules. There is no choice. You don't like it? Too bad. Go somewhere else and go to hell." "If I saw you during the time of my [suicide] operation, I would not hesitate to blow you up." "The Jews are corrupting humanity on earth. They are the source of all the problems in the world, and yes, they should be removed." Klein obtains unprecedented access to some of the most dangerous terrorist organizations in the world, traveling into hazardous terrorist zones and talking directly to the militants themselves about some of the most pressing issues today. Why schmooze with the professed enemies of Western civilization? Klein with Eiman Abu Eita, chief of the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Beit Sahour States Klein: "In the midst of America's war on terror, in the midst of our grand showdown with Islamofascism, with our boys and girls deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan and around the world to defend liberty, it is crucial for all of us to understand the adversary we are up against. "It is crucial for us to know how our enemy thinks and what they want to do with us. Even how your tax dollars – no, how you! – fund terrorism." RELATED: Best-selling 'Late, Great USA' – $4.95 today! Klein explains he believes America is in trouble. While the U.S. has made enormous advances in the war on terror over the past few years, "our great nation is encouraging terrorists to attack us and we don't even know it," he professes. "If the American approach to identifying, understanding, and dealing with terrorism is not reexamined in the very near future, if we don't immediately begin to understand how the terrorists think and respond to our policies, we face a devastating reality, with global jihad beating down our doorstep before we even realize what happened," states Klein. Among the highlights of "Schmoozing with Terrorists": Madonna and Britney Spears stoned to death? What life in the U.S. would be like if the terrorists win. Terror leaders dish on loudmouth, anti-war celebrities such as Rosie O'Donnell, Sean Penn, Susan Sarandon, Jane Fonda and Richard Gere and even sound off about American talk radio hosts such as Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity. Jihadists list their U.S. election favorites, mouth off about politicians and even threaten to kill one 2008 presidential candidate. Klein and friends confront well-armed senior terrorists about whether suicide bombers really get 72 virgins after their deadly operation. Terror groups funded, trained and armed by the U.S.? American tax dollars donated to schools that double as terror training zones and jihadist recruitment grounds? A shocking expose on how your tax dollars fund terrorism! Bibles used as toilet paper, synagogues as rocket launching zones? Meet the leaders of the most notorious holy site desecrations in history. The under-reported story of Christian persecution in the Middle East as told by the antagonists and victims Terrorists even offer tips on how to win the war on terror! Klein has been interviewing terrorists since age 19, when he spent a weekend with a group connected to al-Qaida. He reports daily from Israel, going where many of his media colleagues dare not tread. Klein is known for his regular appearances and segments on top American radio programs, where he has many times interviewed terrorist live on air. He served as a co-host of the national "John Batchelor Show," currently on hiatus. The oldest of 10 children, Klein attended Jewish schools from kindergarten through college at Yeshiva University in New York, where he served as editor-in-chief of the undergraduate student newspaper. Radio talk show host Michael Reagan calls Klein "the Middle East insider you need to know. Most network, cable and print correspondents talk about the Middle East. Aaron Klein lives it. He tells my listeners what the mainstream media report weeks later." Save $21 get 'Schmoozing with Terrorists' for only $4.95! That's right. Your eyes are not deceiving you. Right now, you can buy "Schmoozing with Terrorists," normally $25.95, for one-fifth of the cover price! 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If you don't want to renew, simply cancel by calling 1-800-4WNDCOM (800-496-3266) or by emailing [email protected] before the charge date printed on the renewal card you'll receive. Either way, the book and the 3 free issues are yours to keep. (Only one copy of "Schmoozing with Terrorists" at this price per household. Offer good only in the U.S.) Order your copy of "Schmoozing with Terrorists: From Hollywood to the Holy Land, Jihadists Reveal their Global Plans – To a Jew!" for only $4.95! Special offer ends Friday night at 10 p.m. Pacific. If you prefer to order by phone rather than online, call our toll-free customer service line weekdays at 1-800-4WND-COM (1-800-496-3266) between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Central. Note: If you choose not to participate in this special promotional offer, you may order "Schmoozing with Terrorists" here. Tags: BOOK OF THE DAY	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8374
__label__wiki	0.978963	0.978963	Bait Shop Beauty Genom Alternate Route Musikgenre Country "Alternate Route" is a fitting description of this trio of Texas musicians. Influenced by a diverse genre of acoustic music from country, bluegrass and Texas rock, their original songs of life, love, humor and compassion blend perfectly with "fun" for a unique "Texas" sound. The band is made up of three musicians from southeast Texas; Steve Thrower, David Roork and Stan Davidson. For decades, southeast Texas has produced some of the biggest names in the business like; Tex Ritter, J.P. Richardson (The Big Bopper), Janis Joplin, Johnny & Edgar Winter, George Jones, Barbara Lynn, Tracy Byrd, Clay Walker and Mark Chesnutt. In 2003 Steve wrote and recorded "West End Wanda" a song that delightfully pokes fun of the socially conscious housewives who live in the west end of Beaumont, Texas. On that same project, he recorded a Fred Eaglesmith song titled "How's Ernie?" A friend submitted "How's Ernie?" to Chinook Records who was co-sponsoring a Fred Eaglesmith tribute album and it was chosen from dozens of entries from across the U.S., Canada and Australia to be included on a CD titled; "20 Odd Holler's Vol. II." The multi-talented David Roork played mandolin on that project as well. In addition to playing mandolin, David also plays the guitar, bass, and banjo. He is also a gifted songwriter and penned two of the songs on the bands first CD, "Early Morning Blues" and "Pine Tree Lodge". In 2004 Stan joined Steve and David and "Alternate Route" was born. Stan brought 25 years of hot rock and roll bass licks to the band and some great harmony vocals to truly give the band an "Alternate Route" In 2005 the band played a variety of local venues and private functions throughout southeast Texas. In June they opened for Fred Eaglesmith and Australian artist Audrey Mezra and in November they opened for future country music hall of fame artist, "Billy Joe Shaver". In August of 2005 they released their first album, "Bait Shop Beauty". The title song "Bait Shop Beauty" will make you laugh; "Daddy's Dreams" a song Steve wrote for his daughters will make you cry; "The Pine Tree Lodge" a song about a local hang out will make you want to dance; and "The Room" a song about the death chamber in Texas will piss you off or make you proud to be a Texan or wish you were one. Also in 2005 the band volunteered their time and talents to community fund raisers and other charitable events, including the 12th annual "Girls Haven Gumbo Cook-off". Along with other musicians and volunteers, they helped raise over $40,000.00 for "Girls Haven" an organization that provides safe haven for young girls in need throughout Texas and Louisiana. Look for good things from "Alternate Route" in 2006. Starting this spring, they are scheduled to play the last Friday of every month at the Logon Café in Beaumont, Texas and with new songs already on paper they plan to return to the studio and hope to release a new album in the fall. For booking information contact Steve Thrower svt@gt.rr.com. Konstnären: Alternate Route Titel: Bait Shop Beauty 1 The Room 2 303 Mary Louise 3 Pine Tree Lodge 4 Daddy's Dream 5 Lovesick Blues 6 The Tree House 7 West End Wanda 8 Early Morning Blues 9 Blame It on Buffett 10 Bait Shop Beauty	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8378
__label__cc	0.616857	0.383143	Tips on World Building for Writers: How to Make Your Imaginary World Real There isn’t a certified qualification or course on world-building (well, not in my neighborhood), but every story requires it. Whether your tale is set in a real place or an imagined one, you need to establish your characters’ world so that the reader can suspend disbelief and fully engage with their story. Of course, the more differences to our own world you introduce, the more you need to focus on getting those details absolutely right – but you need to do it in such a way that they almost fade into the background so the reader is instead focusing on the characters and the story. You don't need to explicitly create and explain all aspects of your world in the first couple of chapters. Without some story developing in these chapters your reader may not persevere further into the book. There isn’t a certified qualification or course on world-building (well, not in my neighborhood), but every story requires it. Whether your tale is set in a real place or an imagined one, you need to establish your characters’ world so that the reader can suspend disbelief and fully engage with their story. Of course, the more differences to our own world you introduce, the more you need to focus on getting those details absolutely right – but you need to do it in such a way that they almost fade into the background so the reader is instead focusing on the characters and the story. You don't need to explicitly create and explain all aspects of your world in the first couple of chapters. Without some story developing in these chapters your reader may not persevere further into the book. GIVEAWAY: David is excited to give away a free copy of his latest novel to a random commenter. Comment within 2 weeks; winners must live in Canada/US to receive the book by mail. (Otherwise you will receive an e-book.) You can win a blog contest even if you’ve won before. (UPDATE: Y.I. Washington won.) Column by David Hair, a New Zealand-based author of three fantasy series. The Aotearoa Series is a YA series published by HarperCollins in New Zealand. The first novel, THE BONE TIKI, won Best First Book at the 2010 NZ Post Children’s Book Awards. The series is built around the concept of two parallel New Zealands — the modern world, and another magical world peopled by legends, historical personages, and the ghosts of ordinary New Zealanders. Hair has also written a four book YA series, The Return of Ravana, set in India and published by Penguin India. Book One, PYRE OF QUEENS, won the LIANZA award for Best YA Novel in 2012. The series is set to be re-released in the UK in 2015 through Jo Fletcher Books. SCARLET TIDES, published in October 2014 by Jo Fletcher Books (an imprint of Quercus), will be the second book in his fantasy series The Moontide Quartet. Four books are planned for the series. David currently lives in Auckland, New Zealand with his wife Kerry. See more info about all his books here. Personally, as a fantasy writer, I’m primarily interested in worlds where there are different rules to our own, changes which require the reader to go on a journey: to take on board a bunch of unlikely and/or impossible things. That could be an urban fantasy or horror story, where we’re dealing with our world plus, for example, adding some magic or supernatural elements) or it could be fantasy set in a completely imagined world (where everything from physical appearance to personal values, from languages to landscapes, are different). So these are the things I think about: 1. What's important in this place? At its heart, a story is about conflict. Without that, there's really little to tell. This could be two people or two nations, or even one person or group of people against society or the environment or nature. It might even be one person in conflict with themselves: that's up to you: but once you've worked out what it is, you need a world for that conflict to inhabit: What sort of place best showcases this conflict? Who are the protagonists in the conflict and where do they reside in respect of each other? How do they differ from the everyday people we all know, or do they differ at all? What role can the environment play in that conflict, both directly and symbolically? For example, in the Moontide Quartet, I wanted to tell a story of intercontinental conflict in a fantasy world. The idea of a bridge linking the two continents sprang to mind, and thereafter the world-building for the Moontide world became about creating and justifying that bridge. Of course, the bridge has nice symbolic connotations about uniting and joining. To justify the intermittent nature of that bridge required tidal factors, and that had impacts upon the nature of the landscapes, and from there, the world began to take shape. Once you've done this, you're ready to think about the protagonists in the conflict, and how the landscape might impact on them. Drawing a picture showing these groups, and even a proto-map, is often useful now, as we populate our story (I love maps!). (Would your story make a great movie? Here are 7 tips on writing a film script.) 2. Put the pieces on the board If you think about what you've just done as setting up the game board, the next step is to lay out the pieces. Societies are not amorphous blobs: they are made up of people who are all trying to do their best to survive and perpetuate themselves and those they care about. Start with the basics: How do people live here? Where does the food come? What about cloth, timber, metal? What flora and fauna are present and integrated into the society? How technologically advanced are the people here? What is their history and how might this have shaped them as a people, their beliefs, attitudes and identity? What races are present? How much migration is there from other places? How integrated are the migrants? How do the locals regard the migrants and vice versa? What languages are spoken, and by whom? What social classes are present, and how do they interact? What creates and sustains their division (e.g. if there are a few very wealthy and many poor, how do the wealthy preserve that wealth and prevent insurrection)? How do the leaders gain, preserve and relinquish power? How do other potential leaders view the current leaders? This is where you have the opportunity to impart your own worldview: the things you hold to be true in the nature of the society you are creating. How is the society organized, what do they emphasize, what is their relationship with the environment and each other. Yours might be completely different, but the principles I apply to this are: Wealth is never distributed equally: there are always a few rich and lots of poor; Men are usually advantaged over women; Power corrupts, so the people in charge are more likely to be unscrupulous; Majorities are silent, minorities aren’t: much conflict revolves around the treatment of minorities by elites (with the majority either complicit or unaware); Superstition is powerful and pervasively influential; How minorities are treated is a measure of the collective tolerance of the society; Ideals are constantly being compromised; Good people can do bad things and (vice versa); Complex solutions are hard to sell, but simple solutions rarely work Even absolute rulers require some form of consent from those who control the tools by which they hold power. So they must constantly seek to influence the military, the politicians, the economy and the intellectual debate; Advancement is related to: drive, skill, connections, wealth and philosophy. People are always completing for advancement; Human needs MUST be met and will find a way. Food and shelter. Security. Procreation. Happiness. A society that fails to deliver on these to all people will become unstable until the will to restore delivery of these needs across the society (though seldom equally) is regained; There are tipping points to human tolerance of what they are prepared to put up with before acting. These vary between individuals and groups within society. So an injustice can persist for a long time, then be washed away in moments; (Secrets to querying literary agents: 10 questions answered.) You have to think about how the society you are creating actually functions. What are the lines of disagreement between groups? I like to think of society as being divided up into groups whose primary (but not exclusive) concerns are: Economic: production of the means to live Security: protection of society and its members Political: the organization of the society, it's governance and laws Philosophical: the ideas and concepts that influence behaviors. (Note that these groups will each have their own economic, security, political and philosophical "wings", and their own factions.) 3. The Past You don't want to give the impression that your story world winked into existence just before Chapter One. How long has it been here? How did it get here? What are the big events that shape people's behavior today? What are people's beliefs about their creation, their purpose, their past and their futures? What divergent interpretations of these real or imagined events are present in society? The more credible these things are, the more real your world will feel. But you have to build rationally, even in a fantasy setting. ‘Fantasy’ is not a synonym for illogical behavior! 4. Do the detail Having created the big stuff, now you’ve got to think about the small stuff. It’s often the little details that make the world you've created real: tiny customs of dress or behavior that make a group of people come alive. I found inspiration in my observations of our world, partly because I wanted Urte to resemble Earth, but also because we have so much variety, so many fascinating people and places that it I think they’re worth celebrating. So do some research into other cultures and think about how you might use variants of what you learn in your creation – always taking care to fit it all together seamlessly so that it feels right. Create cultures with their own speech patterns, dress codes and belief systems. How do the people relax? How do they express themselves creatively? To what do they aspire? The thing to remember is that all of this needs to serve the story, not the other way round. Don't lose sight of your central premise. If something looks like it is taking over, you need to pare back its importance, but still have it make sense. 5. The People Factor Now, having set up the board and laid out the pieces, you need to personalize it. Each grouping will have opinion leaders and powerful people with needs and desires. They need to be fully rounded people, with positive points as well as flaws – people are always flawed, even someone who’s apparently perfect. And even if they're almost ideal, you can bet their family or friends won't be. Use them to move the conflicts along. And you need to keep in mind that if they've achieved a degree of success, despite their flaws, they must also have strengths: they must be worthy of the role (or at least capable of gaining it and holding it,) and they must fulfil it to the satisfaction of a powerful portion of those they lead (or have intimidated those they lead into letting them keep the role), or their time at the top will be short-lived. Give them a back-story, and think about their goals, in particular, what they think about the big issues, especially the conflict that is the heart of your story. In the Moontide Quartet the big conflict is the proposed crusade, and every important figure and group has a view. As the events of your story unfold, you will find that the reactions of these opinion leaders to the latest events in your story will help to drive it forward, so stay on top of what they are thinking and doing, even if it is off-screen. Next, having built your house of cards, prepare the wrecking ball . . . (Hear from authors who are marketing themselves and selling books online.) 6. The Chaos Factor So far, our goal has been to create a dynamic but mostly stable society. The important factor in that last sentence is ‘stable’. Society is always changing as it adapts to new things, but most of the time it does so in an incremental way. But conflicts are inherently destabilizing, and that new factor could throw everything into chaos. This ‘chaos factor’ might be ultimately beneficial for most (like a revolt against a tyrant), or not (like a plague virus), but that's up to you. The important thing for the story is that your world and the people in it react in a credible way to the disruption. Work toward a resolution: -- either the change leaves the world altered, or -- the change is averted and your society continues (relatively) unchanged. As you can see, you can slice and dice your imaginary society in lots of ways, and what you get is COMPLEXITY. This is good: a complex world is believable, while a simplistic one isn’t. As a storyteller, you need think about how much complexity you want to show; never forget that all of this is to support the story, not be the story. You need to know all this stuff, but you don't need to show it all. Often just making reference to your world-building (local jargon and customs, oblique references to past events, etc.) can be enough in the early chapters to let the action hook the reader; you can let the back-story seep out bit by bit as the plot develops. Never forget the world-building is the backdrop and the props; the story close-ups should always be on your characters. Finally, a couple of books I've found useful: • Jared Diamond: Gun, Germs and Steel, for its brilliant explanation of how and why our world has evolved anthropologically the way it has; and • Robert Kaplan, The Revenge of Geography, for its clear explanation of how the shape and nature of land shapes politics in our world. Online Course: World-Building in Science Fiction and Fantasy Writing In this original workshop, The New York Times best-selling author and veteran editor Philip Athans, author of The Guide to Writing Fantasy & Science Fiction (Adams Media 2010), gets into some detailed techniques for creating worlds for fantasy and science fiction stories, novels, screenplays, and games, and how those elements can best serve the most important aspects of your writing: characters and story. Learn more and register. 5 Tips For Writing a First Draft. Agent Kaylee Davis (Dee Mura Lit) seeks clients. Writing inspirational or self-help? See a success story here. "What Would Aaron Sorkin Do?" Author Julie Kibler Explains How She Found Her Agent, Elisabeth Weed.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8381
__label__wiki	0.631761	0.631761	Prescription hurdles hinder COVID testing in Detroit Those wanting a test prescription must meet state criteria Detroit began its drive-thru coronavirus testing today. DETROIT (WXYZ) — Long lines and frustration underscored the opening day of the State Fairgrounds' COVID 19 drive thru testing site, as people came to the realization that in addition to an appointment, they'd also need a doctor's prescription, the latter far harder to get than initially expected. "On the TV it makes it look like you can get tested, but you can’t!" said Jim Serra, referring to Mayor Mike Duggan's announcement of the State Fairground testing site. Last week Serra's wife Dina Serra began showing symptoms of COVID-19. The couple tried to get tested at Beaumont Hospital but didn’t meet the high-risk criteria. Then they heard Duggan on TV and decided to check out the State Fairgrounds site. As Duggan explained, all one would need is a prescription. So Serra called their family doctor. All appeared like it would run smoothly, but on Thursday their primary care physician called. She couldn’t write a script. "The doctor called me back says you can’t go," Serra said, explaining that the doctor was asked, when trying to write a prescription, many of the same questions that barred Dina from getting tested at Beaumont. The Serra’s are not alone in their failed quest for a prescription. As the state of Michigan — like much of the country — lacks ample tests, the ability to give and prescribe tests is being tiered, according to Dr. Phil Levy, an emergency department specialist at Wayne State University. "In a perfect world if we have extensive testing capacity we would test everyone. That’s how you would do a broad epidemiological analysis," said Levy. "Unfortunately we’re not in that space right now." According to Levy, the state of Michigan has issued guidelines for writing prescriptions. Priority One testing includes symptomatic healthcare workers, and Priority Two testing includes symptomatic first responders, as well as those that are greater than 65-years old, have and have underlying health conditions. "It's not just that [those that] have the disease but those that are most likely to develop adverse consequences," he said. "They’re trying to be judicious in a time with testing limitations." The reality means the new State Fairgrounds testing site is not as accessible as one may have thought. "From Mayor Duggan’s perspective, he’s correct ‘Just get a prescription from your doctor’ From the doctor's perspective, it’s more of a burden on them to ensure that the individual being given the prescription meets one of the priority criteria," Levy, who is currently conducting, sans prescription, testing for health care workers and first responders at Wayne State explained. While the not knowing may cause some stress for folks like the Serra family, Levy says that if in doubt, just stay home. "I think the most important thing for people to know is that the majority of people who get COVID are going to do OK, actually do well. And so being diagnosed or not diagnosed is not going to change that because there is not medicine we can give you right now to definitely improve the outcomes," he said. For those in the tri-county region — Wayne, Oakland, and Macomb County — wanting to get tested at the State Fairgrounds a reminder that an appointment and doctor's prescription is necessary. Call the CCCN call center at 313-230-0505 to schedule your drive-thru testing appointment. Appointments are scheduled up to one week in advance. The call center is open Monday through Sunday 9am – 7pm.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8386
__label__wiki	0.792424	0.792424	Friday Five: Reads to look forward to in January Sarah Chain Let's start something new for the new year -- a quick way to welcome the weekend, perhaps? Each Friday, we'll list five things on our mind. Five reasons we love our libraries or indie bookstores, five authors we can't get enough of, five ways we get reading recommendations... and so forth. We'll kick off with five reads we're hearing buzz about for January. Take a peek, then offer your own thoughts in a comment! 1. "The Invention of Wings" by Sue Monk Kidd Kidd is well-known as the author of "The Secret Life of Bees," published in 2002. This month, she returns with a new novel also set in the deep South, dealing with similar themes of race relations and strong female characters. The Goodreads summary begins, "Sarah Grimké is the middle daughter. The one her mother calls difficult and her father calls remarkable. On Sarah's eleventh birthday, Hetty 'Handful' Grimké is taken from the slave quarters she shares with her mother, wrapped in lavender ribbons, and presented to Sarah as a gift. Sarah knows what she does next will unleash a world of trouble. She also knows that she cannot accept. And so, indeed, the trouble begins ..." It's already been selected for Oprah's Book Club, so plan to hear plenty more as it's released Jan. 7. 2. "The Impossible Knife of Memory" by Laurie Halse Anderson Anderson's "Speak," published in 1999, was one of my favorite reads as a high schooler. In her new young adult novel, Anderson writes again about a difficult subject -- this time, PTSD. The Goodread summary reads, "For the past five years Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in town where he grew up so Hayley can go to a proper school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own." It's gotten plenty of four- and five-star reviews already on Goodreads, so expect a gripping read here. The release date is Jan. 7. 3. "12 Years A Slave" by Solomon Northup So it's not a new release -- technically it was written and published in 1853. But Northup's memoir is sure to be a popular read as awards seasons ramps up -- the film "12 Years A Slave," based on the memoir, was released in October. And, of course, we're always fans of reading the book before seeing the movie. An excerpt from the publisher's summary reads, "Tricked by two men offering him a job as a musician in New York state in 1841, Solomon Northup was instead drugged and kidnapped. Threatened with death, Northup was forced to assume a new name and fake past. Taken to Louisiana on a disease-ridden plague ship, he was initially sold to a cotton planter. In the 12 years that followed he was sold to many different owners who treated him with varying levels of savagery, including forced labor, scant food, and numerous beatings." 4. "Hands Free Mama" by Rachel Macy Stafford "If technology is the new addiction, then multi-tasking is the new marching order." So reads the publisher's blurb for this nonfiction title, by a special education teacher and mother who decided enough was enough in our digital society. Stafford chooses instead to let go of the fast-paced life and focus more on meaningful connections. It seems like each year a book comes along to tell moms (or women) how to do right by their families. Will this one stick? I couldn't say -- but it's the No 6 best-seller on Amazon, and it's not even out until Jan. 7. Expect to hear more about it. 5. "In the Blood" by Lisa Unger Unger is well-known as a writer of gripping tales, and her latest novel sounds no different. In fact, the focus on blurred lines between truth and lies reminds me somewhat of Gillian Flynn's "Gone Girl." The Indiebound.org summary reads, "Lana Granger lives a life of lies. She has told so many lies about where she comes from and who she is that the truth is like a cloudy nightmare she can’t quite recall. About to graduate from college and with her trust fund almost tapped out, she takes a job babysitting a troubled boy named Luke. Expelled from schools all over the country, the manipulative young Luke is accustomed to controlling the people in his life. But, in Lana, he may have met his match. Or has Lana met hers?" I'll be interested to pick this one up when it's released Jan. 7, but for folks who love page-turners, this certainly sounds like it could be a winner. -- Browse the blog's archive of 400+ book reviews across all genres	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8388
__label__wiki	0.979062	0.979062	Grocery store deer-wrangler to wife: 'I got this' 505-5429/@LizScolforoYD Bobby Beck III knows he's part of a dying breed. "I'm old school," the 45-year-old Conewago Township man said. "I couldn't even tell you how to turn on a computer, to be honest with you." Beck is an experienced outdoorsman who's comfortable with animals and comfortable with his own abilities — the kind of guy who might, say, spring into action and save a deer that was running through a grocery store. Which is exactly what he did Monday night at the Giant Food Store in East Manchester Township, where he and wife Tonya Beck had stopped to buy Gatorade and cough medicine for the head cold that's been plaguing him for three weeks. Stunned customers watched or grabbed for their cellphones to get photos of the wayward whitetail, but Beck had a different plan: "I looked at my wife and said, 'I got this.'" The chase was on: Witnesses watched as Beck sprinted after the doe. He caught up with her in the bakery department, moments before she reached the refrigerated glass cases in the dairy department. "About 12 more feet and it would've been ugly," he said. The doe had somehow avoided slicing herself when she crashed through Giant's front glass entrance doors and shattered them, but Beck feared she wouldn't be as lucky with her next glass encounter. "I grabbed her by the neck," he said, and "turned her around in a hurry." Still hanging onto her neck, Beck walked the doe toward the front of the store. But by that time customers had gathered to watch, and the crowd apparently spooked her. "She started freaking out," he said. "She kicked me in the ribs and knocked me on my a—, literally onto the floor." And that's when the deer-wrangling began in earnest. Wouldn't let go: Beck said at one point he was hanging onto the doe by just her ear, and then by one of her legs. "But I wasn't letting go, because then I would've had to catch her again," he said. "And that wouldn't have been fun." After a few minutes of struggling, the doe gave up the fight. "She was whupped at that point," Beck said. Man thwarts Manchester deer's dash for dairy dept. A man who'd been watching the tussle grabbed one of the deer's legs and another man put some sort of cloth over her eyes. The three men then dragged her out the front door — the working one, not the one with shattered glass, Beck said — and took her to the side of the building. "She was only bleeding out of her nose a little bit," Beck said. "We let her go and she took off toward Starbucks." Rodeo time: Beck said he was shown Giant security video, but it captured only a portion of the incident. "It took 50 seconds to get the deer in my hands," he said. "That's like a ... rodeo time." Beck said he was disappointed there was no video of him and the deer wrestling on the floor. After the deer ran to freedom, a fellow shopper approached Beck in the Giant parking lot and indicated he was amazed by what he'd witnessed. "I told him, 'That's just me. That's what I do,'" Beck said. "I just did the right thing and went back to my everyday life." Adrenaline rush: He said the only soreness he felt the next day was from being kicked in the ribs. "It makes me feel young again to do that stuff," Beck said. "I like the adrenaline rush." He said his passion is being in the wild, hunting with his family; he particularly enjoys bow hunting. Beck and his family raise fallow deer in a pen, "so dealing with deer is an everyday thing for me," he said.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8390
__label__wiki	0.56513	0.56513	“There is a temple here! Quick, quick!” “People behind follow quickly. The chests cannot be wet. Use your clothes to cover them.” After a racket, a group of people reached the temple’s main door. Liu Wei looked and vaguely estimated that there were about eight people. There were seven to eight chests stacked up high on top of two handcarts and protected by the group. The chests on the top were covered with several pieces of clothing. Liu Wei guessed that they were most likely armed escorts for goods. And because it rained while they were travelling, they could only search for a place to avoid the rain. However, after some observation, she did not see the armed escort’s flag. The group did not expect that there were people in the temple. But since they had walked very long to find a place to stop over, they definitely would not leave. One of them cupped his hands and politely said, “Since it is raining outside, I apologise for inconveniencing my fellow brothers and take a rest here.” (T/N: The man referred to Rong Leng’s group as brothers.) Rong Leng replied plainly, “No worries.” The group quickly carried the chests into the temple. It was only then Liu Wei realized that they not only have seven to eight people. They had a dozen-plus of people and a continuous chain of people was slowly following behind. And the last person who came in was a stiff and rigid man with above-average five features. His clothes were drenched, and his hair was pathetically dangling. However, it was obvious that he was their leader because of his extravagant clothing, which was different from the group. The moment he entered, a few men gathered around him; passing him a new set of clothes and handkerchief. Liu Wei initially did not bother about him. But the minute she saw his appearance, she immediately dodged her vision and turned her head away. Rong Leng, who was at her side, saw her reactions and asked, “You know him?” “No.” Liu Wei’s voice was not loud. As she finished, she pulled her son and said, “We will go to the carriage.” Rong Leng narrowed his eyes as she looked like she was fleeing in defeat. He took another glance at that faraway group; His black pupils shone with complex. The coachman was also silently observing. He observed for a while, moved closer and said, “My lord, these people are not ordinary people.” Rong Leng nodded, “They are soldiers.” Regardless of their actions, manners, or even their standing position, it shows that they are a regular army. But which division are they from? The coachman hesitated for a moment, “My lord, have you noticed that the gracefully dressed man in the middle looks a little familiar?” Rong Leng took another glance and saw that the escorted man had changed a new set of clothing. His appearance was impressive. And while he was drying his hair, he checked the chests worriedly. “No.” Rong Leng had always been stingy with his memory towards irrelevant people. The coachman carefully explained, “That gracefully dressed man looks very alike to the lord prime minister.” “Liu Cheng?” Rong Leng tried to recall and looked over. Sure enough, that man looks somewhat similar to the wily old fox. As he thought, he could guess the identity of that person. Everyone knew the prime minister, Liu Cheng, had three extremely talented sons. The first-born, Liu Yu, is the same as his father. He learned the Book of Songs and History with great erudition; At a young age of fourteen, he was the number one scholar for three consecutive years and was known as the genius by everyone in the capital. Now twenty-eight, he had long entered the government and is the most outstanding official amongst all the younger generation of the government. The second-born, Liu Kun, has loved martial arts since young. When he was seven, the marshal of the army, Hu Wen, took him under his wings; When he was eleven, he participated in the battle at the frontier; When he was fourteen, he returned, victoriously, together with Marshal Hu Wen; And now sixteen, he is the youngest deputy general in the government known since history. The third-born, Liu Yi, have two outstanding older brothers which one excels in literature and the other excels in military affairs. Everyone thought highly of his capabilities. But unexpectedly, he is more interested in the affairs of civilians than governance. Hence, he had entered the doors of merchanting. Amongst the four classes (Scholars, farmers, artisans and merchants), merchants are considered low class. However, he never feels inferior. He paid thousands of taels for taxes in his first year as a merchant. The Ministry of Appointments was extremely elated that year. And in the following years, all shops in the capital, big or small, have gradually hung the family logo ‘Liu’. Now, Liu Yi is a wealthy and distinguished person in the capital. Thank you for supporting this novel for the past few months! Do write a review for the in NU if you like the novel. Take care of yourselves too during this period! Cheers! :3 -MelonBunz	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8395
__label__wiki	0.976598	0.976598	\| Smilow endows coaching posts Katie Baker Smilow endows coaching posts Katie Baker 12:00 am, Apr 30, 2003 Nearly 10 years ago, Joel E. Smilow ’54 was registering for his 40th reunion when the student behind the table stood to thank him for his financial contributions to the renovation of the old Yale Bowl field house, which now bears his name. “She had been the captain of the women’s lacrosse team, and she said they had had the greatest year in lacrosse history at that point,” Smilow recalled. “She attributed that in part to the fact that they were using the new field center. That of course made me feel really good.” In the latest of several generous contributions to Yale athletics, Smilow, a longtime Yale athletic booster, has continued his generosity, donating money toward the endowment of the head coaching positions for men’s basketball, women’s basketball and women’s lacrosse. The announcement marked the first time coaches of Yale women’s programs received such funding. “He wanted to support programs that had a lot of interest and were popular,” Athletics Director Tom Beckett. Mandy O’Leary, the women’s lacrosse coach who will benefit from the new funding, expressed thanks. “We’re ecstatic, obviously,” she said. “Joel Smilow has been incredibly generous throughout the years in supporting our athletic programs, and he’s always been supportive of not just men’s programs, but of women’s, as well.” The coaching endowments will be named the Joel E. Smilow Class of 1954 Coach for each of the three programs, representing the collaboration between Smilow and his Yale class, which is approaching its 50th anniversary next year. The Class of 1954, through its challenge campaign, matches the funds donated. “When I wanted to make another gift to Yale in conjunction with my 50th reunion, I decided I wanted to continue to pursue athletics as a philanthropic niche,” Smilow said. The addition of the three new endowments means the Elis now have six sports for which funding has been provided in perpetuity. In 1988, Smilow endowed the football coach position, four years before being a major donor in the project to renovate what is now called the Smilow Field Center. The men’s hockey team and the swim teams also have endowed coaching positions. “Its wonderful that as Mr. Smilow is approaching his 50th reunion, he’s making a statement of the role that intercollegiate athletics has in the education of individual students and the role it has on campus,” said Charlie Pagnam, Vice President of Development at Yale. “He believes that intercollegiate athletics help develop one’s leadership skills.” The former chairman, chief executive officer and president of Playtex Products, Inc., Smilow has a long history of support for Yale athletics dating to his undergraduate days, in which he participated in freshman lightweight crew and tennis, managed the squash team, and held the role of director of WYBC radio. As a graduate, Smilow’s contributions to fund-raising and development earned high recognition. He was awarded the Yale Medal in 1993 and named a Sterling Fellow for outstanding financial contribution. “Mr. Smilow believes in leadership, and he so generously provides it,” Beckett said. “We are honored to name three new coaching positions after this very special Yale man.” As the women’s lacrosse team once again enjoys one of its most successful seasons, O’Leary explained Smilow’s importance in her team’s future. “He now is supporting the coaching staff and the program for continued success throughout the years,” O’Leary said. “And as the programs [he endowed] continue to get better, we’re going to be able to attract the best and the brightest to come to Yale.”	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8397
__label__wiki	0.761231	0.761231	\| Malloy outlines plan for Union Station parking garage Daniela Brighenti Malloy outlines plan for Union Station parking garage Daniela Brighenti 2:30 am, Mar 02, 2015 Although his transportation proposal for the state will take 30 years to complete, the Union Station garage is a top priority that will be included in the first five-year ramp up of the plan, Malloy announced in his budget address. Union Station is the 10th most active train station in the country, according to Director of Transportation for the City of New Haven Doug Hausladen ’04, but parking has become a barrier to many riders. At last week’s meeting, Malloy presented his plan for the garage, which will add roughly 1,000 new parking spaces to the station. “There’s been a big need for a long while of additional parking spaces,” said Hausladen, who attended the meeting. “It gets to full capacity every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.” He added that riders decide not to take the train because they cannot access the station or do not have a secure place to park. Although the city has been working for nearly a decade to get the state government to fund another garage, they had been unsuccessful until now, Hausladen said. Because Union Station is a state-owned facility on state property, all funding for the project comes from the state. City officials are excited that the governor has chosen New Haven as a focal point for the railroad part of his transportation initiative. “We know it’s part of a comprehensive statewide transportation plan that Malloy envisions, and so the mayor is very pleased that New Haven figures prominently in that statewide plan,” City Hall Spokesman Laurence Grotheer said. Hausladen added that the garage would encourage more residents to take trains, and decrease congestion in state roads such as Interstate 95. At Thursday’s meeting, Malloy said the average person in the state spends 40 hours stuck in traffic congestion per year, the New Haven Independent reported. This loss in working hours costs the state roughly $4.2 billion dollars, Malloy said. “We need more transportation options for New Haven to position itself as a key link to the entire Northeast corridor,” Hausladen said. “With added parking, we could be the eighth or even sixth [most active train station in the country].” At the meeting, officials also discussed the possibility of building a bus depot at the station. Since the parking garage will be built on the top level of the lot, the ground floor would be free for construction. A bus depot would provide a centralized location where riders can catch buses on any route without having to walk to different stops, Grotheer said. However, it is unclear if the bus depot will be included in the final design for the garage. The state government is in charge of designing the project, but Hausladen is hopeful that the city will have some input. Tom Maziarz, bureau chief for policy and planning at the state Department of Transportation, told the New Haven Register that designing for the parking garage will begin in fiscal year 2016.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8398
__label__wiki	0.635367	0.635367	\| Partnership to elevate YNHHS specialty pharmacy care Robbie Short Partnership to elevate YNHHS specialty pharmacy care Robbie Short 3:08 am, Nov 06, 2015 A recently announced partnership between the Yale-New Haven Health System and Excelera, a national specialty pharmacy network, aims to provide YNHHS pharmacy staff with the tools to more safely treat patients with complex care needs — including the prescription of hard-to-find drugs — in a local setting. Excelera, which made the announcement Oct. 12, is a national network that now consists of local specialty pharmacies owned by 12 health systems and academic medical centers throughout the U.S. According to Excelera President and CEO Jim Fox, the network provides its members with a national platform for the collaborative development of best practices for patient care, as well as the industry clout necessary to secure access to limited-distribution drugs, which drug companies distribute only to a small number of pharmacies or wholesalers largely because they are expensive and demand for them is low. “Right now we have access to many specialty medications, but probably very few what we call limited-distribution drugs … Because of the prestigious nature of some of the people within Excelera, that allows us to get more focus and attention,” said Lorraine Lee, YNHHS executive director of pharmacy services. “That means our patients will be able to come to our local pharmacies here, within the Yale-New Haven Health System, and fill their medications kind of close to home, so to speak, as opposed to having to go to some other pharmacy that could literally be in another state.” According to Fox, the dialogue that led to YNHHS’ entrance into the Excelera system started last spring when YNHHS representatives approached Excelera about joining the network. YNHHS began to roll out its internal specialty pharmacy about six months ago, according to Kerin Adelson MED ‘00, chief quality officer and deputy chief medical officer of the Smilow Cancer Hospital. Though the number of YNHHS patients who require limited-distribution drugs is quite small relative to the system’s population, Lee said the figure is higher than those of non-academic health systems because YNHHS treats more patients who require tertiary care — consultative care that normally comes on referral from another medical professional and requires more advanced treatments. Additionally, Lee said, limited-distribution prescriptions are often more complicated and carry more risk than non-specialty drugs. Because of this, patients normally require more education from health professionals in how to administer limited-distribution drugs, Adelson said. When local education is unavailable, patients run the risk of misusing the drug with potentially serious side effects. This was the case within YNHHS before it established its specialty pharmacy. “We had patients that had continued taking the drug after we believed it had been stopped, because these specialty pharmacies kept sending refills,” said Adelson, who oversees the administration of many complex treatment plans in her role at the Smilow Cancer Hospital. “We had patients who didn’t understand how they should take their drug — so, for example, if you’re supposed to take a drug for two weeks on, followed by one week off, they might take it continuously and then have higher levels of toxicity — because we really didn’t have a way to monitor it [locally].” Lee and Adelson cited the elimination of some of this risk as a major advantage of both YNHHS’ creation of a specialty pharmacy, which jump-started the improvement process, and its entrance into the Excelera system, which they said will continue it. The Excelera partnership will do this by providing YNHHS with access to a wider range of drugs, as well the expertise of health professionals within other Excelera systems who are dealing with the same challenges YNHHS professionals are. That, Fox said, is exactly Excelera’s goal. “It’s really what makes [Excelera’s member networks] great, is [that] they’re committed to patient care, and they’re committed to working with a network on a national level to really make it the premier network from a patient care and specialty pharmacy management point of view,” he said. YNHHS is the largest healthcare system in Connecticut and includes three hospitals, several specialty networks and a nonprofit medical foundation.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8399
__label__wiki	0.995888	0.995888	\| Undergrad play features all-Asian cast Oriana Tang Undergrad play features all-Asian cast Oriana Tang 12:10 am, Oct 05, 2016 Courtesy of the Yale Dramat Stefani Kuo’s ’17 new play, “Architecture of Rain,” which features an all-Asian female cast, premieres Thursday at the Iseman Theatre. “Architecture of Rain,” “a play about memory, and the fluidity and gravity of it,” according to an online description, is the Yale Dramatic Association’s first performance of the fall season. The play tells the story of a mother and her three daughters, the youngest of whom has died in a car accident. “The production is teaching all of us so much, myself included, and what it means to have this conversation, not because the play has Asian content, but because of what it is showing in its representational choices,” Kuo said. Despite the casting decision, Kuo and director Greg Ng ’18 noted that the play should not be taken as a generalization of the Asian experience. The four leads come from different backgrounds, Ng explained, and he didn’t want to erase that diversity by making “sweeping statements” about culture or family. For Kuo, the play did not even begin with Asian characters. The first draft, she said, starred two white men and a white woman. “I never thought it was an Asian play,” Kuo said. “It still isn’t an Asian play to me, but the voices I was trying to write had my sense of culture and home in them.” But after working on an all-Asian production of Clifford Odets’ “Awake and Sing!” with the National Asian American Theatre Company, Kuo said she began to envision her play differently. After “Architecture of Rain” was selected for the Yale Playwrights Festival in March — which featured readings of five new plays by Yale undergraduates — Margaret Spillane, one of Kuo’s mentors, encouraged her to consider an all-Asian cast. Spillane is an English professor at the University best known for her arts criticism. Collaborating with the Yale School of Drama’s Asian Potluck, an Asian and Asian-American theater coalition, Kuo found support and actors for the reading of the play at the conclusion of the festival, which gave her an idea of what it might be like to have an all-Asian cast for the play, she said. “Architecture of Rain” was proposed and selected as a Dramat fall production last spring. While Kuo said she initially feared an insufficient number of actors would audition, between 30 and 40 Asian women tried out for four parts. “That in itself was already a victory — it just goes to show how much talent there is, how much interest,” Ng said. “I think one of the reasons why people have been wary to stage shows that call for race-conscious casting is because they think people won’t come out or there aren’t enough people to fill those roles, and I think [‘Architecture of Rain’] proves that very wrong.” Many of the women who auditioned but did not receive parts ended up working on sets, makeup, costumes, lights and other production areas, though Ng acknowledged that ideally, there would have been more Asian women on the key production staff. Connie Lam ’19, who plans on attending one of the performances, said she is excited for the production for many reasons, including the fact that a Yale undergraduate wrote the script. She added that the casting decision is also important to her, noting that Hollywood often excludes Asian-American actresses from many roles. Ng said he feels the Dramat’s choice to run “Architecture of Rain” in the same season as “The Colored Museum,” a play that premiered in 1986 and depicts themes and identities unique to African-American culture, was consciously made. But, he said, it is important that the two plays not serve as “tokens,” for institutional change is necessary. The Dramat recently drew criticism for casting a white woman in a role in “Wild Party” typically played by a black man. “Architecture of Rain” runs from Thursday, Oct. 6 through Saturday, Oct. 8 at the Iseman Theatre.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8400
__label__wiki	0.698934	0.698934	Our Financial Strategy is to enhance the financial position of the Airport Authority. Total revenue by fiscal year Every decision we make at the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority is intended to advance at least one of our core organizational strategies: Financial, Customer, Community, Employee or Operational. Although all of the strategies are vitally important to carrying out our mission, one strategy – financial – serves as the bedrock for all the others. Without a carefully thought-out and well-executed strategy that enhances the financial position of the Airport Authority, none of our goals related to the other strategies can be realized. With that in mind, here is a list of 2015 successes related to our financial strategy: Recent air service additions have led to increased revenues that support the organization’s financial health. When a route is performing well, it further incentivizes airlines to expand. Innovative marketing solutions, such as the parking card incentive program, have spurred growth in parking revenues over the last quarter. The Airport Authority received its seventh consecutive “clean” audit. It was the 10th clean audit in the past 12 years. The most recent audit showed no material weaknesses, which is another testament to our financial stability. Anyone who would question the financial strength of the Airport Authority need look no further than our strong A+ credit rating, which we’ve maintained while incurring over $1.3 billion of debt to fund our capital improvement program. All of this has resulted in multiple years of awards, with the Airport Authority earning recognition for Excellence in Procurement, Financial Reporting, Budgeting, Debt Policy, and Investment Policy. Moving forward, it is essential to continue building upon this success. There are many unknowns that will affect the business in the future – industry changes, disruptive technology, evolving financial reporting standards, economic volatility, geopolitical events, regulatory changes, human capital needs – but by supporting innovation and driving tactful initiatives, the organization can achieve its mission without compromising its ability to remain a financially enduring and resilient enterprise. Air Service Development underpins one of our most important strategies – forging connections between San Diego and the world. We know that regional economic competitiveness relies on efficient air transportation to domestic and global markets. San Diego International Airport’s (SAN) network of nonstop air service is constantly evolving. By this summer, we will offer nonstop service to 60 destinations. SAN has attracted 12 new passenger flights over the past two years to important destinations for business and leisure travelers, including Kona, HI; Dallas, Chicago, Houston and Denver. Other new nonstops to be added in 2016 include Vancouver, Milwaukee, Stockton, El Paso and San Jose. While attracting new air service, especially international, is highly competitive, SAN is convincing airlines that we have the demand. For example, our daily British Airways flights to London are 87 percent full, on average, compared to an average of 84 percent for all British Airways flights from the U.S. to London. That kind of route validation plants the seeds for expanded opportunities. And we are always looking ahead. Domestically, we will continue to monitor opportunities for nonstop service to places such as Washington (National), Norfolk, Indianapolis, Raleigh, Tampa and Spokane. Internationally, our current nonstop destinations include London, Tokyo, Mexico and Canada. We are targeting additional service to Europe, Central and South America, and China in the medium term. Expanding our air service adds fuel to the economic engine that is SAN. The San Diego Tourism Authority estimates that domestic flights bring a total $30 million annual impact, and the JAL nonstop to Tokyo alone brings in $90 million in annual impact. Growing our air service grows our revenues, supporting our ability to forge even more connections. That can be seen in the record 20 million passengers SAN served in 2015. The 2015 total represents a 7 percent increase over 2014. SAN also posted record-breaking passenger totals in 2014. “Crossing the 20-million-pasenger threshold is an important and meaningful milestone,” said Thella F. Bowens, President/CEO of the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority. “But more important is the fact that the airport has seen consistent and sustainable growth in the post-recession years.” In another important category, SAN set a record for total enplanements, or departing passengers, in 2015 with just over 10 million; a 7 percent increase over the previous record set in 2014. SAN also served nearly 700,000 international passengers in 2015, an increase over 2014 of nearly 4 percent. Bowens attributed the increases to a number of factors, including the improved economy and robust tourism industry. SAN also set a new record for air carrier operations – flights with more than 60 seats – with nearly 165,000 flights. The previous record for this category was set in 2008. This is indicative of the airline industry’s trend away from smaller, propeller-driven aircraft in favor of larger jets on short-haul routes, such as San Diego-Los Angeles. Detailed reports of SAN air traffic statistics are available at www.san.org/News/Air-Traffic-Reports. PASSENGERS IN 2015 The $316 million facility generated approximately 4,600 construction jobs. About $186 million in construction contracts went to local businesses, with $70.4 million of that going to small businesses. San Diego International Airport officially opened in 1928 on a plot of land by San Diego Bay, and 88 years later, it’s still in the same location. Today, SAN is the busiest single-runway airport in the nation on a footprint of just 661 acres. There is no immediate opportunity to expand or relocate the airport. So we have to look at everything through the prism of sustainability. That means building not just bigger, but smarter. In 2015, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority Board and the California Coastal Commission green-lit the design and construction of a long-anticipated parking plaza adjacent to Terminal 2, which will provide 3,000 much-needed, close-in parking spaces. The Airport Authority has also revamped the north side of SAN, opening the Economy Lot at the corner of Pacific Highway and Washington Street, offering travelers the lowest parking rate among on-airport lots at $13/day; and collaborated with Signature Flight Support on a new general aviation complex that features a cutting-edge 19,000-square-foot terminal, 250,000-square-foot ramp and five hangars. But the crowning achievement on the north side is the new consolidated Rental Car Center, which officially opened in January 2016. The 2-million-square-foot Rental Car Center houses most of the rental car companies serving the airport, including national brands, as well as local, independent and small business rental car companies, in one central location off Pacific Highway. Fourteen rental car company brands are operating out of the facility, which can accommodate up to 19 brands in total. The facility has room for more than 5,000 cars. The new facility replaces the group of buildings on Harbor Drive that have for years housed most rental car companies serving the airport. In a related change, all rental car customers are now carried to and from the terminals in 16 – soon to be 25 – new shuttles owned and operated by the Airport Authority. This fleet replaces the approximately 81 shuttles previously operated by the rental car companies. The new shuttle buses will operate almost exclusively on a new interior airport roadway. The building, which is a candidate for LEED Silver certification, also features three new works of public art, with a fourth expected to debut at the end of 2016. The next master-planning phase at SAN is the Airport Development Plan. This will identify the best way to replace the aging Terminal One. It will also help provide a physical connection to a planned multi-modal transportation center. And most importantly, it will enable the airport to meet demand through 2035. That’s when projected passenger levels are projected to reach capacity for the airport’s single runway. It is clear that being able to continue to provide these airport services in the future is critical, both in terms of a public service and an economic driver for the entire San Diego region. The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has completed a 20-year Capital Improvement Planning effort to define capital investment needs aligned with the airport’s key strategies for the future. Those key strategies include a sustainability strategy which considers the “Total Cost of Ownership” (TCO) for capital improvements. TCO includes a project’s construction costs as well as ongoing operations and maintenance costs for the total life of the asset or facility. YEAR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PLAN In 2015, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority made significant strides in its efforts to ensure that local and small businesses had every opportunity to do business with the airport. The $316 million Rental Car Center project completed construction with tremendous contributions from the local business community. Local businesses received more than $186.2 million in construction contracts, amounting to nearly 60 percent of the total project cost. Of the contracts that went to local businesses, $70.4 million – or 38 percent – went to small businesses. Also noteworthy is that $70.4 million represented nearly the entire amount ($73 million) that was available for small businesses. The strategy of our Small Business Development Program is to build relationships with the business community that encourage dialogue and participation, provide education and increase diversity in our contracted workforce. This strategy begins with this philosophy: “There’s room at the inn for everybody.” From our beginning as an Airport Authority, the goal has been to create a level playing field that attracts businesses of all sizes; that provides opportunities for all workers of all genders and ethnicities. That philosophy has grown into a firm commitment from the Board and a passionate belief by staff that everyone can benefit from being a part of the work we provide. As one of the largest infrastructure builders in San Diego County, the Airport Authority takes its commitment to inclusion seriously. The Airport Authority is proud to be the recipient of awards from the San Diego Chapter of the American Subcontracting Association, Airport Minority Advisory Council, San Diego Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and the Federal Aviation Administration for its small business outreach and contracting efforts. More opportunities to work with the airport are available as the Parking Plaza across from Terminal 2 approaches groundbreaking later this year. And the next phase of master planning, which we call the Airport Development Plan (ADP), maps out the future of Terminal 1 and the redevelopment of the former Teledyne-Ryan property. Our ambitious capital improvement plans are evidence of the Airport Authority’s commitment to the growth of the San Diego region. And most everything we do in service of that commitment is designed to foster opportunities for small, local and underrepresented businesses, because we believe those businesses are the heart and soul of San Diego’s economy. There are plenty of opportunities at the airport, no matter who you are. And we truly believe that there is still room at the inn for everybody. There's room at the inn for everybody. OF CONSTRUCTION CONTRACTS WENT TO LOCAL BUSINESSES WENT TO SMALL BUSINESSES San Diego depends on reliable air transportation service to help maintain the region’s economic prosperity and protect its quality of life. The San Diego County Regional Airport Authority has processes in place that ensure airport operations continue at the highest possible level during and after a disruptive event. Specifically, the Airport Authority has developed the Business Continuity Management System (BCMS), an integrated strategy to prepare for, respond to and recover from emergencies or other business disruptions. The BCMS makes safety and security a top priority, and also ensures continued regulatory compliance while preserving the Airport Authority’s ability to meet contractual obligations to its business partners. The BCMS is comprised of four complementing plans that incorporate the Airport Authority’s critical systems and mobilize key employee teams, as follows: Airport Emergency Plan – Provides a blueprint for responding to incidents with a goal of mitigating their impact and positioning the airport for rapid physical recovery, if necessary. Crisis Communication Plan – Outlines goals, strategies and recommended approaches for communication with the media and general public during and after an emergency. IT Disaster Recovery Plan – Addresses how the Information & Technology Services Department responds to a disruptive event, and how the technology infrastructure, applications, and resources will be optimally recovered, restored, or redeployed after a disruption. Business Continuity Plan – Offers a roadmap for identifying mission-critical business functions and establishing procedures to maintain or resume those functions during disruptions. The Airport Authority is committed to working with key operational partners to align its BCMS with their emergency-response plans to ensure business interruptions are eliminated or minimized to the fullest extent possible. The BCMS is regularly reviewed, tested and refined for maximum effectiveness and relevance. A formal test schedule is implemented by senior management.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8405
__label__wiki	0.621162	0.621162	Inside the Heads of Hong Kong’s Pressure-Cooker Youth: Artist Cheng Ting Ting’s New Paintings Artist Cheng Ting Ting still sleeps in her childhood bed. Born in Sha Tin 26 years ago, she now lives surrounded by the same things she saw with her childhood eyes, in the same high-rise her family has lived in for decades. But while she has stayed in the same place, the way she experiences her environment as an adult has profoundly changed. She describes a sense of disconnect between her adult and her childhood selves and says that looking back sometimes feels like looking into the life of someone else, a baffling sensation that is particularly strong and discombobulating because of the familiarity of her surroundings. This disconnect is one that she seeks to discover and do away with in her latest body of work, Enfante. Cheng is fascinated by how her child and adult selves might have occupied the same space, but how different their minds, bodies and perspectives are. The strangeness of that chasm creates a texture in her work that strives to make the familiar strange, through a child’s curious, confused and vulnerable eyes. This journey into the mind of a child, which combines elements of her own hazy memories with observations into the experiences and artwork of children she teaches as an art instructor, is the basis for a series of paintings that borrows the techniques and qualities of children’s art. These works evoke the spirit of children while containing the strong, idiosyncratic and sophisticated compositions with which Cheng is starting to make waves in Hong Kong’s art world. It’s important to note that she is not just playing with children’s motifs and brushstrokes: she is striving to make them readable to the adults who have forgotten how to empathise with children. This work draws from the pioneering fields of art therapy that finds links between the mark-makings of children and their secretive psychologies. Where are our ears, 2017 – Courtesy artist Repurposing the expressions of children is certainly not a new method of artistic discovery. Since the Romantics in the second half of the 19th century, artists, writers and philosophers have espoused the virtues of looking into one’s childhood self to find answers to questions of the heart the adult world of reason and order makes no space to interrogate. The early 20th century Expressionists, drawn to the extreme emotions embodied by children, were arguably the fathers of modern abstract art. This was in an era that had witnessed the onset of psychology, with Nietzsche giving the world a roadmap to self-discovery. Literary works in this sphere – among them ETA Hoffmann’s Der Sandmann, which drew a direct link between childhood trauma and adult madness, proved invaluable to Sigmund Freud’s studies on the subconscious. Cheng’s paintings of children create scenes that exist in a middle ground between a child’s conception of the world and that of an adult. This is what is particularly interesting about her work: she occupies the in-between worlds of herself and her subjects in much the same way as a teacher or a parent must strive to inhabit the mind of the child in their care. This is something that is very difficult to do if the pressures of adulthood have killed off one’s inner child. In person, Cheng is as cerebral as one might expect when you see her striking and esoteric work. She speaks in somewhat elegiac sentences that belie her gamine appearance and playful physicality. Soft-spoken with a generous smile, her quietly adventurous and inquisitive character recalls both Amélie Poulain and Huckleberry Finn. She is also a bit of an anachronism among her generation of artists, preferring the still, contemplative — and to her mind “passive” — medium of painting over the flashy three-dimensionality of installation and multimedia, the art forms du jour. She has always preferred painting because a canvas doesn’t impose itself on its viewer in the way other “louder” media do. This gives viewers the chance to investigate and be with an artwork on their own terms, she says. But while she has always loved painting, it was doodling as a child that piqued her creative flair. Sketches in ink and pencil, which she still produces now, recalls these childish adventures with still lives. “I really liked to paint flowers, with petals of three. I still haven’t figured out what the patterns of three means,” she says, furrowing her brow and playing psychologist to her childhood self. Freud might well have told her that the number three is highly symbolic, both in Judeo-Christian strains of thought (think of the Holy Trinity), and in terms of gender (a yearning for a way out of our world of binaries, a third path; something that chimes nicely with the flowers she drew). But of course, Freud was wrong about many things and removed from many spheres of life, preferring to turn to books and literary characters for answers, and choosing incisive analysis over empathy as a means to explore the mind of another. Cheng’s interrogations into the minds of her subjects feel different. They are softer, tenderly drawing from real subjects while eliciting her own memories and perspective. This is a way of getting under the skin of another that feels like it comes from a place more of empathy rather than appropriation, and perhaps this is what makes her works feel feminine and maternal – while happily steering clear of the kitsch, sentimental aesthetics one too often associates with these spheres. In conversation, Cheng is critical of Hong Kong’s education system and sees overlap between the expectations teachers and parents heap on their children in the academic subjects with that of art classes that are graded along similarly spirit-destroying parameters. Cheng describes observing how students develop and learn on their own terms and at their own pace, speaking of how each child seemed to exist in their own time zone, separate from one another. This rhythm of each child moving at their own speed is expressed in two of her paintings, “Where Are Our Ears” and “Where Are Our Heads,” which depict students instructed to find and feel these parts of their own body. It captures a moment in time in which each child is doing something slightly different while still acting in unison. Interestingly, their facial expressions are all rather similar. “When I was young, I remember that we were encouraged to be in a group,” recalls Cheng, who describes her childhood as a thoroughly ordinary one. She remembers feeling pressure to conform to group dynamics, and that she was expected to prefer being with many people rather than being on her own. In reality, what she preferred — and still prefers — is quiet time spent with one good friend rather than larger, raucous gatherings. This is one of the many examples of how life as a child can often feel like being squeezed as a round peg into a square hole at a time when one should have the freedom to discover one’s own place and journey. These ideas find themselves expressed in Cheng’s paintings, with repetitive marks, dashes, and what look like inverted smiles, all of which serve as patterned textures. In art therapy, repetitive marks and the act of copying are said to express the ways children observe and learn from one another, while figuring out when to distinguish themselves from their peers and investigate their own paths. But repetitive marks can also signify anguish and anxiety, an inability to break free from established (and maladaptive) patterns – something that one might also see in the seemingly blank expressions her subjects share with each other. In the world of psychology, as in many disciplines, new keys continue to unlock doors we never thought possible to open. A major, post-Freud breakthrough was the recognition that in order to truly inhabit the world of another, one also had to be open to the possibility of re-encountering one’s own pain, and feeling one’s own long-forgotten childhood sorrows. This means truly listening to a child, feeling what they feel, and learning to live in that strange and disorientating space between us and them – the space that Cheng so movingly captures. Presented by the K11 Art Foundation, Enfante runs till August 4, 2017 at Chi Art Space, 8/F, New World Tower 2, 18 Queen’s Road, Central. For more details, visit here Made in Hong Kong, Jane Goodall’s Immersive Paper Forest Promotes Conservation Kathy Lowry August 21, 2019 How Did Christianity Become So Influential in Hong Kong? Meet the Woman Who Runs Hong Kong’s Unheralded Cultural Juggernaut Simon Cartledge April 12, 2018 Hong Kong’s Industrial History, Part V: Incense Meet Hong Kong’s Ten Thousand Buddhas – A Journey to a Spectacular Monastery Tom Billinge January 5, 2017 Emerging Hong Kong artist Cheng Ting Ting explores the gulf between childhood and adulthood. education, Enfante, Shatin	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8407
__label__cc	0.521218	0.478782	The goal of Raising a Reader, a growing pre-literacy program in California's Silicon Valley, is simple: to get parents in low-income families to sit down every day to share a book with their children. "We strongly believe that parents want to do what's best for their children," says Bernadette Glumac, program director. She knows that many parents assume books and reading will come with formal schooling. But when very young children aren't exposed to regular read-aloud time before school begins, they enter kindergarten lacking important pre-literacy skills. Study after study confirms the importance of reading aloud to preschoolers. But one in five children enters kindergarten lacking basic print familiarity skills; one in three doesn't recognize letters of the alphabet. (U.S. Department of Education, fall 1998.) The children of the Silicon Valley were no exception. Jeanine Asche, coordinator of youth services for the San Mateo County Library system, together with members of the Peninsula Partnership for Children, Youth and Families, formed a steering committee to address their concerns about early literacy in the Valley. There, the idea for Raising a Reader was born, and Glumac ran with it. In early 1999, she hired professional consulting groups to conduct an initial community evaluation that confirmed their suspicions that within the Valley's large population of at-risk families—those living in poverty, those in which parents had little formal schooling and those in which English is a second language—parents weren't doing much reading with their young children. This is consistent with national findings that a typical middle-class child enters first grade with 1,000 to 1,700 hours of one-to-one picture-book reading, whereas a child from a low-income family averages just 25 hours. (M. J. Adams, "Beginning to Read," MIT Press, 1990.) Parents Read to Children Headed by Glumac and developed in collaboration with area child advocates—including representatives from child care coordinating councils, child care centers, county offices of education, city councils and local libraries—Raising a Reader is a one-of-a-kind book delivery system driven by children. Bright red, chubby-handled, big-zippered book bags are filled with highly acclaimed picture books and rotated weekly among families. Child care centers and preschools, home-based daycare settings and healthcare home-visiting programs coordinate the book-swapping so that the kids are never without fresh books. The children are so captivated by the bags and the goodies inside that they beg their parents, "read to me." What about those parents who don't know how to read? That was one of the program's greatest challenges, according to Glumac. "People learn best through peer learning, so we put together a beautiful and entertaining video with all different nationalities of parents talking about their obstacles and how they overcame them," says Glumac. Available in eight different languages as well as closed caption, the video shows families that "even if you don't read a word of any language or you have a thick accent, you can still sit down and 'read' the pictures and tell a story as you turn the pages." When you do, there's a lot more than pre-literacy development going on. "With just the book, the child and you," says Glumac, "an amazing dialog begins to take place. You have the child's undivided attention—and the child has yours. It's a truly bonding experience." Raising a Reader believes quality counts. The red bags include only age-appropriate books with strong art, a good story, and a wide range of multicultural themes and language. "We don't want the stories to be overly moralistic or too cutesy," says Glumac, "and we stay away from books that may have a commercial product linked with it; we don't want the families to feel an added pressure to go out and buy products." Currently, Raising a Reader offers books in English, bilingual English/Spanish and Spanish, and favorite titles include: A Mother for Choco, by Keiko Kasza; El cuento de ferdinando, by Munro Leaf; Goodnight Moon , by Margaret W. Brown; Hush, Little Alien, by Daniel Kirk; Jaha and Jamil Went Down the Hill, by Virginia Knoll; Jambo Means Hello: Swahili Alphabet Book, by Muriel Feelings; Legends of the Indian Paintbrush , by Tomie dePaola; and The Woman Who Outshone the Sun/The Legend of Lucia Zenteno, by Rosalma Zubizarreta. The combined research and development and start-up and expansion costs—including the production of program materials, curriculum, and videos—for the non-profit Raising a Reader have surpassed $1 million. Entirely supported by private donation through the Peninsula Community Foundation, the program follows the venture philanthropy model of investment—an accountability-for-results process adapted from the venture capital world. That means Raising a Reader is evaluated heavily and regularly by professional consulting groups. The pilot was introduced in March of 1999 to 146 low-income families and it saw a 70 percent increase in the number of mothers reading to their children daily and a 72 percent increase in the number of mothers who took their children to the library for the first time. The program officially launched in the fall of 2000, and it has already had a measurable impact on more than 17,000 children and families in the Silicon Valley and beyond. By 2004, the program intends to make a similar difference in 50,000 to 100,000 more local children as well as roll out the program to other areas of the country. Raising a Reader is sold to communities in the form of classroom kits. Components and costs are dependent upon the needs of each population, but the standard classroom kit, designed for up to 24 children, currently costs $1900 and includes: Red canvas book bags Books (four different titles per bag) Teacher videos (in English and Spanish) and training/curriculum materials (to guide program implementation and help link to local libraries) Parent videos (available in eight languages as well as closed caption; each family keeps their own), reading tips (in English and Spanish), book lists, and refrigerator magnets (for hanging the book lists) Blue canvas "My Library Book Bags" (to keep and use for family library visits) The cost averages $75 per child to start and $20 per child each year thereafter for replenishing materials (to cover the costs of videos and blue library bags for families new to the program). Leticia Rodriguez, mother of four in Newark, California, has seen three of her children through the Raising a Reader program. Her second-youngest son is in the program now. "He places a lot of value to the books in the red bag, and he's very protective of them. He lets the baby [his younger brother] look at them and hold them, but he teaches him that 'you can't mistreat the books; you have to be careful.'" Occasionally books do get damaged, says Mardi Lucich, director of the Garfield Early Learning Center in Menlo Park, California. "But often when the books come back torn, I know that a one- or two-year-old sibling is getting book exposure. That's worth it to me." Lucich is especially grateful to Raising a Reader for "allowing us to make a connection between school and home. The program offers our parents a daily opportunity to make an emotional, caring, loving connection with their child. Putting that in the context of literacy makes the parents feel like they're a part of the education process even though their child is here all day. It helps shed some of that working guilt." "A book bag from preschool sends a message to both the child and the parents that sharing books is important," says Glumac. But it means much more than academic readiness to Rodriguez: "That red bag means quality time with my children." Raising a Reader will soon be officially licensed to communities across the nation. Several communities outside of California have already begun the licensing process and program representatives will be promoting it at national and regional conferences this fall, including National Association for the Education of Young Children, Child Welfare League of America, and Head Start. In addition to delivering materials, Raising a Reader can help interested parties find funding, create local partnerships, and manage the program. Any situation that involves regular attendance by parents and children will work with the progam. In Placer County, California, for instance, a child abuse prevention council recognized Raising a Reader's ability to help them get local at-risk families to engage in lap-reading in order to promote parent-child bonding. The council purchased a variety of kits based on the number and needs of the families supported by each individual caseworker. "Raising a Reader is igniting a spark in families," says Glumac. "We're getting books into homes that might not otherwise have them, giving families the awareness that read-aloud time is critical, and helping parents give their children the foundation for lifelong success." For more information on Raising a Reader, including evaluation results and more, visit Peninsula Community Foundation.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8409
__label__cc	0.588614	0.411386	Adelphic Fund’s Matriculated Senior Student Loan Forgiveness Program Moves Forward Ithaca, NY - April 2010 -- Invigorated with the ACEF's Matching Grant and the pledged support of a dedicated Cornell Alpha Delta Phi Alumni donor, the ACEF has awarded a number of Alpha Delta Phi Seniors special scholarships targeted to reduce their student loan debt burden as they graduate. Recognizing that the cost of a Cornell Education and the ongoing financial burden may inhibit a graduate’s ability to take full advantage of the benefits of their education and from their self-managed independent living at the Alpha Delta Phi, the board members of the ACEF along with select donors, created a program to reduce student loan obligations for matriculated senior members of the Alpha Delta Phi. In a letter to the recipients and their parents, Steven D. Ritchey President of the ACEF Board of Trustee’s noted that “the Adelphic Cornell Educational Fund, (ACEF) was originally formed by a number of generous donors of the Cornell Alpha Delta Phi, and operates as a separate 501(c)3 non-profit. It is our mission to promote Academic Excellence, Scholarship and the pursuit of Literary Endeavors throughout Cornell. A number of our programs are designated by the donors specifically to provide students with financial support using Scholarship Awards, Internship Matching Grants, Writing Prizes, and Award Matching Grants, etc., with preference whenever possible to the members of Alpha Delta Phi, ….” Ritchey further articulated his thoughts on the value of a Cornell Education and the enriching experiences and how the life-long connections made at Cornell and through such organizations as the Cornell Alpha Delta Phi, a Literary Fraternity, can be invaluable in life. Making special mention that there is no compulsory repayment obligation to the award, Ritchey went on to recall his experience as a Cornell Oarsman, when he benefited from the generosity of Cornell Alumni. Tradition held that the National Champion Cornell crew would continue to train post-season and race in Europe. Cornell University does not provide funding for such travel, even for a championship crew. All the costs of travel, housing and food for the opportunity to row and race in the Henley Royal Regatta, in the Dutch Royal Cup and elsewhere in Europe and Great Britain were paid for by alumni donations to the Cornell Rowing Association. Fin Meislahn, Head Coach at the time, appropriately pointed out to the oarsmen that future crews could only receive this benefit, if his crew ‘paid back’ what their predecessors had so generously provided. The ACEF looks forward to continuing donor support for the Student Loan Debt Reduction initiative along with its other Scholarship and Educational Programs.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8412
__label__wiki	0.815192	0.815192	Eight Advocacy Groups Come Together for a Nationwide HIV Testing Day on 26 May (Mandaluyong City). LoveYourself, Inc. and its seven partner organizations come together to provide the first-ever multi-site community-led free and confidential HIV test on 26 May 2018 (Saturday) from 11:00 a.m.-7:00 p.m. entailing ten sites in Metro Manila, Luzon and even as far as Mindanao. Dubbed as “This Is Me: Brave and Free,” LoveYourself invites individuals of various shapes and sizes to avail of the free and confidential HIV test by signing up at here, and to live their lives free from fear – fear of rejection, getting tested and stigma. In Metro Manila, LoveYourself will hold testing in LoveYourself Anglo clinic along Shaw Blvd., in Mandaluyong City, and LoveYourself Uni near Gil Puyat LRT and Victoria by LoveYourself at 2/F Torres Bldg., 2442 Park Avenue, both in Pasay City; the Decent Image of South Signal Association (DIOSSA) at the 10th floor of SM Aura in Taguig City; and the HIV & AIDS Support House (HASH) at the National Council of Churches in the Philippines building along EDSA in Quezon City. For Luzon sites, the Cavite Positive Action Group (CPAG)-JCH Advocacy, Inc. will provide free and confidential testing at 804 Gonzales St., Barangay 11 Sta. Cruz in Cavite City; the Juan Posi+ive Movement at 104-B Roxas Street, Brgy. Lakandula in Mabalacat City, Pampanga; the GAYON at #32 Galang Compound, Sampaguita Street, Old Albay Legazpi City, Albay; and the Project H4 (Health, Help, Hope, Happiness) at Amos Tara Community Center, #41 Abad Santos St., Brgy. Masipag, Puerto Princesa City. On its Mindanao-leg, the Kagay-an PLUS (Preserving Life, Uniting Society) will set up at Pearlmont Hotel, Limketkai Drive, Cagayan de Oro City; and the Olympus Society of Davao at #36 Loyola St., Bo. Obrero, Poblacion District, Davao City. Department of Health (DOH) records showed that 912 persons tested positive for HIV in March alone. About 94% of which are males and 32% of the total came from the National Capital Region (NCR) followed by the rising cases in CALABARZON at 17% and Central Visayas at 7%. The DOH records also showed that 99 percent of the newly-diagnosed individuals got the virus through sexual contact, in which 86 percent were among men who have sex with men (MSMs). The 1% of the cases was contracted through needle sharing among injecting drug users. With the increasing number of people acquiring human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), LoveYourself endeavors to gather fellow warriors in the advocacy for a stronger and resounding voice to promote self-empowerment in taking care of one’s sexual health, as a prelude to curbing the HIV epidemic in the country. – LoveYourself Executive Director Ronivin G. Pagtakhan Apart from its primary goal of instilling awareness and action towards ending HIV, “This Is Me: Brave and Free” empowers one’s self-worth that inspires unity in diversity, and brings the message of love, acceptance and finding strength and courage to overcome fear, which are often associated with HIV and AIDS. The first-ever multi-site community-led HIV testing day is also supported by the DOH through the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine and its NCR-Office, Pilipinas Shell Foundation, Inc., Save the Children, AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) Philippines, Philippine NGO Council on Population Health and Welfare, Inc. (PNGOC), AusAID Australian Aid Program and HIVOS Humanist Institute for Development Cooperation. For more details on the “This Is Me: Brave and Free,” one may visit here. LoveYourself is a non-government organization and widely volunteer-led organization that advocates for HIV awareness, testing and treatment. It also the impetus for the first-ever Love Gala, a charity and awards event for HIV-AIDS awareness in Asia by gathering private and public institutions and youth-oriented organizations into the advocacy, and the creator of pioneer Ripple Awards that honors individuals who have had a significant impact in the HIV-AIDS landscape in Asia and the Philippines. Mr. Indulgent: Male Bikini Competition for a Cause 3. Mr. Indulgent: Male Bikini Competition For A Cause You Will Not Get HIV From… HIV 101 Twitter Style iPhone 8 (Product) Red: A Phone With A Cause free hiv testing philippines loveyourself ph this is me philippines Let’s Stop HIV Together: A Guide To Talking About HIV How to Start Expressing Yourself	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8418
__label__cc	0.526519	0.473481	Presented to CARL BARTON by BARTON TRANSPORT LIMITED in recognition of his outstanding services in the ROAD PASSENGER TRANSPORT INDUSTRY - 4th July 1962 Besides me as I write is the rather generous, gold, long service award given to my grandfather, Mr Carl Barton, on the occasion of his completing a half of century (he eventually racked up an incredible 73 years as an employee!) of service to our old family firm, now known simply as 'Bartons'. It was, as most people always say, the bus company. We have not been a bus company now for exactly 25 years. At first glance the inscription can be taken at face value: 1912 to 1962 is certainly 50 years; and I happen to know that the 4th of July was significant as it was his birthday. I also know he was a Director here at Bartons when he died in 1985. What the gift does not relate is the extraordinary feat he completed by starting work, according to the award, aged 11. He was born on July 4th, US Independence Day, in 1901. Now if that was not significant enough, he used to tell his eldest child Jean (who I was chatting to on the 'phone today) that in truth he started work with lighter duties when he was aged 9, which could figure as that was after the family moved to Beeston from Derbyshire in 1908, for what was to become the stunning success of their venture into timetabled motor bus services. Carl told his daughter Jean that when the authorities occasionally questioned his age and why he was not at school, his reply had been 'that he'd been born in the East, in Constantinople, where they don't 'av birth certificates'. This was not true in the slightest - he did have a birth certificate, clearly showing he was born at Mablethorpe in Lincolnshire, which is certainly East, but not that far East. That empire grew from one vehicle bought 'on the drip' to what was accepted to eventually become the largest independent bus operator in Western Europe - a claim that may or may not be hyperbole, but I have never seen challenged. What is more is that this was initially achieved with no major external financial backing, no public sector involvement save plenty of interference, and no blueprint of what they were trying to achieve, nor I suspect, any fixed idea of what precisely that was, save 'Civility and Service' - the old Company motto. The Barton family that moved here to the Beeston and later Chilwell area consisted of the parents, Thomas Henry Barton and Mary (nee Elson) who were then in their early forties, and 8 children, which were four boys and four girls ranging in age from 20 to 2 years old. Papers that have only emerged in the last few months (this written in May 2014) show that although there existed massive respect for the father's extensive endeavours in making his idea of motor buses work during the preceding decade, there was also a realism that a change of luck might be required. His ventures were not then thought of as a resounding success, even by his family. That change of luck that did come was, I believe, the input and labours of all the family, wife, boys and girls, all that could in fact be mustered to help. T.H.Barton had created his own workforce - but the family decided that the business should not be named after him, and never, to this day, has it been (although history has always given him the lion's share of the credit). Youth was quite possibly one of the main key's to their success, as would have been 'beginner's luck' as being literally among the very first on the planet to throw themselves at an un-invented industry. Think if you will for a parallel in the young 'geeks' who were most responsible for the massive influence that personal computers had at the end of the very same century. Many were little more than children themselves, and many dropped out of education as their novel ideas outpaced the scope for their instruction by their elders. And they were not in any way short of courage; for they took the responsibility of delivering safely and on time many thousands of people to their schools, their work or their leisure. At Bartons, Chilwell it may well be time for youth to have its head once again. The present staff are of an age where the scene has been set by us for the potential of a fascinating future: our novel approach to the hosting and sometime provision of Events. From late spring 2014 we are cranking back up to speed the area now simply known as Bartons in Chilwell for a whole range of exciting projects, especially after the final opening of the Nottingham Express Transit Tram on our doorstep (a route originally planned for the period after 1903, until our buses came along). The new tram is due to be operating at the end of this year, with a stop right beside us. I would hope anyone coming along to build on this Events idea would learn from the people who have come before us and that they should not be fearful that they do not know precisely what they will be creating. Follow your noses, I'd say, using common sense (which is far from common) and ignoring received wisdom (which, you will have guessed I'm going to say, is rarely wise). And the best of Barton luck to them.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8420
__label__cc	0.527992	0.472008	Arif Hasan > Culture & Heritage > Avoidable Deaths 03 July, 2018 By Arif Hasan This document can be found in the following categories: Culture & Heritage FOR the last two years, the entire nation, led by the media, has been preoccupied with issues of corruption, offshore companies and Supreme Court verdicts. As a result, issues such as water, sanitation, education and environment no longer figure seriously in the political discourse. But there is also another issue that does not figure, and has never figured, in any manifesto or political discussion ie avoidable deaths which are increasing in geometric proportions as Pakistan struggles with the repercussions of unplanned urbanisation. People die when it rains. They drown or they are electrocuted. This is accepted as normal although flooding takes place at the same place and for the same causes every year. In Karachi, the cause given is encroachment by katchi abadis on the natural drainage system. Attempts are often made to remove these encroachments. However, even if they are removed, Karachi will still flood as the outfalls of the drainage system to the sea have, for the most part, been encroached upon, by elite formal-sector housing. Also, though Karachi’s 50-plus large natural drains are still intact, thousands of minor drains that fed into them have disappeared, and in the absence of a planned drainage system, the roads and neighbourhoods have been turned into drains. The process of eliminating the sub-drains continues unabated as the Sindh Building Control Authority grants approval to plans that do not safeguard them. Another major cause of avoidable deaths is road accidents. In Pakistan, it is estimated that some 5,500 persons die in road accidents every year. The figure for Karachi is just over 1,000 annually. Fatal accidents involving pedestrians in the city have more than doubled after the development of signal-free roads. In addition, buses carrying passengers constantly fall off mountain tracks or trucks overturn because of unchecked overloading. In media interviews, police officials have put the blame for these accidents on unskilled drivers (60 per cent without licences), overspeeding and overtaking without indication and a general sense of fatalism in society. But there are other reasons also. The general public and drivers are more often than not unaware of traffic rules and also of safety-related precautions that need to be taken while navigating traffic. Then, planners plan for the automobile and their projects do not take into consideration the needs of pedestrians and low-income settlements. Known urban hazards remain unaddressed. Over the last five years, regular fires in factories and offices have been reported from all over Pakistan. Usually, a short circuit is identified as the cause of fire. This means that substandard wiring has been used or the electrical system has not been properly designed. The question that arises is why the manufacturing of substandard cables is allowed and who is responsible for the substandard designs. Building by-laws, zoning regulations and engineering standards have appropriate fire-related laws and regulations, both for prevention and emergencies. Where fires have occurred, regulations have either not been followed or systems have not been maintained by the owners. Except for the large cities, fire-fighting facilities do not exist. Even in the large cities they are inadequate and incapable of putting out fires quickly. Under the law, water hydrants for filling up fire engines have to be provided at various locations in the city and/or on the factory premises. These either do not exist or do not function, with the result that the fire engines have to go back to their stations to get water while people burn to death. The facilities that do exist are inadequate and have difficulty in accessing fires beyond six storeys. This is serious because Karachi is becoming a high-rise city with more than 100 buildings of between 20 to 50 floors currently under construction. In addition, formally and informally built buildings often collapse killing the inhabitants; a large number of people die because of firing in the air to celebrate weddings and national days; and the number of persons drowning in the sea, manholes and cesspools is large and on the increase. With urbanisation, these trends are rapidly increasing and the public response is one of violence, leading in many cases to social anarchy. The most important aspect in dealing with these issues is the need for the promotion of a civic culture of which the introduction of appropriate curriculum at schools and colleges and sustained public awareness-raising programmes would be the major ingredients. Also, institutions of urban management must be created where they do not exist, and strengthened where they do. But the process for creation of such a culture cannot even be initiated in the absence of a recognition by political parties and policymakers that this is an important development matter and that building expensive infrastructure alone, will not overcome but aggravate it. Whither Karachi? Karachi Rains and the Drainage Channels – Issues and Solutions	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8422
__label__wiki	0.622851	0.622851	Публикации / 25 июля 2016 Ricky Twisdale How to best view the paintings: Many of the pictures in this article are part of a high-definition slide show of 22 images which can be activated by clicking on most of the images in this article. This will load the images in high quality, which may take a while with a slower internet connection, (we don’t recommend doing this on your phone unless you are on wifi) but it is worth the wait, because it allows one to examine the paintings in detail, which is especially interesting for the historical “passion play” series, as the one above this text. To go to the slide show directly, click here. (The slide show will not work on mobile devices) Alternatively, the Glazunov museum has a very comprehensive website in English, where one can view paintings in high-def. At the lower right-hand corner of each image there is the option “View in Full Screen”. Click on this, and then again on the image, to see it in high-definition. There is currently much talk of a renaissance of conservatism in Europe and America. The phenomenon of a “New Right”, “Alt Right” and other “Rights” has been widely discussed in the New Yorker, Breitbart, Buzzfeed, the Daily Beast, and elsewhere. Serious discussion of monarchism, skepticism of non-European cultures and immigrants, table-turning historical revisionism, and much else has burst onto the scene in a way unthinkable just a few years ago. Such are the fruits of the age of Trump. Western conservatives will no doubt find it interesting that these subjects are actively discussed in Russia, and have been for 30 years, since the crumbling of the USSR. One of Russia’s most effective, consistent, articulate, and profoundly conservative voices happens to be a popular painter. That his medium is visual is significant because his ideas can theoretically cross linguistic barriers, although they have yet to do so, but they connect to millions of Russian in a way that written and spoken words never can. A subject of debate and fascination in Russia, a profile of him and his ideas is the subject of this article. While filling out a form, under “profession“, Glazunov, arguably the most popular artist in Russia, impishly wrote in: “A frenzied whirlwind of service“ The answer speaks volumes about the hyper-active 86 year old, who is, in fact, far more than a prominent artist. He is a unique phenomenon, straddling the worlds of art, history, politics, art collecting, social activism, and academia, wielding remarkable influence. Russia Insider is primarily a political publication, and what will be of most of interest to our readers is the improbable fact that since the fall of the USSR, Glazunov has consistently been one of the most articulate and influential advocates of a profound political conservatism which harks back to another century, with the influence, resources, and ability to have his ideas seriously and widely discussed in Russian society. For years he has been warning of the negative effects of immigration on Europe, which he believes is dying. In 2003 this issue was the subject of a major painting entitled “The Death of Europe”. Very well-known in Russia with an active presence in the media, and heatedly discussed by his fans and detractors, little has been written about him in English. A Google search turns up a 30 year old short and completely inadequate article about him from the NYT in 1988, and little else of quality. Not that Glazunov isn’t well known in Europe. The reason most likely is that he speaks fluent French and Spanish, but not English, so his reach and relationships are far better known in these worlds, than in the Anglo-saxon. Conservative with a capital “C” To begin with he is a monarchist, and believes that democracy is a scam which would best be done away with. He argues that Russia’s greatest achievements in every area - geographic expansion, economic growth, military glory, architecture, literature, Christian life, painting, decorative arts, population growth, public morality, international power, and harmonious relations within a highly diverse multinational empire, and with its many neighbors - all were attained under the rule of the Tsars, and that most of what happened since then has been an unmitigated disaster. Furthermore, he believes Russia should return to a uniquely Russian system of social organization which reached its zenith in the mid-19th century called “Soslovie”. There exists no exact European equivalent, but the closest one is the medieval “Estates of the Realm”, the orderly division of society into various functions - knights, merchants, clergy, farmers, etc. The soslovie system gave social status, and sometimes hereditary titles to individuals, uniting them in a sense of civic pride and unity in service to their sovereign. Not limited to upper classes and nobles, it extended well into the middle classes, the Tsarist bureaucracy, and even the peasantry. Readers of 19th century Russian literature may well have wondered at the many titles carried by its diverse characters, like “Collegiate Assessor”, or “Provincial Registrar”. For an explanation of this unique system, see the Wikipedia entries: Social Estates in the Russian Empire and Table of Ranks. The main point for Glazunov, is that this mobilized the citizenry, gave their lives noble meaning and purpose, and allowed for harmonious cooperation while lessening the emphasis on competition and personal enrichment, the driving forces in a pure meritocracy. He stresses that this is very different from the Marxist concept of classes, which emphasizes conflict between social strata, and very different from the Indian caste systems, which are more rigid and exclusionary. He speaks out publicly again and again that Russia is fundamentally hamstrung because it lacks an elite which truly has the interests of the country at heart, as opposed to their own, and that only once that is in place, can the country truly thrive, as it did in the 19th century, for example. He believes this elite has to be titled nobility. He looks down his nose at the United States, whom he sees as a parvenu nation of cultural bumpkins, culturally capable of nothing more profound than Mickey Mouse and held in the thrall of a crass consumerist obsession with money and commerce. In contrast to the values of the marketplace, he calls for placing spiritual and political ideals in first place. He believes that patriotism, service to society and its head, a monarch, are far more important than filthy lucre. He is a pious Russian Orthodox Christian, embracing the church’s historical role as the essential partner in a ruling duopoly of temporal and spiritual power. The eccentric musings of a man of the arts, not to be taken seriously? Actually no, he has an audience of millions who agree with him, and reaches people not just with his famous paintings, but in books, movies, TV appearances, and public speeches. The head of the Russian church, Patriarch Kirill, in a televised visit to Glazunov’s museum, at one point turned to the cameras, and explained that Mr. Glazunov deserves special praise, because “visual memory” is more powerful, emotional, and immediate than verbal or theoretical, and therefore Glazunov is worth a thousand writers and chatterboxes, because he has reminded the nation in pictures of the glory of orthodoxy, of Russia’s military and spiritual triumphs, of her greatness. Mr. Putin has also made a televised visit, as have dozens of other celebrities and dignitaries. Mr. Glazunov keeps a guest book for VIPs, and it contains a mind-boggling list complete with glowing compliments of famous names: prime ministers, movie stars, artists, museum directors, ecclesiastics, academics. Although he is known foremost as a painter, in fact the „Glazunov Phenomenon“ extends far beyond the walls of museums and exhibition halls. Let’s start with a partial list of the man’s achievements. Public shows of his paintings have been far and away the most popular not only in the history of Russian art, but perhaps of any contemporary artist ever. Crowds have famously waited in lines for 8-10 hours, week after week, as visitors to his exhibit in enormous halls climbed into the millions. These astonishing attendance rates occurred during the perestroika years, and the following decade, and were driven as much by his political message as the aesthetic appeal of his paintings. Russians were eager for a new take on politics, and his ideas found a huge and enthusiastic response among broad masses of everyday Russians. His fans reach into the highest levels of government, which in 1997 created a large museum just to house the prodigious quantity of this work. It stands in a grand building a block from the Kremlin across the street from the Pushkin Museum of Fine Arts, Moscow’s equivalent of the Metropolitan in New York, or the Tate in London. As if this wasn’t enough, in 2014, Glazunov has been given an equally grand building for a new museum to house his mind-boggling personal collection of priceless paintings, icons, antiques, posters, books, and historical costumes. The value of the collection is estimated in the hundreds of millions of $. He has no peer in Russia in his success as a private collector. He has christened the new museum “The Museum of ‘Soslovie’”, Soslovie being the system of nobility, social ranks and hierarchies described above, which he advocates a return too. It is a grand political statement: “We need to bring this back.” But we are just getting started. In 1996 he created a major art academy to teach ultra-conservative realism in painting. (See below for more about his view that modern art is at best a sick joke, and most likely a satanic plot) Located in the center of Moscow in a prestigious old building, it has become an important force in the world of Russian art, churning out about 100 graduates per year whose artistic education is an exact replica of that of the Tsarist academies which were disbanded after the revolution. (See here for the academy’s website (only in Russian). If you scroll down the page you will see a photo gallery, and yes, they accept foreign students.) The academy has published an art book featuring the works of its graduates, which are truly astonishing in their level of expertise. Here is a link to a Russian internet store which carries it. Glazunov has also had a major impact in the field of political activism. In the 1960s he started a social movement to preserve architectural landmarks in Russia, which ended up having profound influence, saving hundreds of churches from destruction, and inspiring generations of writers, filmmakers, and many others, who embraced his ideas and developed them. Dozens of leading conservative Russian thinkers, writers, and political leaders point to Glazunov as a guiding light who opened their eyes to a new understanding of Russia’s past and future. At the time, he called for the reconstruction of the massive Cathedral of Christ the Savior, Russia’s largest cathedral, famously dynamited by the Bolsheviks in the 30s, calling the demolition an affront to Russian history and patriotism. The idea seemed outlandish at the time and was roundly denounced by the Communist authorities of the day, but 35 years later, in the year 1999, this is exactly what came to pass, with Glazunov again leading the public campaign for what many admit is miraculous. Today, Glazunov can gaze at the golden domes of the cathedral from the windows of his museum with ironic satisfaction. He also practically single-handedly created a painting genre he calls „Passion Plays“. These are enormous canvases occupying the whole wall of a large exhibit hall, filled with sometimes hundreds of figures representing ideas from his political and historical thinking. These are the paintings he is most famous for in Russia, where they are wildly popular. Of Glazunov’s 9 monumental canvases of this size, 5 of them are of this genre. You can see them all in high-def here: (see technical note at beginning of this article). Of particular interest are “The Market of Our Democracy” (1999), a stinging indictment of the market reforms urged on Russia by the West, and “The Great Experiment” (1990), and equally blistering critique of the Communist experience in Russia. Glazunov is also an accomplished author who has collected his political, religious, historical, and social ideas in two massive volumes entitled „Russia Crucified“ (available only in Russian), which tells his life story and passionately argues his case for conservatism. It is a fascinating and compelling collection of erudition on an improbably wide range of subjects - primarily history, but also political philosophy, archeology, literature, mythology, and religion. Type „Илья Глазунов“ into Youtube search, and you will find several full-length documentary films (all in Russian) recounting his remarkable life story, often with him as a lively and skillful chief narrator. Furthermore there are dozens of clips of him appearing on news and talk shows, where he expounds at length on his ideas to eager interviewers. Watch him give speeches before crowds of admirers. He is an accomplished speaker, entertainer, witty, urbane, profound, passionate, truly remarkable. And finally, to top it off, he was chosen to lead the restoration of the stupendous Grand Kremlin Palace in the late 1990s, the massive Tsarist palace which is the main structure inside the Moscow Kremlin. (Wikipedia) The palace was built in the mid-nineteenth century to celebrate the greatness of Russian autocracy, a fitting assignment for Glazunov, the convinced monarchist. So art is only a part of the man’s life, and in the art world he is highly controversial, with many detractors. Critics say he is a mediocre artist, rather a skillful networker and politician who produces "kitsch“ which appeals to the masses, who became wealthy by collecting and trading art, then used his wealth and influence to have museums given to him. His complete and utter dismissal of any modern art hardly endears him to the chablis and cheese crackers crowd, let alone the „installation art“ types, whose work he finds frankly preposterous. But his admirers are many and not exactly artistic ingenues. They include many of Russia’s most respected writers, such as Alexander Prokhanov, Valentin Rasputin, and Vladimir Soloukhin (admittedly all arch-conservatives themselves), and many, many others. But why rely on the opinions of others - we have tried to include a wide variety of his works in high resolution in this article. Judge for yourself. But back to his deeply conservative ideas: He thinks the masonic movement destroyed Russia, culminating in the Russian civil war, the destruction of the monarchy, and the massacres of Russians right up into WW2. To Glazunov, the masonic movement, and its course through Russian history, was evil’s most successful manifestation. The Decembrists (a 19th century revolt by nobles, many of them inspired by masonry, seeking a constitutional monarchy which was foiled) deserved everything they got, and then some. Detests what they represent. Traitors and scoundrels. Ivan the Terrible was a great sovereign, completely misrepresented by Russophobic western historians, starting with the moniker “Terrible”, which he wasn’t, not in the least. He is fascinated with Russian icons (paintings), of which he has a staggering collection. Slavs were a great civilization predating any European analogs. Says it is complete nonsense that the Slavs „invited“ the Vikings to rule over them - more western lies. Absolutely and completely thrilled that Crimea is again Russian. He produces vast quantities of historical data and arguments proving that Crimea has been inhabited by Russians since the dawn of time, that the Ottoman occupation was a brief interlude, and that Catherine the Great and Prince Potemkin rightly gave them the boot. Obsessed with history, which is the subject of most of his paintings. He emphasizes the importance of knowing and honoring your country’s history and accomplishments. Tries to convey this knowledge in his paintings. He likes to paraphrase Disraeli: “History is not the battle of classes - it is the clash of races and religions.”, and again “Ideological positions are always based on religious and ethnic foundations.” The Bolsheviks were a murderous thugs who committed genocide against the Russian people on a scale without historical parallel. He is very concerned about the demographic crisis in Russia - insists that this be corrected soon before it goes too far. He recommends supporting traditional family values and encouraging families to have as many children as possible, 3-4 at the least. Fascinated with old things, the beauty of old things. An incessant collector. Dismayed at the lack of respect for old beautiful buildings, churches, etc. Believes they carry the soul of the nation. The experience of Russia in the 90s was a genocide similar to the tragedy of the 1917 revolution. A complete disaster and atrocity. In 2003 he warned that immigrants are descending on Europe and will destroy her unless they are stopped. Believes Europe is dying, that all hopes lies with Russia. Glazunov’s views on this last point are fascinating and have clear historical and political origins. He begins by giving his definition of art, which he explains must consist of three things: 1.) It must contain an understanding of the battle of good and evil in this world, 2.) It must be devoted to showing the beauty of this world and the love which underlies it, and 3.) It must be aware of the beauty and mystery of the spiritual world. He quotes one of his favorite Russian artists, Vaznetsov who explained: “My art is a candle before the face of God”, and another of his favorites, Vrubel, who argued that the goal of art is to awaken the great possibilities of the human spirit. Further he explains that the first practitioners of modern art were Communist revolutionaries of the late 19th and early 20th century, many of them from Russia - Malevich, Kandinsky, etc. After the revolution, these artists thought of themselves as the “Avangard of Communist Art”, as “Commissars”, whose historical role was to smash the old art, just as their counterparts in the political world were massacring the upper classes, and blowing up the churches, attrocities of which these Commissars of the art world undoubtedly approved. Glazunov argues that the art they produced can not be described as art at all, rather as anti-art, an effort to destroy real art. He states flatly: “The black square is not art”. He says that evidence that the new, communism-inspired art cannot be art is that it does not have a national character, claiming, as communism claimed, to be international, universal. Glazunov insists that all art has to be national, which accurately reflects the reality of the world, and it also is by nature, aristocratic, but that it should at the same time be democratic, reflecting the thoughts and values of the people. He points out that it is a great irony that although the Communist Comissars of the political world have been relegated to the ash-heap of history, they still reign supreme in the museums and university art departments of the West, something he finds an abomination, because he equates them with the blood-thirsty killers of Communist Russia. When asked who he considers examples of the last true practitioners of art, he names Mikhail Nesterov (Russia - d. 1942), Arnold Boecklin (Germany - d. 1901), James Whistler (USA - d. 1903), and John Sargent (US/UK - d. 1925). The impressionists - no, they don’t cut it because they do not reflect the reality of the world, which he stresses, does not mean that art has to be realistic. But the impressionists reflect the world not as it is, which is already moving away from art. Van Gogh? A madman, not an artist. Glazunov argues that art existing separately from the real world is essentially a Satanic fantasy. In person, Glazunov is animated, jovial, jowly, warm and generous, plying his guests with delicious Russian veggie pies, sweets, and gallons of tea, eyes twinkling, sometimes pounding his fist for emphasis, eyes flashing. He starts the discussion with the announcement that we live in an age of stark battle between Good and Evil, and that if you don”t understand this, you understand nothing. He give the impression of a man in a hurry, as if he urgently wants to warn the world of the error of its ways, a voice in the wilderness. Теги: глазунов	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8425
__label__cc	0.643251	0.356749	Come work with us! We are looking for a a permanent, full-time technician, arguably… New OSTP director caught lying in interview With about 2 years delay, US President Donald Trump hired… High APCs are a feature, not a bug There has been some outrage at the announcement that Nature… Flashback: Nothing new in science? In: blogarchives • Tags: behavior, decision-making, Drosophila, neurogenetics, phototaxis During my flyfishing vacation last year, pretty much nothing was happening on this blog. Now that I’ve migrated the blog to WordPress, I can actually schedule posts to appear when in fact I’m not even at the computer. I’m using this functionality to re-blog a few posts from the archives during the month of august while I’m away. This post is from February 9, 2011: In this week’s journal club, we talked about an old paper from 1918! “The reactions to light and to gravity in Drosophila and its mutants” by Robert McEwen, in the Journal of Experimental Zoology. As the title says, the author studied how the fruit fly Drosophila responds to light and gravity. He tested this in walking flies and compared flies both with intact wings and clipped wings, wing mutations, clipped antennae, glued wings or clipped middle legs. He discovered that flies without wings or with mutated wing shape, show less movement towards light (i.e., less phototaxis). This finding was later confirmed by one of the founders of modern neurogenetics, Seymour Benzer (1967) and we also find this in our experiments. We have now set out to find out which neuronal mechanisms are involved in this drastic change in behavior. In order to get the flies to show phototaxis, McEwen developed a machine to gently tap the tube in which the flies were placed, to get them to walk. He described the necessity for flies to be active in order to show a consistent orientation towards a light source: without walking behavior being either initiated spontaneously or by the tapping machine, flies would not walk towards the light themselves. If the flies were at rest, light was not an orienting stimulus for them. This key insight was formulated by McEwen at the very end of the paper: Lastly, it may be well to emphasize the peculiar relation which exists in Drosophila between general activity and phototropism. This phenomenon has been clearly recognized by Carpenter and in general I agree with this author’s conclusions. The fact seems to be that this insect is not phototropic unless it is in a certain physiological state brought on by, or at least accompanied by, activity. When the fly reaches a certain degree of activity, induced by various means, it suddenly becomes phototropic. When it quiets down, however, it may still crawl about but ceases to be phototropic. Thus, when an insect has been exposed to constant illumination for some time, it no longer orients to light but wanders aimlessly up and down the tube. Eventually such an animal may even come to rest with its head away from the source of light. The technique described mimics what other colleagues have later developed in other fly paradigms based on vision and walking, such as the “fly-stampede” paradigm. But the insight reaches much further than that. More recent research has shown that the state of the animal has minute control over how the environment is processed. For instance, leeches respond with various behaviors to local mechanosensory stimulation (i.e., touch). However, when they feed, the biogenic amine serotonin is released and prevents the mechanosensory neurons from transmitting the stimuli – the animal becomes unresponsive when it feeds (Gaudry & Kristan, 2009). Another study showed that motion-sensitive neurons in the optic lobes of the fly brain increase their gain when the fly is flying, as opposed to when it is not flying (Maimon et al., 2010). Analogous results were obtained when walking vs. sitting flies were compared (Chiappe et al. 2010). In another, also very sophisticated study, Haag et al. (2010) showed how an identified motor neuron responds more strongly to visual input when the animal is flying than when it is at rest. Finally, Tang and Juusola (2010) report evidence that the direction in which a fly attempts to turn changes the way in which the optic lobes process the visual information on the side towards the fly attempts to turn, compared to the contralateral side. All these groups have, largely independently of each other, discovered the biological mechanisms for something that already McEwen (and Carpenter, cited there) had understood: animals don’t just respond to stimuli in always the same, stereotypical way: all animals have many different ways to treat and evaluate the incoming sensory stream, depending on what they are doing at the moment. The decisive factor for understanding animal behavior is not the environment, or the sensory organs, it is the animal itself. Apparently, this profound insight was known long ago and we’re just rediscovering it now, in various places, all over the world. Something was new in all the recent studies, though: they all provide first mechanistic insight into how brains balance internal and external processing. All these studies show that there seems to be a smooth gradient between decision-making and attention-like processing, even in invertebrates: Gaudry and Kristan call it decision-making, when their leeches ‘decide’ to ignore stimuli while they feed, even though the incoming sensory stimuli are blocked already at the very first synapse. Chiappe et al., on the other hand, relate their phenomenon to attention and Haag et al. also mention attention in their paper, with their effects being observed many synapses downstream of the sensory neurons – the word ‘decision’ does not occur in either of the two papers. It appears as if future neurophysiological research is bound to show that the distinction between attention-like mechanisms and decision-making, which seems so intuitive and clear-cut, may dissolve when we start to unravel how brains actually do it. Now when will we come accross the ancient text that already pre-empts that insight? McEwen, R. (1918). The reactions to light and to gravity in Drosophila and its mutants Journal of Experimental Zoology, 25 (1), 49-106 DOI: 10.1002/jez.1400250103 Zhu, Y., & Frye, M. (2009). Neurogenetics and the “fly-stampede”: dissecting neural circuits involved in visual behaviors Fly, 3 (3), 209-211 DOI: 10.4161/fly.3.3.9139 Gaudry, Q., & Kristan, W. (2009). Behavioral choice by presynaptic inhibition of tactile sensory terminals Nature Neuroscience, 12 (11), 1450-1457 DOI: 10.1038/nn.2400 Maimon, G., Straw, A., & Dickinson, M. (2010). Active flight increases the gain of visual motion processing in Drosophila Nature Neuroscience, 13 (3), 393-399 DOI: 10.1038/nn.2492 Chiappe, M., Seelig, J., Reiser, M., & Jayaraman, V. (2010). Walking Modulates Speed Sensitivity in Drosophila Motion Vision Current Biology, 20 (16), 1470-1475 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2010.06.072 Haag, J., Wertz, A., & Borst, A. (2010). Central gating of fly optomotor response Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107 (46), 20104-20109 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1009381107 Tang, S., & Juusola, M. (2010). Intrinsic Activity in the Fly Brain Gates Visual Information during Behavioral Choices PLoS ONE, 5 (12) DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0014455 bjoern.brembs.blog » Flashback: Nothing new in science? \| Neurophysiology – What is neurophysiology? August 18, 2013, 11:07 \| # New OSTP director caught lying in interview	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8429
__label__cc	0.643682	0.356318	When the Pandemic Hits Home BY MARIA (SMITS ’06) SIMMELINK Maria Simmelink and her father, Jim Smits, celebrated his recovery from COVID-19 this spring. In mid-March, there were very few confirmed cases of COVID-19 in Iowa, and Sioux County had none. Attention was on people who had traveled internationally—particularly to China—so we felt our family was immune. On a Saturday night, my dad had what he thought was the start of a cold. By Monday he was feeling more rundown, and he stayed home from work. By Tuesday he had a fever and started feeling extremely weak. He had the worst headache ever, but still no cough or shortness of breath. My stepmom, Judy, had been keeping me updated, but we all thought there was no way this was COVID-19 since he wasn’t coughing and he hadn’t traveled anywhere. On Friday morning, after he hadn’t really eaten for a couple of days, she asked me to pick up some bananas and sports drinks. I planned to drop them off, as we had just started social distancing that week, but Judy asked if I was willing to pop in to see what I thought. Dad was on the couch, practically unresponsive due to weakness. Knowing he didn’t want Judy exposed, I asked if he wanted me to take him to the ER, and he weakly gave me a thumbs-up. On the way, he said I needed to tell the doctors to get rid of his headache and figure out how to give him some strength. Everything felt like so much work because he was so weak. Even talking was too much, so I needed to be his voice. His symptoms didn’t quite fit the symptoms they expected from the virus at that time, but thankfully, they decided to test him. They also did a chest X-ray and saw he had bilateral pneumonia, so he was admitted. Dad’s coronavirus test results came back positive the next day. We were extremely thankful for the doctors at Orange City Area Health System; they took good care of him and kept us informed. On Sunday he was moved to Sioux Falls, where a lung specialist wanted to keep an eye on him. He stayed there for nine days and received great care. He had some extremely tough days—and probably tougher nights—but finally turned a corner and was able to come home. We had been advised to keep quiet about the diagnosis and stay off of social media. People might blame my dad for his infection, and it could get messy. However, we knew the community would be supportive, and we needed their prayers. We also felt we should put a face on this disease so people would take it more seriously and be vigilant about social distancing. I posted on Facebook about the diagnosis the day after Dad tested positive. It quickly attracted more than 500 reactions and nearly 300 comments—all supportive. I can’t even begin to express our appreciation for the love and care we received. While my whole family and Judy were isolating, we were so well taken care of by friends and church family—even by people we don’t know well. They dropped off groceries and meals, care packages with games and activities for the kids, and essentials like soap and toilet paper. Some kids in Judy’s neighborhood decorated her backyard with posters and her sidewalks with chalk. Knowing the community was praying for Dad’s healing brought us so much peace. Judy had already lost a husband, and my siblings and I had gone through the loss of our mom. We’d been in this valley before, when it didn’t turn out the way we wanted and prayers for healing weren’t answered on this earth. That experience can make it hard to pray. We know God is good. We believe in his love and power. But we also know that not every prayer will be answered according to our desires. Being wrapped in prayer was probably the biggest blessing we received. We are so grateful. Maria Simmelink lives on an acreage near Orange City and teaches first grade at Hospers Elementary. In 2003, her parents, Jim and the late Sharon (Mol ’79) Smits, were named Northwestern’s Parents of the Year. All three of her sisters are also Northwestern alumni.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8446
__label__wiki	0.937569	0.937569	When you lose weight, where does the fat go? Most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide, study shows Despite a worldwide obsession with diets and fitness regimes, many health professionals cannot correctly answer the question of where body fat goes when people lose weight, a UNSW Australia study shows. The most common misconception among doctors, dieticians and personal trainers is that the missing mass has been converted into energy or heat. "There is surprising ignorance and confusion about the metabolic process of weight loss," says Professor Andrew Brown, head of the UNSW School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences. "The correct answer is that most of the mass is breathed out as carbon dioxide. It goes into thin air," says the study's lead author, Ruben Meerman, a physicist and Australian TV science presenter. In their paper, published in the British Medical Journal today, the authors show that losing 10 kilograms of fat requires 29 kilograms of oxygen to be inhaled and that this metabolic process produces 28 kilograms of carbon dioxide and 11 kilograms of water. Mr Meerman became interested in the biochemistry of weight loss through personal experience. "I lost 15 kilograms in 2013 and simply wanted to know where those kilograms were going. After a self-directed, crash course in biochemistry, I stumbled onto this amazing result," he says. "With a worldwide obesity crisis occurring, we should all know the answer to the simple question of where the fat goes. The fact that almost nobody could answer it took me by surprise, but it was only when I showed Andrew my calculations that we both realised how poorly this topic is being taught." The authors met when Mr Meerman interviewed Professor Brown in a story about the science of weight loss for the Catalyst science program on ABC TV in March this year. "Ruben's novel approach to the biochemistry of weight loss was to trace every atom in the fat being lost and, as far as I am aware, his results are completely new to the field," says Professor Brown. "He has also exposed a completely unexpected black hole in the understanding of weight loss amongst the general public and health professionals alike." If you follow the atoms in 10 kilograms of fat as they are 'lost', 8.4 of those kilograms are exhaled as carbon dioxide through the lungs. The remaining 1.6 kilograms becomes water, which may be excreted in urine, faeces, sweat, breath, tears and other bodily fluids, the authors report. "None of this is obvious to people because the carbon dioxide gas we exhale is invisible," says Mr Meerman. More than 50 per cent of the 150 doctors, dieticians and personal trainers who were surveyed thought the fat was converted to energy or heat. "This violates the Law of Conservation of Mass. We suspect this misconception is caused by the energy in/energy out mantra surrounding weight loss," says Mr Meerman. Some respondents thought the metabolites of fat were excreted in faeces or converted to muscle. "The misconceptions we have encountered reveal surprising unfamiliarity about basic aspects of how the human body works," the authors say. One of the most frequently asked questions the authors have encountered is whether simply breathing more can cause weight loss. The answer is no. Breathing more than required by a person's metabolic rate leads to hyperventilation, which can result in dizziness, palpitations and loss of consciousness. The second most frequently asked question is whether weight loss can cause global warming. "This reveals troubling misconceptions about global warming which is caused by unlocking the ancient carbon atoms trapped underground in fossilised organisms. The carbon atoms human beings exhale are returning to the atmosphere after just a few months or years trapped in food that was made by a plant," says Mr Meerman, who also presents the science of climate change in high schools around Australia. Mr Meerman and Professor Brown recommend that these basic concepts be included in secondary school curricula and university biochemistry courses to correct widespread misconceptions about weight loss among lay people and health professionals.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8453
__label__cc	0.676496	0.323504	China's telecommunication policy-making in the context of trade and economic reforms. Laperrouza, Marc (2006) China's telecommunication policy-making in the context of trade and economic reforms. PhD thesis, London School of Economics and Political Science (United Kingdom). On December 11, 2001, the People's Republic of China officially joined the World Trade Organisation (WTO). More than 15 years after it had announced the resumption of its status as a contracting party, the country that had since then become one of the largest telecommunication market in the world, would finally abide by a set of internationally defined norms and rules. In the course of the WTO accession, its telecommunication sector has undergone an extensive reform process, introducing competition and the foundation of a legislative framework. Yet, China's telecommunication commitments have been notably weaker than those negotiated in other service sectors. The restructuring of the telecommunications sector - which started along the lines of global liberalisation programmes - could have been buttressed by the accession to the WTO. It was however shaped and blocked by diverse interests emanating from the fragmented Chinese political structure and resulted in an environment fraught with substantive regulatory issues. This thesis seeks to answer two inter-related questions: why did the government fail to reform in-depth the telecommunication sector and what mediated the impact the WTO accession process had on the sector's reform. It argues that the Chinese government's failure to create a regulatory regime to implement a policy of telecommunication liberalisation represents essentially a problem of institutional change. The thesis demonstrates that the bargaining approach to policy-making in the telecommunication sector has allowed, and even facilitated, the first stage of reforms but that it is ill-suited for participation in a supranational framework. Political Science, General, Asian Studies, Speech Communication	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8463
__label__wiki	0.504668	0.504668	home > DVD Movies > Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince wholesale Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is so popular .Everyone will be addicted with it after seeing.You can do dvd wholesale,dvd dropshipping on www.dvd-fan.com Characters of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Name : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Number of discs : 2dvd Genre : movie Pictures of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince About Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince J.K. Rowling's sixth novel about the boy wizard appears on screen in this film from David Yates, the director of HARRY POTTER AND THE ORDER OF THE PHOENIX. Daniel Radcliffe, Rupert Grint, and Emma Watson are back as the beloved Hogwarts students, and Oscar winner Jim Broadbent joins the cast as Horace Slughorn., Though HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN director Alfonso Cuaron still holds the crown for best film in the series, David Yates is making an attempt at a coup with HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE. Dark, gleefully funny, and beautifully shot, this adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s novel should please fans despite numerous changes to the 650-page source material. In this sixth film in the series, Harry’s (Daniel Radcliffe) inevitable confrontation with the dark wizard Voldemort grows closer, and Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) wants the young student to be prepared. He guides Harry through a memory of a young Voldemort, but an important moment is missing. Harry must extract this memory from the new Hogwarts teacher, Horace Slughorn (a perfectly slimy Jim Broadbent), who is as eager for fame as he is reluctant to revisit this painful moment. Meanwhile, romance rules the school of witches and wizards, with Hermione (Emma Watson) and Ron (Rupert Grint) refusing to admit their feelings for each other. Harry also harbors a secret love of his own: Ron’s younger sister, Ginny (Bonnie Wright). But despite his crush, Harry keeps an eye on Snape (Alan Rickman) and Draco Malfoy (Tom Felton), who may be responsible for attacks on the school. HALF-BLOOD PRINCE deftly balances the humor of Hogwarts heartbreak and the thrills of dark villains attacking the school. The cast is as talented as ever, and the youngest members--Radcliffe, Grint, and Watson--have developed their talent well. However, this film is most remarkable for its fine cinematography from AMELIE director of photography Bruno Delbonnel. Using a muted palette, Delbonnel makes Hogwarts look hauntingly beautiful in a way that fans have never seen. There’s always plenty of fun and adventure in the series, but this entry boasts impressive visuals as well. ReView : ( Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince ) Related Product Of Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone price : $11.00 Harry Potter - Complete 8-Film Collection price : $28.00 Harry Potter: The Complete 8 Film Collection price : $52.80 Harry Potter Complete 8-Film Collection [Blu-ray] price : $23.90 Harry Potter The Complete 8-Film Collection [Blu-ray] price : $23.90 Harry Potter Complete 8 Film Collection price : $15.80 tag : Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince,Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince wholesale	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8464
__label__wiki	0.702025	0.702025	July 09, 2018 \| Written By: Prof. Yuval Shany, Prof. Mordechai Kremnitzer The Lod district court decision illustrates the possible dangers to criminal defendant’s human rights though the expanding defense of necessity and the lack of separation between the preventive and criminal phases of the investigation. An Israeli district court issued a lengthy decision last month related to the Duma arson attack, the July 31, 2015, fire-bombing of two Palestinian houses by two young Jewish settlers that burned alive an 18-month-old, fatally injured the baby’s parents, and badly wounded the family’s 4-year-old. The incident is one of the most notorious terror attacks committed in recent years by Jewish extremists against Palestinian civilians. Several Jewish suspects were arrested and interrogated by the Israel Security Agency (ISA) and police. Eventually, 21-year-old Amiram Ben Uliel and a 17-year-old minor whose name was not disclosed were charged with murder, attempted murder, arson and conspiring to commit a racist crime. They were also charged of membership in a terror organization and for other offenses they committed before the Duma attack. During the trial, both defendants submitted a motion to dismiss the confessions they gave at the initial stage of their interrogation, which fell in the 21-day period following their arrest, during which, pursuant to provisions of criminal procedure law applicable to security offenses, they were barred from meeting with lawyers. On June 19, the Lod District Court issued a long and reasoned decision that ruled inadmissible confessions that were given during interrogations in which the security forces used “special interrogation measures” and in some of the “regular” interrogations that followed. It did find admissible, however, confessions made by the minor defendant to undercover police agents pretending to be his fellow inmates and the adult defendant’s confession in regular interrogations that took place 36 hours after the “special” interrogation. Unfortunately, the approach the court took was highly problematic, especially in light of the unlawful interrogation practices revealed by the facts of the case. The Use of ‘Necessity Interrogations’ Israeli courts have long addressed the legality of “special interrogation methods”: a cluster of rough tactics that includes subjecting the interrogee to painful stress positions, tight shackling and sleep deprivation. In a landmark 1999 decision the Supreme Court held that the ISA does not have legal authority to apply “special interrogation methods” that violate human dignity. It left open the possibility, however, that under extreme (“ticking bomb”) circumstances, interrogators who resorted to such measures would be able to later invoke the criminal law defense of necessity. In the 2017 Abu Ghosh case, the court upheld the 1999 attorney general’s guidelines articulating the circumstances under which the necessity defense would be available and confirmed the requirement stipulated by those guidelines that the interrogation methods applied can under no circumstances amount to torture, as defined in international law. In a previous Lawfare post, one of us (Shany) criticized as lax the standards employed by the Israel Security Agency to designate situations as permitting resort to “necessity interrogations.” We think the standards applied by the ISA improperly cover risks whose anticipated realization is uncertain and distant in time. Such standards fall short of those identified by President Aharon Barak when he described the "ticking bomb" scenario in the 1999 Supreme Court judgment. True, according to the judgment, the criminal-law notion of “immediate necessity” pertains to the urgency of the required preventive action and not to the actual time in which the anticipated harm is expected to occur. But President Barak insisted on a showing of "certainty of the realization of the danger and the impossibility of preventing its realization in any other way.” In the Duma case, the state prosecutor's office replaced the term cited in the 1999 judgment as the benchmark for evaluating the availability of the necessity defense, “ticking bomb,” with “ticking infrastructure.” This is not a semantic change. Rather, it expresses the position that information likely to significantly curtail the activities of a terrorist organization may establish a claim of necessity that could allow an extreme violation of the rights of an interrogee, without any need to point to a specific terrorist attack expected to be thwarted by the procured information. Such a position has far-reaching consequences and seriously deviates from the terms of the 1999 judgment; it facilitates violations of the international prohibition against torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment. We are therefore concerned with not only the gradual transformation in Israeli law and practice of the necessity defense from an ex post facto criminal defense to an a priori system of authorization (in the Duma case, according to press reports, directly from the attorney- general) but also with the gradual loosening of the immediacy and certainty conditions underlying the necessity defense. Notably, the Supreme Court refrained from addressing in its 1999 judgment the relationship between the necessity defense and the test of reasonableness (Section 34.16 of the Penal Law). In our view, the expansive interpretation of necessity requires such an examination, and it is difficult to see how the test is satisfied given the harsh nature of the interrogation measures in question. The district court decision also fuels doubts as to whether even the weak standards of necessity proclaimed by the state were respected. The defendants in the Duma case—one of whom was a minor at the time—testified that they were subjected to interrogation measures causing them intense pain. The head of the ISA interrogation team did not contradict this; to the contrary, he testified that the measures employed were “painful and perhaps even very painful” (Paragraph 186 of the district court decision). The court also held that the special measures severely violated the defendants' fundamental right to preserve the integrity of their body and soul. It should be noted that the intentional infliction of severe pain and suffering is prohibited by all definitions of torture under Israeli and international law, and that resorting to torture was explicitly prohibited in the attorney general’s 1999 guidelines (which, as we noted, were affirmed by Supreme Court in the 2017 Abu Gosh case). The frequency with which special interrogation measures were resorted to, and their apparent link to attempts by interrogators to extract from the defendants a confession regarding their involvement in the Duma murders, raise concerns that the “special interrogation measures” were primarily intended to support the criminal case against the defendant. Yet under Israeli law, the necessity defense is available only to those acting to thwart an immediate and concrete grave risk (i.e., only to prevent future harm). The court refrained from determining whether the conditions for application of the necessity defense by ISA interrogators had been satisfied (Paragraph 156 of the district court decision), though it accepted the position that the main purpose of the ISA interrogation was preventive. It seems to us that such a general statement is insufficient to show that each instance of resorting to special interrogation measures met the legal conditions of the necessity defense as set out in Israeli criminal law. Ultimately, however, the main significance of the district court’s decision is found not in relation to the legality of the interrogation measures but in its treatment of the admissibility of the confessions given during the interrogations. The decision attempts to adequately protect the procedural rights of the defendant in this regard but, to our minds, fails. Consequently, it might facilitate the continued use of unlawful interrogation measures. In the first 21 days following their arrest (during which meeting with their attorneys was banned pursuant to provision in criminal procedure law), the defendants were subjected to intensive ISA interrogations intertwined with police interrogations—i.e., to a mixture of preventive and criminal interrogations—and to several “necessity interrogations” and subsequent questioning in which no special measures were used. The mix between interrogations involving measures that severely violate the rights of the accused and subsequent questioning involving ordinary techniques raises the question of the extent to which the violation of rights in one type of interrogation impacts the admissibility of confessions made during the other type of questioning. In the case of the adult defendant (Ben Uliel), the court held that the confessions given during his “necessity interrogations” were inadmissible per se, without there being a need for the defense to show that the measures applied negated his free will. While we accept that there should be an irrefutable presumption that interrogation measures calculated to cause pain and suffering negate free will, we think the court should have supported its conclusion through references to normative, motivational, educational and symbolic considerations. Notably, the Supreme Court held in a previous case that such considerations cannot in themselves render evidence freely given as inadmissible but that they can be a desirable side effect in some cases. If we are right, then one can ask whether the value of these considerations is not greatly diminished when confessions given in a follow-up interrogation, dovetailing a “necessity interrogation,” are found admissible. Since the adult defendant initially kept silent during his questioning and only provided statements after being subject to “special interrogation measures,” It can reasonably be assumed that without the inadmissible confessions given during the “necessity interrogation’,” the subsequent confessions would not have been offered as well. Yet the court’s willingness to accept and rely on some of the later confessions undermines the normative, educational and symbolic logic of disqualifying the first set of confessions. The message to investigators seeking to obtain incriminating statements might thus be that they should resort to unlawful interrogation measures since there is a reasonable probability that afterward they will be able to obtain admissible confessions facilitated by the inadmissible ones. In view of this, we believe there is merit in taking the approach that in the event of an interrogation involving measures that are tantamount or come very close to torture, any subsequent confession must be inadmissible. This is not to advocate a sweeping rule of disqualification for all fruits of the poisoned tree. (And we would note that Israeli law does not follow the U.S. doctrine on fruits of the poisoned tree.) Forensic evidence and other investigative acts based on information obtained in the unlawful interrogations may still have some probative value in court. It is only confessions themselves that we propose to designate as totally inadmissible. Even if our approach is rejected, we believe that certain procedural safeguards should still be resorted to with a view toward reducing the incentive for interrogators to use improper interrogation methods, reducing the normative harm caused by such methods and reducing the risk of wrongful convictions. Clearly, one of the dangers of resorting to “special” measures is that those being questioned might give false confessions to relieve themselves from the pressures of interrogation. The district court decision demonstrates this concern: The record of interrogation cited by the court indicates that the minor defendant expressed his willingness to confess anything that would be requested of him in order to stop the “necessity interrogation” to which he was subject (Paragraph 567 of the district court decision) The two principal safeguard measures we support are full audio-visual documentation of ISA interrogations, which would enable courts to get a good impression of what actually took place in the interrogation room and the effects on any confession given; and a sharp separation between the preventive and criminal phases of the investigation. The two measures need to be applied cumulatively. It is interesting that the district court made some use of these two safeguard measures: It found admissible confessions given in regular interrogations following “necessity interrogations” that were filmed and showed the adult defendant behaving in a composed manner and in full control of his actions; yet the court found inadmissible confessions rendered in subsequent interrogations that were not audio-visually documented. Furthermore, in assessing the impact of “necessity interrogations” on subsequent questioning, the court considered the level of distinction between the two sets of interrogations: changes in the identity of the interrogators, the time gaps between the interrogations and the different purposes of the investigation. In our opinion, these safeguard measures must be turned into an absolute condition that determines the admissibility of confessions obtained in investigations involving, at any stage, improper interrogation methods. Free will is critical in these matters. Having sufficiently free will on whose existence the admissibility of statements by the interrogee depends is an intermediate mental state located on a spectrum between absolute free will and coercion. Absolute free will exists, for example, when the defendant makes a truthful confession out of genuine remorse or self-interest unrelated to the interrogation, whereas coercion entirely negates free will. Situating a person’s precise state of mind on this continuum is difficult even for those viewing the entire investigation, had it been had it been visually and audio-documented. In particular, it is difficult to know from the outside what were the continuing effects of “special interrogation measures” on a person’s feelings of fear; apprehension; loss of confidence; and cognitive, emotional and voluntary capacities. It is also not clear what the impact may be on the interrogee’s knowledge that a “necessity interrogation” may be reintroduced should he fail to satisfy his questioners or withdraw a confession given during a previous “necessity” session. The vast majority of people, including judges, have never experienced such a situation, and it is not easy to imagine it even after viewing the audio-visual record of an interrogation. Additional guarantees are therefore necessary. To further minimize the harm caused by improper interrogation measures, we believe that a sharp distinction should be introduced between the first stage of the investigation—its preventive phase—and the subsequent criminal phase. To the extent that questions in the first phase of the investigation relate to offenses committed in the past, they must meet the test of clear relevance to the prevention of future offenses. Where possible, efforts to avoid direct reference to past crimes should be exhausted, so as to avoid all pressures for self-incrimination. At the end of the preventive investigation, a different type of investigation, a criminal inquiry concentrating on the past and not the future, could begin. Such an investigation must be conducted in accordance with all the rules applicable to a police investigation, including the duty to caution the suspect about his rights and to allow him to consult an attorney. Moreover, because the suspect is not a blank slate, it is safe to assume that any inroads upon his free will in the first part of the investigation might carry over to the second part. Therefore, it is important to create a clear separation in the suspect's consciousness between the two stages and to remove fear of the possibility of being returned to the harsher preventive-investigation phase. This can be achieved by physically moving the suspect from an ISA facility to a police facility and by reading an official statement aloud to the suspect informing him that the preventive investigation has ended and that he will not be subjected to “necessity interrogation”; the suspect should be asked to confirm that he has heard and understood these points. The Lod district court decision on the motion to suppress illustrates a real risk to the rights of the accused posed by the use of “special techniques” in certain ISA interrogations and the lack of clear procedural separation between the preventive and criminal phases of the investigation. Serious human rights violations may be committed against criminal defendants through the combination of a gradually expanding defense of necessity—approaching torture in its severity—and exceeding even the controversial terms of the “ticking bomb” situation, on the one hand, and the use of evidence indirectly procured as a result of “necessity interrogations” in criminal proceedings, on the other hand. The article was first published in Lawfare. Arab-Jewish relations, Center for Democratic Values and Institutions, High Court Seems to Think That Only Arabs Need Deterrence Can an Ex-Senior IDF Lawyer Transform Administrative Detention? Security and Democracy in the Modern Era Balancing Police Action: Between Terror and Maintaining Public Order Certification of Judaism in Israel Still Playing by the Rules: The Index of Arab-Jewish Relations in Israel 2012	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8467
__label__wiki	0.775825	0.775825	Dmitry Kozak appointed Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office Vladimir Putin signed Executive Order On the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Executive Office of the President of the Russian Federation The President appointed Dmitry Kozak Deputy Chief of Staff of the Presidential Executive Office. Published in sections: News, Documents, Executive Office	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8468
__label__wiki	0.824693	0.824693	PSY to Release New Album Globally Early Next Year World star PSY has announced he will be releasing an international album early next year. The star, who is currently in France, gave a press conference in front of reporters from 80 media groups on November 6th, saying he is currently working on a new album that will be released by next March at the latest. He added that the album will be in Korea and English, saying it will be his worldwide debut album. The previous day, PSY had participated in a “Gangnam Style” flash mob with 20,000 others in front of Eiffel Tower. He mentioned the excitement he felt during the event saying it was the first time for him to be in a flash mob with so many people. He added that he didn’t believe a lot of what he saw online, saying despite “Gangnam Style” reaching over 650 million hits on Youtube he didn’t think he was famous in France yet. PSY mentioned that his female fans in France speak Korean well, adding that he was moved by them singing “Gangnam Style” in Korean. He said since he is Korean, he tries to maintain the use of Korean in his songs. When asked about the success of other Korean groups in the international music scene, PSY said other K-pop stars have knocked on the doors of the European and U.S. markets. He said his success was not because of anything he did, but through the people who have listened to and enjoyed his music, so other K-pop stars will also be able to achieve success. During the 30 minute press conference, PSY talked honestly about his musical background and his twelve years as a singer. French media including, Le Parisien, reported on the flash mob in front of Eiffel Tower extensively saying 20,000 fans gathered at Trocadero Square to see PSY’s “horse-riding” dance. PSY finished promotional activities in France with the press conference and headed over to England on November 7th, beginning his schedule there with a speech in front of students at Oxford University. [Yonhap]	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8470
__label__wiki	0.825984	0.825984	Warner Backs Away From Free Music Streaming We're currently in the midst of another "Snowpocalypse" here in Washington, DC, but we figured a blog post would give us a nice break from all that shoveling. Today, reports emerged about Warner Music backing off of "free" music streaming. As digital entrepreneurs and rights holders continue to explore ways to get fully-licensed music to the masses via the internet and mobile, issues in licensing and revenue generation continue to bedevil players on all sides. In Europe there are promising "freemium" services like Spotify and We7, which allow free access to audio, subsidized by audio and web-based advertising. Spotify, in particular, has pointed to successes in both reducing piracy in its native Sweden and winning "conversions" to its subscription-based service, which removes the ads and allows listeners to go mobile via apps for the iPhone and Google Android handsets. Experiments with "free" in the US haven't fared as well, with sites like Spiralfrog (which allowed PC users to stream tunes subsidized by web ads) and MySpace Music either going belly up or struggling to generate revenue. It's clear that ad-supported services face considerable challenges, particularly where licensing costs remain prohibitive. But is this the full story? Take Spotify, for example. The service is such a hit in Europe that it has scaled back the number of users who have access to the free verison. Still, due to the favorable response from users, Spotify has made inroads in increasing paid subscribers. Part of the reason is because fans become so enamored with the free desktop version that they are willing to pay for on-the-go access. On the other hand, MySpace Music has seemingly failed to win the "hearts and ears" of fans. Some would say this is due to the product design — MySpace Music has been criticized for its clunky interface, while Spotify has gotten praise for its clean, intuitive (and some would say bare-bones) feature set. But back to Warner Music. The company has the reputation of being among the most resistant of the major labels to embrace new models for digital distribution. So there's probably no reason to be surprised that they've cooled on the idea of freemium. According to Warner CEO Edgar Bronfman Jr, "Free services are clearly not net positive for the industry and as far as Warner Music is concerned will not be licensed. The get all your music you want for free, and then maybe with a few bells and whistles we can move you to a premium price strategy, is not the kind of approach to business that we will be supporting in the future." Yet Bronfman clearly sees potential in the idea of paid subscription access, particularly as an alternative to the iTunes pricing model, which some major label chiefs have long viewed with suspicion and even outright contempt. "The number of potential subscribers dwarfs the number of people who are actually purchasing music on iTunes," Bronfman says. This may be true, but Apple, too, seems primed to get into the "cloud-based" access game with its recent purchase of streaming service Lala. (Click here for more juicy speculation about what that could mean.) One big big question is whether Warner will be removing its catalog from existing freemium services or simply refusing to license to similar platforms going forward. Another big "if" is whether Spotify — which is currently only available in Europe — will be able to bring its free, ad-supported service in the US. An American launch has been "imminent" for at least the last six months, but this could throw a new wrench into the works. Spotify founder Daniel Ek has been outspoken about his confidence in the Spotify model, a view that has been recently echoed by other major label execs. In January, Rob Wells, senior VP of Universal Music Group International claimed that "Spotify is a very sustainable financial model - full stop." Other industry insiders seem to share this view. Jon Webster, CEO of UK's Music Managers' Forum says that services like Spotify are crucial to luring users away from illegal means of obtaining music. "Anything that's going backwards is denying where the world's going," Webster says. "New media has to give the consumer what they want and the consumer is in a world where they want things right here, right now — and if you don't give it to them, they'll steal it." Here at FMC, we believe that "monetization" (an early contender for buzzword of the decade) must include equitable structures for artist compensation. Currently, even subscription streaming services don't pay huge dividends to artists at least not in league with what a songwriter or performer could make from physical media. On the other hand, the digital music space is still evolving, and there is a possibility that this compensation dynamic could change due to the so-called "economics of scale." Equally important is ensuring that artists — particularly independents — have access to these increasingly popular platforms. Still, it's obvious that a service will only take off if it has a fully stocked digital cupboard, and Warner Music owns a hefty chunk of music. It remains to be seen how or if withholding catalog from freemium services will impact the viability of these outlets. What do you think about this development? How do you see it impacting artists, both big-name and developing? How do you access music legally? What do you think about freemium vs. subscription vs. download? Tell us in the comments. Submitted by Casey on February 10, 2010 - 3:07pm I've tried to be conscious of Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on February 5, 2011 - 2:45pm. I've tried to be conscious of paying for physical cds or attending shows to support artists I like. I've recently signed up for mog.com and I love it. I'm not buying as many cds as I used to and with all this instant availability now, I can't see going back to buying cds again. I'm curious about artist compensation from pay sites like mog.com b/c I want to make sure I'm contributing, but I have a bad feeling they don't get as big a cut as they would from a cd. Can you shed any light on whether any of my money actually makes it to the artists? Thanks!	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8476
__label__cc	0.600567	0.399433	Joanna Zielińska terms and associative terms care bio \| Joanna Zielińska is an art historian, exhibition maker and performance curator. The ideas of performative exhibition and performative artwork are fundamental in her curatorial research. Her practice is centered around theatre, performance, performative literature, and visual arts. She is also interested in stirring a discussion on the identity and activity of the 21st-century museums. This approach is less bounded by a physical space than by the idea of community, the influence of new media, and the public sphere. From 2015 to 2020, she was the Head of the Performing Arts Department at the Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Art in Warsaw. She is the former Chief Curator at Cricoteka, the Centre for the Documentation of the Art of Tadeusz Kantor in Kraków, Poland, where in 2014 she curated the inaugural exhibition for the opening of the institution’s new building and the performance program Nothing Twice. Joanna Zielińska is the former Artistic Director at the Znaki Czasu Centre of Contemporary Art (CoCA) in Toruń, Poland, where she curated the inaugural exhibition for the opening of the institution’s new building and the institution’s program during 2008–2010. Since 2011, she has been working on a long-term research project on the artist’s novel, in collaboration with Spanish artist David Maroto. Its central question is how a literary genre such as the novel becomes a medium in the visual arts. As its cornerstone, The Book Lovers have created a collection of artists’ novels with a parallel online database (both in collaboration with M HKA), and complemented it with a series of exhibitions, performances, publications, and a pop-up book store, hosted by international institutions such as: De Appel in Amsterdam, Raven Row in London, the Whitechapel Gallery in London, CCA Glasgow, and the EFA Project Space in New York, among others.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8479
__label__wiki	0.656858	0.656858	Home / Private Day Tour In Delhi Duration : Fullday City Tour in New Delhi and Old Delhi Vehical Type : Sedan Car ( Up to 3 Persons) Toyata Innova ( Up to 5 Persons) Red Fort (Drive Pass) : The Red Fort is a 17th century fort complex constructed by the Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan. Also known as Lal Qila, it served Mughal Emperors as their residence. In the walled city of Old Delhi (in present day Delhi) the fort was the palace for Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan’s new capital, Shahjahanabad. Red fort lies along the Yamuna River, which surround most of the walls. This monument was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2007. Lotus Temple: The Bahá’í House of Worship in New Delhi, Lotus Temple because of its flower like shape, is a prominent attraction in Delhi. Completed in 1986, it has won numerous architectural awards and been featured in hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles. Like all other Bahá’í Houses of Worship, the Lotus Temple is too open to all religion. The Bahá’í’ emphasize that the holy scriptures of the Bahá’í Faith and other religions can be read or chanted inside in any language. India Gate: The India Gate is situated in the heart of New Delhi. The India Gate was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. Built in 1931, it commemorates the 90,000 soldiers of the Indian Army who lost their lives while fighting for the Indian Empire, or more correctly the British Raj, in World War I and the Third Anglo-Afghan War. The India Gate hexagon complex with a diameter of about 625m covers approximately 306000m² in area, surrounded by most important roads of national capital. Birla Mandir: The Birla Temple, built by BD Birla is of the major tourist attractions in the city. Dedicated to Laxmi (goddess of wealth) and Shiv (the preserver) this temple was inaugurated by Mahatma Gandhi with the belief that it should be open to all castes and all faiths. The three-storied temple is built in Nagara style of Hindu temple architecture. The entire temple is adorned with carvings depicting the scenes from Hindu mythology. Rajghat: Raj Ghat is a memorial to Mahatma Gandhi, which was originally the name of a historic ghat of Old Delhi on the banks of river Yamuna. The memorial was designed by Vanu G. Bhuta, reflecting the simplicity of Mahatma Gandhi’s life. The design had the black marble slab surrounded by red earth. The memorial, which has gone through a number of design changes in recent years, a sign of respect as visitors are required to remove footwear before approaching the memorial. Qutab Minar : Qutub Minar, today, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Delhi was constructed with red sandstone and marble. It is the tallest minaret in India with a height of 72.5 metres (237.8 ft). The Construction was commenced by qutub-ud-din Aibak in 1192, but completed by Iltutmish. During the rule of Firoz Shah in Delhi, the minar’s two top floors were damaged, but were repaired by Firoz Shah to preserve this world-class monument.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8481
__label__wiki	0.538677	0.538677	Option B balances future urban development between existing built areas with some expansion into adjacent areas. The map indicates where development would generally occur. Housing and employment development would be balanced between new subdivisions (62%) and urban centre development (38%) in and around existing towns and urban centres, increasing density in some areas of Christchurch Around 62% (32,320 people) would live in new subdivisions in and around existing towns and urban areas. There would be less productive farmland carved up into larger lifestyle blocks (2-5 hectares). Instead larger sections would recognise people's desire for more land than a standard residential section. Urban centres or community villages are areas of commercial and retail activity, such as shopping malls and community facilities, including health centres, libraries and cinemas where local residents get many of their day-to-day services, and that serve as community meeting places. Option B focuses development around these urban centres to provide more people with a community village including easier access to these facilities and activities. Potential urban centres that could be developed are indicated on the map. Development of urban centres would include two to three storey townhouses and apartments and mixed developments of offices, shops and apartments. Open space and parks would need to be developed to enable recreation opportunities for residents. Urban centre development would account for about 38% of development (housing around 19,809 new residents). The development of new subdivisions would require integrated planning for new infrastructure (water, sewerage, power and telephone services) and the areas being redeveloped may require significant upgrading of these services. The cost to the community for infrastructure could be $300 million by 2021 and $480 million by 2041. The combination of redevelopment of urban centres and new development around towns and city boundaries would provide greater choice for housing location and type. Residents would be able to choose from apartments in the Central City, townhouses around urban centres, smaller sections in suburbs or larger sections in rural settings. The wide variety of choice would keep house prices affordable. By developing self-sufficient urban centres or villages local residents could be within walking or cycling distance of their workplaces, schools, shops and other facilities. This could reduce many people's need for transport and the distances travelled. Transport connections between urban centres would need to be improved as would parking for vehicles and cycles. The majority of development would occur outside the city and district town centres, so the volume of vehicles on the road would rise. By 2021 there would be a 140% increase in congestion and commuting would take 24% longer. By 2041 congestion would have increased by 290% and commuting would take 50% longer. For example, a trip to work that takes 30 minutes today would take 37 minutes by 2021 and 45 minutes in 2041. To prevent congestion from reaching these levels building and widening roads would cost $1.5 billion by 2021, and $2 billion by 2041. By 2041 we would be spending over $3.9 billion each year on motoring (the cost of fuel and crashes), in addition to the $2 billion spent on roading. By increasing the population around urban centres and villages there could be sufficient demand for improved public transport including buses and even light rail. Public transport, cycling and walking could all become more attractive and economically viable. A large proportion of our residential areas would remain unchanged. Locating development at existing urban centres should strengthen community identity, rather than change it. With the alternative of living in new subdivisions, people choosing to live in more intensive developments will be attracted by what they offer. Like-minded people will naturally move to the locations that offer them what they seek from housing and community identity. Existing shopping and retail centres at urban centres would expand, offering greater product ranges and services in response to their local communities' needs. Community facilities such as libraries, swimming pools, health and recreation centres are also likely to be developed. As more facilities relocate to urban centres they will attract more people to live within close proximaty. This influx of residents will in turn stimulate more economic and social activity making urban centres self-sustaining communities. With growth restricted to around existing towns, and within the City boundaries, open spaces and regional parks could be developed as green zones between Christchurch and the neighbouring district towns. A network of regional parks might stretch from the Port Hills, through the Halswell and Heathcote Rivers/Wigram area, around the airport and aquifer protection zone to the Styx River/Brooklands lagoon area. As well as providing valuable space for group and individual recreation, these regional parks would enhance eco-systems and habitats for the many native species that live in the Greater Christchurch area. Regional parks would create visually attractive landscapes with trees, waterways and open grassland. Development will result in older housing around urban centres being replaced with well-insulated housing with non-polluting heating. This should result in air quality being improved, particularly since many of the areas likely to be redeveloped have older housing, such as Spreydon, Linwood and Shirley. With over 62% of the population growth being housed in outer suburbs and around district towns such as Woodend and Lincoln, vehicle emissions will increase 28% by 2021 and 64% by 2041 (carbon monoxide produced will be 160 tonnes/day in 2021 and 200 tonnes/day by 2041). The reduction in section sizes around urban centres and villages will reduce demand for water from these residents, but development in outer suburbs will increase overall consumption to 2,924 litres per second by 2041, a 40% increase from 2001. Focusing developments around urban centres improves the ability of emergency services to respond to a natural disaster. It is likely that some emergency services might relocate to these urban centres. Locating new developments to around existing district towns offers two benefits for the community: more of the population will live further from the highest at risk areas for flooding, earthquakes and tsunami (Eastern and Inner Christchurch), and local fire and ambulance services will be within acceptable travelling times to respond to natural disasters.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8483
__label__cc	0.677662	0.322338	Differential Drive Mobile Robot JakeWare (Talk \| contribs) (→Mechanical) JarvisSchultz (Talk \| contribs) (→Code Download) 1.2 Mechanical Goals 1.3 Software Goals 1.4 Demonstration Video 2.1 Motors 2.3 CAD Download 3.1 Circuit 3.3 Wireless 4.1 Code Download 5.2 Processing Download 6 Wii Demonstration 6.1 Wii Download 7 Summary and Future Work The goal of this project was to create a low cost replacement for the popular E-Puck robot that was better suited to the needs of current research projects here at Northwestern. The project also entailed developing a control library that would allow future users to easily interface with the robot and integrate it into their research. Specifically, the robot was to meet the following criteria: Mechanical Goals Be of a similar size to the E-Puck Be significantly less expensive than the E-Puck Use stepper motors Be easy to manufacture Have an approximate run time of 1 hour Software Goals Use the NU32 board for control logic Support wireless communication Develop a control library that can easily be included in a users code Allow the user to specify a velocity vector for the robot to follow Allow the user to specify the robot's configuration, (x,y,θ), in a global frame Allow the user to directly control the robot's wheel speeds A video of the robot's operation can be viewed here As previously stated, the robot needed to be easy to manufacture, inexpensive to make, and relatively small. These three goals guided each decision made in the mechanical design. The following sections will outline the design process for each mechanical component. The motor choice was the most significant design decision in this project. Accordingly, much thought and research went into picking the hybrid stepper motors we ended up with. The stepper motor used in this project is a NEMA 17, bipolar (4 wire), hybrid stepper. An image of this can be seen on the right. Very early in the motor search, it was decided that because this project was to be the foundation of future work, finding a motor that was readily available was a top priority. It quickly became clear that using a stepper motor that followed NEMA's motor standards would accomplish this. In doing so, any future project or research group that decides to use this project as a starting point will not need to locate the exact motor used here, but only a size 17 NEMA stepper motor. Hybrid Stepper: Although there are many types of stepper motors, we decided to use the hybrid stepper motor for this project. Aside from the fact that hybrid stepper motors are the most common type, they also have a higher resolution compared to a standard permanent magnet stepper motor. Both wikipedia and NMB's website have some good resources on stepper motor theory and operation. Although there are several possible winding configurations stepper motors can take, we chose a bipolar motor. This configuration demands the use of an H-bridge in the driving circuit, but allows for higher torque than a unipolar configuration. No Gearhead: The decision not to use a gearhead was a significant departure from the design of the E-puck. Although a gearhead allows for lower current draw, smaller motors (lighter robot) for any given torque, the gearheads themselves are often composed of fragile plastic components that break easily. Another drawback of geared stepper motors is their higher cost. The benefits and drawbacks of our decision are evident in the final design through its significantly higher weight and improved top speed. An average hybrid stepper motor from an established supplier like NMB, Lin Engineering, or Annaheim Automation costs around $40. Although the motors purchased from these companies may provide superior performance, the motors used in this project were purchased from SparkFun for $15 each and provide enough torque to propel our hefty robot at four times the speed of an E-Puck. SolidWorks assembly of the robot The focus of the chassis design was ease of manufacture. In order to achieve this, the chassis (and wheels) was designed so that it could be cut out of a single sheet of cast acrylic and simply glued together. The 6mm acrylic used came from McMaster-Carr. In order to minimize the amount of acrylic needed, it was assumed that the circuit board would act as the top of the robot and the front and back were left as short as possible without compromising strength. The final chassis dimensions are W:90mm, L:90mm, H:75mm. As can be seen in the CAD image, the batteries rest on the motors themselves, and, therefore, do not require any additional mounting structure. In order to allow for wheel size adjustments throughout the design and development process, the robot's wheels were made out of acrylic and cut on the laser cutter. The center hole was cut to have a 0.005" clearance so that the motor shaft would fit snugly and act to center the wheel. These shaft collars were super glued to the acrylic wheel and used to fix the wheel to the shaft. Note: If you are going to cut your own wheels on the laser cutter be mindful that the laser has a tendency to taper the edges of the wheels and does not cut a perfectly round circle due to the resolution of the carriage. Because the robot has two wheels, it needed supports on both the front and back to prevent it from rocking back and forth or scraping the chassis on the floor. These casters were used in order to reduce friction and allow for simple shim height adjustment. Note: Although the stainless steel ball in these casters will last longer, they make quite a bit of noise rattling around in their cage. The solution to this would be either to have them perfectly shimmed so they no longer are able to move, or order the equivalent caster with a plastic bearing. The SolidWorks CAD files can be found here. Initial breadboard version of the circuit Final proto-board version of the circuit The circuit for the robot consists of the NU32 board, two L293D h-bridges (Digi-Key part number 497-2936-5-ND), an XBee wireless chip, connectors for the motors, and a power jack. A circuit diagram of the final version can be found to the right, as well as pictures of the initial breadboard version and final proto-board version. This project used Lithium Iron Phosphate (LiFePO4) batteries. These are essentially the next generation of Li-Ion batteries. Like Li-Ion cells, they have a high discharging current, but they are also non-explosive when charged improperly. A drawback is that their energy density is slightly less than a good Li-Ion cell. More information about this type of battery can be found here For this project we used a battery pack that consisted of 4 3.2V A123Systems cells with its own integrated management circuit that prevents the user from charging/discharging the cells past a safe level and regulates the output current above a certain point. Specifically, we used a 12.8V, 1500mAh, 4A max battery pack that can be purchased here. The charger for this battery pack can also be found here One of the main goals of the robot was to have the ability to communicate wirelessly. The XBee wireless chip was used to fill this requirement. The XBee is a device that allows simple serial communication over a 2.4 GHz connection. By connecting the chip to ground, power, a transmit pin, and a receive pin, one is able to perform standard serial communication between two properly configured XBee chips. More information about the XBee can be found here and here. The control software for this project was written for the PIC32 with Microchip's MPLab IDE and C32 compiler. As stated in the original project goals, the code's final form needed to be in the form of a library that a future user can include and easily interface with. As such, the download file below contains three files. One is the main file that does little more than include the project code's header file and call one function in an infinite loop. The second file is a header file that contains the necessary function definitions. The third is the source code that contains all the code written for this project. This includes the interrupt routines, communication, motor control, odometry, and other smaller support functions. Another goal of the software was to give the user access to three modes of control. These include wheel speed, position in (x,y,θ), and velocity vector control. Wheel speed control allows the user to directly specify each of the wheel speeds at a rate governed by the serial communication speed communication speed. This is the mode of control that the Wiimote code uses. (Also, for reference, it takes the current version of code 133ms of every second to decode these strings if they are being sent at 120Hz.) Position control allows the user to specify the robot's configuration in a global frame relative to its starting position. Velocity vector control allows the user to give the robot a velocity vector (in the global coordinate system) and the center of the front face will track that vector until told to stop. All of these modes of control support wireless communication through the XBee wireless chip. Furthermore, with 120Hz communication, and all else considered to be the worst-case scenario, this version of the code will only take about 30% of the available computation time. Code Download The fully documented code used in this project can be downloaded here, and a flowchart illustrating the functionality of the code can be found here. Processing window A GUI was created in Processing in order to demonstrate some of the functionality of the control software and facilitate testing. An image of the GUI as it appears when it is first opened can be seen on the right. The program has two modes of operation that can be selected with the "mode" button. Note: The current mode can be discerned by looking at the white/black box next to the mode button and comparing with the legend at the bottom of the GUI First, there is a position control mode that allows the user to send the robot to a point in a global frame. This is done by clicking in the white box that takes up the majority of the screen space. Once designated, the new position will appear with a number above it which marks its order relative to all the other requested positions. The white area maps to the surface that the robot is sitting on, and the x-axis, which the robot is aligned with, goes to the right of the screen from the origin at the center. The y-axis originates from the same location and goes upward. Both the location of the origin on the screen and the physical dimensions of the space that the screen area maps to are easily adjustable in the code. Second, there is a velocity control mode that allows you to specify a velocity vector that the center of the front face of the robot must follow. As before, this vector is created by clicking in the white box at the center of the GUI. The robot is, once again aligned along the x-axis, and the magnitude of the velocity vector is specified by the distance from the origin to the point clicked. Some other features include the following abilies: stop the robot with the "stop" button move the origin to the robot's current position with the "reset" button send the robot back to its starting position with the "home" button specify the robot's default wheel speed for configuration control with the "speed" textbox Processing Download You can download the processing project here. Wii Demonstration This demo involved allowing a user to drive the robot using a Nintendo Wii remote (Wiimote). The user holds the Wiimote sideways in both hands such that the four arrows of the d-pad are in the left hand. This grip is similar to one used for many Wii games (and a lot like the original Nintendo Entertainment System controller). Holding different combinations of the "1" and "2" buttons then change how fast the robot moves when arrows are also being held. At any point in time, the user can hold the "home" button to send the robot back to its initial configuration. More details on this operation can be found in the WiiMain.c code included below. The software relies on the wiiuse library. The file linked below includes the important files from the wiiuse package (a header file, a lib file, and a dll file). The Wiimote is connected to a PC (that must be running Windows) via bluetooth, and the wiiuse library is used to interpret the data sent to the PC. Once the data has been interpreted, it is sent to the robot over XBee. In the file below, there is also an exe file of the WiiMain.c code. In order to execute this file, the wiiuse.dll must be in either the same directory as the executable, or in another directory that is included in Window's search path. To see Window's search path, simply type "echo %PATH%" into a command prompt. Additionally, this executable is assuming that the XBee chip is connected to the computer via "COM3". If a different port must be used, the exe file will need to be re-compiled after editing the pertinent lines in WiiMain.c. Wii Download A zip file with the necessary components to run this demo can be found here. Summary and Future Work In the end, the robot performed well and met the design requirements. Although it is slightly larger and much heavier than the e-puck, it has similar open-loop dead reckoning abilities, a much higher top speed, and a significantly lower cost (about $180 instead of $970). The first version of the code is reliable and relatively efficient, and the circuit seems to perform as expected and without error. That being said, there are things that could be improved. They are outlined in the following: One of the major factors for any imprecision in our odometry is the relatively low quality wheels that were used. During the prototyping phase of the project, it was very beneficial to have acrylic wheels so that new ones could be cut at any time. Unfortunately, the laser cutter does not do the best job of cutting a perfect circle and also tends to taper the edges of the wheels. Also, while it was convenient to make the wheels out of the same thickness acrylic as the body, thinner wheels would allow the robot to be more precise. Finally, rubber bands were used to increase traction between the wheel and the driving surface, but, after experimenting with the E-Puck, it is clear that far more traction could be generated with a carefully chosen rubber o-ring. All of this being said, it is our recommendation that before any further work is put into making this robot more precise, the wheels be replaced with something similar to those found on an E-Puck Chassis and PCB: Another significant improvement that could be made would be to reduce the size of the robot. This could be done by designing a PCB specifically for this application, and revising the chassis. If both of these measures were taken, the robot could be made significantly smaller and lighter. Motors: As far as the weight problem, the main issue is the motor choice. As a proof of concept, the $15 stepper motors were a perfect choice. They had plenty of torque and were very physically robust. As the robot is refined, however, a top priority will likely be to make it lighter. If the motor price is increased to something closer to $40, there are a range of hybrid NEMA stepper motors that are still capable of producing the necessary torque, but are smaller and lighter. Some excellent resources to check are Anaheim Automation, NMB, and Lin Engineering. There are a few ways the code could be improved. At the moment, it uses two timers to perform its motor control functions. There are ways to do this with only one timer, and implementing these would free up one timer for the user. An example of this can be found in the E-Puck's motor control code. Another improvement would be the addition of some basic functions like forward(speed), reverse(speed), rotate_left(speed), etc... Although the functionality would be identical, changing the current convention of using two SetSpeed() commands to a single function call would both shorten the code and make it more readable. This could also be extended to other tasks performed in the current code that are done frequently. This project was created by John (Jake) Ware and Jarvis Schultz. Both are mechanical engineering PhD students at Northwestern University. "Jarvis Schultz" <jarvisschultz2012@u.northwestern.edu> "John Ware" <johnware2015@u.northwestern.edu> Retrieved from "http://hades.mech.northwestern.edu/index.php?title=Differential_Drive_Mobile_Robot&oldid=18341"	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8484
__label__cc	0.641939	0.358061	Seth J. Interview (I) Seth Johnson Interview (Part I) Related: John Byrne Interview Related: Norman "nbperp" Barth Interview (Part I) Related: Jason "Brother Magneto" Mical Interview Seth Johnson was lead designer for many years on HeroClix, up until Topps disbanded Wizkids in 2008. This is part I of our three part interview with Seth. The Le: So how's things? Seth: Good, thanks. The Le: Let's jump right in... how did you get into the games business, and specifically how did you get into the role as designer? Seth: Even before I was in school, my mom was a teacher who would bring home simple educational games (think Candyland or Snakes & Ladders tweaked to teach you simple math) that I would play once and then start tweaking--usually through the addition of Luke Skywalker or Spider-Man. Early in elementary school I started playing role-playing games, along with early computer games like Wizardry, the Bard's Tale, and Wasteland. That inspired my best friend and I to try designing some RPGs of our own, using EA's Adventure Game Construction Set and good old pen-and-paper. One of the best games I can remember was an awesome Masters of the Universe RPG we designed--but it may just be awesome in my memory because I can't find any of the notes for it anymore. Moving into junior high and high school, we still played a ton of RPGs and computer games (I remember a long summer spent hot-seating Wasteland!) but we also played more board games, and started tinkering with more abstract games like a graph paper based game where one player was a super villain robbing banks and sneaking around using the sewer system, and the other player was a super hero who could duck into phone booths and get super powers. We also had an increasingly elaborate superhero RPG setting called Radiant City using the DC Heroes RPG that we ran for many years. Meanwhile, I went to college at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and hooked up with a new gaming group that introduced me to a ton of new games. So I played games all night, and went to classes all day, studying math and physics. Late in my college career, I spent two years writing a weekly column for the student paper, took a lot of creative writing classes, and decided writing was what I was interested in as a career. I was also lucky enough to get an internship with an editor for Tor Books that turned into my first job after college, keeping the paperwork moving while I learned about publishing from the inside and got to see some of the best authors in the world at work. I started to get a few writing jobs here and there, the kind that almost everyone gets when they're starting out. I wrote a lot of material for West End's Hercules & Xena RPG--just before they went out of business. I wrote some short pieces for InQuest--and received killfees when they killed the column. I was still gaming, of course, with the same gaming group I'd met in college. One night a guy came by the room where we played (we still played at the student union) looking for a game. Talking with him, it turned out that he ran a game studio called Human Head Studios and was looking for someone to write the manual for a PC game they were working on called Rune. I applied for and got the job writing the Rune manual. To help make it more interesting, I interspersed a story in with the more technical information. The designers of the game liked the story enough that they hired me to polish the game's dialogue. That meant playing the game, so after work in the evenings (I'd moved on to helping run an online political news startup by that point) I'd head out to Human Head and play the game. Their playtesting plan had half-fallen through, so I stepped into the gap and spent a LOT of time playing Rune, even after I finished the dialogue pass. For about four months, six or seven days a week, I would work at my day job all day, go play Rune for 8-9 hours, sleep for a few hours, and repeat. There was no pay involved, but again it was a great way to learn about a business from the inside. As Rune went gold and Human Head prepared to work on the PS2 version and a PC multiplayer expansion, they hired me to come on board as an assistant designer. That's where I spent the next four years, working on various Rune expansions, an Xbox western called Dead Man's Hand, and the beginnings of a game that would go on to become the 360 game Prey. Along the way I continued to write and design games on the side, one little job after another. Way back when I was a kid, my best friend and his brothers (again, fantastic artists all) once complained that there needed to be a game where you made your characters by drawing them. When my friend and I were on a road trip in college, I remembered that joke; as we drove along the highway, we created the first version of the game SKETCH! We playtested SKETCH a couple times in my home gaming group over the years, and then it went into a drawer. Jon Leitheusser, who had been part of that gaming group, remembered SKETCH when he started up his own game company and asked us to make it into a finished game. So we did, and it came out to a fair amount of critical acclaim. The jobs slowly got bigger and more interesting. I helped design a level for Rune's multiplayer expansion, and a bunch of puzzles that would eventually end up in Prey. Matt Forbeck joined Human Head to launch the company's adventure gaming division, and I got to help write the Redhurst Academy of Magic, which went on to win an Origins Award that year. After doing a lot of fantasy game design and writing during the d20 boom, White Wolf brought me into a team designing an RPG based on Blizzard's Warcraft RTS games. Those Warcraft RPG books eventually served as some of the initial internal bibles used by Blizzard to develop the World of Warcraft. (After ten years and millions of development hours put in by Blizzard, only a little bit of our work is reflected in WoW these days, but if you ever stumble across the ruins of the Shady Rest Inn, take a drink and think of me.) In 2004 Human Head compressed from two development teams into one, and as budgets contracted I ended up as one of the odd men out. I still went to the Human Head offices to hang out and play games...they just weren't paying me to be there any more. So it was time to find a new job. By this point my college gaming friend and one-time publisher Jon was working in the game design department at WizKids. He heard I was looking for a job, and told me that WizKids was looking for someone to come on board as a writer and game designer. I thought I was a perfect fit for the job, and luckily, after a series of design tests and interviews, WizKids agreed. All of which is to say that for me, becoming a game designer was a slow and incremental process. Or you might say that I've been a game designer for a long, long time--it just took a while before I actually had it on a business card. Seth is a good guy, his fellow co-workers here at Smith & Tinker think he's a great guy. Posted by: S&T on 8/19/2009 11:48:03 PM I can't wait to read the second part. The Le, this was a brilliant find for an interview. Pure genius. Posted by: wintremute on 8/19/2009 3:27:40 PM Interesting, Sounds just like my High School/College Career, except none of my friends work in game design : ( Posted by: Sensualninja on 8/19/2009 2:48:35 PM Quite a long and winding road in gaming. (Wow.) Hadn't stumbled across Funlab yet. Posted by: glen_smith on 8/19/2009 12:48:20 PM To me it seemed like supernova gave heroclix some new life. Interest in clix where I'm from seemed to be slipping until supernova came out. The boom from it seemed to last up until sometime after the crisis set came out. So it is my favorite set too. Posted by: KillerSavage on 8/19/2009 12:44:03 PM	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8490
__label__cc	0.578335	0.421665	A Commentary on UFOs, Paranormal events, and related topics. Jesse Marcel Has Died Just minutes ago I received some very sad news. Jesse Marcel, Jr. died of a heart attack on August 24. He was alone, at home, apparently reading a UFO book when he died. I have known Jesse for more than a quarter century. I first met him while we both Jesse Marcel in 1994. were in Roswell to film a segment for the old Unsolved Mysteries that aired on NBC. We had gone out to dinner with a number of those in town for the program and since we shared a military background, including that of Army Aviation, we connected immediately. As medical doctor, he was trained as a flight surgeon and I, of course, had been a helicopter pilot. From that point I met him quite a few times as we both explored the Roswell UFO crash case. He, as a young man, boy really, of eleven was exposed to metallic debris that his father had brought home late that July night. He told the story to all who would listen with little in the way of variation. I learned of the special bond he’d had with his father. He told me that that one day, he had asked his father what the atomic bomb looked like and Jesse, Sr. had drawn a picture of “Fat Man.” He then shredded it and burned the pieces. Although reluctant to share they story outside a small circle of friends, he did mention it at the Citizen Hearing in Washington this last May. Over the years, I had the opportunity to interact with Jesse and never had reason to doubt his sincerity. He truly believed that he had handled material made on Jesse with I-beam replica. another planet and might have the first person in modern history to have seen writing created on another world. He had small, replica I-beams made with those symbols on it, and while it is just a replica, it is a very interesting one. But what I think of mostly, these days is his military service. He had retired from the Montana National Guard as a colonel but was recalled to active duty for service in Iraq. Before he deployed, he asked me if he should take a personal computer with him and I said it had been the best investment I had made, if only for the DVD player in it. His service there seems to have affected him more deeply than did mine. He spent a year there treating those who needed his help, but came back suffering from PTSD. The deployment cost him his medical practice because he could no longer trust his hands. Loud, sudden noises caused him to jump. He was more on edge, nervous, than he had been before going to Iraq. It was something that the government failed to recognize in the way they should have. He was a patriot who served without complaint, did what was asked of him and made the sacrifices he had to make. I last saw Jesse in Washington, D.C. in May. He was there with several family Jesse with daughter Denise. members and offered his story to the former representatives and senators. They all seemed captivated by what he said, probably because he was one of the few first-hand witnesses to some of the Roswell events present. While many of us could talk of what we had been told by witnesses over the years, Jesse could talk about what he had seen and done personally in July 1947. He handled the debris. He did call the International UFO Museum in Roswell this year telling them that this would probably be the last year he could attend. His health, while seeming not all that bad, did limit what he could do and how far he could travel. I suspect that he thought his health would deteriorate making a trip to Roswell extremely difficult if not impossible in the near future. Jesse was a friend and a fellow warrior. I always believed that he understood more about my service in foreign lands because he shared those experiences. We connected on a level that others could not because of that military experience. Though we were never in the war zones at the same time, we did see many of the same places under similar circumstances. He served when he was needed, helped those who needed it, and contributed to our knowledge. I know that I will miss him, though not as much as his family Posted by KRandle at 3:16 PM Labels: Citizen Hearing, International UFO Museum and Research Center, Jesse Marcel Jr., Unsolved Mysteries Loren Coleman said... What book was he reading? Roswell Books said... Kevin, so said to hear this news from my friends Peter Robbins and Ruben Uriarte. I am blessed to have spent some time with Jess over the years and so thrilled to have worked with him on one of my books. Bob Koford said... Hi, Kevin. I am especially very sad to hear about his troubles after Iraq. I never got the chance to shake his hand and thank him myself. Thank you for posting this message. Nitram said... Hello Kevin I'm sure we all share your sadness. Thank you for this tribute and keep up the good work. Bob G. Cranston, RI said... This is some very sad news. Thank You for your service to our country and to the truth. God Bless and condolences to his family. Wow what a sad loss for us all. R.I.P. we will never forget you. starman said... This further diminishes the list of surviving witnesses, but they've had ample time to relate what they can. The Isreli Extraterrestrials and UFOs Research Association (E.U.R.A.) gives its condolences to the family.... Thierry29 said... Bien triste, sincère condoléance à la famille de Jesse MARCEL. C.R.U. R.U.B. Bretagne- France. ZNN said... Kevin - A wonderful tribute to Jesse - a man who sought the truth and now has found it... Victor Viggiani Toronto Canada I was shocked and saddened to hear of the passing of Mr. Marcel today. He will be missed by all. May God bless him. I met Jesse in '97, and that meeting was a highlight of my trip to the Roswell 50th. My best to his family and we're all blessed with having known him. Condolences to his family. RIP Jesse. Regards from Scotland. Alfred Lehmberg said... There are few enough Bird Colonels... far fewer full birds plus Scientist, Philosopher, Healer, and combat flyer... Jesse Marcel was all of these and more. Attention. Hand, Salute. Order Arms. Rest in Peace, Sir. David Rudiak said... Dr. Jesse Marcel Jr., a very honest man who never wavered from his story and refused to make it more elaborate. (I know, because I would try to lead him to see if there was maybe more to it and he would NEVER go there. "I don't remember anything like that" would be his typical reply.) He also completely backed up his father's story of finding the debris of an actual flying saucer and waking up his family to show them. Jesse's debris descriptions were unlike that of actual balloon debris and he stuck to his guns on that point as well, despite some pressure from Air Force "investigator" McAndrew who tried to persuade him otherwise. Soon after that, somehow Robert Todd got a hold of Jesse Sr.'s service file, something that Jesse Jr. could never do (being told the file had been destroyed in the St. Louis fire). Todd then misused the file to write a character assassination piece on Jesse Sr., despite 95% being flagrant lying. Todd also tried to smear Jesse Jr. He had to endure all the mud-slinging as well, as UFO witnesses often do. He thought Todd a malicious lunatic (as do I) and hated his guts. I was shocked from Kevin's comments that Jesse suffered PTSD from being sent to Iraq. I never understood why or how the military could send a man of Jesse's age over there. I think he was the oldest AF Reserve person to serve in Iraq. He was like 67 or 68. Even generals are forced to retire at 65. What was he doing there? I had various email correspondence with Jesse over the years. He asked for permission to use my Ramey memo work in his book about his father, which I was happy to do. I finally met him in Roswell 4 years ago, and he was always the gentleman. My condolences to the Marcel family. Doc Conjure said... R.I.P. Jesse Marcel, Jr. You were a brave man in so many areas. Thank you for your military service, the defending of your father, and the defending of the Roswell Crash all these years. Sarge said... God grant him rest. One of the last of the people "who were there" so to speak at a given point in history. In a few months someone will write a story about how Jesse once admitted it was a hoax, and from then on those who knew him will have to defend his memory. Kurt Peters said... Kevin Randle, who I have met, is a fine and decent patriot whose UFO writings actually distract from his other more significant accomplishments in life. Jesse Marcel, Jr., who I am saddened that I never did meet, essentially was in the same brotherhood as Randle. And as an AF Flight Surgeon, for him to also indulge the questions of so many UFOlogists about his experiences with his father shows his great patience... AND to possibly help the poor Professor Rudiak to see more clearly the facts about military service, may I point out that many 'old guy' reservists volunteered after something the media calls '9-11' to go to Iraq... ...there is this one 'old' guy I've met, Kevin Randle, who, gosh darn it, did the exact same thing as Jesse Jr. !!!! ArJuna said... He seemed to be in fine form at the Citizen Hearing in April-May. I chatted with his family over lunch. They were a wonderful family. I have seen too many people in this field pass to the other side over the last 25 years. I do hope they found the truth on the other side. God knows the truth is elusive on this side. We must all keep up the push for truth to honor these folks who dedicated their lives to it. Rest in peace Jesse. KRandle said... Just to be clear, Jesse had been a flight surgeon in the Army and not the Air Force. And he was recalled to active service because he was a medical doctor. And although the Army saw fit to recall him, they refused to promote him for his service so he reamined a colonel. BLACKA said... first Kevin Smith and now Jesse jr. Sad, I send my prays and best wishes to both families. Now they both know the answers to what have us here. His attendance in Washington for the recent hearings- made difference- several congressmen NOW BELIEVE- that is crucial and required for any progress toward disclosure to ever be made. He was a warrior- for the US- as an military man and as a citizen. He is an example of the best this country has to offer. The anonymous Kurt Peters wrote: AND to possibly help the ever-snooty and historically-challenged K.P., the Iraq War didn't begin until 18 months after 9/11, and reservists weren't called to active duty to serve in Iraq for another 16 months after that, or almost 3 years after 9/11. The all-volunteer Army wasn't able to fill its enlistment quotas (could have something to do with a very nasty war going on) and instead Army Reservist were called to active duty in Iraq to fill in the gaps when everything started to go south. This did not happen from the beginning of the Iraq war, only after the occupation dragged on and the regular Army combat forces were stretched thin by the civil war and insurrection that followed. Most reservist do not expect to be called to serve in war zones, particularly actual combat. Many were inadequately trained and poorly equipped. (This resulted in reports of some actual insurrections by some reservists thrust into harms way without proper preparation and equipment.) Most sent over there did not "volunteer". They were "volunteered" because there was no draft and no where else to draw on. (In fact, using a "stop-loss" clause, the military ignored their contractual end-of-service to extend their active-duty deployments, what John Kerry called the "back-door draft", hardly "voluntary" service.) Most were not happy being called up, having to leave their families, jobs, and established civilian lives. It caused extreme hardship for most. (Dr. Marcel being just one example.) Dr. Marcel was in the Reserve, thus vulnerable, but he was UNUSUALLY old (68 when he was deployed, 69 when he left Iraq) to be sent into actual combat zones even if he had volunteered instead of ordered over there. I don't know if he went willingly as a sense of duty. I just know it is highly, highly unusual for somebody that old to be sent to a war zone, when, as I said, mandatory retirement age for even generals is 65. I commend Jesse and so many like him for their perseverance of truth and disclosure. When I was a teenager my Mom once told me: "You have to stand for something or you'll fall for anything." Wise words and I've held them close to my heart, in which case I've been tested on concerning my stand with the ufo phenomenon. In 1973 my Dad, Mom and I had a strange encounter with a peculiar light source which engulfed my dad's car on our way home around 2:00 a.m. This occurred in the approximate time frame of the Pascagoula, Ms. u.f.o. It was because of this incident that I became interested in u.f.o.'s. Long ago I learned about the ridicule factor and decided I wasn't the one with the 'problem'__the problem is with those being uninformed, misinformed, having fear of being ridiculed themselves if they dared 'believe' something so extraordinary as u.f.o.'s, or intimidation to silence or create doubt. All I had to do to block the ridicule was to remember my Mom's words and stand firm. I know it was tough for Jesse to have PTSD. My husband is a Vietnam veteran, therefore I'm familiar with the signs. You dared not touch my husband when he was asleep because he'd automatically jump straight out of bed ready to do combat, not to mention flashbacks when he's wide awake and the onset may be due to a firecracker, transformer blowing, sound of a helicopter, etc. I remember after Hurricane Katrina here on the Mississippi Gulf Coast and how the sky was mud thick with helicopters, military guards at the railroad tracks which lead to the beach, razor wire rolled along the RR tracks to prevent people from crossing over and looting, dump truck after dump truck hauling off debris___yes it looked like a war zone here and I wondered how many veterans would have their PTSD get worse as a result of Katrina's aftermath. I recall some night I'd sleep with a flashlight in my hand, waking up numerous times during the night and turning the flashlight toward the window__fear of having someone trying to break in or looting outside. I have somewhat of an understanding of PTSD from 2 angles. "possibly help the poor Professor Rudiak to see more clearly" ...sadly, the art of the pun is lost on the true believers..... David – Part One Your analysis here is highly inaccurate and mostly inappropriate, given the original nature of my post. You wrote: AND to possibly help the ever-snooty and historically-challenged K.P., the Iraq War didn't begin until 18 months after 9/11, and reservists weren't called to active duty to serve in Iraq for another 16 months after that, or almost 3 years after 9/11. I say: In December 2002 (15 months after 9/11), we began to switch our emphasis to Iraq and in January 2003 (16 months), we had a series of meetings in the Iowa National Guard about the deployment of Guard forces in the coming months. We were told by June there would be three battalions left in the state. On February 14, 2003 (17 months after 9/11 and prior to the launch of the war), we were alerted for possible deployment and on March 1, 2003 (again prior to the launch of the war), we were called to active duty. You timeline is badly flawed and inaccurate because by the time we moved to three years after 9/11, we had already deployed, spent a year in theater and returned. You wrote: The all-volunteer Army wasn't able to fill its enlistment quotas (could have something to do with a very nasty war going on) and instead Army Reservist were called to active duty in Iraq to fill in the gaps when everything started to go south. This did not happen from the beginning of the Iraq war, only after the occupation dragged on and the regular Army combat forces were stretched thin by the civil war and insurrection that followed. I say: The composition of the Army has changed with the Reserve Component, made up of both the Army Reserve and the National Guard, part of the deployment strategies of the military. There are Reserve and Guard units that have unique capabilities such as water purification. They are trained and equipped at a fraction of the cost of an active duty unit. So, the Reserve Component was called to active duty prior to the first shot being fired in Iraq and at one point was nearly half the soldiers deployed were part of the Reserve Component. Your analysis of the situation in Iraq is equally flawed. David - Part Two You wrote: Most reservist do not expect to be called to serve in war zones, particularly actual combat. Many were inadequately trained and poorly equipped. (This resulted in reports of some actual insurrections by some reservists thrust into harms way without proper preparation and equipment.) Most sent over there did not "volunteer". They were "volunteered" because there was no draft and no where else to draw on. (In fact, using a "stop-loss" clause, the military ignored their contractual end-of-service to extend their active-duty deployments, what John Kerry called the "back-door draft", hardly "voluntary" service.) Most were not happy being called up, having to leave their families, jobs, and established civilian lives. It caused extreme hardship for most. (Dr. Marcel being just one example.) I say: Given the nature of the military structure today, this simply is untrue. After the Gulf War, which contained a large number of National Guard and Reserve units, the Reserve Component was integrated into the entire force structure. I searched out a Guard unit after 9/11 as a way to get into the fight. Both Reservists and National Guard soldiers understood that service in the Reserve Component meant they probably would be called forward in case of conflict. Each soldier, upon entering the military, is made aware of what that service means and that Stop-Loss is just one example of the philosophy of “What is good for the Army.” It works the other way as well when there is a Reduction in Force. I would not use John Kerry as an example because of Kerry’s well known distain for the military and his well-known fabrications about Vietnam Veterans. We deployed with the all the proper training and with the best equipment available. As the flak jackets were replaced with the interceptor body armor, our unit was one of the first to be fully equipped as but a single example. This idea of the Reserve Component being poorly trained and badly equipped is a narrative out of the Vietnam Era and has nothing to do with the situation as it exists today or as it existed ten years ago. My experience did not show that, “Most were not happy being called up, having to leave their families, jobs, and established civilian lives.” They were, in fact, proud to be of service. Some of our soldiers found their educations interrupted, but the universities worked with them to help them out. Employers supplied support for our soldiers and one of those employers supported a soldier who had worked for them for only a couple of months by sending hundreds of pounds of consumer goods to us, to be shared by all. The MSM narrative seemed to suggest your claim, but my experience, not only with my unit but those others deployed with us, refutes this unsupported allegation. You Say: Dr. Marcel was in the Reserve (no, he was in the National Guard, part of the Reserve Component but not the Reserve), thus vulnerable, but he was UNUSUALLY old (68 when he was deployed, 69 when he left Iraq) to be sent into actual combat zones even if he had volunteered instead of ordered over there. I don't know if he went willingly as a sense of duty. I just know it is highly, highly unusual for somebody that old to be sent to a war zone, when, as I said, mandatory retirement age for even generals is 65. I say: I do know his attitude and it was one of willing service… and every officer knows that he or she may be recalled after retirement if they possess skills that are critical to the military. Jesse, as a medical doctor had those skills, but given his age, had he wanted to get out of it, he could have. Your analysis does a disservice to Jesse and I thought about deleting it as inappropriate but also thought it deserved a response. Saddened to hear of his death.I tried to follow him in the media.Always found him credible.I believe he's in a better place to have his questions answered. Kevin, as bad as Ufology is, politics are even worse. My point remains why the hell was Dr. Marcel called to active duty at age 68? He may have been the oldest soldier over there. Maybe he went willingly with a sense of duty, but he says himself in his book that he was disillusioned by the Iraq War and finally understood why his father was so embittered after Roswell, that he had devoted himself to military service and felt abused. He also writes of how the USAF Roswell authors misrepresented his testimony and how he received numerous, anonymous, hang-up phone calls when he received an unusual invitation to go to Washington to attend a UFO conference and also speak to a government official there. Someone seemed to know his every move and he suspected he was being monitored. Both he and his wife Linda found the calls disturbing. Linda Marcel thought the whole family was being threatened in a veiled manner and wouldn't let him take the family to Washington. The government official he met in Washington (Dick D'Amato), who confirmed to him that Roswell was a real ET event still buried deep in the black budget, gave him a phone number to call if he or his family were threatened in the future. Neither his father or he spoke of Roswell for many years, he writes, "as doing so would pose a very real danger to our careers, if not our very lives." I think all this keeps begging the question why a 68-year-old colonel in the National Guard (whose primary purpose is protecting the homeland, NOT fighting foreign wars) would be called back into active duty service to serve in a war zone. How many 65+-year-old retired generals were there? Given all that Dr. Marcel wrote, the Marcel family DID feel threatened. I don't think it unreasonable to raise the possibility that he was being punished for being outspoken about Roswell and going contrary to the official party line. He obviously suffered greatly as a result, coming back with PTSD and having his medical practice destroyed as a result. It may have broken his health. cda said... So we are now told that Marcel and family felt "threatened". Threatened by what? Perhaps DR can spell out his thoughts on this, although it would be out of line with your topic. In particular I am most interested to hear about how Marcel was possibly being "punished" for what he wrote and said about Roswell. Is DR actually telling us that Marcel felt bound to serve in Iraq because he (Marcel) felt guilty that he had already talked too much about Roswell? Thanks for explaining the backstory about Jesse Jr. And thank you for your service. Lance said... There really is no limit to the heights of silly paranoid fantasy that Rudiak will entertain. By all accounts Jesse Marcel, Jr. was an honorable, honest and upstanding individual and his service to his country is to be respected and remembered. This is simply not the forum for this discussion and I will delete any further postings that do not reflect my purpose here. And since it is my blog and my rules, I will say that you do not understand the mission of the National Guard. It is a part of the total force and those who are apart of it can expect deployment as needed. Your understanding of the National Guard is out of date and erronious. Morris said... Jesse jr. obviously was a fine man. May he rest in peace. J.B. van der Zee, Netherlands I have always made my position on Roswell clear, not a believer at all. However Marcel Jr always came across as sincere and earnest, a decent bloke. I am pretty sure that he told the truth as he perceived it and remembered it, even as I don't think that his truth coincides with the Truth about Roswell. I hope that doesn't come across as condescending, it isn't intended to be. Larry Lesh said... Dr. Marcel was an officer and a gentlemen above all. When called by upon by his country for service he went at great personal cost and did what he believed was his duty. Thank you Kevin for a short solid eulogy to a great man. I have often wondered if there's a great secret organization protecting the Roswell secrets. And if so what those members of it must think about themselves and they deceptions they've been party to. I'm fairly certain the good doctor wasn't in on it and like me he would have wished to know before he left our plane of existence. May he rest in peace and condolences to his grieving family. My best, cda wrote (part 1 of 2) So we are now told that Marcel and family felt "threatened". Threatened by what? Perhaps DR can spell out his thoughts on this, although it would be out of line with your topic. These aren't "my thoughts" but Jesse Marcel Jr.'s. I'm only repeating what he said himself in his book "The Roswell Legacy." The Marcel family at times felt threatened because of Marcel Sr. and Jr.'s involvement with Roswell. I gave one quote where Jr. said both he and his father didn't speak out for a long time for fear of their careers and even their lives. Then there was the incident in the early 1990s where the Marcel family was invited to Washington D.C. to a UFO conference, all expenses paid, as it turns out by the Prince of Lichtenstein, who had a deep interest in UFOs. Soon after, at his medical practice, Marcel got an urgent call from someone in Washington saying that Marcel should speak with him when he was in Washington, saying he had important information for him. This turned out to be Dick D'Amato (though Marcel keeps him anonymous in his book). When Marcel went to Washington, he said he met with D'Amato, who took him deep in the basement of the Capital Building to a secure room. D'Amato told him he was charged with investigating the black budget and "the 'black government' within the government, where funds were being spent without appropriate oversight to maintain a false story about the Roswell Incident and cover the story up. He said his job was to report to the Senate Appropriations Committee, to advise them as to where these tax dollars were going..." "He then asked me if I had received any threatening phone calls. I told him about the anonymous hang-up calls... but assured him none had gone so far as to actually threaten us." Marcel and (also his wife Linda who wrote a separate chapter) had earlier written about these numerous hang-up calls that began right after Marcel got the invitation to go to Washington. Linda Marcel in particular got very paranoid because of all the calls and didn't want the rest of the family to go for fear that they might all be killed. (I'm just relating what is in the book, which states what their state of mind was at the time.) Jesse Marcel wasn't nearly so paranoid about this, but did also find the calls unusual and disturbing. Marcel then wrote that D'Amato wrote down contact information if Marcel or his family was ever threatened and to contact him immediately. "To this day I have kept that piece of paper and have even stored a copy of the information in a safe place, should the need for it ever arise." So for me to relate all this from the book apparently makes me "paranoid", when I am relating what the Marcels themselves said. As to who would be behind the threats, Marcel goes on with his own beliefs about the "black government" saying he thinks "it is something more than than the fabrication of wild-eyed conspiracy theorists." "While some members of our elected government--such as the official with whom I met--know about the 'black government,' they discuss the existence very discreetly, if at all, knowing that if all evidence of an extraterrestrial visitation can be made to disappear, the elimination of an overly talkative government employee would be child's play." Response cda (2 of 2) In particular I am most interested to hear about how Marcel was possibly being "punished" for what he wrote and said about Roswell. Clearly Jesse Marcel felt they might be in some danger from what he believed was a highly secretive arm of the government controlling the "black budget." Putting someone in harm's way by sending them into a war zone at age 68, beyond mandatory military retirement age, would be one way to "punish" someone, if that is what happened. (I don't know, I was merely raising the possibility.) He came back with PTSD, so clearly he found the experience highly traumatic. He also said after this experience he finally understood is father's disillusionment and bitterness with the military following Roswell, although he remained the loyal, patriotic soldier and never publicly said a bad word. Gilles Fernandez said... A very sad news I reported in our UFO-Skeptic forum, yesterday, learning this very sad new via FB and Kevin's blog... RIP, Jesse Marcel Jr., from France. Très Sincères condoléances à la Famille. Gilles Fernandez. I suggest that the reason Jesse Marcel jr was recalled to serve in Iraq at the advanced age of 68 was that there was a shortage of ear, throat and nose specialists at the time (or at least a shortage of those with military experience), and thus his vast ENT experience might well be needed. I further suggest that those responsible for his recall had no knowledge of, and most probably had never even heard of, Marcel's involvement in the Roswell incident. Beyond this, I do not care to speculate. CDA - I suggest that the reason Jesse Marcel was called to service was because he was a medical doctor and there was a shortage of doctors... his medical speciality might have played into this. I suggest that there was no more nefarious purpose than that. Anything else is baseless speculation and doesn't belong in this posting. Cosmic Connie said... What a beautiful post. My partner Ron Kaye and I were privileged to meet the Marcels when we helped Jesse Marcel with the first edition of his book, "The Roswell Legacy," which was originally published in 2007. http://tinyurl.com/oha588w Jesse and his wife Linda graciously hosted us in their beautiful Montana home for a few days, and the Jesse Marcel we came to know was a sincere, intelligent man, as good as they come. He did speak frankly of his PTSD but nevertheless was justly proud of his service to his country. While I personally remain skeptical of the other-worldly claims re the Roswell debris (and skeptical of UFO claims in general), I believe Dr. Marcel was indeed very sincere in both his beliefs and his remembered observations, and I felt he consistently stated his case very intelligently, even in the face of disbelief and ridicule. Despite my own snarky/skeptical blog persona (the "Cosmic" in "Cosmic Connie" is intended to be ironic), I am, beyond that, a person who is open to the mysteries and wonders of a vast universe. But most of all... I really liked Jesse. And I was very sad to learn of his death. RevRon's Rants said... I, along with my partner Connie Schmidt, had the privilege of working with Jesse and Linda Marcel on his book, and of spending a few days with them in Montana, attending to details and just getting to know them. I am convinced that both Jess and his father were honest and honorable men, and that they were telling the truth about what they witnessed firsthand. There were too many things - both that appeared in the book and that were omitted at the author's request - that corroborated Jess' story. I hold Jesse, Jr. in the deepest respect, and am hopeful that at some point, both he and his father are recognized for their clarity and bravery in telling a story that some would have preferred to be kept silent. "There were too many things - both that appeared in the book and that were omitted at the author's request - that corroborated Jess' story." RR_R, could you elaborate on what was left out of the book that you also felt corroborated his story? Dr. Marcell was one of my physicians concerning my medical issue with regards to and specially the E.N.T. aspect of care from being a 'nam vet and extreme hearing loss. However, I am not here to discus that. Dr. Marcell was a person I could talk to as in one on one. We talked of many things as the rules of engagement were left outside the door. He was like the brother I never had. My wife and I were very awestruck of his passing. Our condolences to his family. So, in closing, I would like to share a prayer with all of you : handed down through many generations. It goes something like this "It is said a man hasn't died as long as he is remembered. This prayer is a way for families, friends and fellow veterans to remember our fallen brothers and sisters. Do not stand at my grave and weep I am not there, I do not sleep. I am a thousand winds that blow, I am the diamond glints on snow. I am the sunlight on ripened grain, I am the gentle autumn rain. When you awaken in the morning hushting rush of quiet birds in circled flight, I am the stars that shine at night. Do not stand at my grave and cry, I am not there, I did not die." He went to Iraq because he was a patriot and would have went regardless of age as long as he could contribute, which he did. He wanted to go and wanted to be active duty. I know him personally as most of you are speculating. He was a fine man, a fine officer, and a true patriot. As I mentioned, his recall to active duty had nothing to do with UFOs or anything else. In 1952, Jesse was a wondefful 9high school classmate, and was one of the nicest and smartest kids I ever knew. He moved away the next year. At that time, I had no knowledge of Roswell. I spoke with him in the early 90s, He was a very special person, and I was very sad to hear of his passing, and I will always cherish his remark in my Sophmore yearbook. Encounter in the Desert The story of the Socorro UFO landing The Best of Project Blue Book Click on the picture to link to Amazon Roswell in the 21st Century The latest information on the Roswell UFO crash. INDEX - Click on cover for the index to Roswell in the 21st Century The UFO Dossier 100 Years of Government Secrets, Conspiracies, and Cover-Ups The Government UFO Files A look at the conspiracy of cover up that began with the Foo fighters of World War II and which continues today. Reflections of a UFO Investigator The true story of a personal search in the world of the UFO. Click on cover. VAMPYR? A horror novel that is also a police procedural available from Amazon.com Click on cover. On the Second Tuesday of Next Week A war in space that is fought with time travel. Available only on Kindle at Amazon.com Click on cover. Vietnam Ground Zero The series about a Special Forces A-Team in Vietnam. Click on cover to link to Amazon Kevin D. Randle Retired soldier Kevin Randle while serving in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. eBooks and Audio Books Some of my books are now available as ebooks and some are available as audio books. There are some original UFO books available at Amazon as Kindle ebooks starting at 0.99 cents and working upward from there. If you enjoy a book, think about adding a review for it. Those interested in my Vietnam experiences might be interested in www.vietnamgroundzero.blogspsot.com. Take a look at it. Roswell, the GAO and Hiding Documents Plagiarism in UFO Writing Richard French, UFOs and Roswell A Few Facts about Project Mogul Coast to Coast - More Occupant Reports I’ve talked with colleagues about the lack of good, robust reports for the last decade or so. Rob Swiatek of MUFON mentioned this same thi... History's Greatest Mysteries - A Quick Analysis One of the starkest notes I have received about the History Channel’s History’s Greatest Mysteries , was the one that suggested the progra... Coast to Coast - The Alien Artifact in the Solar System Jerome (Jerry) Clark sent me an interesting email that directed me to an entry in his massive UFO Encyclopedia, which, by the way, is a req... The Bob Pratt, Jesse Marcel Interview It has come up, in one of the comments on this blog, that someone wondered when the Pratt interview took place. I thought this was the bes... The Ramey Memo For those of you who watched History’s Greatest Mysteries and want more information on the Ramey Memo, I am posting a list of my blog entri... The Mystery of Oak Island Solved by Joy Steele While the Laginas begin to power up for a new assault on the treasure hidden beneath Oak Island, a new theory about the Money Pit has been ... Lewis Chase and the RB-47 (Note: Back when I was taking a creative writing course in college, the instructor said to never give away your writing. That weakened the... Barbara Dugger and History's Greatest Mysteries I was a little disturbed by the Barbara Dugger (as opposed to Duggar) interview on History’s Greatest Mysteries , which is to say I wonder... MADAR - Instrumentality and UFOs I’ve mentioned the types of evidence for the existence of alien visitation. One of those elements of the proof is the interaction with the... Coast to Coast - Belt, Montana UFO Sighting (Part One) Here is the whole story of the Belt, Montana, sightings for March 24, 1967, as they appear in the Project Blue Book files. A truck driver,... KRandle	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8499
__label__wiki	0.977422	0.977422	The Music of the Night Jeff leyton Reminiscences - Frederic Chopin Mozart Wind Concertos Britten Les Illuminations Mark Moraghan Singer Mark Moraghan is perhaps best known as an actor but showcased his musical talents on the BBC show "Just The Two Of Us". "Moonlight's Back in Style (songs by Nicky Campbell)" is Mark's debut album. Mark Moraghan has trodden a glittering and acclaimed path as an actor [Owen Davis in Holby City, Greg in Brookside, Ray Wyatt in Dream Team and as Barry Scouser in Harry Enfield and Chums] but swing is his thing. It always was. How could it not be? The Police drummer Stewart Copeland said of Mark "He is relaxed, easy and cool" and described his singing as "blazing excellence". CeCe Sammi, the vocal coach to the stars said, "He's very tender, very passionate, very sexy - superb." Mark's debut album "Moonlight's Back in Style (songs by Nicky Campbell)" is due for release on Linn Records in Autumn 2009. For further information - www.myspace.com/markmoraghan Купить LINN Moonlight's Back in Style (songs by Nicky Campbell) Debut album from actor and star of "Just The Two Of Us"	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8504
__label__wiki	0.922858	0.922858	Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand, 2014-15 » Stats: Top performers in New Zealand-Sri Lanka ODIs Tags: Sri Lanka tour of New Zealand, 2014-15, Sri Lanka, New Zealand The seven-match one-day series came to an end with Sri Lanka registering an impressive 34-run win against the Kiwis in the final ODI. The seven-match one-day series came to an end with Sri Lanka registering an impressive 34-run win against the Kiwis in the final ODI. The hosts however clinched the series 4-2, with one match being rained out. Here's a look back at the top run-getters and wicket takers in the series. Tillakaratne Dilshan: Although Sri Lanka lost, their opener was the most consistent of all players in the series, and thus, not surprisingly, was the leading run-getter. In seven matches, Dilshan amassed 397 runs at an average of 66. He hit two hundreds in the series, one of which was in a winning cause, and the other in a losing one. Dilshan's highest score in the series was 116. He finished the series with a strike rate of 85. Going into the World Cup, the veteran's performance augurs well for the Lankans. Kumar Sangakkara: Somewhat surprisingly, the second leading run-getter in the series was also a Sri Lankan. The veteran left-hander scored 321 runs in seven matches at an average of 64 with one hundred and two fifties. He had a highest of 113 not out, which came in the final ODI at Wellington. Sangakkara finished the series with an excellent strike rate of 98. Kane Williamson: The talented Kiwi was the top run scorer for New Zealand in the series. In seven games, he totalled 295 runs at an average of 59 with one hundred and two fifties. Williamson had a highest score of 103 in the series, and a strike rate of 87. He was New Zealand's best performer with the bat without doubt. Luke Ronchi: A surprise name in the list, Ronchi finished with 279 runs from seven games, bolstered by the sensational 170 not out. Thanks to that knock, Ronchi finished with an average of 69.7 and a strike rate of 147. Mahela Jayawardene: The Sri Lankan legend finished with 278 runs in seven games at an average of 46.3 with one hundred and one fifty. He had a highest score of 104, and a brilliant strike rate of 99.6. Mitchell McClenaghan: In a series dominated by batsmen, he was the top wicket-taker with 10 wickets from six games at an average of 22.6 and a best of 4 for 36. His economy rate of 5.5 was slightly on the higher side, but he made up for it with a strike rate of 24. Corey Anderson: The big-hitting Kiwi did not have a great series with the willow, but made up for it somewhat with the ball. In seven matches, he picked up nine wickets at an average of 28. Anderson's best figures in an innings were 4 for 52. His economy rate was over six, but his strike rate was impressive at 27. Kusal Mendis involved in fatal road ...Kusal Mendis involved in fatal road accident, arrestedJul 06, 2020 2011 World Cup fixing claims: de ...2011 World Cup fixing claims: de Silva, Tharanga investigatedJul 02, 2020 Don't think Super Over is needed ...Don't think Super Over is needed in a one-day game: ...Jun 26, 2020 If it doesn’t matter then why ...If it doesn’t matter then why play: Nehra slams Kohli ...May 08, 2020 India's reign as number one Test ...India's reign as number one Test team ends, Australia back ...May 04, 2020 Match behind closed doors felt like ...Match behind closed doors felt like a warm-up: Ross TaylorMay 01, 2020 Sandeep Patil lashes out at Indian ...Sandeep Patil lashes out at Indian batsmen after an insipid ...Mar 03, 2020 Kohli blames New Zealand series defeat ...Kohli blames New Zealand series defeat on failure to execute ...Mar 02, 2020 Christchurch Test: Batting collapse leaves India ...Christchurch Test: Batting collapse leaves India staring at defeat after ...Feb 29, 2020 Dilip Vengsarkar's sound advice to Indian ...Dilip Vengsarkar's sound advice to Indian batsmen ahead of second ...Feb 27, 2020 Former cricketers question India's quality, tactics ...Former cricketers question India's quality, tactics after Wellington thrashingFeb 26, 2020	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8510
__label__wiki	0.901373	0.901373	Behind cancer drug, a 30-year history of scientific breakthroughs Dermatologist Jean Tang chats with Winnie Bazurto, who benefited from a drug recently approved for the treatment of inoperable basal cell carcinoma. The cancer had formed on Bazurto's lower right eyelid. Three years ago, 101-year-old Winnie Bazurto noticed a strange growth on her lower eyelid. She didn't worry about it initially, but in 2012 it started getting bigger, fast — doubling in size every two weeks and growing into the orbit of her right eye, restricting her vision. Diagnosed as basal cell carcinoma, the most common skin cancer, her main concern was that the painful growth would infiltrate the eyeball, possibly causing blindness. Bazurto's options for treatment didn't look good. Although still healthy, her age meant she was not a candidate for the eight-hour surgery necessary to remove the growth or the alternative, six weeks of radiation treatment. But she was reluctant to lose the sight in her right eye and, along with it, much of her independence — not to mention her ability to watch a fastball on the television set. Then a third option emerged: a new drug approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in January 2012 called vismodegib (brand name Erivedge) to treat inoperable basal cell carcinomas. Like most patients prescribed a new drug, Bazurto knew little about the story behind its origins. The Genentech-developed drug is the first class of drugs approved by the FDA that works by inhibiting one of the key regulators in human development: the hedgehog molecular signaling pathway. Considered a landmark in cancer treatment, it's hoped there will be many more hedgehog-inhibiting drugs to come for the treatment of other invasive cancers — not just inoperable basal cell carcinomas like Bazurto's, but pancreatic, esophageal and ovarian cancers as well. "That's the exciting part about this drug," said Anthony Oro, MD, PhD, a professor of dermatology at Stanford who was part of the original hedgehog cancer studies, and involved in the study that led to the approval of the drug, nicknamed vismo. "Now, hopefully, we will develop more of these types of drugs for other cancers in a faster cycle time." Faster is the key word here, considering that more than 30 years of painstaking scientific research lie behind the development of the little pink-and-gray vismo pills offered to Bazurto by her Stanford dermatologist Jean Tang, MD, PhD, assistant professor of dermatology — one of the many scientists at Stanford and around the world involved in research that led to the drug's development. For Bazurto, the new drug sounded like a good option. She agreed to give the pills a try. The story behind the development of vismo is a 30-year history of scientific breakthroughs, one building upon the next, as they emerged from the laboratories of biologists who were working to understand how genetic pathways affect the development of life. The drug's origins date back to a scientific quest in the 1970s to answer a crucial question of developmental biology. Scientists knew that a developing embryo started out as a ball of identical cells, but nobody yet understood how these cells knew when or where to grow body parts, such as arms and legs. Scientists wanted to understand the mystery of embryogenesis. It was the result of fruit fly studies by scientists Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, Edward Lewis and Eric Wieschaus that eventually provided the answer — winning them the Nobel Prize. In their studies of thousands of newly created mutant fruit fly strains, the scientists identified more than 50 genes needed to control the formation of the embryo, including one they named hedgehog. The hedgehog gene was found to regulate the organization and pattern of fly body parts. (They named it hedgehog because, when mutated, the gene caused the flies to grow a coat of spines all over their undersides.) Remarkably, other researchers identified a similar gene in humans and other vertebrates, indicating that the gene had been present in common ancestors more than half a billion years ago. Matthew Scott, a key player in the history of hedgehog gene research, noted that the cancer drug based on that research was approved by the FDA on his birthday. "To see the culmination of 30 years of research help patients live their lives better is enormously gratifying," he said. These major discoveries excited the scientific community, triggering a new round of research to determine exactly how genes control the growth of animals. One of those scientists, who would prove to be a key player in the history of hedgehog research, was Matthew Scott, PhD, professor of developmental biology at Stanford. "Scientists wanted to discover how all the molecular switches, gears, pipes, transport systems — all sorts of machinery — worked to control the organization of embryos during their development. The hardware — genes and proteins like hedgehog — is deployed somewhat differently in different animals, like species-specific software, to give rise to the vast diversity of animal forms," Scott said. Sixteen years after the fruit fly discoveries, in 1996, Scott and a team at UC-San Francisco led by Ervin Epstein Jr., MD, professor of dermatology, made another huge discovery that would connect the hedgehog pathway and certain cancers. They discovered that defects in hedgehog or related genes were present in two cancers: basal cell carcinoma, the most common human cancer, and medulloblastoma, a highly malignant pediatric brain tumor. "These genes, discovered first in flies, tell the cells of a growing embryo when and where they should divide," Scott said. "If the system breaks down, cells will divide when they should not, and that's cancer." A new round of research took off. Scientists set out to discover therapies that could treat certain cancers by blocking the hedgehog pathway when it had gone awry. Sixteen years later, in April 2012, Bazurto, who lives in San Mateo, Calif., started taking the daily vismo pills with the hope of saving the sight in her right eye. Bazurto has seven grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren and two great-great-grandchildren. She's survived the Depression, the recent recession and three husbands. She took the new treatment for skin cancer, and its potential side effects, in stride. Her appetite dampened a bit, she had some leg cramping. Most disturbing for her was some hair loss. She also developed an undocumented side effect — a squamous cell cancer, another non-melanoma skin cancer that looked like an small open wound on her arm. But within just a few months, the basal cell carcinoma had shrunk significantly in size. "All of the lesions pretty much disappeared four months after she started taking the pill," said her granddaughter, Gale Carli, a nurse from San Mateo. "It was amazing." In August, Bazurto stopped taking the drug and had surgery to remove the remaining growth on her eye. The surgery took only an hour and a half and required no general anesthesia. A similar surgery was performed on the new growth on her arm, which healed up nicely. When she arrived in October for a post-surgical visit with Tang, her dermatologist, her hair was thinning, but her eye looked great. "Oh you look so gorgeous!" said Tang when she walked into the examination room and first saw Bazurto seated in her wheelchair at the Stanford Medicine Outpatient Center in Redwood City. Bazurto was joined by her daughter and granddaughter all crowded into the small room. Bazurto rolled her eyes and laughed. She was wearing a floral dress with pearl earrings. Tang was dressed in a white lab coat. When they first met in April, Tang was very pregnant and Bazurto was losing her sight. Now Tang had a healthy baby boy, and Bazurto could see clearly out of her right eye. "I can't seem to find a good wigmaker," Bazurto said. "They don't think I'll live long enough to pay for it," she joked. Tang ran her hands gently through Bazurto's thin, white hair. (In another month, it would all fall out, but her doctor promised it would grow back.) Then Tang gently tapped the skin next to her patient's eye, the site of the surgery. "Is your vision OK?" "Oh, certainly," Bazurto said. "It's a little red at the bottom," Tang said. "Oh, leave me alone," Bazurto said, rolling her eyes. "She's been the toughest thing ever," Tang said, shaking her head with admiration. Today, there are six or seven labs on the Stanford campus that conduct research in the hedgehog pathway. Tens of millions of National Institutes of Health dollars from 1996 to 2013 have gone into fundamental research support for these Stanford labs.The hope is that their work will help lead to more new drugs, more quickly, Oro said. "When vismo was approved, my son said, 'Dad, that was cool. Is it going to take you that long to find the next one?'" Oro said, laughing. Both Oro and Tang were involved in the first clinical trials testing vismodegib on basal cell carcinoma tumors. "If a patient only knew the whole story — how the happenstance of science led to their treatment," Tang said. "If they could go back to when this molecular pathway was first discovered in fruit flies, they'd be amazed. It's not until the dots are connected 30 years later that it begins to make sense." For many of the basic scientists involved in this research, the clinical use of hedgehog-inhibiting drugs to treat patients like Bazurto — while not the original goal of their research — is the ultimate success. "The FDA approval came out on my birthday, Jan. 30," Scott said. "I can't imagine a better birthday present. Even though I had nothing directly to do with vismodegib, to see the culmination of 30 years of research help patients live their lives better is enormously gratifying — and a testimony to basic science." Bazurto, a small woman in a wheelchair who loves baseball and football and has been known to occasionally wager on the 49ers, is today considered somewhat of a rock star among hedgehog scientists in part because of her great response to the hedgehog-inhibiting drug and in part because of her advanced age. The surgeon, her doctor and her nurses all crowded into the small examination room to take photos with her for her post-op visit in October. She smiled widely and mentioned that a Genentech scientist also brought her flowers. "He's the vice president of research at Genentech (Fredric de Sauvage) who has been studying the hedgehog pathway for 20 years," Tang said. "I sent him your picture. He said it almost made him cry. I'm sure it was the crowning moment of his career." Tracie White is a science writer for the medical school’s Office of Communication & Public Affairs. Research offers hope for basal cell carcinoma People with a genetic condition called basal cell nevus syndrome develop hundreds or even thousands of skin cancers, or basal cell carcinomas, each year.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8513
__label__cc	0.645062	0.354938	Fargo, N.D. – The 52nd annual Red River Valley Home & Garden Show brings two first-rate experts to your back door Feb. 22-24. Jyll Everman, a chef and season seven finalist on “Next Food Network Star,” and Geralin Thomas, a professional organizer who regularly appears on A&E’s show “Hoarders,” will host seminars at the show. Consumers will find the Fargodome overflowing with more than 300 exhibitors, including the largest selection of home and garden exhibits in the region. It is one-stop shopping! Everman – Everman owns Jyllicious Bites, a catering company in Glendora, Calif., devoted to gourmet finger foods. She has been a guest on the “Rachel Ray Morning Show” and several national radio stations. She was a private chef for six years before opening Jyllicious Bites. She currently teaches monthly cooking classes in various venues in Los Angeles and is a part-time culinary specialist at Williams-Sonoma. Thomas – Thomas offers real solutions for real people, emphasizing simplicity and excellence in her approach to organizing challenges both large and small. Based in Cary, N.C., Thomas has been published in an array of national magazines, featured on “The Nate Berkus Show” and “Today.” She founded her company, Metropolitan Organizing, in 2002, is past president of the North Carolina chapter of the National Association of Professional Organizers, and is a chronic disorganization and ADHD specialist. Event details and conveniences Show hours are 3-9 p.m. Friday, Feb. 22; 9 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 23; and 11 a.m.-5 p.m., Sunday Feb. 24. Check www.hbafm.com for a seminar schedule. Show guides will be published in The Forum Feb. 17 and become available at all Hornbacher’s Feb. 18. Admission is $8 $1-off coupons will be available in the show guides and at www.hbafm.com (starting Feb. 18). Two-for-one admission specials will be 3-5 p.m. Friday and Sunday ($1-off admission coupon not valid during two-for-one hours). Sponsors Accent Kitchen & Bath, COUNTRY Financial and H2 Design Build offer seminars for consumers. Additional sponsors include Blue Cross Blue Shield of N.D., A Sound Environment, LLC, Hornbacher’s and Nodak Stores. The Home Depot will offer a Kids’ Workshop on the mezzanine level, above the lobby Feb. 23, 10 a.m. – 5 p.m., and Feb. 24, noon – 4 p.m. Read more in the show guide. A playground with childcare will be available for potty-trained children age three to seven. It is offered by YMCA of Cass and Clay Counties and North Dakota State University’s Human Development and Family Science Club. Fees (donated to HDFS Club) are $3 per hour for the first child and $2 per hour for each additional child (same family). Entrances on the east and west sides of the Fargodome will be open for consumer convenience. Visit www.hbafm.com for more details. Contact Alison at (701) 232-5846 or alison@hbafm.com for more information on exhibiting. For sponsorship information, contact Jenny at (701) 232-5846 or jenny@hbafm.com. The HBA of F-M is a non-profit trade association of just under 800 members that has been in existence since 1956. Its mission is to provide quality services, benefits and education to members and the community while representing the collective interests of the home building industry. Its public events include the Spring Parade of Homes, Fall Parade of Homes, Red River Valley Home & Garden Show, Fall Home Show and Remodeled Home Tour.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8520
__label__wiki	0.663232	0.663232	ovid metamorphoses themes "Metamorphoses Themes". The major Greek and Roman epics all contained the theme that hubris -- that is, overly prideful behavior -- is a... Change. The importance of the theme of metamorphosis is more apparent than real; passion is the essential theme of the poem, and passion imparts more unity to the work than do the transformation devices employed by Ovid. Ovid puts himself in the same class as his artistic characters. Ovid emphasizes the disastrous quality of all romances Some of the metamorphoses However, his stories also suggest the futility of controlling erotic impulse; Ovid may well have intended to criticize Augustan's attempt to regulate love. Transformations from one shape or form into another are the central theme in Ovid's Metamorphoses. âMetamorphosesâ can be translated as meaning âbooks of transformations.â The poem traces the history of the world from the creation to Julius Caesar. the art of rhetoric. Pythagoras tells his students that everything is constantly changing. Similarly, Medea casts herself in the role of the villain when she betrays her father and helps Jason get the golden fleece. The language of rage and pain is a central theme throughout Ovidâs story of Philomela. who is the other family that takes cares of gregor? SparkNotes is brought to you by Barnes & Noble. what dose this emphasize, "all means should first be tried, but the incurable flesh must be exercised by the knife, so that the healthy party is not infected". rapes Philomela and then cuts out her tongue. Hubris is the theme which counteracts the theme of love as the universal equalizer. the Sun’s palace doors. be just as dangerous as literal ones. but he is torn to shreds nonetheless. Power and Revenge. The transformations in Metamorphoses often follow from the pursuits or the effects spurred on by love. Indeed, nearly everything in the story is in a process of changing. Fate plays a major role in Metamorphoses, as Ovid embraces the idea that life is like a story which has already been written. Other characters display hubris in ignoring their mortality. Tereus repeatedly It is often difficult to speak of times that cause anger, pain, or grief. a message. home. The popularity and timelessness of this work stems from the manner of story telling. Even love, which can explain so much bad behavior, is not a justification for betraying your family and your country. He explains that the only constant thing in life is changeâit defines what it means to be alive. Ovid, Roman poet noted especially for his Ars amatoria and Metamorphoses. suffering. The Question and Answer section for Metamorphoses is a great The gods are always avenging themselves and changing mortals into animals or plants so that they can prove their own superiority. Even The God of Death, Pluto, is moved by love. acceptable love, such as the love between Pyramus and Thisbe, is The major Greek and Roman epics all contained the theme that hubris -- that is, overly prideful behavior -- is a fatal flaw which leads to a character's downfall. I don't recall a second family. The play opened off-Broadway in October 2001 at the Second Stage Theatre.It transferred to Broadway on 21 February 2002 at â¦ In part two, students read an ekphrastic poem by Rainer Maria Rilke and study a related work of art. The Metamorphoses Themes. When the gods became angry because Hebe could not restore youth to their loved ones, Jove reminded them that he could not alter the fate of a mortal's life span. The contstant shifting between the large and the small view forces the reader to transform one's focus. One the one hand, mortals pray to the gods both to know their fate, and to learn of any possible way of escaping it. If you worshipped the gods he describes, what would your view of the world be? Cities needed to be able to rely on one another in times of war, for without networks of friendly cities, no one would ever have been at peace. Miller, W.C. ed. Science. On the other hand, with the theme of hubris, Ovid reminds his readers that when humans take their similarity to the gods too far they are punished. It certainly would be strange but I think this is asking for your opinion rather than mine. Ovid puts himself in the same class as his Even though my analysis will be based on only two versions, it is valid because it is not based on themes alone. By filling his poem with examples of the usefulness and importance of art, Ovid offers support for the importance of artists and writers in society. Latin poem, 8 a.d. Ovid's Metamorphoses is regarded as a masterpiece among the great classical Latin poems. Metamorphoses literature essays are academic essays for citation. His verse had immense influence both by its imaginative interpretations of Classical myth and as an example of supreme technical accomplishment. Complete summary of Ovid's The Metamorphoses of Ovid. In part one, students explore the theme of transformation in text and art by reading the story of Apollo and Daphne from Ovid's Metamorphoses and studying works of art related to the poem. Would it be better or worse than living under the divine system described by Hesiod? Love. Arachne is punished for her hubristic challenge by being transformed into a spider. Male gods usually express their love for female mortals raping them. It's significant that Ovid ends Metamorphoses with the portrayal of the philosopher Pythagoras, who sees change in every aspect of existence all around him. Phaeton, for example, Ovid intends the reader to consider Medea to be a corrupt person; her eventual tragic fate follows from this initial betrayal of her home. The power of love to metamorphosize can be as quotidian as pregnancy -- women's shapes and roles change as a result of being impregnated, a common result of a love relationship -- and as fantastic as bestial transformation. Similarly, when Cassandra foresees the fall of Troy, she is unable to stop it from happening, despite her great desire to do so. cannot create art and praises those who do. The Metamorphoses (Latin: MetamorphÅseÅn librÄ«: "Books of Transformations") is an 8 AD Latin narrative poem by the Roman poet Ovid, considered his magnum opus. Power shifts between cities and peoples. Ovid takes stories relevant to his culture and time period, and weaves them together into one work with a connecting theme of transformation throughout. Many of the stories that do not contain specific elements of transformation are taken from Roman history, and thus fit into the idea of the transformation of Rome and the Roman people. Consequently, betrayal was one of the most harshly punished of Roman crimes. Metamorphoses Themes Love and Transformation. Ultimately, the inclusion of Pythagoras's philosophical views at the end of the poem provides the best explication of the meaning of transformation in the poem. of their affection in a similarly brutal way, abducting, raping, Love is most often described as the true driving force behind the transformations in Metamorphoses. When women love men, their Throughout the poem, Ovid points out when transformations result in the invention of new animals, plants, and even musical instruments. In the last lines of the poem, he states that he will escape the misery of death living on forever in his artistic creation, the Metamorphoses. Metamorphoses is a play by the American playwright and director Mary Zimmerman, adapted from the classic Ovid poem Metamorphoses.The play premiered in 1996 as Six Myths at Northwestern University and later the Lookingglass Theatre Company in Chicago. Like a troublesome younger brother, an embarrassment to the family, Ovidâs epic âkicks against the pricks,â to paraphrase the paraphrase of Nick Cave. 3.59. one. Fate is a concept which both supports and undermines the power of the gods. Like the Aeneid, the poem also explains the origin of Italy, albeit much more briefly. damage others, not just one’s self. Translated by Sir Samuel Garth, John Dryden, et al : Table of Contents Book the First : The Creation of the World Of bodies chang'd to various forms, I sing: Ye Gods, from whom these miracles did spring, Inspire my numbers with coelestial heat; One possible conclusion is that the title and theme are merely a device, a semi-successful way of tying a group of very disparate stories together. that it comes to life. Along with his brother, who excelled at oratory, Ovid was educated in rhetoric in Rome under the teachers Arellius Fuscus and Porcius â¦ In any event, Virgilâs Aeneid became an instant âclassicâ and is treated as such in the Metamorphoses â that is to say, it is frequently the focus of Ovidâs intertextual engagement. Most of the key characters in the Metamorphoses display Ovid employs Bacchus as a means to linking different stories in Metamorphoses book 3; sexual themes are explored as Ovidâs characters struggle to contain their affections within platonic boundaries. A key theme of Metamorphoses is the silencing of characters, often through the metamorphosis itself, and often in combination with the theme of power. The main theme in this epic is the theme of change and transformation, which is â¦ No one can avoid its effects, or resist the danger and misery to which love often drives us. The beautiful Narcissus scorned those â¦ Ovid does not believe that love conquers all or that love is always a positive thing, but he clearly believes that â¦ Land masses are created and destroyed. Daedalus escapes artistic characters. In Ovid’s work, love almost never leads to a happy ending. Learn more about Ovidâs life and work. What book number is this in? Male gods usually express their love for female mortals by raping When Scylla betrays her father King Nissus, King Minos will have nothing to do with her. Moreover, those pursued by love-mad gods also transform themselves in an effort to escape unwanted attentions; perhaps the most famous of these transformations is the metamorphosis of Daphne into a laurel tree when Apollo pursues her. for example, or Juno changes Callisto into a bear. The crow's feathers are black, rather than white, because he told Apollo of Coronis's betrayal. Some, especially women, tend to actively challenge the gods and goddesses to defend their prowess. By hearing it or reading it, they would learn important stories that explain their world. The work is noted for its wit, rhetorical brilliance, and narrative and â¦ On this ostensibly unifying thread Ovid strings together a vast and kaleidoscopic sequence of brilliant narratives, in which the often paradoxical and always arbitrary fates of his human and divine characters reflect the never-ending flux and reflux of the universe itself. Memory and the Past. As its title suggests, Metamorphoses is When Venus rages against the death of Caesar, Jove reminds her that she cannot alter his fate, but that good things are fated for Rome as well. An important text that involved many myths is Metamorphoses, written by Ovid. Artists aim to preserve these two qualities in their work by simultaneously imitating the natural world to give the appearance of life to static creations and also looking to transcend and outlast natureâs beauty. Philomela escapes her literal As a poem, Ovid also saw Metamorphoses as an offering to the gods: he asked for their help in making the poem worthy of being dedicated to them and focused on the gods in his subject matter. eNotes plot summaries cover all the significant action of The Metamorphoses of Ovid. find lasting happiness. Others are more and obvious to the literary and oblique. By Ovid. Use up and down arrows to review and enter to select. Love is most often described as the true driving force behind the transformations in... Hubris. For Ovid, love was more often viewed as a dangerous, destabilizing force than a positive one. Ovid similarly characterizes Romulus and Remus, the founders of Rome, as Martia proles at Fast. And I shall use as a supplement the version in Ovidâs Metamorphoses, 8.260â546. an essential quality of the transformed person. The gods have a longer view of Fate, but it exerts a force on them as well. Copyright © 1999 - 2020 GradeSaver LLC. Love overwhelms reason and morality: a person in love might be desperately drawn to a brother, a father, or even a bull. Metamorphoses study guide contains a biography of Ovid, literature essays, quiz questions, major themes, characters, and a full summary and analysis. It is usually the cause of whatever transformation the stories are explaining. While the division of power is clear, with fate ruling â¦ During the reign of Augustus, Ovid's emperor, major attempts were made to regulate morality by creating legal and illegal forms of love. Previous Next . Ovid was born in the Paelignian town of Sulmo (modern-day Sulmona, in the province of L'Aquila, Abruzzo), in an Apennine valley east of Rome, to an important equestrian family, the gens Ovidia, on 20 March 43 BC.That was a significant year in Roman politics. Ulysses defeats Ajax’s brawn by deploying In order to combat low marriage rates and birth rates in the upper classes, laws were passed to encourage marriage, encourage legitimate heirs and discouraging love outside of marriage; adultery could be punished with exile from Rome. Chaos is transformed into the universe, rivers and springs are created from nothing, islands break off from the land, people change into plants and animals, gods change their shape, people are transformed by love and by hate. These papers were written primarily by students and provide critical analysis of Metamorphoses. resource to ask questions, find answers, and discuss the novel. At the same time they often fail to identify themselves as either the subject or the object of their affairs. The worship of Bacchus morphs the women’s mindsets, rather Wikimedia Commons. Phaeton to the beauty of art prevent him from comprehending the When Jupiter turns One recurring theme of Metamorphoses is that of Love. Niobe is punished with the violent death of all of her children and is then changed into a statue. I think Jupiter is saying that man kind is basically a disease and must be cut out/destroyed. On the one hand, Ovid shows that gods and mortals are not so different from each other: they both fall in love, with often disasterous and dissapointing results. Ovidâs Metamorphoses is divided into fifteen books, but it also has a tripartite structure, with the various tales of transformation loosely divided into three categories, treating gods, heroes, and history respectively. In general, the gods penalize wickedness and reward piety. Yet, so often these transformations seem tangential, irrelevant to the main point, or included merely for comic effect. Sex. creation, the Metamorphoses. Power and revenge are inseparable in Metamorphoses. Ovid suggests that only art enables people to transcend His mother and aunt hunt him down not Love creates changes in lover and loved alike. gods’ violent expressions of love. That includes personal love or as the personified deity, Amor/Cupid. suicide. Though there is no concrete evidence for or against it, one can certainly imagine the Metamorphoses as a teaching tool for Roman children. destroys the whole world, which suggests that lack of artistry can Most of the stories in Metamorphoses address the transformative power of love. In the case of an oft-used myth such as that of Io in Book I, which was the subject of literary adaptation as early as the 5th century BC, and as recently as a generation prior to his own, Ovid reorganizes and innovates existing material in order to foreground his favored topics and to embody the key themes of the Metamorphoses. her people to a foreign army. At the same time, hubris is a natural flaw in humans, especially in a society which values heroic, overpowering displays of talent and strength. Transformation. Furthermore, they would learn about their glorious emperor and his ancestors, an important component of any poem supported by the government. The Metamorphoses is a narrative poem by the Roman poet, Ovid. Pentheus may not have transformed, Male mortals treat the objects The Metamorphoses Themes. His flight not only destroys him, but it also nearly are straightforwardly literal: Diana turns Actaeon into a deer, In the Metamorphoses, his most influential work, Ovid weaves a hexametric whole from a huge range of myths, which are connected by the theme of change and ingeniously linked as the narrative proceeds from earliest creation to transformation in Ovidâs own time. Gender. THE SADNESS OF LOVE In work, love almost never leads to a happy ending. Not affiliated with Harvard College. This epic involved many stories of different gods and different humans and their interactions. them. GradeSaver, 21 November 2006 Web. The Loeb Classical Library edition of Ovid is in six volumes. Pygmalion creates an ivory statue so lovely and accurate Millions of books are just a click away on BN.com and through our FREE NOOK reading apps. Loyalty was an one of the most important characteristics of good character in Ovid's age. Lesson Overview. Pentheus’s transformation, When Deucalion and Pyrrha see the world end around them, they know that this destruction is fated, and that therefore it is futile to resist it. In Ovidâs work, love almost never leads to a happy ending. Another, more satisfying, conclusion is that Ovid expands the metaphor of transformation in a way that encompasses the poem as a whole. Apollo wears a laurel wreath in his hair, because the laurel came into being when Daphne was transformed. Ovid seems to be commenting on those who have the power to speak and be heard, and those who have their voices suppressed. Transformation Love Sex Man and the Natural World Memory and the Past Foolishness and â¦ Other Similarities: Language of Rage. Women’s incestuous love for their Socially prison and the metaphorical prison of her speechlessness by embroidering In many ways the Metamorphoses is about the origin of things. his prison in Crete by creating wings. Even though my analysis will be based on only two versions, it is valid because it is not based on themes â¦ Ovid demonstrates that love has power over everyone -- mortals and gods alike. metaphorical and subtle. Ovid suggests that subtle or figurative transformations can than Pentheus’s body. 64 A point emphasized by Hardie (1990) 229. In addition to the abstract claim the love affects change, Ovid may have emphasized the role of love in metamorphosis for political reasons. Love, War, and Thracians: A Critical Analysis of the Significance of Thrace In Ovid's Metamorphoses, Make Panic Look Fetching: The Eroticization of Rape by Ovid, Ovidian Transformations Change Readers' Perceptions, Pygmalion: The Power of the Artist in Metamorphoses, View Wikipedia Entries for Metamorphoses…. Other metamorphoses are still subtler. Pelias ties up Thetis to rape her. Ovid's characters display hubris in a variety of ways. There was a nymph daughter of a river god who was turned off to love. Ovid's representations of love certainly convey its power to damage lives and societies, and so may abet the political temper of Augustan. is a philistine who does not appreciate the splendid art that decorates and mutilating them. Pyramus and Thisbe wind up as a double Io, Callisto, and Semele, among many others, suffer from the Ovid's Metamorphoses Book III: The Myth of Narcissus. The Sadness of Love. People use these stories to illustrate points, communicate warnings, persuade, amuse and impress. Whether a singing competition between the Muses and nine sisters, the weaving competition between Arachne and Diana, or the nighttime amusement of Greek generals during the Trojan War, Ovid represents people telling stories and repeating myths within the larger context of his own myth-telling. for example, is figurative. Foolishness and Folly. In Ovidâs work, the gods were continually humiliated and confused by Love, who was usually considered to be a relatively insignificant minor god. âMetamorphosesâ is often called a mock-epic, as it is written in dactylic hexameter (the form of the great epic poems of the ancient tradition, such as âThe Iliadâ, âThe Odysseyâ and âThe Aeneidâ), unlike Ovidâs other works. Ovid's view of love is quite different than our popular conception today; as C.S. Once you start to look for change, it is impossible to see anything else -- indeed, change rather than constancy comes to define existence itself. The presence of and belief in the preordained nature of life also lead to a fatalistic attitude in Roman society. the kind of artistic merit that Phaeton lacks. character. Man and the Natural World. Throughout Metamorphoses, Ovid introduces stories within stories. First, it begins with the creation of the universe and of man. love for her father, Cinyras, reliably ends in disaster. Metamorphoses By Ovid Written 1 A.C.E. The same immaturity and poor judgment that blind He condemns those characters who do not appreciate or Jove takes on the shape of a bull, in his rape of Europa, in order to fulfill his desire; Apollo changes into his beloved's sister in order to access her. What would it feel like to live as a believer in the stories Ovid tells? The Homeric Iliad (c. 850 BC) soars to the literary heights of the sublime, and shows us how to live and die, to meditate on mortality, to embrace sorrow, to grip and then release hate, to truly love. At the same time, the gods themselves cannot alter fate, they can only forsee it. Since the Middle Ages, writers, painters, and sculptors have been drawing on Ovidâs stories of the passions, adventures, and battles of the gods and heroes for inspiration. She is completely unworthy of love, because of the degrading action she committed. Punishment and Reward Although the gods of Ovidâs Metamorphoses are a violent, capricious bunch, the punishments they mete out are not entirely random. Religion. Lewis famously pointed out in The Allegory of Love (1936), our current, predominantly romantic notions of love were "invented" in the Middle Ages. Many metamorphoses clarify and highlight Comprising 11,995 lines, 15 books and over 250 myths, the poem chronicles the history of the world from its creation to the deification of Julius Caesar within a loose mythico-historical framework. male relatives, such as Byblis’s love for her brother, Caunus, or Myrrha’s Ovidâs Metamorphoses is a work about transience, and perhaps no two things in the natural world are more fleeting than life and beauty. People cannot escape their destiny; thus when Tiresias prophecies that Narcissus will live a long time unless he discovers himself, he is proven correct. Ovidâs long poem Metamorphoses, written in Ancient Rome in 8 AD, tells the story of the creation of the world to the eighth century, with a central theme revolving around gods, mythology, and metamorphosis, or the transformation of characters from one being into another. Philomela and Ovid are both examples of people who successfully overcome attempts to suppress and censor their speech. passion often causes them to betray their fathers, families, and cities. an exploration of transformations of all kinds, from the pedestrian The Metamorphoses by Publius Ovidius Naso (Ovid) is considered one of the most influential books in the Western canon and an extremely important source for classical mythology. "Metamorphoses" means "tranformations" and there are many, many kinds of transformations throughout the poem. The theme of the Metamorphoses is change and transformation, as illustrated in Graeco-Roman myth and legend. Ovid puts himself in the same class as his artistic characters. In the last lines of the poem, he states that he will escape the misery of death by living on forever in his artistic Revenge. The Odyssey (c. 800 BCâ¦ Medea’s love for Jason leads her to turn against her father and her Millman, China. Achilles angers Neptune by killing his son, Cycnus, and Apollo punishes this effrontery by arranging for Achilles to die in humiliation at the hands of Paris. Revenge is a recurring theme in the book Metamorphoses. Hubris always attracts the notice and punishment of the gods, who disdain all human beings who attempt to compare themselves to divinity. Lycaon into a wolf, he is responding to Lycaon’s bloodthirsty, wolfish because he is actually an animal but because they perceive him as Elements change into other elements. Ovid's multiple examples of the dangers of hubris fit into the common critical view of the Metamorphoses as a "mock epic." But for some, the Metamorphoses sits uneasily alongside its more morally and patriotically sound predecessors. no guarantee of happiness. danger of his flight. These laws suggested the destructive force of unfocused, adulterous love -- a kind of love often depicted negatively in Metamorphoses. 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__label__cc	0.647264	0.352736	Waxing Seniority: EJ Singler March 19, 2013 OregonDana Altman, EJ Singler, Ernie Kent, Kyle Singler, Mac Court, Matt Knight Arenaawbutler David Piper is the editor and founder of Addicted to Quack. He knows Duck sports inside and out and created the web’s top blog for following all things Oregon. In the spring of 2010, coming off their second straight bottom two finish in the Pac-12, the Oregon Ducks fired their all-time winningest head coach, Ernie Kent. Oregon would take well over a month to name a successor, and in that time, transfer after transfer decimated the Oregon program. In all, five players left Oregon, with no incoming recruits having been signed as Dana Altman took over as head coach in April. Only one of the holdovers was an underclassmen. That player was E. J. Singler. Singler committed to Oregon even as they were coming off a 2-16 conference season in 2008-09. The Oregon 6A player of the year at South Medford, he was more known for being Kyle’s little brother, although he has been a good player in his own right. He imprinted himself on the team right away, becoming a starter his freshman year, and earning a reputation as a guy who does a little bit of everything—shooting 45% from the field while finishing third on the team in rebounds and assits. But it was after Altman took over that Singler really began to assert himself. The 2010-11 Ducks may have been one of the least talented Pac-12 squads ever assembled. The roster looked straight out of the bottom half of the Big Sky. Only two players, Singler and Joevan Catron, would sniff the floor on a team that was even halfway decent. But the team ran everything through E.J., who was second on the team in scoring, rebounding, and blocks, and somehow led the team to a 20 win season. More transfers ensued, leaving only two players from the Ernie Kent era still on the team two seasons after his departure. This season, Singler is the lone remaining player from the Kent era, the lone four-year senior on the roster. In the most tumultuous time in Oregon history, a four-year stretch in which the Ducks fired their all-time winningest coach, opened a new arena after over 80 seasons at Mac Court, and saw 12 players transfer out of the Oregon program, E.J. has been our rock. He has been the one consistent thing about this program, the one face that has seen through the entire time of transition. E.J.’s numbers are down across the board this season, as he has been battling a pretty bad case of knee tendonitis all year. However, he is still the unquestionable leader of the squad. Despite missing out on the conference title, he still likely has led this team to the NCAA Tournaement for the first time since 2008, and the program back to being respectable. The most anybody can do is hope to leave a place better than how they found it. E.J. is the one player over the last handful of seasons who has really left a lasting mark on Oregon basketball, and the program is in a much better place for it. ← Waxing Seniority: Jio Fontan The Dancing Oregon Ducks → One thought on “Waxing Seniority: EJ Singler” Pingback: The Dancing Oregon Ducks \| pachoops	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8532
__label__cc	0.615088	0.384912	You are here: Home / Archives for Unions Fair Share Union Fees for Public Sector Employees — by Stuart Appelbaum, President of the Jewish Labor Committee The right to form and join unions in both the public and private sectors is critically important to working men and women in the United States, giving them a voice in economic and political spheres. Unions help to build and sustain a strong middle class and mitigate income inequality, which can destabilize our society. In the public sector, however, the future of unions is being threatened in a case recently argued before the United States Supreme Court. The case, Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, involves the issue of “fair share fees” for nonunion members in public sector jobs. Public sector unions help to ensure decent pay, fair working conditions, and a range of benefits for public employees, such as teachers, firefighters, social workers, police and others. Where there is union representation in a public or private sector workplace, the union is legally obligated to negotiate on behalf of all employees, including the nonunion workers. Because these workers benefit from union representation, they should pay their fair share for the union’s work on their behalf; otherwise, they are getting a free ride by reaping the benefits paid for by others. In Friedrichs, the practice of imposing fair share fees for public sector unions is being challenged. In the 1977 case of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, the Supreme Court ruled that it is constitutional for public sector unions to collect fair share fees from those employees who choose not to join a union, but are still legally required to be represented by that union. These fees are to reflect only the costs involved in negotiating for “bread and butter issues,” not political activities. The Supreme Court decision in Friedrichs, which is expected in June, could change that 1977 ruling. If the Supreme Court overturns Abood, the impact of this decision would extend beyond public school teachers in California to all public employees throughout the country. Without the fair share fee, public sector unions would have fewer resources to handle negotiations and grievances. The result would be to adversely affect all employees in public sector workplaces with union members. Union resources would be further reduced as public employees decide to forego union membership in an attempt to gain the benefits of union services without paying their fair share of the costs. Removing the fair share fee requirement may also impede state and local governments’ ability to recruit and maintain highly skilled employees: if public sector workers earn less and have more precarious work situations than their private sector counterparts, more people will be inclined to work in the private sector. The Jewish Labor Committee stands with public sector unions and with the decision of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education. We view the Friedrichs case as the most recent manifestation of an ongoing multifaceted campaign to reverse over a century’s worth of hard-won gains by American workers to have strong unions defending their interests in the public as well as the private sectors of our society. The Jewish Labor Committee is firmly opposed to this most recent attack on unions and on workers’ rights. Filed Under: News & Opinion Tagged With: Jewish Labor Committee, Supreme Court, Unions The Fear is Palpable June 5, 2012 by PJV Contributor Leave a Comment Crossposted from Democratic Convention Watch Today is Tuesday the 5th of June. In California, they're trying out the new jungle primary system, as well as a number of ballot initiatives. (See the full list here.) The full 9th Circuit will release its decision today on whether it will review the 3-judge panel's decision overturning the gay marriage ban. There's a non-binding primary in Montana for the GOP, and a binding primary for the Democrats. The closed party primaries held today in New Jersey are binding on both sides. There are also binding primaries on both sides in New Mexico and South Dakota, as well as the North Dakota Democratic side. Generally, this would be all over the news, especially the California primary, but instead all eyes are on Wisconsin. In the Badger State, they're expecting turnout of about 65%, and if that threshold is cleared, there's a high probability that America and our two-party system will survive to fight another day. The lower the threshold, the higher the chance that we have seen the end of the two party system for a generation, and the higher the probability that we will see street protests that rival those this year in Greece, Portugal, Spain and Canada. The spending in Wisconsin on the recall is something like $30 million on the side of evil, and about $3 million on the side of truth and light. To a lot of us outside the Beltway, we're very disappointed that the DNC declined to engage, and that the sole peep from our president was a single tweet last night, which said” @BarackObama It's Election Day in Wisconsin tomorrow, and I'm standing by Tom Barrett. He'd make an outstanding governor. –bo Inside the beltway, they're saying that Obama was right to steer clear as that would have made it a “partisan issue” instead of a state issue, but we'll see. The state Democrats, along with the unions, have knocked almost a million doors, and phone banked almost a million homes, they expect to do even more today. If Barrett wins today, it is the triumph of many very hard-working, dedicated boots on the ground who will convince people in the third gubernatorial recall in US history (the others were in 1921 and 2003) that their votes matter. In a state where the airwaves are ruled by Walker's cronies' money, AND THEY CHEAT, a win will be exclusively due to the power of grassroots, of handshakes, a triumph of what elections are supposed to be – issues and actions. Don't underestimate the power of money in elections, and be aware that the Walker contingent is so full of lies that they've sunk this low: Reports began to surface Sunday from around Wisconsin that those canvassing for Governor Scott Walker were informing residents that if they had signed a recall petition that there was no need for them to vote today as their signature was their vote. WE know that's not true, but most people aren't smart where politics and elections are concerned. Hopefully voters took the time to listen to the two debates, wherein Barrett stuck to the facts and Walker sidestepped, ignored questions and outright lied. Hopefully, the voters are paying attention to the fact that Walker is the only governor with a legal defense fund, and is on the cusp of indictment. Hopefully they value schools and human beings over corporate tax cuts and the selling of public lands as paid deer-hunting “farms”. This is the first election where the full force of Citizens United is being felt, or the second if you include the GOP presidential primary fiasco. When the votes are finally tallied, which likely won't be until early tomorrow at the earliest, will we suddenly be a plutocracy? That's question number one. Followed by the question of Milwaukee County: will the same voters who turned out in 2008 for Barack Obama come out today? If so, it will be a clear victory for Tom Barrett no matter what happens in the rest of the state. Milwaukee County is that populous, and Obama won with 62% of the vote. There are a number of people who've been interviewed who are voting for Walker NOT because they like him, but because they don't like the recall process. Are these people a large number, or just who the media chose to focus on? Whatever the outcome, we need to learn from this situation going into November: we need to become even more focused on the idea that EVERY VOTE MATTERS. Turnout counts. Grassroots is all we've got left to fight the half million dollar (and up) donations made by the über rich. In my household, the fear is truly palpable, and it will be a long night. Fingers crossed the dawn brings joy. Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Primaries, Unions, Wisconsin Recall Reflections on labor unions since the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire March 29, 2011 by PJV Contributor Leave a Comment — Hannah Lee Friday, March 25th was the 100th anniversary of the infamous Triangle Shirtwaist Factory fire that killed 146 young female workers. This tragedy propelled reforms in the conditions of these sweatshops and innovative labor laws were enacted to protect workers. The division of Fire Prevention was also created as part of the Fire Department. “Among other restrictions, all doors must now open outwards, no doors are to be locked during working hours, sprinkler systems must be installed if a company employs more than 25 people above the ground floor, and fire drills are mandatory for buildings lacking sprinkler systems.” Here are some personal reflections on the garment factories in the years since 1911. My mother was a worker in these factories– still sweatshops– until her retirement. My family arrived in the United States in 1967 and, in the beginning, she did piecework at home, but the pay was terrible (even worse than at the factories). When her youngest child (my brother, now a professor of finance at the University of Maryland) started full-day kindergarten, she went to work in the factories. My stories of the unions are not as rosy as in the history textbooks. The bosses kept two sets of timecards for each worker. When the union representatives came by for a visit, the bosses would whip out the “legitimate” ones. My mother chose to be paid by the piece, instead of the hour, because she didn’t want to be henpecked for her diligence (which was good). She trained herself to not use the bathroom on the job because they were uniformly filthy. However, the health insurance benefits from a union membership were invaluable and in her retirement, my mother has volunteered with her union. Being a concerned mother, she would excuse herself at school dismissal time to walk us home from school, give us a snack, and return to work, putting me in charge of my younger siblings. She would work until closing time. (My father worked in Chinese restaurants six-to-seven days a week, so he was never home in the evenings.) The recent novel by Jean Kwok called Girl in Translation is as accurate to my childhood and upbringing in the world of New York’s garment factories as a novel can be. Until I read her fictionalized memoir, I’d forgotten how the thick dust in the factories settled on everything, getting into all of our crevices and coating our skin. The legacy of the ILGWU, the International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union (“look for the union label” was the union song) is long-lasting. My siblings and I all earned multiple degrees: I received a bachelor’s from Brown, a M.S. in Epidemiology from Columbia, and was an All-But-Dissertation Ph.D. candidate in Environmental Epidemiology at N.Y.U.; my sister earned a bachelor’s from Yale and a master’s in education from Stanford; and my brother also earned a bachelor’s from Brown and a M.B.A. from N.Y.U. In the next generation: my elder daughter just graduated with honors from the University of Chicago, with a degree in Linguistics . Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Labor, Triangle Shirtwaist Fire, Unions Triangle Factory Fire Memorial at Nat’l Museum of Amer. Jewish History One hundred years ago on March 25th, 1911, the Triangle Waist Company in New York City erupted in flames, and the resulting deaths of 146 people, mostly Jewish and Italian women immigrant workers, many of them teenage girls, galvanized a city and a movement. The Triangle fire was a watershed moment in the history of the American Jewish labor movement and social reform. On March 24, 2011, from 5:30 to 7:30 pm, the Jewish Labor Committee, the Jewish Social Policy Action Network (JSPAN), the Philadelphia Council of the AFL-CIO and the National Museum of American Jewish History are joining forces to commemorate this tragic event, honor those who gave their lives and discuss the evolution of the labor and reform movements that the Triangle fire inspired. Join us for this extraordinary program, including a documentary film about the fire and its aftermath and viewing of the first floor exhibit at the new National Museum of American Jewish History. Hear about JSPAN’s new initiative to advance the Kosher Clothes movement here. Tickets are $36 (students $18) but seating is limited. Advance ticket purchase is absolutely necessary from Ruthanne Madway, JSPAN Executive Director, 215-546-3732 The fire at the Triangle Waist Company in New York City, which claimed the lives of 146 young immigrant workers, is one of the worst disasters since the beginning of the Industrial Revolution. This incident has had great significance to this day because it highlights the inhumane working conditions to which industrial workers can be subjected. To many, its horrors epitomize the extremes of industrialism. The tragedy still dwells in the collective memory of the nation and of the international labor movement. The victims of the tragedy are still celebrated as martyrs at the hands of industrial greed. The Triangle Waist Company was in many ways a typical sweated factory in the heart of Manhattan, at 23-29 Washington Place, at the northern corner of Washington Square East. Low wages, excessively long hours, and unsanitary and dangerous working conditions were the hallmarks of sweatshops. … Even today, sweatshops have not disappeared in the United States. They keep attracting workers in desperate need of employment and illegal immigrants, who may be anxious to avoid involvement with governmental agencies. Recent studies conducted by the U.S. Department of Labor found that 67% of Los Angeles garment factories and 63% of New York garment factories violate minimum wage and overtime laws. Ninety-eight percent of Los Angeles garment factories have workplace health and safety problems serious enough to lead to severe injuries or death. Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: JSPAN, Labor, NMAJH, Triangle Fire, Unions Judge Blocks Wisconsin’s Union-Busting Bill On Procedural Grounds From Talking Point Memo: A state judge in Wisconsin has just issued a temporary restraining order blocking Gov. Scott Walker’s (R-WI) newly-passed law curtailing public employee unions, on the grounds that the GOP-controlled legislature appeared to have violated state public notice requirements when quickly passing the bill last week. Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Unions, Walker, Wisconsin Jewish Values from Aleph to Wisconsin The Boards of Directors of ALEPH: Alliance For Jewish Renewal and of its affiliate, OHALAH: Association of Rabbis for Jewish Renewal, have adopted the statement below. Whereas, Jews for millennia have learned and affirmed the archetypal story of the suffering of ancient Israelites as oppressed public workers under Pharaoh, building the store-cities of Pithom and Ramses, and the vigorous activism of Moses, Aaron, and Miriam to organize those workers into an effective community that could win its freedom; And whereas, ever since the great migration of millions of Jews to America many of them have upheld the rights of workers by organizing labor unions first in the garment industry, and later among teachers, social workers, and other public employees; Therefore, the Board of ALEPH [and the Board of OHALAH] affirms and supports the right of public employees as well as those in private industry to organize unions and carry on collective bargaining, and supports the nonviolent protests now being carried on in the State of Wisconsin and elsewhere against efforts to undermine or cancel those rights. ALEPH: Judith Dack OHALEH: Rabbi Stacie Bahle Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: ALEPH, Bahle, Dack, OHALEH, Shalom Center, Unions, Waskow, Wisconsin Support the Jewish Labor Committee July 26, 2010 by John O. Mason Leave a Comment — John Mason The Jewish Labor Committee is the Jewish voice within the Labor movement, and the Labor voice within the Jewish community, serving as a liaison between the two causes, sharing each side’s values. It was founded in February 1934 by Yiddish-speaking trade unionists, plus members of the Workmen’s Circle, the United Hebrew Trades, and the Jewish Socialist Bund, in order to combat the rise of Fascism in Europe and America. In recent years, JLC has been active in the fight for the rights of immigrant workers, and has protested the abusive labor practices found in the Agroprocessors meat processing plant in Iowa, supported the Republic Windows and Doors workers in Chicago, and has worked for dialogue between Israeli and Palestinian trade unionists. One of JLC’s programs is the Labor Seder, linking the freedom struggle of the ancient Israelites to current and past Labor struggles. Recently, the Philadelphia JLC has lost its funding from the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia, which jeopardizes its ability to conduct its programs. Other JLC chapters may be facing this plight. If you want to help JLC, contact the main JLC office: jewishlabor.org Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged With: Immigration, Labor, Unions	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8538
__label__wiki	0.960199	0.960199	2000 AD’s THARG Starting today (April 20, 2010) at 10AM London Time, Bambaland will be releasing THARG of 2000 AD. This 1/6th scale, 12" tall, fully articulated will be available for $80.00, which includes worldwide shipping. The limited first edition will include the 2000 AD classic logo. Each figure comes with an extra fist and 6 tasty cups. Hello, Brute Print Release Masters of the Universe Mo-Larr vs Skeletor	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8540
__label__wiki	0.831486	0.831486	TWISTED SISTER Bassist: 'We Take Apart Every Audience And Band We Play With' The Front Row Report recently conducted an interview with TWISTED SISTER bassist Mark Mendoza. A couple of excerpts follow (transcribed by BLABBERMOUTH.NET). On the first show with drummer Mike Portnoy (DREAM THEATER), who stepped in for A.J. Pero after his March 2015 death: Mark: "It was quite different. Mike Portnoy didn't replace A.J. He had to come in and play because we had no choice with A.J. What a tremendous and horrible loss for us. When A.J. finally joined the band [in 1981], it really clicked. It was like gears in a fine watch meshing. It really was. He was the other part of the rhythm section that made it work. Not only that, you can replace the drummer, you can replace the musician, but you can't replace the person. A.J. was a family member; he was a brother. You could rely on him. As much as you have to pay your taxes, you could rely on A.J., not only as a person, but as a musician and a drummer in a band. A.J. was quite possibly one of the funniest guys in the band. When you take all of that away, you're worried about replacing it. You can't replace the person, without a doubt. We had to find — with A.J.'s help believe it or not — he said to us, 'If anything happens to me, Mike Portnoy's a good friend and would be a good replacement.' Mike Portnoy was the first one we called. I spoke to him, so did Jay Jay [French, guitar] over the phone. We sent him all of the information, all of the live shows, recordings, and at the first rehearsal, he came in at 98 percent. We had to fine-tune him just a little bit. He really emulated A.J.'s playing, he got up there and did it. Mike Portnoy did a great job. He's a great guy; he's a lot of fun and in a character in his own right, and a lot of fun. Although the transition was tough because somebody passed away and you have to find a replacement, Mike Portnoy made it as smooth and easy as possible. I don't think it could have been any better with someone else." On what stands out to him across TWISTED SISTER's 40-year career: Mark: "We were broken up for about 13 years in the middle of it all. What stands out…I have to say, and I'll put it into different terms: I would say that Dee's [Snider] the best quarterback in the business. Hands down. He is the best quarterback. He has the best lineman in the business; no one can get to him. I'll be egotistical about it and I'm not egotistical and not that type of person — we take apart every audience and band we play with. It's the combination of those people and that name and the fact we're a well-oiled machine that has been doing this for a long time. No circumstances, no anything, even A.J. passing can stop us from doing what we love to do and getting the job done. And we get it done every single night that we play." On being able to back up his statements that TWISTED SISTER is the best: Mark: "You can't be liked or loved by every music fan. Whatever floats your boat. There are people who don't like rock music, who want to hear jazz, or country, or rap. Music is very subjective. Whatever floats your boat, whatever makes your heart beat, whatever kind of music it is. Can you claim to be the best band in the world? You can if you're in the band. Does it really mean you're the best? We go by what all of the reviews around the world say, and what every promoter and what every other band says that is on the bill with us. At the end of the show, we get, 'Holy crap. You guys just turned this audience into fanatics.' There isn't a single night where we don't conquer whatever situation we're in as a band." On if TWISTED SISTER split at the right time in 1989: Mark: "That's a tough thing to say. You look at bands like POISON and MÖTLEY CRÜE and OZZY [OSBOURNE] and JUDAS PRIEST and MOTÖRHEAD, they never stopped playing and making records. Their careers went on, sometimes it was a little slower, sometimes it was a little bigger. When we came back, we were 100 times bigger than we were in the '80s. Our success now live is tremendous. How do you do that? You don't have a crystal ball. Does it say you did the right or wrong thing? That whole grunge scene when it came out, it certainly hurt the heavy metal and rock bands, but, being the size of these bands, they persevered and went right through it and are still around today." TWISTED SISTER last year announced its plans to call it quits after a final round of dates, dubbed "Forty And Fuck It - The Final Tour". Tags: dee snider, twisted sister	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8548
__label__wiki	0.500429	0.500429	36.110. Allocation of positions to appropriate classes, delegation of allocation authority — right of employees to be heard. — After consultation with appointing authorities, the director shall allocate each position subject to this chapter pursuant to subsection 1 of section 36.030 and each position subject to this section pursuant to section 36.031 to the appropriate class therein on the basis of its duties, authority and responsibilities. The director may delegate allocation authority to the appointing authorities for positions in classes in their divisions of service within standards and limits which have been developed in consultation with and agreed to by the appointing authorities. Any employee affected by the allocation of a position to a class, whether by the director or by the appointing authority, shall, after filing with the director a written statement setting forth reasons for requesting a consideration thereof, be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard thereon by the director. (L. 1945 p. 1157 § 12, A.L. 1996 H.B. 1146, A.L. 2018 S.B. 1007)	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8556
__label__wiki	0.606005	0.606005	Home Editorials The Stone that Brings Down Goliath? Richmond and Eminent Domain The Stone that Brings Down Goliath? Richmond and Eminent Domain Mar 3, 2014: 5:23 pm In a nearly $13 billion settlement with the US Justice Department in November 2013, JPMorganChase admitted that it, along with every other large US bank, had engaged in mortgage fraud as a routine business practice, sowing the seeds of the mortgage meltdown. JPMorgan and other megabanks have now been caught in over a dozen major frauds, including LIBOR-rigging and bid-rigging; yet no prominent banker has gone to jail. Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of all mortgages nationally remain underwater (meaning the balance owed exceeds the current value of the home), sapping homeowners’ budgets, the housing market and the economy. Since the banks, the courts and the federal government have failed to give adequate relief to homeowners, some cities are taking matters into their own hands. Gayle McLaughlin, the bold mayor of Richmond, California, has gone where no woman dared go before, threatening to take underwater mortgages by eminent domain from Wall Street banks and renegotiate them on behalf of beleaguered homeowners. A member of the Green Party, which takes no corporate campaign money, she proved her mettle standing up to Chevron, which dominates the Richmond landscape. But the banks have signaled that if Richmond or another city tries the eminent domain gambit, they will rush to court seeking an injunction. Their grounds: an unconstitutional taking of private property and breach of contract. How to refute those charges? There is a way; but to understand it, you first need to grasp the massive fraud perpetrated on homeowners. It is how you were duped into paying more than your house was worth; why you should not just turn in your keys or short-sell your underwater property away; why you should urge Congress not to legalize the MERS scheme; and why you should insist that your local government help you acquire title to your home at a fair price if the banks won’t. That is exactly what Richmond and other city councils are attempting to do through the tool of eminent domain. The Securitization Fraud That Collapsed the Housing Market One settlement after another has now been reached with investors and government agencies for the sale of “faulty mortgage bonds,” including a suit brought by Fannie and Freddie that settled in October 2013 for $5.1 billion. “Faulty” is a euphemism for “fraudulent.” It means that mortgages subject to securitization have “clouded” or “defective” titles. And that means the banks and real estate trusts claiming title as owners or nominees don’t actually have title — or have standing to enjoin the city from proceeding with eminent domain. They can’t claim an unconstitutional taking of property because they can’t prove they own the property, and they can’t claim breach of contract because they weren’t the real parties in interest to the mortgages (the parties putting up the money). “Securitization” involves bundling mortgages into a pool, selling them to a non-bank vehicle called a “real estate trust,” and then selling “securities” (bonds) to investors (called “mortgage-backed securities” or “collateralized debt obligations”). By 2007, 75% of all mortgage originations were securitized. According to investment banker and financial analyst Christopher Whalen, the purpose of securitization was to allow banks to avoid capitalization requirements, enabling them to borrow at unregulated levels. Since the real estate trusts were “off-balance sheet,” they did not count in the banks’ capital requirements. But under applicable accounting rules, that was true only if they were “true sales.” According to Whalen, “most of the securitizations done by banks over the past two decades were in fact secured borrowings, not true sales, and thus potential frauds on insured depositories.” He concludes, “bank abuses of non-bank vehicles to pretend to sell assets and thereby lower required capital levels was a major cause of the subprime financial crisis.” In 1997, the FDIC gave the banks a pass on these disguised borrowings by granting them “safe harbor” status. This proved to be a colossal mistake, which led to the implosion of the housing market and the economy at large. Safe harbor status was finally withdrawn in 2011; but in the meantime, “financings” were disguised as “true sales,” permitting banks to grossly over-borrow and over-leverage. Over-leveraging allowed credit to be pumped up to bubble levels, driving up home prices. When the bubble collapsed, homeowners had to pick up the tab by paying on mortgages that far exceeded the market value of their homes. According to Whalen: [T]he largest commercial banks became “too big to fail” in large part because they used non-bank vehicles to increase leverage without disclosure or capital backing. . . . The failure of Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns and most notably Citigroup all were largely attributable to deliberate acts of securities fraud whereby assets were “sold” to investors via non-bank financial vehicles. These transactions were styled as “sales” in an effort to meet applicable accounting rules, but were in fact bank frauds that must, by GAAP and law applicable to non-banks since 1997, be reported as secured borrowings. Under legal tests stretching from 16th Century UK law to the Uniform Fraudulent Transfer Act of the 1980s, virtually none of the mortgage backed securities deals of the 2000s met the test of a true sale. . . . When the crisis hit, it suddenly became clear that the banks’ capital was insufficient. Today . . . hundreds of billions in claims against banks arising from these purported “sales” of assets remain pending before the courts. Eminent Domain as a Negotiating Tool Investors can afford high-powered attorneys to bring investor class actions, but underwater and defaulting homeowners usually cannot; and that is where local government comes in. Eminent domain is a way to bring banks and investors to the bargaining table. Professor Robert Hockett of Cornell University Law School is the author of the plan to use eminent domain to take underwater loans and write them down for homeowners. He writes on NewYorkFed.org: [In] the case of privately securitized mortgages, [principal] write-downs are almost impossible to carry out, since loan modifications on the scale necessitated by the housing market crash would require collective action by a multitude of geographically dispersed security holders. The solution . . . Is for state and municipal governments to use their eminent domain powers to buy up and restructure underwater mortgages, thereby sidestepping the need to coordinate action across large numbers of security holders. The problem is blowback from the banks, but it can be blocked by requiring them to prove title to the properties. Securities are governed by federal law, but real estate law is the domain of the states. Counties have a mandate to maintain clean title records; and legally, clean title requires a chain of “wet” signatures, from A to B to C to D. If the chain is broken, title is clouded. Properties for which title cannot be established escheat (or revert) to the state by law, allowing the government to start fresh with clean title. New York State law governs most of the trusts involved in securitization. Under it, transfers of mortgages into a trust after the cutoff date specified in the Pooling and Servicing Agreement (PSA) governing the trust are void. For obscure reasons, the REMICs (Real Estate Mortgage Investment Conduits) claiming to own the properties routinely received them after the closing date specified in the PSAs. The late transfers were done throu gh the fraudulent signatures-after-the-fact called “robo-signing,” which occurred so regularly that they were the basis of a $25 billion settlement between a coalition of state attorneys general and the five biggest mortgage servicers in February 2012. (Why all the robo-signing? Good question. See my earlier article here.) Until recently, courts have precluded homeowners from raising the late transfers into the trust as a defense to foreclosure, because the homeowners were not parties to the PSAs. But in August 2013, in Glaski v. Bank of America, N.A., 218 Cal. App. 4th 1079 (July 31, 2013), a California appellate court ruled that the question whether the loan ever made it into the asset pool could be raised in determining the proper party to initiate foreclosure. And whether or not the homeowner was a party to the PSA, the city and county have a clear legal interest in seeing that the PSA’s terms were complied with, since the job of the county recorder is to maintain records establishing clean title. Before the rise of mortgage securitization, any transfer of a note and deed needed to be recorded as a public record, to give notice of ownership and establish a “priority of liens.” With securitization, a private database called MERS (Mortgage Electronic Registration Systems) circumvented this procedure by keeping the deeds as “nominee for the beneficiary,” obscuring the property’s legal owner and avoiding the expense of recording the transfer (usually about $30 each). Estimates are that untraceable property assignments concealed behind MERS may have cost counties nationwide billions of dollars in recording fees. (See my earlier article here.) Counties thus have not only a fiduciary but a financial interest in establishing clean title to the properties in their jurisdictions. If no one can establish title, the properties escheat and can be claimed free and clear. Eminent domain can be a powerful tool for negotiating loan modifications on underwater mortgages; and if the banks cannot prove title, they have no standing to complain. The End of “Too Big to Fail”? Richmond’s city council is only one vote short of the supermajority needed to pursue the eminent domain plan, and it is seeking partners in a Joint Powers Authority that will make the push much stronger. Grassroots efforts to pursue eminent domain are also underway in a number of other cities around the country. If Richmond pulls it off successfully, others will rush to follow. The result could be costly for some very large banks, but they have brought it on themselves with shady dealings. Christopher Whalen predicts that the FDIC’s withdrawal of “safe harbor” status for the securitization model may herald the end of “too big to fail” for those banks, which will no longer have the power to grossly over-leverage and may have to keep their loans on their books. Wall Street banks are deemed “too big to fail” only because there is no viable alternative — but there could be. Local governments could form their own publicly-owned banks, on the model of the state-owned Bank of North Dakota. They could then put their revenues, their savings, and their newly-acquired real estate into those public utilities, to be used to generate interest-free credit for the local government (since it would own the bank) and low-cost credit for the local community. For more on this promising option, which has been or is being explored in almost half the state legislatures in the US, see here. Ellen Brown is an attorney, president of the Public Banking Institute, and a candidate for California State Treasurer running on a state bank platform. She is the author of twelve books including the best-selling Web of Debt and her latest book, The Public Bank Solution, which explores successful public banking models historically and globally. Filed under: Ellen Brown Articles/Commentary Tagged: \| clouded title, eminent domain, housing crisis, richmond, securitization, true sale, Wall Street fraud	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8557
__label__wiki	0.759017	0.759017	Event Archives - Monthly: July 2015 Concert: Organ Recital by Tom Healey Sunday, July 12th, 2015 from 2:00 pm to 3:30 pm A recital in support of St. David’s Cathedral Foundation featuring works by Schumann, Mendelssohn, Rawsthorne, Vierne among others. The programme is below. Tom Healey (left) lives in Geelong and is an organist, choral conductor and singer. He started organ lessons in Year 9 at Scotch College, Melbourne, and played regularly for school services. He studied organ with John McCaughey, Sergio De Pieri and Douglas Lawrence and at the Organ Summer School in Haarlem, Netherlands. He also studied choral conducting at the Summer School of Westminster Choir College, Princeton, and choral conducting with Faye Dumont at Melbourne University. He has held organist positions at South Melbourne United Church, Trinity College (Melbourne University), and Ballarat Cathedral. He was also an assistant at All Saints Anglican Church Kooyong (in his last years at school), St Francis Catholic Church Lonsdale Street and Ormond College (Melbourne University). From 1981 he was Organist and Choir Director at Geelong Grammar School, and Director of Music from 1994 to 2005. He led the Choir of Geelong Grammar on two European tours, winning second place in the International Youth Music Competition in Vienna each time. During this time he also sang, recorded and broadcast with The Ensemble of the Fourteenth Century and Les Six in Melbourne, performed at the Melbourne International Festival of Organ and Harpsichord and at the Organs of the Ballarat Goldfields Festival. In 2006, Tom was appointed Director of Music at St Andrew’s Anglican Church, Brighton, (where Lindsay O’Neill went from St John’s Launceston) where he directed the 40 voice choir, made up mostly of Choral Scholars from the neighbouring boys’ and girls’ schools, and played the mighty organ of 4 keyboards and 64 stops. He also taught at St Michael’s Grammar, St Kilda, and was organist for the St Michael’s Choir European tour, a highlight of which was playing the Choir Organ in Notre Dame Cathedral. He and his wife Helen Seymour have sung with the Australian Chamber Choir, including a European tour. He has conducted the choir of the Geelong Summer Music Camp on many occasions and is a former conductor of the Geelong Chorale. He is on the board of the Australian Youth Music Scholarship Trust. Since moving back to Geelong in 2014 he has continued to give organ concerts, sing and direct choirs in Geelong and Melbourne. One recent concert featured the recently re-discovered ‘Gallipoli Sonata’ for violin and piano, composed by Australian born Frederick Septimus Kelly in 1915 and edited by Richard Divall. Tom and his son, Philip, gave one of first modern performances of the sonata. Tom directs Vox Anglica, an ensemble of professional singers. Fanfare for Nottingham (Take My Life, And Let It Be Consecrated, Lord, To Thee) Naji Hakim (b1955, France) Canon No. 3 Robert Schumann (1810-1856, Germany) Concerto in G Major (Allegro/ Grave/ Presto) Prince Johann Ernst of Weimar (1696-1715), arr JS Bach (1685-1750) Introduction and March (from the ‘Battle of Britain Suite’) William Walton (1902-1983, UK), arr Robert Gower March Funebre Cecile Chaminade (1857-1944, France) March Heroique Christopher Luke (b 1972, Australia) Bring a Torch, Jeanette Isabella Emma Lou Diemer (b 1927, USA) Sonata No. 1 (Allegro/Adagio/Allegro) Felix Mendelssohn (1809-1847, Germany) Serenade for Organ Derek Bourgeois (b1941, UK) Variations on a Theme by Thomas Campbell (And Can It Be) Christopher Tambling (b1964, UK) Danse des Papillons Noel Rawsthorne (b1929, UK) Louis Vierne (1870-1937, France) Service: Hear Our Cry: A service responding Thursday, July 16th, 2015 from 5:30 pm to 6:30 pm In this service we recognize the abhorrent reality of domestic violence in our society. As Christians we grieve with and support those who are victims. But we also recognize and confess our failures in responding to the victims of family violence and all the reality of all forms of domestic abuse. We also need to commit ourselves to pastoral practices which prioritises the safety and care of victims, challenges all abusive behaviours especially those occurring in our midst, and works for the healing of all: women, children and men. Saturday, July 18th, 2015 from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm Hand made quality products by local artisans including: hand spun wool, hand made garments from handspun wool hand made jewelry, hand made soap, clothes, capes and costumes for children and adults. Hosted by the Friends of St. David’s in support of the ministry of the Cathedral. For more details on availabilty of stalls or products contact Totally Handspun. Concert: Nine Musical Moods: An Organ Recital by Peter Warren A recital featuring Bach, Franck, and Albinoni by Cathedral Organist, Peter Warren in support of the St. David’s Cathedral Foundation. Entry by donation of $10. Peter Warren started to learn the piano at the age of five. Educated at The King’s School Peterborough in England, (the Cathedral’s established grammar school) an early acquaintance was made with Anglican choral music. Peter studied the organ with Cathedral organist Andrew Newberry at Peterborough Cathedral for three years. Peter became a regular organist at All Souls Catholic Church in Peterborough at the age of 16 and thus began a life of learning to love both Catholics and Protestants! After graduating as a teacher in 1980 in London, where Peter was assistant organist at London University’s Strawberry Hill Chapel for three years, Peter entered the Royal Academy Of Music London in 1987 where he qualified as LRAM in pianoforte in 1990. Peter’s love of jazz music took him around London with jazz singer Nuena Martin and he played piano as a semi professional musician in the UK. He led a respectable daytime life as a teacher. Peter married in 1990 and moved to Australia in 1992 where he was appointed organist at St Mary’s Cathedral before playing at St David’s…. so now we add English/Australian to piano/organ and Catholic/Protestant. Peter qualified as an Associate In Music in organ (with distinction) in 1998. Peter has performed in numerous concerts, has recorded CDs and has been played several times on Classic FM radio. In addition to playing piano and organ he competently plays four other instruments. He is currently head of music at Sacred Heart College Hobart. Peter is married with two boys, one of whom already plays the clarinet better than his father. Nine musical Moods 1. POMP and ceremony “Carillon” by Herbert Murrill (1909-1952) Which words or expressions instantly spring to mind when describing this piece of music? …..grand, cascading lines of notes, entrance music, brass features, fanfare 2. Imitation “The Cuckoo” by Louis D’Aquin (1694-1772) ………evocation of the melodic sound of a cuckoo, perpetuo moto, a miniature portrait in sound, unrelenting rhythm, use of ornaments, 3. heroism “Piece Heroique” by Enrico Bossi (1861-1925) ………dark, dramatic, “gothic”, unresolved chords, unresolved phrases, romantic…. “Postlude” by Louis Lefebure-Wely (1817-1869) ……entertaining, fairground in style, tongue in cheek, mischievous, dance steps……. “Adagio in G minor” by Tomaso Albinoni (1671-1751) arranged by G Ricordi ……haunting melodic theme, unrelenting minor tonality, made famous through war film……….. “Jubilate” by William Mathias (1934-1992) ………different! atonal, rhythmically modern, music that grabs the attention of the listener, music designed to shock and shake……………..7. “Trio in D minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) ……counterpoint, two voices in a democratic discussion above a bass line, hypnotic, beautifully shaped melodic lines weaving around each other in perfect proportion….. “Choral No 3 IN A minor” by Cesar Franck (1822-1890) ……a symphonic journey through soundscapes, contrasts of grand and small, epic, final victory of the choral tune, typically romantic “sturm und drang” in style 9. soulful “For All We Know” jazz classic by Sam M Lewis (1885-1959) ………speaks directly to the heart, blue, earthy, music sings and pleads with the listener…. Service: Praying for the Bishop Saturday, July 25th, 2015 from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm Join us as on the 15th Anniversary of Bishop John’s consecration we give thanks for his ministry in Tasmania and pray for the process of choosing his successor. Eternal God, shepherd and guide, in your mercy give your Church in this diocese a shepherd after your own heart who will walk in your ways, and with loving care watch over your people. Give us a leader of vision and a teacher of your truth. So may your Church be built up and your name glorified; from A Prayer Book for Australia Service: The Interview with Bishop John Sunday, July 26th, 2015 from 10:00 am to 11:00 am This Sunday, the day after Bishop John has marked 15 years as Bishop of Tasmania, and he has formally announced his retirement on the 12th of September he will be at our Cathedral service. The readings and music will be those of his consecration service at the Cathedral in 2000, and instead of a sermon the Dean will interview Bishop John about his time in Tasmania and how he has experienced God’s faithfulness in both good and bad times. Service: Choral Evensong Come and join in the beauty of Evensong as we gather in worship and around God’s word and sing his praises. The Parish of Howrah Sandford will be joining us with The Ven. Helen Phillips being our preacher.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8559
__label__wiki	0.663075	0.663075	Kimberlee Parton Harvard has confirmed rumors that 19th century French author Arsène Houssaye’s book, “On the Destiny of the Soul,” is an example of anthropodermic bibliopegy — the practice of binding books in human flesh. Researchers stated that the book contains a manuscript which notes that, “a book about the human soul deserves to have a human covering,” and after extensive testing, is in fact bound in skin taken from the back of an unknown woman. Although macabre, the practice is not rare for books of similar age. However, most books bound in this manner are usually medical books whose authors did not want the skin of the cadavers they were examining to go to waste. Leicester, England, UK A team of bioinformatics researchers at the university’s Institute of Technology are mapping the brain of a bee in an effort to enhance the performance of navigation systems like GPS. Why a bee? Their brains are smaller, thus more easy to map than more complex life forms, and also because bees are able to quickly learn how to orient themselves in new surroundings. This will help the robot the researchers are currently building learn how to get around for itself. So far, GPS and navigation systems work by processing information that are fed to them from an outside source, and the goal here is to expose these systems to new surroundings and have them compile their own internal map. The cause of death of England’s King Richard III — whose rise to power and short reign was immortalized in Shakespeare’s Richard III — has remained a mystery for over five centuries, that is, until his skeleton was found by archeologists buried under a Leicester parking lot in 2012. Since its discovery, researchers in the Pathology Unit at the university have conducted CT scans to figure out what likely caused his death. As the last member of the House of York, and the last King of England to die in battle, his death marked the end of the Middle Ages. In total, there were nine wounds found on his skull, indicating that he was not wearing a helmet at the time of his death, and also suggesting that he died from blunt force trauma to the head. Rajamangala University of Technology Uthen Thawai The Thai government is “cracking down” on the crime spree between students at Rajamangala University of Technology Uthen Tawai, and “rival” students at Pathum Thani Institute of Technology, which has left a total of four students dead. Thailand’s Prime Minister General, Prayuth Chan-ocha, ordered that vocational and technical colleges be closed if crime persists, and the country’s permanent secretary at the Ministry of Education, has asked schools to install closed-circuit cameras on their campuses and conduct random searches of students. The government is also keeping track of who commits what crime; if a student carries out attacks more than three times, they will no longer be allowed to enroll in college. Tags: College, global, kimberlee parton, world George Gascón Speaks to USF Community about Death Penalty and Immigration Cross Country: Madera, causey Pioneer Productive Efforts at Stanford Invitational	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8560
__label__cc	0.639165	0.360835	The Regent Centre is one of the main destinations in Gosforth along with Gosforth High Street. Built in the 1970s on the site of the former Coxlodge Colliery, Regent Centre was at one time one of the largest office complexes in Europe. Now it includes the Gosforth swimming pool, library and Civic Theatre, as well as being close to several schools and the Regent Centre Metro and bus interchange. We have taken a look and have come up with a set of proposals to improve walking and cycling access so that office workers, children and families can get to work, school or other local facilities. If you can think of further improvements or other issues that might need resolving please do let us know though. The map below shows the area we have looked at, including the route of improved walking and cycling facilities connecting St Charles Primary School on the left and Archbishop Runcie First School on the right. This route connects into the current north-south cycle route that comes from Parklands down the Great North Road, turns into Christon Road and the goes south via Alwinton Terrace. The Great North Road cycle route also needs improving north of Christon Road where there are only narrow painted lanes, and south to connect into Gosforth High Street. Taken together this is the “Gosforth Plus” cluster of destinations we identified in our top level Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) assessment for Gosforth. One of the strangest features of the Regent Centre is the enormous roundabout. Measuring on Google Earth, this is about 55m across, or about the same area as eleven tennis courts. The road width is about 9m, which is about enough space to park two buses and two cars all side by side. As it stands this is a massive wasted space and the very wide road encourages dangerous speeding traffic. These super-size dimensions are an opportunity to create a new usable green space without impacting vehicle access, roughly as laid out below. This new green space connects to the library and swimming pool, and could include benches or play equipment, or additional trees and planting. It’s in a great location that could be used for families to sit and relax after visiting the pool, for office workers to relax during their lunch breaks or for the gym to run outdoor exercise sessions. It also means one less road crossing for people walking east to west and a much more direct route. Vehicle traffic would still have access as the current north and west sides of the roundabout would become a two way road. This could be implemented very quickly using a few planters to mark out the edge of the new road in advance of permanent landscaping. Outside the Gosforth Civic Theatre and Eagle Star House there is a bit less space but still sufficient to have separate walking and cycling routes. We have spoken to the developers for Eagle Star House and the Civic Theatre who are both okay in principle with the proposal. This is what the route could look like by Eagle Star House, with children able to travel by bike safely away from the traffic to St Charles School or to the swimming pool or library. On Christon Road, on the east of the Great North Road, there is also space to widen the pavement to include a separate lane for cycling, mostly for the use of children on the way to Archbishop Runcie and Gosforth Central Middle schools to keep them safe from school traffic and vehicles accessing the industrial estate. The current Great North Road crossing is entirely inadequate at busy times because the Council has designed the junction to have a two-stage pedestrian crossing to increase vehicle traffic, but which requires people crossing to cram into a narrow ‘sheep pen’ in the middle of the road. In the picture below, people on the left have given up even trying to fit into the ‘sheep pen’ and are just using any bit of pavement available. The picture also shows that the crossing is already used by children on bikes. If this were a single stage crossing, there would be plenty of space for both walking and cycling, and the crossing itself could be adapted by simply removing the railings giving more space for everyone to cross. This would also reduce the danger to children stuck at the edge of the crossing. We mentioned above the need to improve connectivity north for cycling. There is plenty of space available here to create protected cycle lanes that would be suitable for all ages and abilities. The picture below shows unused space in the middle of the road and there are also railings on the right of the picture that could be removed. Arguably there is over-provision for vehicles at this location as all that should really be needed is one all-vehicle lane in each direction and an additional south-bound bus lane. In this proposal we have included more green space and provided new safer walking and cycling routes to schools. These were the top two responses to the SPACE for Gosforth Your Streets – Your Views survey with close to 90% support from residents for both. The changes, if implemented, should also result in a safer crossing of the Great North Road and more places to sit, especially at the new roundabout garden green space. It is just a proposal though and we are sure it can be improved further. If you have any suggestions please do let us know via the comments below. This is a video we made in 2016 to show what cycling is like at the Regent Centre. Eagle Star House ← Must do better Breathe – In the City → 3 thoughts on “Regent Centre” Caroline Coyne July 17, 2019 at 8:17 am These plans are great to see, my daughter goes to st Charles primary school and the traffic is becoming more and more of a problem in the mornings with the offices in that area. The biggest issue is speeding, with so many young children near by it’s disgusting to see how many people speed along regent farm road. I am terrified when crossing the road at the school and personally I would like to see a new crossing at the school gates. The offices have a crossing so why on earth is there not one at the school. We have to wait for the cars to stop and then risk crossing the road with our children. I would love to see the cycling provisions put in place as I regularly cycle to work and back to collect my daughter and it will be nice to get a safe cycle route for the children. B casselden July 17, 2019 at 7:29 pm What a great idea – a good plan which not only benefits cyclists, but school children, local residents and those working in the offices nearby – improving our environment. Martin Laban November 24, 2020 at 2:40 pm As a resident with a front door onto Christon Road, I strongly support these plans and suggested measures. Not only will this be beneficial to those attending the two schools on Christon Road (Archbishop Runcie and Gosforth Central Middle school) but also the older residents of Homeforth as they look to access the facilities highlighted in the plan. Further recommendations would be to reduce the radii of almost all of the corners as they encourage vehicles exiting and entering the Great North Road to carry speed. Reducing the radii and including build-outs or neck-downs would also reduce crossing distances for those on the paths.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8562
__label__wiki	0.656634	0.656634	← Todd Banfield Jared Petrenko → Graham Johncock Facebook: Graham Johncock Facebook Wikipedia: Graham Johncock Wikipedia Graham Johncock currently plays for the Adelaide Crows and was born on the 21st October 1982 ( 22 other players in the league were born in 1982, the most common year of birth is 1992 giving an average age of 22). Graham currently stands at 178 centimeters tall ( which is shorter than the AFL average player height of 188 centimeters) and weighs 86kg’s ( which is lighter than the AFL average player weight of 87.4 kg’s ). Johncock had his AFL debut in Round 1 of 2002 (17 other players also had their debut in 2002). Graham played 19 games in 2012 ( average number of games played by players was 12.97 and 28 other players also played 19 games) and has now played 225 games in his entire career, the average being 62.3 games and the same as 1 other players in the league. Graham scored 19 goals in 2012 which is above the average in 2012 of 8.15 goals and the same as 6 other players. In his entire career Graham has scored 118 goals the same as 2 other players and above the average of 38.54 goals. This entry was posted in AFL and tagged Adelaide Crows, AFL, Graham Johncock. Bookmark the permalink.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8563
__label__wiki	0.594284	0.594284	Bangladesh: When Joy shouts hypocrisy Next Myanmar-Bangladesh-China Meeting on Rohingya Repatriation Set for Jan. 19 India: Farmers celebrate Lohri, burn copies of Farm Acts into ashes in the bonfire Trade agreements with India should have a human rights clause: British MPs Bangladesh: Escape to the supposed safe land couldn’t end Rohingya sufferings; it only reduced them a little Covering Policy Issues from South Asia Issue 1 – July 2011 Issue 2 – October 2011 Issue 3 – January 2012 Issue 4 – April 2012 Issue 8 – Spring 2013 Issue 9 – Summer 2013 Issue 10 – Winter 2014 Issue 11 – Fall 2014 Issue 13 – Spring 2015 Issue 17 – Summer 2016 Nuclear Deterrence and Treaty on Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons in South Asia Ahyousha Khan hiroshimaforpeace.com What is the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW)? By Ahyousha Khan 20 November 2020 On October 24, 2020, the Treaty on Prohibition on Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) commonly known as the ‘Ban Treaty’ was ratified by fifty states. This has marked the start of a 90-day countdown for the treaty to enter into force. The Ban Treaty was concluded in July 2017 with the support of 122 countries; however, none of the NPT nuclear-weapon states has supported it. The conclusion of the ban treaty was not an instant act; rather the lack of progress by the nuclear-weapons states towards nuclear disarmament played a significant part. This has reflected the dissatisfaction and disappointment of the non-nuclear-weapon states vis-à-vis the existing international non-proliferation arrangements. These factors have played a crucial role in the formation and conclusion of the ban treaty. As a principle, the TPNW prohibits parties to the treaty from the development, testing, possession, use, and transfer of nuclear weapons along with their threatening use. Moreover, the treaty is often mixed with the “global zero” initiative but it has appeared to be more of a “political heir” of the “humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons” initiative (HINW). Therefore, it can be deduced that on paper, the logic behind the ban treaty appears to reframe nuclear weapon policies with a more focus on humanitarian aspects over security concerns. The preamble of TPNW suggests the acknowledgment of the NPT as the cornerstone of the international non-proliferation regime. However, the NPT nuclear-weapon states have repeatedly and consistently argued against the ban treaty that it can never be a substitute for NPT. Since, the TPNW was drafted with the purpose to reframe nuclear narratives, which is a political agenda; the proponents of the ban treaty (TPNW) have never considered it as a substitute for the NPT. In this regard, the actionable steps such as “verifications mechanisms” are not significantly discussed in the treaty. Contrary to this agenda, many International experts, scholars, and practitioners are of the view that if TPNW wants to establish itself as a non-proliferation norm, it must develop a clear and detailed verification apparatus. The political agenda to prohibit nuclear weapons deliberates that nuclear weapons are to be perceived as “illegitimate” and “unacceptable” in the international system. This notion has faced a serious backlash from the west and the TPNW is dubbed as “polarizing”, “unethical” and “incompatible with NPT”. Nevertheless, the very fact remains that few states have acquired nuclear weapons for deterrence, which this treaty deems as an illegal option. For instance, South Asia is one example where India had acquired the nuclear capability to dominate the region. To overcome this threat from India, Pakistan was compelled to follow the same suit. Since then, the existence of Pakistan’s nuclear deterrence has been able to prevent an all-out war in the region. Yet, the TPNW attempts to develop a new narrative around the concept of deterrence. Therefore, this aspect of TPNW, where it is dismissive about the security concerns of the states that have acquired nuclear weapons needs to be addressed and analyzed before moving forward. Based on such concerns, it would be significant to deliberate on the importance of nuclear deterrence in ensuring survival and peace in the evolved international nuclear order. Since there is currently no existing legal norm in the international system that regards a state’s right of self-defense as illegitimate. In that case, the policy of deterrence could be regarded as a legal right of self-defence. Moreover, as per Article 51 of the UN Charter, every state has a right to self-defense to ensure its survival. Similar views were expressed by the Advisor Opinion of the International Court of Justice in 1996 when the issue of the legality of nuclear weapons and deterrence was raised. The court ruled that it is the right of every state to defend itself whereas the policy of deterrence cannot be ignored which many states are adhering to in the international system. Therefore, it seems impossible to term nuclear weapons as illegal because states possess the right of survival with whatever possible means. It is quite apparent that the Ban Treaty prohibits acquiring a nuclear weapon and aims to shift the narrative on nuclear weapons from a security perspective to a humanitarian perspective. Yet, the withdrawal clause of the treaty allows the parties to leave the treaty in case of extraordinary circumstances. This would be pertinent where the national interests of the states appear to be jeopardized. Furthermore, the states have the leverage to expedite this process if they get involved in any armed conflict. In a way, it seems quite admissible that in case of existential threats to their survival even the parties of TPNW can withdraw from the treaty. This further indicates that the security concerns of the states which are facing existential threats to their survival would remain the decisive factors. Hence, the disregard for security concerns of the states is what TPNW might have learned from its predecessor non-proliferation and disarmament arrangements. Where owing to real-politic, interests, and concerns of only a few states were the dominant factors. There is a need for non-discriminatory and unbiased international non-proliferation mechanisms. Treaties like TPNW, FMCT, CTBT, and NPT would not be regarded as universal till they continue to avoid change and inclusion. The prevalent security environment of South Asia which India aspires to dominate would not encourage both the South Asian rivals to become a member of any such non-proliferation initiative. As such this would likely undermine the notions of deterrence and might be considered as an attempt to delegitimize their security concerns. Sri Lanka: Nation, Not Nationalists, Decide SAJ on Facebook SAJ Socials William Milam Dr. Adfer Shah Garga Chatterjee ANM Muniruzzaman Abira Ashfaq Shabnam Hashmi Donate to SAJ South Asia Journal is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization (EIN/tax ID number: 27-3164547). Your donations are fully tax-deductible to the extent allowable by law. Copyright © South Asia Journal. All contents distributed in printed form or produced as original work for South Asia Journal are the sole property of South Asia Journal and subject to federal copyright law. Get Monthly Policy Feed from SAJ © Copyright South Asia Journal	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8569
__label__wiki	0.77767	0.77767	Anna’s Partisan Politics October 12, 2011 admin News 0 By ATUL COWSHISH Delhi based political commentator Anna Hazare, the crusader against corruption with his aides New Delhi (Syndicate Features): He started as a person removed from politics and politicians and, hence, much respected. In less than six months after he awakened the nation to the extent of the spread of corruption, Anna Hazare seems to be shedding his non-partisan cloak. It was only the other day when he had stressed that his movement was against all politicians. who were complicit in spreading corruption in the country. His message had electrified the whole country. It was so appealing that people were willing not to pay too much attention to his penchant for recommending death by hanging, or at least public flogging, of those accused of drinking. They did not object when he went about denigrating the entire class of politicians and called the prime minister a ‘liar’. His insistence that his views on Jan Lokpal Bill (ombudsman) must be incorporated in the official bill was not met with any public outcry though some had said that it smacked of ‘authoritarianism.’ When he says that the Lokpal Bill must be passed in the coming winter session of parliament it is taken as his intention to keep the government on its toes, lest it sends the issue back to the cold storage as it has been doing for the last 42 years or so. But now judging by some of the recent utterances by him and his two most prominent lieutenants, Messrs Kejriwal and Bedi, many are inclined to believe that he has tilted towards the Bharatiya Janata Party. Had it not been so, the RSS would not have openly claimed to back Anna. The BJP is the only political party working in support of the Team Anna even though it remains ambivalent on his ideas of the ombudsman. The two key members of his team are widely suspected to have political ambitions of their own, which they hope to realise only if the Congress is kept out of power. It is safe to assume that the BJP will lead the next government should the Congress-led coalition face defeat. The BJP adrenal has shot up after Anna specifically asked voters to vote against the Congress in the Hissar bye-election and during the ensuing five state assembly elections. His threat to go to the voters in UP to persuade them not to vote for Congress in UP is a morale booster for the BJP. It should be made clear that Anna supporting a political party of his choice is no sin. What is bothersome is that in the opinion of many in the country the party he has chosen to back, at least indirectly, hardly meets the high moral standards for clean politics that Anna advocates. His tirade against the Congress will be widely acceptable if he could stay away from partisan politics. His choice of giving a call against the Congress alone in a bye-election in Haryana either betrays his personal animus towards the Congress or a complete ignorance about the background of personalities and parties involved in that bye-poll. Likewise, he seems to have chosen to pretend not to know about the political reality in UP. The Congress, corrupt though it may be, has been out of power in the state for a long time and is not reckoned to be a serious contender. On the other hand, there are these ‘big two’ parties in UP which are at the centre of accusation of corrupt practices. Other than the Congress candidate, a turn coat, the two other candidates in Hissar are not on a morally strong wicket to take on the fight against corruption. The record of their parties and their leaders has not been very inspiring if eradication of corruption is an important consideration. Anna, a Maharashtrian, Arvind Kejriwal, whose hometown happens to be close to Hissar, and Kiran Bedi, originally from Amritsar, may not have any firsthand experience of politics in UP. But like everyone else they might have been able to gather that the ‘big two’ parties in that state happen to be BSP, which is in power, and SP, which is the second largest group in the state assembly and which was in power before the BSP trounced it. The Congress is generally considered to be number four in the state, behind the BJP, which has also been in power in UP. The common perception of UP is that it is not only a poorly governed state but reeks with corruption and corrupt and immoral practices. Most people would be inclined to blame the ‘big two’ parties in the state for their failure to do much to stem the rot of corruption in the state, not that the BJP and the Congress rules in the state have been taint-free. So, when Anna appeals to the voters in UP not to vote for the Congress whom has he in mind? The BSP, the SP or the BJP? He could not be speaking on behalf of un-attached ‘independents’ because he has blessed none of them. The inference will be that he is pleading for support to the BJP because of the loud support he receives from the BJP and its Hindutva Parivar. A few months ago, Anna had raised a minor storm by praising the Gujarat chief minister, Narendra Modi, who is a BJP icon and aspires to be the next prime minister of India. Perhaps that would not be an issue if Anna and his Team had not been so consistently evasive on commenting on developments in Gujarat and Karnataka. On the recent action by Modi against an IPS officer, all one heard was Kejriwal making some feeble noise against it. Anna does not like to take a stand on the corruption charges swirling around the BJP in Karnataka. In his native Maharashtra, the jingoist outfits called Maharashtra Nav Nirman Sena and the Shiv Sena, both run by two different members of one family, frequently indulge in acts of hooliganism against North Indians who are accused of ‘exploiting’ the state. If Anna has a moral force he should employ it against such elements in his own state because like corruption, hooliganism is also a moral issue. Anna is not doing himself or his movement a great service by being selective and partisan in his criticism. (Syndicate Features) Hizb-ut-Tahrir’s Penetrates Pakistan Army Meeting Farooq, who saw ‘angry’ Baba….	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8570
__label__wiki	0.621457	0.621457	On The Scope 12-5-2014 December 6, 2014 112 ViewsLeave a comment DJ Zobe Wu Tang Clan A Better Tomorrow stream – The Wu Tang Clan has dropped their sixth studio album A Better Tomorrow. This release come off the heels of the 20th anniversary of their debut 36 Chambers (1993) and see’s the clan bringing to table all the elements of the previous of albums, solo projects, and a few curve ball elements like RZA’s cinematic soundtrack work, some R&B singing, live studio instrumentation, and more. The emcees speak spit lyrics about their respective … On The Scope 11-14-2014 November 15, 2014 367 ViewsLeave a comment DJ Zobe Big K.R.I.T. Cadillactica stream – Big K.R.I.T. has just released his second studio album Cadillactica. The album is funky, spacey, and filled with southern Hip-Hop goodness that will remind some listeners of old Outkast albums but with more current production value. Lyrically Cadillactica sees Big K.R.I.T. pouring his pain, struggles and passions into each track. The album features Raphael Saadiq, Rico Love, E-40, Wiz Khalifa, Mara Hruby, Devin the Dude, Big Sant, Bun B, Jamie N Commons, Lupe Fiasco, and ASAP Ferg. Production is handled by Alex da Kid, DJ Dahi, DJ Khalil, Finatik & Zac, Jim Jonsin, Raphael … October 25, 2014 401 ViewsLeave a comment DJ Zobe Logic Under Pressure (Deluxe Version) stream Logic “Under Pressure” Logic Discusses Hectic Press Week, His Album Being No. 1 on iTunes + An Off The Top Freestyle on Sway In The Morning – Maryland rapper Logic has just released his debut studio album Under Pressure. As the robot lady voice speaks at the end of the track “Buried Alive” (a nod to A Tribe Called Quest’s classic 90s Hip-Hop album Midnight Marauders) about the album’s creation saying “Outkast, A Tribe Called Quest, The Red … August 14, 2014 200 ViewsLeave a comment DJ Zobe The Underachievers Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium stream The Underachievers Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium music videos The Flatbush, Brooklyn, NYC Hip-Hop duo: The Underachievers (AK and Issa Gold) recently released their debut studio album called Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium, a heady album with psychedelic, conscious, subconscious, braggadocios, third eye opening raps. The beats on Cellar Door: Terminus Ut Exordium are hard hitting, emotive, atmospheric, experimental, and psychedelic, what one would expect for Flying Lotus/Brainfeeder label to put out. Some notable producers on the album … July 25, 2014 71 ViewsLeave a comment DJ Zobe Common Nobody’s Smiling (Deluxe) stream Common “City To City” (Target bonus track) Common explains why Nobody’s Smiling – Forbes Common freestyles over 5 fingers of death, explains Drake situation & talks Nobody’s Smiling on Sway in the Morning Common feat. Vince Staples ” Kingdom” – Common’s tenth studio album Nobody’s Smiling is a return to his Chicago roots. This is a project that developed over a conversation with his long time producer No I.D. that speaks on Chicago’s out of …	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8576
__label__cc	0.505011	0.494989	Home » OTHER SPORTS » ITF appoints Executive Director of Professional Tennis ITF appoints Executive Director of Professional Tennis London-UK, May 15, 2012: The International Tennis Federation (ITF) today announced the appointment of Kris Dent as its new Executive Director of Professional Tennis, starting in mid-June. The role will oversee the three ITF departments within the professional game: Davis Cup and Fed Cup, Professional Tournaments and Officiating. Dent will be responsible for the management of both the regulatory and operational activities of Davis Cup and Fed Cup, and will also oversee the ITF Pro Circuit, beach tennis and the ITF’s officiating programme. Olympic operations will be included in his remit following the completion of the 2012 Olympic Tennis Event. Dent will report to ITF Executive Vice President Juan Margets. All of the ITF’s professional tennis activities will now be overseen by one Executive Director with the aim to focus the ITF’s efforts in these areas and provide additional departmental strategy and support. Dent has 15 years’ experience in the sports industry working for governing bodies, agencies and as an independent consultant in the UK, Europe and USA. During this time he has held several senior roles within tennis, including Head of Communications at the LTA followed by Communications Director positions with both the WTA and ATP. More recently, he worked with the Football Association on the 2018 World Cup bid, before holding consultancy roles on the Qatar 2022 Bid Committee and Ticketmaster’s London 2012 Olympic partnership. ITF President Francesco Ricci Bitti said: “We are delighted that Kris has joined the ITF in an important role that oversees some of the ITF’s key properties and activities. He has a strong background in professional tennis through his work for several of the sport’s governing bodies, and will bring this experience to the ITF Professional Tennis Department.” About The ITF The ITF is the world governing body of tennis and beach tennis, responsible for the rules of both sports and maintaining the integrity of tennis. In addition to its administrative role, the ITF is the owner and international rights holder of the two largest annual international team competitions in sport, Davis Cup by BNP Paribas and Fed Cup by BNP Paribas. The ITF also manages the Olympic Tennis Event on behalf of the IOC. Through its Science and Technical Department, the ITF closely monitors both equipment and technology, while its Officiating Department oversees the education and advancement of officials worldwide. The ITF organises over 1,000 weeks of men’s and women’s professional tournaments on the ITF Pro Circuit and coordinates the rapidly growing ITF Beach Tennis Tour. Through its Tennis Development Department that oversees the development of tennis worldwide, the ITF manages the ITF Junior Circuit and team competitions for elite juniors as well as international tennis events and programmes for wheelchair and senior players. The ITF also manages the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme on behalf of the sport and is a partner in the Tennis Integrity Unit. ITF Statement: TENNIS AUSTRALIA TO PROVIDE SERVICES TO HOPMAN CUP ITF launches Spanish version of Olympic Tennis Event website Cricket Holdings America LLC appoints Keith Wyness as Chief Executive Officer Top German police and security executive Ralf Mutschke appointed as FIFA Director of Security ITF launches Beach Tennis World Team Championships Right time for succession in ‘strong BWF’ Key Veterinary issues Covered at FEI Sports Forum Opening of the Samaranch Memorial in Tianjin	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8577
__label__wiki	0.883127	0.883127	Man Fined $7,000 For Dealing In Marijuana As of Tuesday, April 7, 2020 A man was ordered to pay $7,000 or face two years in prison after he pleaded guilty to drug possession in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday. Marvin Clarke, 33, appeared before Magistrate Andrew Forbes charged with possession of dangerous drugs with the intent to supply. Prosecutor Sergeant Lincoln McKenzie told the court that last Friday around 3.40pm, officers in the area of Kemp Road went to J’s Convenience Store and approached the defendant after suspecting him of being in possession of drugs. While searching Clarke, police found a clear package with two pounds and eight ounces of marijuana inside. During the arraignment, Sgt McKenzie also noted Clarke had previously appeared before the court for similar charges in 2016 and 2019. In pleading his case, Clarke’s attorney, Keevon Maynard told the judge his client had an “infant child” with his girlfriend who was stuck in Canada. He also said Clarke had a drug problem, although he insisted the defendant understood the “seriousness of the issue”. Mr Maynard added Clarke suffered from chronic stress and insomnia and maintained the drugs were in his client’s possession for personal use and not for sale. He also noted the country was possibly moving towards a time where marijuana may be legalised and asked Magistrate Forbes not to burden the public’s purse by imposing a sentence that would cause Clarke to lose his job as an employee at J’s Convenience Store. Noting that Clarke was extremely remorseful for his actions, Mr Maynard also said the defendant was the primary breadwinner of his family because his girlfriend was currently pregnant and unemployed. He added his client was willing to pay a fine or do community service for his offence. Still, Magistrate Forbes noted Clarke had served 18 months after being convicted for the same offence three years ago. He also said that it seemed as if 18 months behind bars did not motivate Clarke to avoid committing the same crime again. He fined Clarke $7,000 and ordered the defendant to pay it that same day. Theodore Brown, 22, was also fined $350 or two months at the BCDS after he pleaded guilty to drug possession. Sgt McKenzie said police also found 20 grams of marijuana on Brown last Friday. The defendant, who was also in the area of J’s Convenience Store, was approached by officers around 3.40pm that afternoon, after he was suspected of being in possession of drugs. Sgt McKenzie said while searching Brown, officers found 20 grams of marijuana in his possession. Brown was also represented by Mr Maynard. He told Magistrate Forbes his client was remorseful and didn’t want to waste the court’s time. Adding Brown had an unstable living situation, Mr Maynard also begged the court not to impose a custodial sentence. In response, Magistrate Forbes said despite the legalisation of marijuana being a popular topic, the drug has not been legalised in the country yet, which meant that those found with it in their possession were subject to a fine or time behind bars. Magistrate Forbes subsequently warned Brown and invited him to consider that fact in the future. Two conditionally discharged after agreeing to counselling Former policeman guilty of marijuana possession $1,000 fine or six months in jail for drug possession 'I dealt drugs to pay for food' Two men fined after they admit to drug possession	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8580
__label__cc	0.506881	0.493119	Executive Vice President, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Goldberg is responsible for product strategy and development at Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit. Prior to Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite, Goldberg was CTO and Chairman of the NetSuite board. Before co-founding NetSuite in 1998, Goldberg spent eight years at Oracle Corporation, where he served as a vice president. He was involved in a variety of projects, all focused on making powerful database technology more accessible to users. When he left Oracle, he started mBED Software and built groundbreaking website technology. Goldberg holds a B.A. Summa Cum Laude in Applied Mathematics from Harvard College. JASON MAYNARD Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Maynard is Senior Vice President of Global Field Operations for the Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit. He leads NetSuite’s sales, marketing, business development and Bronto division. Prior to this role, Maynard served as SVP of Strategy and Marketing from 2016 to 2018. Prior to Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite in 2016, Maynard was NetSuite’s Executive Vice President of Strategy and Corporate Development and led the company’s corporate strategy, marketing, and acquisitions. Maynard joined NetSuite in 2015, bringing more than 20 years of software experience including co-founding a CRM application startup and serving as a leading equity research analyst for Wells Fargo, Credit Suisse and Merrill Lynch. DAVID RODMAN Senior Vice President of Customer Success, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit As Senior Vice President of Customer Success at Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit, Rodman is responsible for ensuring that all of NetSuite's customers get the full value of the NetSuite platform. He also leads global teams in consulting, education/training, customer support and client management. Prior to Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite, Rodman was NetSuite’s Executive Vice President of Customer Success. Before NetSuite, Rodman worked with leading consulting firms like Accenture, Arthur Andersen Business Consulting and Hitachi Consulting implementing a diverse set of ERP products including JD Edwards, Oracle, SAP and Microsoft. He was named by Consulting Magazine as one of the top 25 Consultants in the U.S. in 2009. He has served on the board of the Los Angeles YMCA since 2003. Rodman earned a post graduate degree in computer science from the University of Cape Town, South Africa, with accounting and a sub-major in economics. Senior Vice President of Sales, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Levy is responsible for NetSuite sales in North America. He brings a successful track record spanning more than 25 years in the enterprise software industry with rapidly growing companies. His career involves leading Sales and Platform Strategy in SaaS and traditional legacy ERP Markets. Prior to NetSuite, he successfully drove new business initiatives, account management, channel, and generating sales and consulting revenue at Epicor and Infor, along with several startups. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing from San Diego State University. Gary Wiessinger Senior Vice President of Product Management, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Wiessinger oversees the global product vision, strategy and design for NetSuite’s entire suite of cloud applications. He has more than 20 years of experience in the software industry, focused on creating solutions and experiences that solve customers' most important problems and delight users. Prior to Oracle’s acquisition of NetSuite, Wiessinger was NetSuite's Executive Vice President of Products. Before NetSuite, he held a variety of roles at Intuit QuickBooks, most recently leading vision, strategy, and product management of Intuit's mid-market product line including QuickBooks Enterprise Solutions and the Intuit Enterprise Suite. He holds a BA in Economics from Yale University and an MBA from Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management. Nicky Tozer Vice President of EMEA, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Tozer is responsible for driving sales strategy and operations, and building and leading a world class organization across the entire EMEA region. Prior to this role, she led NetSuite in Northern Europe, establishing NetSuite’s presence across Benelux and the Nordics, in addition to leading the UK. Prior to joining NetSuite, she spent five years working within the Oracle Applications business within the Manufacturing, Retail and Distribution industry vertical at Oracle. With over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, Tozer has worked across a number of disciplines in the field of ERP, CRM, EPM and Business Intelligence. She holds two degrees in the fields of Management Science and Psychology. KK Pan Vice President & GM of Asia Pacific and Japan, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Mr. Pan is currently the Vice President & GM of Oracle NetSuite Asia Pacific and Japan, responsible for driving business and customer success through NetSuite’s solutions across the Asia Pacific region including China, Japan, Australia, South East Asia and India. Mr. Pan joined Oracle in 2007 and served as the Vice President of Oracle Asia Pacific Consulting Services in Asia Pacific and responsible for Oracle's Financial Services, Communications, Media and Utilities industries and subsequently also served as the Vice President of Consulting for Greater China leading a range of Oracle implementation and transformation services to customers. He assumed the role as Vice President of Oracle and General Manager, Applications in Greater China in 2011 managing the successful growth of Oracle's application solutions and transformation to cloud business. Prior to Oracle, he was also the General Manager of PeopleSoft Greater China, and General Manager of J.D. Edwards North Asia and was also responsible for J.D. Edwards Channels for Asia Pacific. For many years prior, he worked as a senior consultant and project manager for various companies where he achieved solid business results. Gustavo Moussalli Head of LAD, Oracle NetSuite Global Business Unit Moussalli is the Latin America Senior Director for Oracle NetSuite where he is responsible for leading NetSuite growth in the region. Moussalli brings extensive experience in ERP sales with previous sales roles at Oracle and Microsoft. Moussalli holds a degree in Business and an MBA in Finance. Oracle Executive Management	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8590
__label__wiki	0.957686	0.957686	mls Game Preview - Seattle v Columbus Sounders-Crew Preview MLS Headlines Armas replaces Vanney as Toronto coach Montreal drops Impact name and logo Galaxy sign GK Bond from West Brom Players won't be rushed into CBA choice Canadian teams facing challenges again Orlando MF Perea gets OK to switch to US LAFC gets F Baird from Real Salt Lake Brian Schmetzer does not believe the Seattle Sounders have built a "dynasty" yet but recognizes the scale of the achievement of a potential MLS Cup defense. Seattle have won two MLS Cups in the past four years, playing in three finals, and have the opportunity to add to their trophy cabinet in a fourth final on Saturday. The Sounders visit Columbus Crew, and pre-match questions focused on the defending champions' legacy. "As far as the 'D' word, folks have asked me about that," coach Schmetzer told reporters. "The Storm, the women's basketball team, have won four, the Seahawks have won one, we've won a couple. "I wouldn't quite put us into that dynasty category yet until there's a couple more. We're Storm chasers, if you want to say something cute. "But the flip side is I am very proud of the success we have had, because MLS is a league filled with parity. "It's been a different champion each year (since 2012). "We understand how hard it is just to put yourself in a position to be back-to-back champions. We're not going to take this chance for granted." Crew coach Caleb Porter is aware of Seattle's quality but is backing his own side. "When you see what they've done and compare us to them on paper, they're for sure the favorites," he said. "But games aren't played on paper, fortunately. I like my team's chances. "It's going to be a really exciting game. I told the guys I wouldn't want it any different. If we're going to win a championship on our home field, I want to do it against the best team. "Certainly the Seattle Sounders are the best team - hopefully next to us." Schmetzer replied: "Caleb's a very competitive, good coach, he's done a great job to get Columbus to host MLS Cup, so I feel exactly the same way. "He has done a lot of work in a short amount of time and it's going to be a good, entertaining final." Columbus Crew - Gyasi Zardes Crew forward Zardes has scored nine goals at home this season, tied with Seattle's Ruidiaz for the most in MLS. Zardes has netted in five of his past seven appearances at MAPFRE Stadium, which will host its final playoff game on Saturday. Seattle Sounders - Raul Ruidiaz Ruidiaz's outstanding record is not just restricted to this season, though. He has nine goals in nine career MLS playoff matches, including scoring in last season's MLS Cup triumph. He has only failed to score in two of those nine postseason appearances. - The teams played out a 1-1 draw in Seattle back in March, with Raul Ruidiaz's 79th-minute penalty canceling out a first-half Gyasi Zardes goal. The Sounders have not lost any of their past three matches against the Crew (W1 D2) dating back to 2018. - Seattle have won five of their eight visits to MAPFRE Stadium (D1 L2), including their most recent one, a 2-1 victory in July 2019. Pedro Santos put the Crew ahead early, but Nicolas Lodeiro scored twice, including a 96th-minute winner. That match remains the last time Columbus have lost at home after scoring first. - There have been three penalties awarded in the past two meetings between the Crew and the Sounders, one for Columbus and two for Seattle. - This will be the ninth MLS Cup hosted by the team with the better regular season record, a rule that was put in place for the 2012 season. The hosts have won five of the first eight matches (D2 - W1 L1 in shootouts, L1) with the lone non-penalty defeat coming in 2015 when Porter's Portland Timbers won at MAPFRE Stadium against the Crew. - Columbus enter their third MLS Cup on the back of four straight wins, equaling their longest winning streak of the season. The Crew have not won five straight MLS matches since August and September 2009, Seattle's first season in MLS. - The Sounders have reached their fourth MLS Cup in five years and are looking to become the fourth team in MLS history to win consecutive MLS Cups (DC United 1996-97, Houston Dynamo 2005-06, LA Galaxy 2011-12). Seattle are the second team to play four MLS Cups in five years after DC qualified for each of the first four showpiece matches (1996-99). - Schmetzer's side have won eight straight postseason matches, the longest streak in league history (excluding breakaway shootouts). Only one of those wins came on the road, however, a 3-1 victory at Los Angeles FC in the 2019 Western Conference Final.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8591
__label__wiki	0.506189	0.506189	Melissa Avrin (at age 18) and her mother, Judy (2008) From the NY Times "When her 19-year-daughter Melissa died after a long battle with bulimia, Judy Avrin chose an unusual way to deal with that death: She made a documentary about it... Born Dec. 21, 1989, Melissa seemed in her early years to be a happy little girl. Her family lived in Wayne, N.J., and then in Pine Brook, N.J., spending two years in Coral Gables, Fla., in between, where Mr. Avrin was transferred for his work with a specialty chemical company. Melissa did well in school — producing A’s and short stories. But at age 13, thing started to change. Melissa’s mood darkened; she didn’t want to go to school or do extracurricular activities. She developed stomach problems and constipation. Ms. Avrin took her to a pediatric gastroenterologist who said Melissa probably had an eating disorder. “I reacted the way most parents do: ‘That’s not possible,’ ” Ms. Avrin said. “We didn’t go back to him.” In the early stages, the Avrins did not really see what was going on, in part because Melissa wasn’t visibly underweight, in part because they didn’t want to. But clues started to show up that were too stark to ignore — logs of cookie dough that disappeared from the freezer along with whole boxes of cookies from the cabinet. Empty pizza boxes. “I found containers with chewed and spit-out food and I’d never heard of that before,” Ms. Avrin tells Dr. Sanders during their filmed interview. “Is that very common?” Ms. Avrin wrapped the fridge in locks and chains, hid her purse and made sure never to leave money lying around. “It didn’t have to be good junk food — if she wanted to go on a binge, it could be a dozen eggs,” Ms. Avrin said of Melissa. “Anything that wasn’t nailed down, she would eat...” Melissa and her brother, Andrew (2007) Andrew Arvin sits on a beige couch in a nondescript room, a fruit still-life partly visible on the wall behind him, twisting his fingers while, off-camera, an unseen interviewer prompts him to talk about his sister, Melissa. “There was no food in the house,” he says, looking off to the side as his eyes fill. “If I went out with friends, I could not bring leftovers home because they would be gone by the next morning.” Once, he explains, in the middle of a bitterly cold night, he looked out the window and saw Melissa on the curb, going through the garbage. “I went outside and I yelled her name,” he recounts in the interview, his voice breaking. “Just the way she looked back at me — it was so empty, vacant. It was a deer in the headlights, but that doesn’t even explain it.” Melissa died on May 6, 2009. Cause of death: heart attack due to complications from an eating disorder. Just a few days before, Melissa learned she had been admitted to Emerson College. The official letter of acceptance arrived a week after she died and sits unopened." "About Someday..." by Judy Avrin (from the Someday website) Please visit the NY Times online to read the story in full: NY Times: A Mother's Loss, a Daughter's Story and visit the film's website here: I’ll eat breakfast. I’ll keep a job for more than 3 weeks. I’ll have a boyfriend for more than 10 days. I’ll love someone. I’ll travel wherever I want. I’ll make my family proud. I’ll make a movie that changes lives. ~ a poem from Melissa's Journal Below is the trailer from the film, "Someday..." "Someday..." (trailer)... Labels: Andrew Avrin, binge eating, bulimia, bulimic, death, eating disorder, heart attack, Judy Avrin, Melissa Avrin This is incredibly sad. She reminds me of myself. I feel soo bad for her family. I hope I dont die like her. R.I.P Sweet Angel <3 THE REUNION: DAMIAN ASPINALL'S TOUCHING REUNION ... ARGY'S STORY: "MY DAY TO DAY WITH THIS MONSTER TH... MIKAYLA'S STORY: "I AM CONSTANTLY FIGHTING A BATT... EATING DISORDERS: MARIPOSA, SARAH COGGRAVE'S JOUR... "REST IN PEACE SWEET TULA BELLE..." DID YOU KNOW THAT THE 3rd LEADING CAUSE OF DEATH ... BULIMIA: A MOTHER SHARES ON FILM THE LIFE AND DEA...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8594
__label__cc	0.535857	0.464143	Jeremy M. Bennett Jeremy M. Bennett, 34, of Anna, died at 8:27 a.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, at his home. He was born on April 21, 1986, in Carbondale, a son of Kevin Mark Watkins and Linda Faye Bennett. He enjoyed studying ancestry and genealogy. He loved fishing and spending time with his family and friends,... Margaret Ann Rogers Margaret Ann Rogers, 87, of Carbondale, died peacefully at home, surrounded by her family, on Dec. 11, 2020. She was born on Nov. 26, 1933, in Wolf Lake, the daughter of Archie and Margie Andrews Williams. She married Patrick Edward Rogers on Aug. 24, 1957, and together they shared 63 years of... Barbara P. Anderson Barbara Anderson passed away peacefully on Dec. 15, 2020. She was born on Sept. 3,1926, in Wilmette, Ill., the daughter of Mildred and Stanley Peterson. She attended Cornell College in Mt. Vernon, Iowa, and then graduated from Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill., with a degree in piano... Juanita Kathleen (Granny) Woolridge Juanita Kathleen Woolridge, 86, of Jonesboro, died Saturday, Dec. 19, 2020, at Herrin Hospital. She died as a result of the coronavirus. She was born on Nov. 16, 1934. She was the daughter of Charles and Dora Smith of Scott City, Mo. Kathleen married Robert (Bob) Woolridge on July 27, 1951. Mr.... Mary Ruth Morgan Mary Ruth Morgan, 93, of Jonesboro, died Wednesday, Dec. 16, 2020, at the Jonesboro Rehabilitation and Health Care Center. She was born on April 2, 1927, in Anna, the daughter of Glee and Ollie Ann Girtman Lewis. She married Freddie Walker on Oct. 9, 1944, in Anna. He preceded her in death on... Benjamin L. ‘Benny’ Jordan Benjamin L. “Benny” Jordan of Sorrento, Fla., and formerly of Elco and Grand Tower, went to be with Jesus on Dec. 10, 2020. He was born on Feb. 2, 1957, the son of Carl and Betty Jordan. He married Helen Dupa. Survivors include his wife, Helen; a daughter, Lenore Jordan; a stepdaughter, Elana (... James Mitchell (Jimmy) Greer James Mitchell (Jimmy) Greer, 73, of Belknap, died at 7:12 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 15, 2020, at his son’s home in Paducah, with his family by his side. Mr. Greer was born on May 11, 1947, in Belknap. He was a graduate of Vienna High School. James and Peggy Manley Greer were united in marriage in 1971... Allen Ray Fletcher Allen Ray Fletcher, 78, of Cairo, died Thursday, Dec. 10, 2020, at the Ray and Kay Eckstein Hospice Care Center in Paducah. He was born on April 25, 1942, in Cairo, the son of Charles and Susie Bagby Fletcher. He married Gracie Wheat, and to this union two sons were born. She preceded him in... Doris Ann Funston Doris Ann Funston was born on Dec. 31, 1942, in Mound City, the daughter of June Anna Trammell and James Russell McGill, the third of five children. She died on Dec. 1, 2020. She spent her childhood in rural Illinois growing up along the Ohio River, where early on she demonstrated her musical... Vincent Moran ‘Red’ Doss Vincent Moran “Red” Doss, 96, of Cairo, died at 9:19 a.m. Monday, Dec. 14, 2020, at Veteran’s Affairs Medical Center Long Term Care in Marion. He was born on Feb. 29, 1924, in Mitchellsburg, Ky., the son of Arthur and Mollie Lamb Doss. He married LaVelle Morris. She preceded him in death on May...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8603
__label__wiki	0.848305	0.848305	STATEMENT OF JAMES BINNS FORMER CHAIRMAN, RESEARCH ADVISORY COMMITTEE ON GULF WAR VETERANS ILLNESSES U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES COMMITTEE ON VETERANS AFFAIRS PERSIAN GULF WAR: AN ASSESSMENT OF HEALTH OUTCOMES ON THE 25TH ANNIVERSARY With respect to Gulf War veterans’ health, VA pays no more attention to Congress than it does to science. As described below, Congress has ordered report after report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM), specifying in law the work to be done. However, VA has consistently failed to contract for what Congress actually ordered. The IOM has been a willing accomplice, changing its own standards of evidence and appointing biased committees to accommodate VA’s purposes. As a result, the reports inevitably produce conclusions that deny any connection between toxic exposures and the shattered health of Gulf War veterans, and promote the discredited 1990’s VA position that their illness is largely psychiatric. These same corrupt practices have been employed to deny the effect of toxic exposures from burn pits on the health of recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. 1. Public Laws 105-277 and 105-368, enacted in 1998, are the foundation for the IOM Gulf War and Health reports. Congress required VA to contract with the IOM to evaluate the health risks of thirty-three toxic substances and medications to which troops were exposed in the war. The law required consideration of animal studies because most studies of the effects of toxic substances are necessarily done in animals. But VA did not contract for consideration of animal studies, and the IOM actually changed its standards of evidence to exclude animal studies – the exact opposite of what Congress ordered. As a result, these studies – the basic studies that show these toxic substances are toxic -- have never been considered in any IOM report, and no IOM report has ever found sufficient evidence that any of the thirty-three toxic agents are associated with health problems. The entire IOM Gulf War series of reports is a house of cards, as detailed in Appendix A. These same corrupt practices have been employed to deny the effect of toxic exposures from burn pits on the health of recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. (below, pp. 12-13) 2. In 2010, in Public Law 111-275, Congress required VA to contract with the IOM for a “comprehensive review of the best treatments for chronic multisymptom illness in Gulf War veterans.” The statute directed that the IOM “shall convene a group of medical professionals who are experienced in treating [Gulf War veterans] who have been diagnosed with chronic multisymptom illness or another health condition related to chemical and environmental exposures . . .”[1] VA ignored this direction and instead contracted with the IOM for a literature review of largely psychiatric diseases by a committee with no experience in treating Gulf War veterans, heavily weighted with specialists in psychosomatic medicine and stress.[2] Rather than capturing the valuable treatment experience of Gulf War veterans’ doctors, as Congress intended, the resulting 2013 IOM treatment report was a restatement of government fictions from the 1990’s, foreshadowing the 2016 IOM report and the new VA/DoD Clinical Practice Guideline. 3. In 2008, Congress enacted Public Law 110-389 requiring VA to contract with the IOM “to conduct a comprehensive epidemiological study … [to] identify the incidence and prevalence of diagnosed neurological diseases, including multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and brain cancers . . .” in 1991 Gulf War veterans, Post-9/11 Global Operations veterans, and non-deployed comparison groups.[3] For seven years, VA refused to contract for the study, despite repeated urging by the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses.[4] In 2015, VA finally contracted with the IOM, but wrote in the contract that the IOM could only use VA data. The IOM committee declined to proceed with the study because the VA data was insufficient for a rigorous study.[5] In the absence of the study ordered by Congress in 2008, the 2016 report found the evidence insufficient to reach conclusions that these conditions are associated with Gulf War service.[6] 4. The membership of IOM Gulf War report committees has usually been biased toward VA’s discredited position, including the 2016 committee. See the November 2014 letter to Dr. Victor Dzau, president of the IOM, attached as Appendix B below (pp. 37-42), objecting to the makeup of the 2016 Gulf War and Health committee. “[T]he membership is grossly imbalanced toward the 1990’s government position that Gulf War veterans have no special health problem — just what happens after every war, related to psychiatric issues, and not environmental exposures.” The letter documented that eight the members of the committee were associated with the 1990’s government position, including the former 1990’s VA Undersecretary for Health, Dr. Kenneth Kizer, who was the chief advocate for the position. Eight members were neutral. Subsequent to the letter, one neutral member resigned and one individual with current Gulf War research experience was added, the only person on the committee with such experience. The last two pages of the letter analyze the 2016 committee membership. (below, pp. 45-46) The letter predicted that: “Reviving this discredited fiction will cause veterans’ doctors to prescribe inappropriate psychiatric medications, and will misdirect research to find effective treatments down blind alleys — an unconscionable breach of the duty owed to veterans and expected of the Institute of Medicine. “ VA and IOM Collaboration To Exclude Consideration Of Animal Studies Public Laws 105-277 and 105-368 are the foundation for the Institute of Medicine (IOM) Gulf War and Health reports. Congress required VA to contract with the IOM to evaluate the health risks of thirty-three toxic substances and medications to which troops were exposed in the war. The law required consideration of animal studies on a par with human studies because most studies of toxic substances are necessarily done in animals for ethical reasons. But VA did not contract for consideration of animal studies, and the IOM actually changed its standards of evidence to exclude animal studies – the exact opposite of what Congress ordered. As a result, these studies – the basic studies that show these toxic substances are toxic -- have never been considered in any IOM report, and no IOM report has ever found sufficient evidence that any of the thirty-three listed toxic agents are associated with health problems. Consider, for example, the twenty-three animal studies on pages 160-161 of the 2008 report of the Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, showing that low levels of nerve gas, below the level that causes symptoms at the time of exposure, cause long-term adverse health effects, contrary to what was believed at the time of the war. Because of these studies, an update report on the effects of sarin was ordered from the IOM, but as described below, VA and IOM staff conspired to ensure that the report would not consider animal studies in its conclusions, even though new animal studies were the only reason for ordering the report. http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/GWIandHealthofGWVeterans_RAC-GWVIReport_2008.pdf The entire IOM Gulf War series of reports is a house of cards, as detailed below. These 1998 statutes required the IOM to identify illnesses experienced by Armed Forces members who served in the war, “including diagnosed illnesses and undiagnosed illnesses” (the term then used for what is now called “Gulf War Illness”). The statutes then asked, for each of the thirty-three agents and each illness, “whether a statistical association exists between exposure to an agent . . . and an increased risk of illness in human or animal populations.” Congress required consideration of studies in animals because most studies of toxic substances and drugs are necessarily done in animals for ethical reasons. It did not ask for information on how much of an agent Gulf War troops were exposed to. It was well known that no such information exists. These basic animal studies have never been considered in any IOM report. The 2016 report discusses some animal studies involving exposures to combinations of agents, but it acknowledges that “studies examining single exposures are not considered here” because “[e]arly volumes of the Gulf War and Health series described animal studies . . . on the association between exposure to a single toxicant and the health outcomes that may result. . .” 2016 IOM Gulf War and Health report, Vol. 10, p. 239 But the earlier IOM reports make clear they did not consider these animal studies in their conclusions. The chairman of the 2016 committee, Dr. Deborah Cory-Slechta, was a member of the committee for the 2003 IOM Gulf War report on Insecticides and Solvents, so she is familiar with the procedures used. While the 2003 report “described” numerous animal studies, it admitted that “animal studies had a limited role in the committee’s assessment between exposure and a health outcome. Animal data . . . were not used as part of the weight-of-evidence . . .” 2003 IOM Gulf War and Health report, Vol. 2, p. 3 The same admission can be found in every IOM Gulf War report on the health effects of toxic substances. Thus, the 2016 report did not consider these basic animal studies in their conclusions, relying on the earlier reports, but the earlier reports didn’t consider them either. As a result, since most studies of toxic exposures are done in animals, no IOM report has ever found sufficient evidence that any of the thirty-three listed toxic exposures and medications are associated with adverse health outcomes. The whole IOM Gulf War series of reports is a house of cards. In her preface to the 2016 report, Dr. Cory-Slechta points to the “ever unknowable impact of the various chemical exposures that occurred. . .”, because “[o]bjective exposure data gathered during and after the war have been, and are expected to continue to be, unavailable.” 2016 IOM Gulf War and Health report, Vol. 10, p. ix But Congress never asked for consideration of exposure data. It was well known that data did not exist. What it did ask for was consideration of animal data. But it has never gotten it. It has never gotten it because VA did not contract for the reports that Congress ordered. The IOM has been a willing collaborator in this deceit, changing its own standards of evidence to exclude animal studies – exactly the opposite action from what the law required. It made this change quietly, and has deceitfully implied that nothing changed. As presented in the 2003 report, “[t]he committee used the [standards of evidence] from previous IOM studies because they have gained wide acceptance over more than a decade by Congress, government agencies, researchers, and veterans groups.” “The [standards of evidence] closely resemble those used by . . . IOM committees that have evaluated . . . herbicides used in Vietnam.” 2003 IOM Gulf War and Health report, Vol. 2, p. 3 (See the similar language on p. 3 of the 2016 report.) In fact, however, the standards were subtly changed from the Agent Orange standards to exclude consideration of animal studies. Animal studies are discussed in the Gulf War reports, but when it comes to arriving at the reports’ conclusions, they are not considered, applying the doctored standards of evidence (what the IOM calls the “categories of association”). For sixteen years, VA, DoD, and IOM staff have manipulated IOM Gulf War reports on the health effects of veterans’ toxic exposures. As a result, the reports have consistently found “insufficient evidence” that the exposures are associated with illness, leading to VA determinations that the illness does not qualify for benefits as service-connected. Of equal importance, these dishonest reports have also misled researchers seeking to understand the causes of Gulf War illness in order to identify treatments to improve veterans’ health and preventive measures to protect future US forces. In recent years, the same techniques have been applied to IOM reports on the health effects of toxic substances released by burn pits on recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. The balance of this Appendix will review in detail these corrupt practices. 1. The governing statute expressly requires consideration of animal studies. In PL 105-277 and PL 105-368, Congress in 1998 directed the Department of Veterans Affairs to contract with the National Academy of Sciences (NAS, the parent organization of the Institute of Medicine, IOM), to review the scientific literature regarding substances to which troops were exposed in the 1991 Gulf War to determine if these substances are associated with an increased risk of illness. These reports were to be used by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in determining whether the illness should be presumed service-connected for the purpose of veterans’ benefits. The law directed the NAS (IOM) to identify the “biological, chemical, or other toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive medicines or vaccines” to which members of the Armed Forces may have been exposed during the war. 38 USC Sec. 1117, note Sec. 1603 (c). [attached to this Appendix below at p. 14] The law listed thirty-three specific “toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive medicines or vaccines associated with Gulf War service” to be considered, including various pesticides; pyridostigmine bromide, a drug used as a nerve agent prophylaxis; low-level nerve agents; other chemicals, metals, sources of radiation; and infectious diseases. 38 USC Sec. 1117, note Sec. 1603 (a), (d). [below, pp. 15-16] The law further required the NAS (IOM) to identify illnesses, “including diagnosed illnesses and undiagnosed illnesses,” experienced by Armed Forces members who served in the war. 38 USC Sec. 1117, note Sec. 1603 (c) [below, p. 14] “For each agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine and illness identified,” the law provided that: “The National Academy of Sciences shall determine … (A) whether a statistical association exists between exposure to the agent … and the illness . . . (B) the increased risk of the illness among human or animal populations exposed to the agent … and (C) whether a plausible biological mechanism or other evidence of a causal relationship exists …” 38 USC Sec. 1117, note Sec. 1603 (e) [below, p. 16, emphasis added] The statute went on to provide that the Secretary of Veterans Affairs should consider both human and animal studies in determining whether a presumption of service connection is warranted. He was to consider “the exposure in humans or animals” to an agent and “the occurrence of a diagnosed or undiagnosed illness in humans or animals.” 38 USC Sec. 1118 (b)(1)(B) [below, p. 21, emphasis added] Congress thus expressly required consideration of animal as well as human studies by both the National Academy of Sciences (the Institute of Medicine) and the Secretary of Veterans Affairs. This statutory requirement reflects the fact that most studies on the biological effects of hazardous substances are necessarily done in animals, for ethical reasons. Consider, for example, the twenty-three studies on the long-term effects of low level sarin exposure, or the eighteen studies evaluating the combined effects of pyridostigmine bromide, pesticides and insect repellant listed on pages 160-161 and 170-171 of the 2008 Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses report, all of which were done in animals. http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/GWIandHealthofGWVeterans_RAC-GWVIReport_2008.pdf When the first IOM report was conducted under the law, however, animal studies were omitted from the standard for determining whether an association exists between an exposure and a health effect. The report states: “For its evaluation and categorization of the degree of association between each exposure and a human health effect, however, the [IOM] committee only used evidence from human studies.” Gulf War and Health, Volume 1, (2000), p. 72 [below, p. 23] Considering only human studies, and not the much larger relevant literature on animal studies, the IOM committees have never found sufficient evidence of an association for the exposures and illnesses experienced by Gulf War veterans. Following the reports of the IOM, the Secretary of Veterans Affairs has made no determinations of service-connection for these exposures and illnesses for veterans’ benefits. (VA asserts that it covers Gulf War veterans on other grounds for their “undiagnosed illnesses,” but VA statistics show that over 80% of such veterans’ claims are denied. http://www.scribd.com/doc/241661207/Binns-Parting-Thoughts-093014) This pattern has been followed in all IOM Gulf War reports to date. More recently, it has been applied to IOM reports on the effects of toxic exposures fromburn pits on the health of recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans. 2. The exclusion of animal studies was deliberate. A close examination of what occurred makes clear that the exclusion of animal studies was not an oversight. It was deliberate. To express conclusions as to whether an association between an exposure and an illness exists, the first IOM Gulf report defined five standards of evidence, which it called the “Categories of Association.” Gulf War and Health, Vol. 1, pp. 83-84. [below, pp. 25-26] The same categories have been used in all subsequent IOM Gulf War exposure reports: - Sufficient Evidence of a Causal Relationship - Sufficient Evidence of an Association - Limited/Suggestive Evidence of an Association - Inadequate/Insufficient Evidence to Determine Whether an Association Does or Does Not Exist - Limited/Suggestive Evidence of No Association. Each substance was ranked according to these categories. How a substance is ranked becomes the all-important conclusion of the report as to whether an association exists between an exposure and illness. Where did these categories come from? The report explained: “The committee used the established categories of association from previous IOM studies, because they have gained wide acceptance for more than a decade by Congress, government agencies, researchers, and veteran groups.” “The categories closely resemble those used by several IOM committees that evaluated …. herbicides used in Vietnam …” Gulf War and Health, Volume I, p. 83. [below, p. 25] IOM Gulf War reports have repeatedly emphasized over the years that their methodology is based on the IOM Agent Orange reports. However, it is revealing to compare a category of association used in the Agent Orange reports with the same category used in the Gulf War reports. Agent Orange: “Sufficient Evidence of an Association. Evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. That is, a positive association has been observed between herbicides and the outcome in studies in which chance, bias, and confounding could be ruled out …” Veterans and Agent Orange: 1996 Update, p. 97 [below, p. 27, emphasis added] Gulf War: “Sufficient Evidence of an Association. Evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. That is, a positive association has been observed between an exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in human studies in which chance, bias, and confounding could be ruled out . . .” Gulf War and Health: Volume I, p. 83 [below, p. 25, emphasis added] The Gulf War category does indeed “closely resemble” the Agent Orange category -- with a conspicuous exception. The word “human” has been inserted in the Gulf War category. This addition obviously did not occur by accident. It was deliberate, as was the misleading language that these were the “established categories of association from previous IOM reports.” Thus, not only have the IOM Gulf War studies been conducted in violation of the direction Congress provided in the statute; this violation has been deliberate, with intent to conceal. As to why it was done, one can speculate based on the knowledge that the Agent Orange language, just a few years earlier, had produced an IOM report that found that Agent Orange exposure was associated with cancer (after two decades of government denial of any health consequence). This finding led to a presumption of service connection for thousands of Vietnam veterans with cancer. It should be noted that the IOM Gulf War reports state that animal studies were considered for purposes of “biological plausibility”: “For its evaluation and categorization of the degree of association between each exposure and a human health effect, … the committee only used evidence from human studies. Nevertheless, the committee did use nonhuman studies as the basis for judgments about biological plausibility, which is one of the criteria for establishing causation.” Gulf War and Health, Volume 1, p. 72 [below, p. 25] The terms of the Gulf War categories of association make clear, however, that biological plausibility and causation only relate to the highest category of evidence, “sufficient evidence of a causal relationship,” and are not considered unless there has been a previous finding of “sufficient evidence of association”: “Sufficient Evidence of a Causal Relationship. Evidence is sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship exists between the exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in humans. The evidence fills the criteria for sufficient evidence of association (below) and satisfies several of the criteria used to assess causality: strength of association, dose-response relationship, consistency of association, temporal relationship, specificity of association, and biological plausibility.” “Sufficient Evidence of an Association. Evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. That is, a positive association has been observed between an exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in human studies in which chance, bias, and confounding could be ruled out with reasonable confidence.” Gulf War and Health, Volume 1, p. 83. [below, p. 25, emphasis added] Thus, only if there has already been a finding of “sufficient evidence of association” do the issues of causality and biological plausibility arise, and a finding of “sufficient evidence of association” depends solely on human studies. Unless an association is found based on human studies, biological plausibility -- and animal studies -- are not considered. It is notable that the statute does not require evidence of a “casual relationship” to trigger a presumption of service connection. It only requires evidence of a “positive association”: “[T]he Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is warranted [if the Secretary makes a] determination based on sound medical and scientific evidence that a positive association exists between-- (i) the exposure of humans or animals to a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine known or presumed to be associated with service in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; and (ii) the occurrence of a diagnosed or undiagnosed illness in humans or animals.” 38 USC Sec. 1118 (b)(1) [emphasis added, below pp. 20-21] In short, in direct contravention of the law, the methodology established for the IOM Gulf War reports deliberately excluded animal studies from consideration as to whether an association exists between an exposure and an illness, the only question that matters in the determination of veterans’ benefits. 3. VA and IOM staff privately collaborated to produce these results. As to how this was done, the history of one of the IOM Gulf War reports provides an indication. The 2004 IOM Updated Literature Review of Sarin is the most egregious example of the distortion of science produced by excluding animal studies from the evidence considered in these reports’ conclusions. In late 2002, a number of new studies on sarin nerve gas, sponsored by the Department of Defense, revealed that contrary to previous belief, low level exposures (below the level required to produce symptoms at the time of exposure) produced long-term effects on the nervous and immune systems. Naturally, these studies were done in animals, not humans. A previous IOM report on sarin in 2000 had found insufficient evidence of an association between low-level sarin and long-term health effects based on scientific knowledge as of that date. On January 24, 2003, then-VA Secretary Anthony Principi wrote the president of the Institute of Medicine: “Recently, a number of new studies have been published on the effects of Sarin on laboratory animals.” He asked the IOM to report back “on whether this new research affects earlier conclusions of IOM . . . about possible long-term health consequences of exposure to low levels of Sarin.” [attached, p. 29] In 2004, the IOM delivered its report. The Updated Literature Review of Sarin discussed the new animal studies in its text. However, true to form, the report did not consider animal studies in the all-important categories of association, even though the new animal studies were the only reason for doing the report. “As with previous committees, this committee used animal data for making assessments of biological plausibility … rather than as part of the weight of evidence to determine the likelihood that an exposure to a specific agent might cause a long-term outcome.” Updated Literature Review of Sarin (2004), p. 18 [below, p. 30] Accordingly, the report found insufficient evidence of an association. To understand this bizarre outcome, it is revealing that following Secretary Principi’s letter, an IOM proposal was prepared which became the basis for a contract between the IOM and VA. The proposal for the sarin update was sent to VA on March 11, 2003, with a cover letter from Susanne Stoiber, executive director of the IOM, to Dr. Mark Brown, director of the VA Environmental Agents Service, part of the Office of Public Health. The cover letter stated: “This proposal follows a request from Secretary Anthony J. Principi and discussions with yourself requesting an update of the health effects of the chemical warfare agent sarin.” [below, p. 31] The proposal contained the following “Statement of Task”: [below, p. 34] “The committee will conduct a review of the peer-reviewed literature published since earlier IOM reports on health effects associated with exposure to sarin and related compounds. Relevant epidemiologic studies will be considered. With regard to the toxicological literature, the committee will generally use review articles to present a broad overview of the toxicology of sarin and to make assessments of biologic plausibility regarding the compound of study and health effects; individual toxicology research papers will be evaluated as warranted. The committee will make determinations on the strength of the evidence for associations between sarin and human health effects. If published peer-reviewed information is available on the dose of sarin exposure in Gulf War veterans, the committee may address the potential health risks posed to the veterans . . . “ In other words, the Statement of Task established that the update report would use the same “categories of association” as the earlier Gulf War reports. The “determinations on the strength of the evidence” would be made on the basis of the “associations between sarin and human health effects”. “With regard to the toxicological literature” (which included the new animal studies), its use would be confined to the assessment of “biological plausibility” to which animal studies had previously been relegated. Thus, the update report would exclude animal studies from its key conclusions, even though animal studies were the only reason for doing the report. Moreover, the Statement of Task set up another fundamental constraint for the report. The IOM committee would be permitted to address the potential health risks posed to the veterans “[i]f published peer-reviewed information is available on the dose of sarin exposure in Gulf War veterans.” As anyone familiar with Gulf War research would know, including Dr. Brown and his IOM counterparts, there is no published peer-reviewed information available on the dose of sarin exposure in Gulf War veterans, for the reason that no such information was collected during the war. As noted in the previous 2000 IOM report on sarin, “as discussed throughout this report, there is a paucity of data regarding the actual agents and doses to which individual veterans were exposed.” Gulf War and Health, Volume 1, p. 84. [below, p. 26] In order for the IOM committee to address the health risks posed to veterans, it had to meet a condition that was impossible to meet. These constraints in the Statement of Task were not contained in the letter from Secretary Principi requesting the report. (To the contrary, they appear to contradict it.) They must have come from the “conversations with yourself” referred to in Ms. Stoiber’s letter to Dr. Brown. Thus, conversations between VA and IOM staff determined the outcome of the report before the IOM committee to prepare the report was ever appointed. In summary, VA and the IOM have not complied with the law requiring the IOM Gulf War reports, restricting the scientific evidence required to be considered. This action has been deliberate. Conversations between VA and IOM staff have shaped the methodology of the reports so as to predetermine their outcome. Dr. Brown and Ms. Stoiber are long gone, and their successors are more careful regarding what they put in writing, but the corrupted Categories of Asssociation and all the IOM reports based on them still stand. 4. The IOM has recently applied this same corrupt standard to the health of recent Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, denying the adverse effects of toxic substances released by burn pits. In 2007 on-site military officers with environmental health responsibilities reported dangerous health effects of toxic exposures from burn pits on U.S. bases in Iraq and Afghanistan, particularly Joint Base Balad (JBB). A draft executive summary of a study, dated December 2007, showed dioxin levels at 51 times acceptable levels, particulate exposure at 50 times acceptable levels, volatile compounds at two times acceptable levels, and cancer risk from exposure to dioxins at two times acceptable levels for people at Balad for a year and at eight times acceptable levels for people at the base for more than a year. DoD Washington said the draft summary contained "incorrect data" due to a “software error” and was "prematurely distributed.” Officials in Washington in the DoD Office of Force Health Protection and Readiness denied any lasting health effects: "While exposure to burn pit smoke may cause temporary coughing and redness or stinging of the eyes, extensive environmental monitoring indicates that smoke exposures not interfering with breathing or requiring medical treatment at the time of exposure usually do not cause any lasting health effects or medical follow-up." http://www.armytimes.com/article/20081027/NEWS/810270315/Burn-pit-at-Balad-raises-health-concerns An IOM report was ordered by VA to study the subject. "[T]he Institute of Medicine has embarked on a comprehensive study with noted experts in environmental and occupational health to study the issue." "Is Burn Pit Smoke Hazardous To Your Health?”, Force Health Protection and Readiness magazine, vol. 5, issue 2, 2010, page 11. http://home.fhpr.osd.mil/Libraries/FHPR_Online_Magazine/Volume_5_Issue_2.sflb.ashx Following the pattern established in the IOM Gulf War reports, the IOM burn pit report first pointed out the known health risks of the exposures: "Chemicals in all three major classes of chemicals detected at JBB . . . have been associated with long-term health effects. A wide array of health effects have been observed in humans and animals after exposure to the specific pollutants detected at JBB . . . The health-effects data on the other pollutants detected include: neurological effects, liver toxicity and reduced liver function, cancer, respiratory toxicity and morbidity, kidney toxicity and reduced kidney function, blook effects, cardiovascular toxicity and morbidity, reproductive and developmental toxicity." http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13209&page=5 But then, when it came to arriving at conclusions, the IOM committee applied the Categories of Association that allowed only for consideration of human studies. It stated that it was "[f]ollowing the methods and criteria used by other IOM committees that have prepared reports for the Gulf War and Health Series and the Veterans and Agent Orange Series . . .") http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13209&page=6). There were no published studies of service members exposed to burn pits, so the committee relied on studies of groups like firefighters and incinerator workers. Accordingly, as reported on VA's website, the committee found only "limited but suggestive evidence of a link between exposure to combustion products and reduced lung function" and "inadequate or insufficient evidence of a relation to combustion products and cancer, respiratory diseases, circulatory diseases, neurological diseases, and adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes." It did not find the “sufficient evidence of an association” required for service connection. http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/burnpits/health-effects-studies.asp Thus, rigging IOM reports by corrupting the Categories of Association has been extended to a new generation of veterans, as well as continuing for Gulf War veterans. ATTACHMENTS TO APPENDIX A TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS, PART II--GENERAL BENEFITS CHAPTER 11--COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY OR DEATH, SUBCHAPTER II--WARTIME DISABILITY COMPENSATION Sec. 1117. Compensation for disabilities occurring in Persian Gulf War veterans Agreement With National Academy of Sciences Regarding Toxic Drugs and Illnesses Associated With Gulf War Pub. L. 105-277, div. C, title XVI, Sec. 1603-1605, Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681-745 to 2681-748, as amended by Pub. L. 107-103, title II, Sec. 202(d)(2), Dec. 27, 2001, 115 Stat. 989, provided that: ``SEC. 1603. AGREEMENT WITH NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES. ``(a) Purpose.--The purpose of this section is to provide for the National Academy of Sciences, an independent nonprofit scientific organization with appropriate expertise, to review and evaluate the available scientific evidence regarding associations between illnesses and exposure to toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive medicines or vaccines associated with Gulf War service. ``(b) Agreement.--The Secretary of Veterans Affairs shall seek to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences for the Academy to perform the activities covered by this section. The Secretary shall seek to enter into the agreement not later than two months after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998]. ``(c) Identification of Agents and Illnesses.--(1) Under the agreement under subsection (b), the National Academy of Sciences shall-- ``(A) identify the biological, chemical, or other toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive medicines or vaccines to which members of the Armed Forces who served in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War may have been exposed by reason of such service; and ``(B) identify the illnesses (including diagnosed illnesses and undiagnosed illnesses) that are manifest in such members. ``(2) In identifying illnesses under paragraph (1)(B), the Academy shall review and summarize the relevant scientific evidence regarding illnesses among the members described in paragraph (1)(A) and among other appropriate populations of individuals, including mortality, symptoms, and adverse reproductive health outcomes among such members ``(d) Initial Consideration of Specific Agents.--(1) In identifying under subsection (c) the agents, hazards, or preventive medicines or vaccines to which members of the Armed Forces may have been exposed for purposes of the first report under subsection (i), the National Academy of Sciences shall consider, within the first six months after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998], the following: ``(A) The following organophosphorous pesticides: ``(i) Chlorpyrifos. ``(ii) Diazinon. ``(iii) Dichlorvos. ``(iv) Malathion. ``(B) The following carbamate pesticides: ``(i) Proxpur. ``(ii) Carbaryl. ``(iii) Methomyl. ``(C) The carbamate pyridostigmine bromide used as nerve agent prophylaxis. ``(D) The following chlorinated hydrocarbon and other pesticides and repellents: ``(i) Lindane. ``(ii) Pyrethrins. ``(iii) Permethrins. ``(iv) Rodenticides (bait). ``(v) Repellent (DEET). ``(E) The following low-level nerve agents and precursor compounds at exposure levels below those which produce immediately apparent incapacitating symptoms: ``(i) Sarin. ``(ii) Tabun. ``(F) The following synthetic chemical compounds: ``(i) Mustard agents at levels below those which cause immediate blistering. ``(ii) Volatile organic compounds. ``(iii) Hydrazine. ``(iv) Red fuming nitric acid. ``(v) Solvents. ``(vi) Uranium. ``(G) The following ionizing radiation: ``(i) Depleted uranium. ``(ii) Microwave radiation. ``(iii) Radio frequency radiation. ``(H) The following environmental particulates and pollutants: ``(i) Hydrogen sulfide. ``(ii) Oil fire byproducts. ``(iii) Diesel heater fumes. ``(iv) Sand micro-particles. ``(I) Diseases endemic to the region (including the following): ``(i) Leishmaniasis. ``(ii) Sandfly fever. ``(iii) Pathogenic escherechia coli. ``(iv) Shigellosis. ``(J) Time compressed administration of multiple live, `attenuated', and toxoid vaccines. ``(2) The consideration of agents, hazards, and medicines and vaccines under paragraph (1) shall not preclude the Academy from identifying other agents, hazards, or medicines or vaccines to which members of the Armed Forces may have been exposed for purposes of any report under subsection (i). ``(3) Not later than six months after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998], the Academy shall submit to the designated congressional committees a report specifying the agents, hazards, and medicines and vaccines considered under paragraph (1). ``(e) Determinations of Associations Between Agents and Illnesses.-- (1) For each agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine and illness identified under subsection (c), the National Academy of Sciences shall determine, to the extent that available scientific data permit meaningful determinations-- ``(A) whether a statistical association exists between exposure to the agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine and the illness, taking into account the strength of the scientific evidence and the appropriateness of the scientific methodology used to detect the association; ``(B) the increased risk of the illness among human or animal populations exposed to the agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine; ``(C) whether a plausible biological mechanism or other evidence of a causal relationship exists between exposure to the agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine and the illness. ``(2) The Academy shall include in its reports under subsection (i) a full discussion of the scientific evidence and reasoning that led to its conclusions under this subsection. ``(f) Review of Potential Treatment Models for Certain Illnesses.-- Under the agreement under subsection (b), the National Academy of Sciences shall separately review, for each chronic undiagnosed illness identified under subsection (c)(1)(B) and for any other chronic illness that the Academy determines to warrant such review, the available scientific data in order to identify empirically valid models of treatment for such illnesses which employ successful treatment modalities for populations with similar symptoms. ``(g) Recommendations for Additional Scientific Studies.--(1) Under the agreement under subsection (b), the National Academy of Sciences shall make any recommendations that it considers appropriate for additional scientific studies (including studies relating to treatment models) to resolve areas of continuing scientific uncertainty relating to the health consequences of exposure to toxic agents, environmental or wartime hazards, or preventive medicines or vaccines associated with Gulf War service. ``(2) In making recommendations for additional studies, the Academy shall consider the available scientific data, the value and relevance of the information that could result from such studies, and the cost and feasibility of carrying out such studies. ``(h) Subsequent Reviews.--(1) Under the agreement under subsection (b), the National Academy of Sciences shall conduct on a periodic and ongoing basis additional reviews of the evidence and data relating to its activities under this section. ``(2) As part of each review under this subsection, the Academy ``(A) conduct as comprehensive a review as is practicable of the evidence referred to in subsection (c) and the data referred to in subsections (e), (f), and (g) that became available since the last review of such evidence and data under this section; and ``(B) make determinations under the subsections referred to in subparagraph (A) on the basis of the results of such review and all other reviews previously conducted for purposes of this section. ``(i) Reports.--(1) Under the agreement under subsection (b), the National Academy of Sciences shall submit to the committees and officials referred to in paragraph (5) periodic written reports regarding the Academy's activities under the agreement. ``(2) The first report under paragraph (1) shall be submitted not later than 18 months after the date of enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998]. That report shall include-- ``(A) the determinations and discussion referred to in subsection (e); ``(B) the results of the review of models of treatment under subsection (f); and ``(C) any recommendations of the Academy under subsection (g). ``(3) Reports shall be submitted under this subsection at least once every two years, as measured from the date of the report under paragraph ``(4) In any report under this subsection (other than the report under paragraph (2)), the Academy may specify an absence of meaningful developments in the scientific or medical community with respect to the activities of the Academy under this section during the 2-year period ending on the date of such report. ``(5) Reports under this subsection shall be submitted to the ``(A) The designated congressional committees. ``(B) The Secretary of Veterans Affairs. ``(C) The Secretary of Defense. ``(j) Sunset.--This section shall cease to be effective on October ``(k) Alternative Contract Scientific Organization.--(1) If the Secretary is unable within the time period set forth in subsection (b) to enter into an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences for the purposes of this section on terms acceptable to the Secretary, the Secretary shall seek to enter into an agreement for purposes of this section with another appropriate scientific organization that is not part of the Government, operates as a not-for-profit entity, and has expertise and objectivity comparable to that of the National Academy of ``(2) If the Secretary enters into an agreement with another organization under this subsection, any reference in this section and section 1118 of title 38, United States Code (as added by section 1602(a)), to the National Academy of Sciences shall be treated as a reference to such other organization. ``SEC. 1604. REPEAL OF INCONSISTENT PROVISIONS OF LAW. ``In the event of the enactment, before, on, or after the date of the enactment of this Act [Oct. 21, 1998], of section 101 of the Veterans Programs Enhancement Act of 1998 [Pub. L. 105-368, 112 Stat. 3317], or any similar provision of law enacted during the second session of the 105th Congress requiring an agreement with the National Academy of Sciences regarding an evaluation of health consequences of service in Southwest Asia during the Persian Gulf War, such section 101 (or other provision of law) shall be treated as if never enacted, and shall have no force or effect. ``SEC. 1605. DEFINITIONS. ``In this title [enacting section 1118 of this title, amending this section and section 1113 of this title, and enacting this note and provisions set out as a note under section 101 of this title]: ``(1) The term `toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine associated with Gulf War service' means a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine that is known or presumed to be associated with service in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War, whether such association arises as a result of single, repeated, or sustained exposure and whether such association arises through exposure singularly or in combination. ``(2) The term `designated congressional committees' means the ``(A) The Committees on Veterans' Affairs and Armed Services of the Senate. ``(B) The Committees on Veterans' Affairs and National Security [now Armed Services] of the House of Representatives. ``(3) The term `Persian Gulf War' has the meaning given that term in section 101(33) of title 38, United States Code.'' [Pub. L. 105-368, title I, Sec. 101, Nov. 11, 1998, 112 Stat. 3317, enacted provisions similar to those in sections 1603 and 1605 of Pub. L. 105-277, set out above. See section 1604 of Pub. L. 105-277, set out above.] From the U.S. Code Online via GPO Access [www.gpoaccess.gov] [Laws in effect as of January 3, 2007] [CITE: 38USC1118] TITLE 38--VETERANS' BENEFITS CHAPTER 11--COMPENSATION FOR SERVICE-CONNECTED DISABILITY OR DEATH SUBCHAPTER II--WARTIME DISABILITY COMPENSATION Sec. 1118. Presumptions of service connection for illnesses associated with service in the Persian Gulf during the Persian (a)(1) For purposes of section 1110 of this title, and subject to section 1113 of this title, each illness, if any, described in paragraph (2) shall be considered to have been incurred in or aggravated by service referred to in that paragraph, notwithstanding that there is no record of evidence of such illness during the period of such service. (2) An illness referred to in paragraph (1) is any diagnosed or undiagnosed illness that-- (A) the Secretary determines in regulations prescribed under this section to warrant a presumption of service connection by reason of having a positive association with exposure to a biological, chemical, or other toxic agent, environmental or wartime hazard, or preventive medicine or vaccine known or presumed to be associated with service in the Armed Forces in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War; and (B) becomes manifest within the period, if any, prescribed in such regulations in a veteran who served on active duty in that theater of operations during that war and by reason of such service was exposed to such agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine. (3) For purposes of this subsection, a veteran who served on active duty in the Southwest Asia theater of operations during the Persian Gulf War and has an illness described in paragraph (2) shall be presumed to have been exposed by reason of such service to the agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine associated with the illness in the regulations prescribed under this section unless there is conclusive evidence to establish that the veteran was not exposed to the agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine by reason of such service. (4) For purposes of this section, signs or symptoms that may be a manifestation of an undiagnosed illness include the signs and symptoms listed in section 1117(g) of this title. (b)(1)(A) Whenever the Secretary makes a determination described in subparagraph (B), the Secretary shall prescribe regulations providing that a presumption of service connection is warranted for the illness covered by that determination for purposes of this section. (B) A determination referred to in subparagraph (A) is a (2)(A) In making determinations for purposes of paragraph (1), the Secretary shall take into account-- (i) the reports submitted to the Secretary by the National Academy of Sciences under section 1603 of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 1998; and (ii) all other sound medical and scientific information and analyses available to the Secretary. (B) In evaluating any report, information, or analysis for purposes of making such determinations, the Secretary shall take into consideration whether the results are statistically significant, are capable of replication, and withstand peer review. (3) An association between the occurrence of an illness in humans or animals and exposure to an agent, hazard, or medicine or vaccine shall be considered to be positive for purposes of this subsection if the credible evidence for the association is equal to or outweighs the credible evidence against the association. (c)(1) Not later than 60 days after the date on which the Secretary receives a report from the National Academy of Sciences under section 1603 of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 1998, the Secretary shall determine whether or not a presumption of service connection is warranted for each illness, if any, covered by the report. (2) If the Secretary determines under this subsection that a presumption of service connection is warranted, the Secretary shall, not later than 60 days after making the determination, issue proposed regulations setting forth the Secretary's determination. (3)(A) If the Secretary determines under this subsection that a presumption of service connection is not warranted, the Secretary shall, not later than 60 days after making the determination, publish in the Federal Register a notice of the determination. The notice shall include an explanation of the scientific basis for the determination. (B) If an illness already presumed to be service connected under this section is subject to a determination under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall, not later than 60 days after publication of the notice under that subparagraph, issue proposed regulations removing the presumption of service connection for the illness. (4) Not later than 90 days after the date on which the Secretary issues any proposed regulations under this subsection, the Secretary shall issue final regulations. Such regulations shall be effective on the date of issuance. (d) Whenever the presumption of service connection for an illness under this section is removed under subsection (c)-- (1) a veteran who was awarded compensation for the illness on the basis of the presumption before the effective date of the removal of the presumption shall continue to be entitled to receive compensation on that basis; and (2) a survivor of a veteran who was awarded dependency and indemnity compensation for the death of a veteran resulting from the illness on the basis of the presumption before that date shall continue to be entitled to receive dependency and indemnity compensation on that basis. (e) Subsections (b) through (d) shall cease to be effective on (Added Pub. L. 105-277, div. C, title XVI, Sec. 1602(a)(1), Oct. 21, 1998, 112 Stat. 2681-742; amended Pub. L. 107-103, title II, Sec. 202(b)(2), (d)(1), Dec. 27, 2001, 115 Stat. 989.) Section 1603 of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 1998, referred to in subsecs. (b)(2)(A)(i) and (c)(1), is section 1603 of Pub. L. 105- 277, which is set out in a note under section 1117 of this title. 2001--Subsec. (a)(4). Pub. L. 107-103, Sec. 202(b)(2), added par. Subsec. (e). Pub. L. 107-103, Sec. 202(d)(1), substituted ``on September 30, 2011'' for ``10 years after the first day of the fiscal year in which the National Academy of Sciences submits to the Secretary the first report under section 1603 of the Persian Gulf War Veterans Act of 1998''. Amendment by section 202(b)(2) of Pub. L. 107-103 effective Mar. 1, 2002, see section 202(c) of Pub. L. 107-103, set out as a note under section 1117 of this title. Gulf War and Health, Vol. 1, p. 72 [emphasis added] studies often focus on one agent at a time, they more easily enable the study of chemical mixtures and their potential interactions. Research on health effects of toxic substance includes animal studies that characterize absorption, distribution, metabolism, elimination, and excretion. Animal studies may examine acute (short-term) exposures or chronic (long-term) exposures. Animal research may focus on the mechanism of action (i.e., how the toxin exerts its deleterious effects at the cellular and molecular levels). Mechanism-of-action (or mechanistic) studies encompass a range of laboratory approaches with whole animals and in vitro systems using tissues or cells from humans or animals. Also, structure–activity relationships, in which comparisons are made between the molecular structure and chemical and physical properties of a potential toxin versus a known toxin, are an important source of hypotheses about mechanism of action. In carrying out its charge, the committee used animal and other nonhuman studies in several ways, particularly as a marker for health effects that might be important for humans. If an agent, for example, was absorbed and deposited in specific tissues or organs (e.g., uranium deposition in bone and kidney), the committee looked especially closely for possible abnormalities at these sites in human studies. One of the problems with animal studies, however, is the difficulty of finding animal models to study symptoms that relate to uniquely human attributes, such as cognition, purposive behavior, and the perception of pain. With the exception of fatigue, many symptoms reported by veterans (e.g., headache, muscle or joint pain) are difficult to study in standard neurotoxicological tests in animals (OTA, 1990). For its evaluation and categorization of the degree of association between each exposure and a human health effect, however, the committee only used evidence from human studies. Nevertheless, the committee did use nonhuman studies as the basis for judgments about biologic plausibility, which is one of the criteria for establishing causation (see below). Epidemiology concerns itself with the relationship of various factors and conditions that determine the frequency and distribution of an infectious process, a disease, or a physiological state in human populations (Lilienfeld, 1978). Its focus on populations distinguishes it from other medical disciplines. Epidemiologic studies characterize the relationship between the agent, the environment, and the host and are useful for generating and testing hypotheses with respect to the association between exposure to an agent and health or disease. The following section describes the major types of epidemiologic studies considered by the committee. general use in the United States (PAC, 1996) at that time. However, EPA has since placed restrictions on some of the insecticides used during the Gulf War. USE OF SOLVENTS IN THE GULF WAR To determine the specific solvents used in the Gulf War the committee gathered information from several sources, including veterans, OSAGWI (2000), and DOD’s Defense Logistics Agency. As a result of its research, the committee ultimately identified 53 solvents for review (Appendix D). There is little information to characterize the use of solvents in the Gulf War. Wartime uses of solvents (such as vehicle maintenance and repair, cleaning, and degreasing) probably paralleled stateside military or civilian uses of solvents, but operating conditions in the Gulf War (such as ventilation and the use of masks) may have varied widely from stateside working conditions. The most thoroughly documented solvent exposure involved spray-painting with chemical-agent-resistant coating (CARC) (OSAGWI, 2000). Thousands of military vehicles deployed to the Gulf War were painted with tan CARC to provide camouflage protection for the desert environment and a surface that was easily decontaminated. Not all military personnel involved in CARC painting were trained in spray-painting operations, and some might not have had all the necessary personal protective equipment (OSAGWI, 2000). Personnel engaged in CARC painting were exposed to solvents in the CARC formulations, paint thinners, and cleaning products. As noted in the OSAGWI report, some of the solvents used to clean painting equipment might have been purchased locally and therefore not identified. COMPLEXITIES IN ADDRESSING GULF WAR HEALTH ISSUES Investigations of the health effects of past wars often focused on narrowly defined hazards or health outcomes, such as infectious diseases (for example, typhoid and malaria) during the Civil War, specific chemical hazards (for example, mustard gas and Agent Orange) in World War I and Vietnam, and combat injuries. Discussion of the possible health effects of the Gulf War, however, involves many complex issues, such as exposure to multiple agents, lack of exposure information, nonspecific illnesses that lack defined diagnoses or treatment protocols, and the experience of war itself. The committee was not charged with addressing those issues, but it presents them here to acknowledge the difficulties faced by veterans and their families, researchers, policy-makers, and others in trying to understand Gulf War veterans’ health. Multiple Exposures and Chemical Interactions Military personnel were potentially exposed to numerous agents during the Gulf War. The number of agents and the combination of agents to which the veterans may have been exposed make it difficult to determine whether any one agent or combination of agents is the cause of the veterans’ illnesses. These include preventive measures (such as use of pyridostigmine bromide, vaccines, and insecticides), hazards of the natural environment mittee evaluated the strength of the evidence for or against associations between health effects and exposure to the agents being studied. Categories of Association The committee used five previously established categories to classify the evidence for association between exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome. The categories closely resemble those used by several IOM committees that evaluated vaccine safety (IOM, 1991, 1994a), herbicides used in Vietnam (IOM, 1994b, 1996, 1999), and indoor pollutants related to asthma (IOM, 2000). Although the categories imply a statistical association, the committee had sufficient epidemiologic evidence to examine statistical associations for only one of the agents under study (i.e., depleted uranium), there was very limited epidemiologic evidence for the other agents examined (i.e., sarin, pyridostigmine bromide, and anthrax and botulinum toxoid vaccines). Thus, the committee based its conclusions on the strength and coherence of the data in the available studies. In many cases, these data distinguished differences between transient and long-term health outcomes related to the dose of the agent. Based on the literature, it became incumbent on the committee to similarly specify the differences between dose levels and the nature of the health outcomes. This approach led the committee to reach conclusions about long- and short-term health effects, as well as health outcomes related to the dose of the putative agents. The final conclusions expressed in Chapters 4–7 represent the committee’s collective judgment. The committee endeavored to express its judgments as clearly and precisely as the available data allowed. The committee used the established categories of association from previous IOM studies, because they have gained wide acceptance for more than a decade by Congress, government agencies, researchers, and veteran groups. - Sufficient Evidence of a Causal Relationship. Evidence is sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship exists between the exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in humans. The evidence fulfills the criteria for sufficient evidence of an association (below) and satisfies several of the criteria used to assess causality: strength of association, dose–response relationship, consistency of association, temporal relationship, specificity of association, and biological plausibility. - Sufficient Evidence of an Association. Evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. That is, a positive association has been observed between an exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in human studies in which chance, bias, and confounding could be ruled out with reasonable confidence. - Limited/Suggestive Evidence of an Association. Evidence is suggestive of an association between exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in humans, but is limited because chance, bias, and confounding could not be ruled out with confidence. - Inadequate/Insufficient Evidence to Determine Whether an Association Does or Does Not Exist. The available studies are of insufficient quality, consistency, or statistical power to permit a conclusion regarding the presence or absence of an association between an exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome in humans. - Limited/Suggestive Evidence of No Association. There are several adequate studies, covering the full range of levels of exposure that humans are known to encounter, that are mutually consistent in not showing a positive association between exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome at any level of exposure. A conclusion of no association is inevitably limited to the conditions, levels of exposure, and length of observation covered by the available studies. In addition, the possibility of a very small elevation in risk at the levels of exposure studied can never be excluded. These five categories cover different degrees or levels of association, with the highest level being sufficient evidence of a causal relationship between exposure to a specific agent and a health outcome. The criteria for each category incorporate key points discussed earlier in this chapter. A recurring theme is that an association is more likely to be valid if it is possible to reduce or eliminate common sources of error in making inferences: chance, bias, and confounding. Accordingly, the criteria for each category express varying degrees of confidence based upon the extent to which it has been possible to exclude these sources of error. To infer a causal relationship from a body of evidence, the committee relied on long-standing criteria for assessing causation in epidemiology (Hill, 1971; Evans, 1976). COMMENTS ON INCREASED RISK OF ADVERSE HEALTH OUTCOMES AMONG GULF WAR VETERANS As discussed in the beginning of this chapter, the committee reviewed the available scientific evidence in the peer-reviewed literature in order to draw conclusions about associations between the agents of interest and adverse health effects in all populations. The committee placed its conclusions in categories that reflect the strength of the evidence for an association between exposure to the agent and health outcomes. The committee could not measure the likelihood that Gulf War veterans’ health problems are associated with or caused by these agents. To address this issue, the committee would need to compare the rates of health effects in Gulf War veterans exposed to the putative agents with the rates of those who were not exposed, which would require information about the agents to which individual veterans were exposed and their doses. However, as discussed throughout this report, there is a paucity of data regarding the actual agents and doses to which individual Gulf War veterans were exposed. Further, to answer questions about increased risk of illnesses in Gulf War veterans, it would also be important to know the degree to which any other differences be- Veterans and Agent Orange: Update 1996, p. 97 [emphasis added] The categories of association used by the committee were those used in VAO. Consistent with the charge to the Secretary of Veterans Affairs in P.L. 102-4, the distinctions between the categories are based on "statistical association," not on causality. Thus, standard criteria used in epidemiology for assessing causality (Hill, 1971) do not strictly apply. The distinctions between the categories reflect the committee's judgment that a statistical association would be found in a large, well-designed epidemiologic study of the outcome in question in which exposure to herbicides or dioxin was sufficiently high, well-characterized, and appropriately measured. The categories of association are: - Sufficient Evidence of an Association Evidence is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. That is, a positive association has been observed between herbicides and the outcome in studies in which chance, bias, and confounding could be ruled out with reasonable confidence. For example, if several small studies that are free from bias and confounding show an association that is consistent in magnitude and direction, there may be sufficient evidence for an association. - Limited/Suggestive Evidence of an Association Evidence is suggestive of an association between herbicides and the outcome but is limited because chance, bias, and confounding could not be ruled out with confidence. For example, at least one high-quality study shows a positive association but the results of other studies are inconsistent. - Inadequate/Insufficient Evidence to Determine Whether an Association Exists The available studies are of insufficient quality, consistency, or statistical power to permit a conclusion regarding the presence or absence of an association. For example, studies fail to control for confounding, have inadequate exposure assessment, or fail to address latency. - Limited/Suggestive Evidence of No Association There are several adequate studies, cover the full range of levels of exposure that human beings are known to encounter, that are mutually consistent in not showing a positive association between exposure to herbicides and the outcome at any level of exposure. A conclusion of "no association" is inevitably limited to the conditions, level of exposure, and length of observation covered by the available studies. In addition, the possibility of a very small elevation in risk at the levels of exposure studied can never be excluded. Updated Literature Review of Sarin (2004), p. 20 [emphasis added] OP insecticide data in its conclusion, the committee reviewed the OP epidemiology literature. The committee responsible for GW2 (IOM, 2003a) reviewed the literature on OP compounds. The present committee reviewed relevant epidemiology studies published since the preparation of that report. Animal studies had a small role in the committee’s assessment of association between putative agents and health outcomes. As with previous committees, this committee used animal data for making assessments of biologic plausibility in support of the epidemiologic data rather than as part of the weight of evidence to determine the likelihood that an exposure to a specific agent might cause a long-term outcome. The committee classified the evidence of an association between exposure to sarin and cyclosarin and a specific health outcome into five categories (Box 1-1). The categories closely resemble those used by previous committees that evaluated the effects of chemicals related to the Gulf War (IOM, 2000a, 2003a) and those used by several IOM committees that have evaluated vaccine safety (IOM, 1991, 1994a), herbicides used in Vietnam (IOM, 1994b, 1996, 1999, 2001, 2003b), and indoor pollutants related to asthma (IOM, 2000b). The committee’s conclusions, presented in Chapter 4, represent its collective judgment. The committee endeavored to express its judgment as clearly and precisely as the available data allowed, and it used the established categories of association from previous IOM studies because they have gained wide acceptance over more BOX 1-1 Categories of Evidence Sufficient Evidence of a Causal Relationship Evidence from available studies is sufficient to conclude that a causal relationship exists between exposure to a specific agent and a specific health outcome in humans, and the evidence is supported by experimental data. The evidence fulfills the guidelines for sufficient evidence of an association (below) and satisfies several of the guidelines used to assess causality: strength of association, dose–response relationship, consistency of association, biologic plausibility, and a temporal relationship. Sufficient Evidence of an Association Evidence from available studies is sufficient to conclude that there is a positive association. A consistent positive association has been observed between exposure to a specific agent and a specific health outcome in human studies in which chance1 and bias, including confounding, could be ruled out with reasonable confidence. For example, several high-quality studies report consistent positive associations, and the studies are sufficiently free of bias, including adequate control for confounding. Letter to IOM President Regarding Imbalanced Membership of 2016 Report Committee Dr. Victor J. Dzau, M.D. 500 Fifth St., NW Dear Dr. Dzau, As former members of the VA Research Advisory Committee on Gulf War Veterans Illnesses, we are gravely concerned by the makeup of the committee that IOM staff has chosen for the upcoming review of Gulf War health literature. The membership is grossly imbalanced toward the 1990’s government position that Gulf War veterans have no special health problem — just what happens after every war, related to psychiatric issues, and not environmental exposures. Reviving this discredited fiction will cause veterans’ doctors to prescribe inappropriate psychiatric medications, and will misdirect research to find effective treatments down blind alleys — an unconscionable breach of the duty owed to veterans and expected of the Institute of Medicine. Science has conclusively demonstrated that this government position has no scientific validity. Just four years ago, an IOM committee chaired by Dr. Stephen Hauser, former president of the American Neurological Association, reviewed the scientific literature and concluded that the chronic multisymptom illness suffered by an estimated 250,000 Gulf War veterans (over one-third of the 697,000 who deployed) is a physical illness associated with Gulf War service, a “diagnostic entity” that “cannot be reliably ascribed to any known psychiatric disorder,” and that “it is likely that Gulf War illness results from an interplay of genetic and environmental factors.” http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=12835, pages 262, 210, 204, 109, 261 These conclusions reinforced the similar findings and recommendations of our former committee’s 452-page 2008 report. Our committee went further to identify the specific environmental exposures responsible, including pesticides, pyridostigmine bromide pills given to troops as a prophylaxis against nerve gas, and possibly low level nerve gas released by the destruction of Iraqi facilities, oil well fires, and multiple vaccinations. In April 2014, our committee published an update report which concluded that “[s]cientific research published since … 2008 … supports and further substantiates the conclusions of the 2008 report.” http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/RACReport2014Final.pdf, page 5 Yet, as the attached analysis shows, fully half the individuals selected for the new committee are predisposed toward the discredited 1990’s government position, either because they promoted it themselves, or because they are professionally oriented to view such problems as psychiatric and/or unrelated to environmental exposures. The rest of the committee are neutral figures with a background in other neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s disease and traumatic brain injuries. No member of the committee has been actively engaged in Gulf War health research in the past decade. Given that the committee is charged with producing a consensus report, it is wholly foreseeable that its conclusions will end up between the group predisposed to 1990’s fictions and those who are neutral but unfamiliar with the subject. Compared to the 2010 IOM report, it will be a reversal toward the discredited 1990’s position. For three years, VA has been engaged in a surreptitious campaign to revive the 1990’s government position. Since no scientific support for the position exists, VA staff has resorted to manipulating Gulf War research and reports. The Research Advisory Committee has documented this manipulation in forty-six pages of findings and recommendations in June 2012 and in a draft section of its April 2014 report which had to be removed because VA eliminated the committee’s oversight authority. http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/CommitteeDocJune2012.pdf https://veterans.house.gov/sites/republicans.veterans.house.gov/files/Binns%2C%20ExhibitBtestimony.pdf In September, VA’s Director of Epidemiology, Dr. Robert Bossarte, and his staff presented findings of two new VA studies to the Research Advisory Committee. One showed that diagnoses given to Gulf War veterans in VA hospitals over a ten-year period were no different than those given to veterans of the same era who did not deploy. The other, a large survey, showed that rates of PTSD and depression were dramatically higher than previously reported by Gulf War veterans. To an inexperienced observer, it might seem that the research on Gulf War veterans’ health was changing. However, Research Advisory Committee members quickly pointed out that Dr. Bossarte and his staff were not telling the whole story. http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/RAC_Recommendation092314.pdf The diagnoses study presentation failed to mention that VA had no diagnostic code for Gulf War illness or chronic multisymptom illness, that VA doctors at this time were trained to consider the illness as psychosomatic, and that veterans who served during the period of greatest toxic exposures were inexplicably excluded from the study. Similarly, the survey presentation did not disclose that the survey was overweighted with mental health questions to the extent that the Committee had repeatedly recommended against sending it out, http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/CommitteeDocJune2012.pdf, Appendix F, and that the survey’s principal investigator had testified to Congress that his superiors lied to then-VA Chief of Staff John Gingrich to induce him to release the survey. https://veterans.house.gov/witness-testimony/dr-steven-s-coughlin The presentation did not mention that people suffering from chronic health problems often become depressed after 23 years, but it is not the cause of their illness. Dr. Bossarte and his staff will be presenting to the new IOM committee on December 3. Very likely they will be presenting their new research findings. But no one on the IOM committee will know that they are not being told the whole story, because there are no members with the necessary background. Thus, misleading VA studies will be presented to an imbalanced IOM committee, which will include the findings in its new report, and science will be “revised”. The motivation behind VA’s manipulation of science is clear: to hold down benefits costs and claims wait times. In April, Military Times reported that VA Undersecretary for Benefits Allison Hickey was concerned that even using the term “Gulf War illness” “might imply a causal link between service in the Gulf and poor health which could necessitate legislation for disability compensation for veterans who served in the Gulf.” http://archive.militarytimes.com/article/20140422/BENEFITS04/304220036/Top-VA-official-questions-use-term-Gulf-War-illness- She also recently testified to Congress that VA would meet its 2015 claims processing target of 125 days unless she had to add a quarter million new claims to her inventory overnight, as happened in 2010 when Agent Orange coverage was expanded: “That will kill us.” http://www.veterans.senate.gov/hearings/va-claims-system-review-of-vas-transformation-progress [1:38:50 mark] While VA says that it provides care and benefits to veterans suffering from Gulf War illness under the category “undiagnosed illnesses,” http://www.publichealth.va.gov/exposures/gulfwar/medically-unexplained-illness.asp, the reality is otherwise. A 2014 VA report to Congress revealed that only 11,216 Gulf War-related claims have been approved, while 80 percent are denied. http://www.scribd.com/doc/241661207/Binns-Parting-Thoughts-093014, page 7. VA’s September 2014 press release that “nearly 800,000 Gulf War era Veterans are receiving compensation benefits for service-connected issues” is grossly misleading. http://www.91outcomes.com/2014/09/va-press-release-va-secretary-mcdonald.html VA counts every veteran in the area from 1990 to the present as “Gulf War era,” not just those who served in 1990-91. We are appalled that the government has been able to influence the workings of the Institute of Medicine, the most revered institution in American medical science, to further its shameful campaign to manipulate science to deny veterans care and benefits. Regrettably, however, we are not surprised, as this has been more common than not where Gulf War veterans’ health has been concerned. For example: 1. For fourteen years, in response to a law passed by Congress in 1998, VA has ordered and the IOM has prepared reports on the health effects of thirty-three toxic substances to which Gulf War veterans were exposed. The law repeatedly specified that the reports must consider studies in both humans and in animals. For fourteen years, however, these IOM reports have considered only human studies. To do this, VA and the IOM not only have had to disregard the law; they also had to manipulate the standard established in the IOM reports on Agent Orange, inserting the word “human” in the standard. As a result, since most research studies of toxic substances are necessarily done in animals, these IOM Gulf War reports have never found sufficient evidence of an association between these substances and Gulf War veterans’ health problems. In turn, VA has never recognized any toxic exposure as a reason for granting these ill veterans care and benefits. https://veterans.house.gov/witness-testimony/james-h-binns-0 2. The most egregious of these IOM Gulf War reports was the Updated Literature Review of Sarin, in which animal studies were not considered even though new animal studies were the only reason that then-Secretary Principi ordered the report. The outcome of the report was predetermined before the VA-IOM contract was ever signed, by understandings between VA and IOM staff discussed in a cover letter from the then executive director of the IOM to the then head of the VA Environmental Agents Service. https://veterans.house.gov/witness-testimony/james-h-binns-0 3. The Research Advisory Committee recommended in 2008 that these IOM reports be redone in accordance with the law. http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/GWIandHealthofGWVeterans_RAC-GWVIReport_2008.pdf, pages 53-55, 57. However, they have not been redone. Worse, the manipulated standard is now being employed in VA-ordered IOM studies of the health of post-9/11 veterans. The 2011 IOM report on the long-term health effects of burn pits used to incinerate waste in Iraq and Afghanistan used the manipulated Gulf War standard (limited to human studies), not the Agent Orange standard. As a consequence, the IOM burn pits committee found “inadequate/insufficient evidence of an association between exposure to combustion products and cancer, respiratory disease, circulatory disease, neurologic disease, and adverse reproductive and developmental outcomes.” http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13209&page=6 4. In 2006, the IOM did a general Gulf War literature review for VA, similar to the current task. Most of the report was a straightforward summary of the research, but IOM’s press release and press conference focused on one conclusion that echoed the familiar government theme that there is “no unique Gulf War syndrome.” Technically, this only means that others have similar symptoms, but the press release and conference spun the message to imply that Gulf War veterans have no major health problem. http://www.nbcnews.com/id/14801666/ns/health-health_care/t/study-gulf-war-syndrome-doesnt-exist/#.VHLDjUuBNH8 5. The 2013 IOM treatments report was a recent glaring example of VA and IOM collaboration to disregard the law and promote the 1990’s government position. A 2010 law required VA to contract with the IOM for a comprehensive review of the best treatments for ill Gulf War veterans by a group of doctors experienced in treating Gulf War veterans “diagnosed with chronic multisymptom illness or another health condition related to chemical and environmental exposures that may have occurred during [their] service.” Instead, VA contracted for a literature review of treatments for all “populations with a similar constellation of symptoms,” and the IOM appointed a committee with no experience in treating Gulf War veterans but extensive experience in psychiatric and psychosomatic medicine -- though the 2010 IOM report had just concluded that the illness “cannot be ascribed to any known psychiatric disorder.” Analysishttps://veterans.house.gov/sites/republicans.veterans.house.gov/files/Binns%2C%20ExhibitBtestimony.pdf http://www.scribd.com/doc/150949964/WHITE-PAPER-IOM-CMI-Panel-Membership- The individuals selected to give background briefings to the committee were largely familiar advocates for the 1990’s position, who told the committee the problem was psychiatric. http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/CommitteeDocJune2012.pdf, pages 24-30. Half the illnesses whose therapies were reviewed were psychiatric. The report revived 1990’s themes that that “[t]hroughout modern history, many soldiers returning from combat have experienced postcombat illnesses. . . that cannot now be attributed to any diagnosable pathophysiologic entity or disease,” and that “[c]linicians should approach [chronic multisymptom illness] with ‘a person-centered model of care . . . that helps patients understand that the word psychosomatic is not pejorative.’” https://veterans.house.gov/sites/republicans.veterans.house.gov/files/Binns%2C%20ExhibitBtestimony.pdf 6. The person who identified the individuals to be invited to brief the treatment committee was the chief scientist of the VA Office of Public Health, according to Congressional testimony by a senior VA epidemiologist who worked for him. https://veterans.house.gov/witness-testimony/dr-steven-s-coughlin 7. One of the psychiatric-oriented briefers was a member of the IOM Board on the Health of Select Populations, the IOM board that oversees veterans’ studies. Dr. Kurt Kroenke, an Army doctor and psychiatric-oriented Gulf War researcher in the 1990’s, is a leading figure in somatic medicine. He co-chaired the “Conceptual Issues in Somatoform and Similar Disorders” project that laid the groundwork for the controversial expansion of the definition of somatoform disorders in the recently revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17600162 http://dxrevisionwatch.com/dsm-5-drafts/dsm-5-ssd-work-group/ He has co-authored publications with two members of the IOM treatment committee and two members of the new IOM committee that begins work December 3. 8. Two other members of the IOM Board of the Health of Select Populations were also leading proponents of the government position on Gulf War health in the 1990’s. Dr. Francis Murphy held the position equivalent to chief scientist in VA’s Office of Public Health, and Dr. Greg Gray was a Navy doctor who published numerous papers in 1996-2001 that dismissed the idea that Gulf War veterans have any special health problems. Conversely, as of June 2013, no one on the IOM Board of the Health of Select Populations represented current scientific understanding of Gulf War illness. http://www.scribd.com/doc/150949964/WHITE-PAPER-IOM-CMI-Panel-Membership-Analysis. It is currently undisclosed who serves on this board, as its membership has been removed from the IOM website, although the membership of all other IOM boards continues to be listed. http://www.iom.edu/About-IOM/Leadership-Staff/Boards.aspx In summary, there has been a long-term corrupt relationship between the government and the Institute of Medicine to deny the true state of Gulf War veterans’ health, of which the makeup of the new committee is only the latest example. We are confident that neither you nor VA Secretary McDonald, as newcomers to Washington and to your respective institutions, is aware of this problem. At one point, none of us would have believed it possible either. But it is a cancer that threatens to destroy the integrity and reputations of both organizations. And it makes a mockery of the mission of the IOM “to provide unbiased and authoritative advice to decision makers and the public.” http://www.iom.edu/About-IOM.aspx We urge you to conduct a thorough investigation of this problem and to fix it. The most effective and rapid approach is for the IOM to handle this itself. If it does not, however, we will work with veterans’ organizations to show Congress the need to conduct an investigation and enact legislative solutions. As part of putting IOM on solid ground going forward, we urge you to replace the eight provisional members predisposed to the government’s scientifically discredited 1990’s position with individuals representing current scientific knowledge of Gulf War research and the health effects of neurotoxic exposures. We also urge you to replace those members of the Board on the Health of Select Populations identified with this position, with individuals representing current scientific knowledge regarding veterans’ health and environmental exposures. James Binns Beatrice A. Golomb, MD, PhD Professor of Medicine, University of California San Diego Current Member, Research Advisory Committee; former Committee Scientific Director Rev. Joel C. Graves, DMin, CPT U.S. Army (Ret.) Former Member, Research Advisory Committee Marguerite L. Knox, MN, ARNP-FNP/ACNP COL, South Carolina Army National Guard William J. Meggs, MD, PhD Professor and Chief, Division of Toxicology, Brody School of Medicine, East Carolina University cc: Institute of Medicine Council Analysis of the Provisional Committee Membership The provisional committee is grossly imbalanced in favor of the 1990’s government position that Gulf War veterans have no special health problem—just what happens after every war, related to psychiatric issues, and not environmental exposures. The following committee members are predisposed toward this position, either because they personally supported it, or because they are professionally oriented to view these kinds of health problems as psychiatric and unrelated to environmental exposures. Dr. Kenneth Kizer, as VA Undersecretary for Health, 1994-1999, was the chief promulgator of this position, including this 1997 Congressional testimony: “The overall frequency of unexplained symptoms among Gulf War veterans appears to be about the same as in a general medical practice.” http://www.va.gov/OCA/testimony/hvac/sh/hvac61.asp Dr. Howard Kipen, a member of the VA Persian Gulf Expert Scientific Committee, 1993-1997, has published “Military deployment to the Gulf War as a risk factor for psychiatric illness among U.S. troops” (2005) http://bjp.rcpsych.org/content/188/5/453.long and that “[c]oncerns . . . of a unique Gulf War syndrome, remind us that military personnel returning from wars have regularly described disabling symptoms” (co-authored with Dr. Kroenke). Unexplained Symptoms after Terrorism and War: An Expert Consensus Statement. Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine 45(10):1040-8, 2003 Dr. Herman Gibb runs a private consulting firm. The NIH reportedly terminated its contract with his previous firm, while he was president, on grounds that his firm was working for three chemical companies at the same time it was reviewing their chemicals for the government. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/13/AR2007041301979.html Dr. Nancy Woods is an expert on midlife and aging women’s health; her background relevant to Gulf War illness was as a member of the IOM committee that authored a 1996 report, “The Health Consequences of Service During the Persian Gulf War,” which concluded: “Men and women served side by side in conditions that increased the stresses of serving in these grim surroundings . . . Studies of Gulf War veterans suggest that these veterans suffer from a variety of recognized diseases, . . . not the existence of a new disease. ” http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5272&page=R6 Dr. Javier Escobar is a professor of psychiatry at the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, where his work “focuses on the somatic presentations of psychiatric disorders in primary care . . . as director of the ‘Medically Unexplained Physical Symptoms Research Center.’” http://www.physicianfacultyscholars.org/nac/escobar.html With Dr. Kroenke he was a member of the “Conceptual Issues in Somatoform and Similar Disorders” project that laid the groundwork for the controversial expansion of the definition of somatoform disorders in the recently revised Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) of the American Psychiatric Association, and was a member of the task force that wrote DSM-5. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17600162 http://dxrevisionwatch.com/dsm-5-drafts/dsm-5-ssd-work-group/ http://www.dsm5.org/MeetUs/Pages/TaskForceMembers.aspx He was a member of the 2013 IOM treatment report committee. Dr. Scott Fishman is board certified in psychiatry and pain medicine. His research includes a focus on “psychiatric issues of chronic illness and pain.” http://www.ucdmc.ucdavis.edu/publish/facultybio/search/faculty/508 Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez studies musculoskeletal pain in workers related to their occupational risk factors. http://www.cabanmartinezlab.com/#!about/c46c He has studied “The prevalence of Somatic Disfunctions in a Multi-Center Outpatient Osteopathic Medicine Clinic” http://nhsn.med.miami.edu/documents/cv/a_cabanmartinez_cv_09.pdf and has published that “[c]onstruction workers struggle with a high prevalence of mental distress, and this is associated with their pain and injuries.” J Occup Environ Med 2013 Oct;55(10):1197-204 Dr. Deborah Cory-Slecta, the committee chair, has not done Gulf War health research herself but stated in 2013, in connection with service on another IOM Gulf War committee, that she does not believe Gulf War illness research has produced adequate data to show what caused the illness. http://www.forbes.com/sites/rebeccaruiz/2014/03/12/experts-cant-decide-on-definition-for-gulf-war-illness/ She also served on the 2003 IOM Gulf War committee that concluded there was insufficient evidence to show an association between any illness affecting Gulf War veterans and exposure to pesticides, applying the manipulated standard that excluded animal studies. http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10628&page=R5 The other half of the committee are neutral, people who have not been engaged in Gulf War health research themselves, but who have a background in studying other neurological conditions and expertise in relevant subjects like neuroimaging, neuropsychology, and neuroepidemiology. They include Dr. Robert Brown, Dr. Ellen Eisen, Dr. Mary Fox, Dr. Clifford Jack, Dr. Joel Kramer, Dr. Francine Laden, Dr. James Noble, and Dr. Anbesaw Selassie. Conspicuously absent from the committee are any doctors or scientists who have studied Gulf War health in the past decade, who have studied or treated other groups subjected to neurotoxic exposures like farmers or pesticide applicators, or who have studied the effects of Gulf War exposures in animals. [1] Veterans Benefits Act of 2010, Sec. 805, http://library.clerk.house.gov/reference-files/PPL_111_275_VeteransBenefitsAct_2010.pdf [2] http://www.scribd.com/doc/150949964/WHITE-PAPER-IOM-CMI-Panel-Membership-Analysis [3] Public Law 110-389, Section 804 [4] http://www.va.gov/RAC-GWVI/docs/Committee_Documents/CommitteeDocJune2012.pdf (Appendix E) [5] http://iom.nationalacademies.org/Reports/2015/Considerations-for-Designing-Epidemiologic-Study-for-Multiple-Sclerosis-and-other-Neurological-disorders-Veterans.aspx [6] 2016 IOM Gulf War and Health report, pp. 102,145,149. uscfaninaz said... Mr. Hardie, how do I help in this fight? I am a gulf war veteran and since coming home, have suffered fatigue, bone and joint pain, severe headaches, irritable bowel syndrome for 25 years. I've gone to the VA and was told I didn't meet criteria to obtain any veterans benefits. I just saw an article today, that led me to you. Again, what can I do to assist in this fight for not just myself but other gulf war vets.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8604
__label__wiki	0.882067	0.882067	Josh Hoke Releases Debut Album "Ghosts and Glory" Josh Hoke delivers his highly anticipated debut album, “Ghosts and Glory,” available on Amazon.com, iTunes, and all major music sites. Portland, OR, March 07, 2013 --(PR.com)-- “Ghosts and Glory” is a collection of songs written and performed by Portland-based singer/songwriter Josh Hoke. The album has 10 tracks that reflect the recent folk resurgence. “What started out as a simple acoustic project quickly evolved into a more musically abstract collection of songs. Adding banjo was an early decision,” said Hoke, who performed multiple roles on every track. ”Adding other musicians and bringing in additional talent gave each song its own feel, and was an unexpectedly fun part of the project. We wanted this to be an album you could listen to from start to finish, so deciding exactly which songs should appear on the record was an interesting challenge.” Hoke originally hails from Indianapolis and relocated to Portland, Oregon in 2011. Since arriving in Portland he has become a mainstay among the burgeoning folk music scene that has recently infiltrated the Northwest. “The Portland community of artists is very welcoming,” said Hoke. “I’m very grateful to have landed among a group of people that is so accepting of new musicians and open to working and performing together. The essence of the album definitely stems from my roots, but the final product absolutely reflects all the artists from the greater Northwest that have influenced me over the past two years.” The LP is produced by Dave Beatty of BentBeat Productions. They began collaborating in early 2012. “Josh initially caught our attention as a solo act, performing locally. It was immediately apparent to us that his style of music and level of talent would be a good match for the BentBeat Label,” said Beatty. “We spent a lot of time working with Josh and his musicians to create a project that would be accessible to anyone who turned on a radio yet truly unique to Josh’s style and vision. ‘Ghosts and Glory’ definitely achieves that, and we are super proud of Josh for this fantastic first release.” The full length CD “Ghosts and Glory” is available for purchase on Amazon.com or can be downloaded from iTunes, Spotify, and all major music sites. About BentBeat Productions: BentBeat Productions, the recording and publishing division of All Requests Live, Inc., is based in Vancouver, Washington. BBP’s focus is on partnering with musicians to produce and record high quality, radio-friendly music. Working with social media and through mainstream channels of distribution, BBP’s portfolio is available on Amazon.com or can be downloaded from iTunes, Spotify, and all major music sites. Please join in supporting musicians. www.bentbeat.com Labels: Music Production Record Label Recording Studio Music Producer Music Publishing Movie Soundtrack Film Music Portland OR Vancouver WA Music is My First Language	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8622
__label__wiki	0.970671	0.970671	Reality Shows in India Super Dancer is an Indian Hindi kids dance reality show, which telecast on Sony TV – Sony Entertainment Television. Super Dancer show aims to search a kid prodigy who has the potential to be the future of dance. Nach Baliye Nach Baliye is a danceing reality show series that which telecast on Star Plus. Nach Baliye show is a competition wherein 10 television celebrity couples compete against each other. Boogie Woogie is an popular Indian dance competition show series. Boogie Woogie telecast on Sony TV. Boogie Woogie directed by Naved Jaffrey and Ravi Behl. Dance Premier League Dance Premier League is an Indian dance reality show which telecast on Sony TV. Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar Kabhi Kabhii Pyaar Kabhi Kabhii Yaar is an Indian dance reality show which telecast on Sony TV. Dance India Dance Dance India Dance popular indian dance competition reality show series, Dance India Dance telecast on Zee TV. Jhalak Dikhhla Jaa is a television reality Dancing Show in which celebrities perform various dances together with professional dance partners. Show telecast on Sony TV. Dance Deewane Dance Deewane is an Indian dance competition reality television show telecast on Colors.This show gives opportunity for three different generations – Kids, Youth and Seniors. Dance Plus is an Indian dance competition reality television series, which telecast on STAR Plus. Dance India Dance: Li’l Masters Dance India Dance is an Indian dance competition reality television series telecast on Zee TV. Aasman Se Aage Aasman Se Aage is an Indian dance reality show telecast on Life OK. This show tells the story of a talented but poor slum girl who gets the opportunity of a lifetime to be on a dance reality show on TV called Aasman Se Aage. D 4 Dance D 4 Dance is an Indian dance reality series which telecast on Mazhavil Manorama. Dance Champions is a dance competition reality television series that was telecasted on Star Plus. Remo D’Souza and Terence Lewis are the judges for the show. The Voice India The show first aired in 2015. First and second season telecasted on &TV and third season telecast on StarPlus. Rising Star is an reality television singing competition. This is the first reality television show in India which involves live audience voting. Show telecaste on Colors tv. Dil Hai Hindustani Dil Hai Hindustani is an Indian Hindi reality singing talent show. The show first aired in December 2016 and will be telecast on Star Plus. Show completed two season. The winner of Season 1 is Haitham Mohammed Rafi and the new winner of Season 2 is Akshay Dhawan. STAR Voice of India Star Voice of India is an Indian television singing competition telecast on STAR Plus. The show first aired in 2007. India’s Raw Star India’s Raw Star was an Indian singing competition show telecast on Star Plus. The show first aired in 2014. Rituraj Mohanty was the winner of the first season. Indian Idol is the Indian singing show telecast on Sony tv. The first seasin aired in 2004 and completed 10 season in 2018-19. Winners List \| Judges Music Ka Maha Muqqabla Music Ka Maha Muqqabla was a reality show on STAR Plus, which first aired in 2009. This show is based on teams rather than individuals. Total Six team participated with their own superstar captains. The singing superstars included Shaan, Shreya Ghoshal, Mohit Chauhan, Himesh Reshammiya, Mika Singh and Shankar Mahadevan. X Factor India is a television music talent show telecast on Sony Entertainment Television Channel. There were both type of categories for registrants: Solo performances and Group performance for a group of 2 or more people. Fame Gurukul Fame Gurukul is an Indian reality show telecasted on Sony Entertainment Television (India) which first aired in June 2005. The concept of the show was to select a pair of India’s best singers/performers.The show has completed only one season and Qazi Touqeer was the winner of the season. Sitaare Zameen Par Sa Re Ga Ma Pa A nationwide talent hunt for budding singers, which brings together the best-untapped talent in the country and provides them with a platform to begin their careers as playback singers. Children from across India participate in a singing competition where they are mentored and judged by famous playback singers from the Hindi film industry. Kaun Banega Crorepati is an Indian television game show telecast on Sony TV but It originally aired on Star Plus for the first 3 seasons. First season of show aired in 2000 and completed 10 season in 2018. The show hosted by Amitabh Bachchan except third season it was hosted by Shahrukh Khan. India’s Next Superstars India’s Next Superstars (INS) is an Indian talent search reality television show, which aired on Star Plus and streamed on Hotstar. Karan Johar and Rohit Shetty were the judges of the show. Aman Gandotra and Natasha Bharadwaj were declared as winners. The Great Indian Laughter Challenge The Great Indian Laughter Challenge is an Indian reality stand-up comedy series produced by Endemol India. The first four seasons aired on STAR One. Sacch Ka Saamna Sacch Ka Saamna is an Indian reality television which aired on STAR Plus from 15 July 2009. … Sach Ka Saamna. Sach Ka Saamna poster.jpg. Created by, Howard Schultz. Directed by, Arun Sheshkumar. Country of origin, India. 10 ka Dum is an Indian version of the popular international reality game show Power of 10, and aired on Sony Entertainment Television Sabse Bada Kalakar is an auditioning Reality show on Sony TV Channel. This is the first time Sony TV comes up with such show to hunt the entertaining Fear Factor India Fear Factor: Khatron Ke Khiladi is an Indian stunt/dare reality game show, based … The series was first launched as Fear Factor India on Sony TV Waar Parriwar Waar Parriwar was a singing reality television show that aired 3 days a week (Monday to Wednesday) on Sony TV in 2008. India’s Best Dramebaaz India’s Best Dramebaaz is an talent-search Indian reality television show on Zee TV which has children between the ages of 4–15 years as the participants. The show is produced by the Essel Productions. India’s Best Cinestars Ki Khoj India’s Best Cinestar Ki Khoj is an Indian television series that premiered on Zee TV in 2004. It is a talent show for aspiring actors Gangs of Haseepur Gangs of Haseepur is an Indian reality comedy show, which premiered on 26 April 2014, It airs on Zee TV. The show replaced Bh Se Bhade. Bigg Boss is an Indian reality television game show franchise produced by EndemolShine India through Viacom 18 and Colors, broadcast in India, MTV Roadies is a youth-based popular reality show that airs on MTV India. It first aired in 2003. In the show, a group of contestants travel to different destinations MasterChef India is an Indian competitive cooking show based on the original British MasterChef. It was broadcast on Star Plus from 2010 to 2016. Previous Article Sa Re Ga Ma Pa L’il Champs Winners Next Article Tenali Rama	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8625
__label__wiki	0.87624	0.87624	A Film by Michèle Ohayon • 39 min • Documentary An intimate journey of a 37-year-old Cristina, as fate brings to her life both a new love and an unbeatable challenge. Determined to pass on a message of hope and a 'live in the now' mentality, Cristina's second cancer takes a toll on her diminishing body, however her love for Bruce only grows. Bruce stands by her side while juggling work and financial strains. The film follows Cristina's journey into her deep AMOUR, one that supports and lifts her up. If she had to choose between finding this deep and pure love and having cancer, or being cancer free but never experiencing true love... what would she choose? Her shocking answers are captured by veteran filmmaker Michèle Ohayon on camera. This is the story of a persistent love and a persistent disease that has taken yet another victim. Cristina provides deep insight into the life of an amazing woman, a symbol of love and the will to live-- a role model for all of us. Coming soon to Netflix International Shortfest June 25, 2016, @ 4.30 PM Camelot Theaters psfilmfest.org Laemmle Theaters Monica Film Center Aug 5-11, 2016 "Cristina" Trailer Cristina the Movie An intimate journey of a 37- year- old Cristina, as fate brings to her life both a new love and an unbeatable challenge. Photographed by Glen MacPherson, Artwork by Jessie Buchanan Cristina's journey Cristina and husband Bruce at the hospital on the eve of Shabbat Cristina and Bruce waiting for the doctor Cristina and Bruce at the hospital Michèle Ohayon Director/Producer/Camera www. micheleohayon.com Michèle Ohayon is an Academy Award nominated director and producer. Her critically acclaimed feature documentaries include: It was a Wonderful Life (1987, PBS, narrated by Jodie Foster) Colors Straight Up (1997, PBS) Nominated for an Academy Award, Directors Guild of America Award, and a Spirit award as well as 13 National awards, Cowboy del Amor (2005, ShowTime) winner SXSW jury and audience award, Steal a Pencil for Me (2007) Produced with Netflix, Winner of the Jerusalem Film Festival, and Audience award Sonoma Film Festival, S.O.S/State of Security (2010) Berlin film festival, and Solar Roadways (2012), Tribeca film festival. Michèle oversaw production of CNN’s Believer episode 3, with host/ EP Reza Aslan (2016). Michèle directed the Academy of Motion Pictures tribute films for Angelina Jolie’s Governors Award (2013), narrated by Morgan Freeman, and for Jean-Claude Carriere (2014) narrated by Jeremy Irons, with Natalie Portman, Richard Gere, Juliette Binoche and Isabelle Huppert. Michèle is a member of the Academy of Motion Pictures where she serves on the International, foreign film, and the educational/grants committee. She is also a member of the WGA, DGA and IDA. Michèle is the CEO and co-founder of Kavana Entertainment, with a mission to bridge Hollywood and the rest of the world. Kate Amend, ACE Kate Amend, ACE is the editor of two Academy Award Winning Documentary features - Into the Arms of Strangers and The Long Way Home, and is the recipient of the International Documentary Association’s inaugural award for Outstanding Achievement in Editing. Amend also received the 2001 American Cinema Editors’ Eddie award for Into the Arms of Strangers. She was nominated for an Emmy for her recent film, The Case Against 8, which premiered at the 2014 Sundance Film Festival. Other credits include The Sound of Redemption: The Frank Morgan Story, First Position (Toronto International Film Festival, 2011); Steal a Pencil for Me (PBS 2007) which screened at the United Nations, South by Southwest, Berlin and Kagali Film Festivals; Jimmy Carter: Man from Plains (2007) a triple- award winner at the 2007 Venice Film Festival; and Cowboy Del Amor which received both the Audience and Jury Awards at the 2005 South by Southwest Festival. Kate is a member of the Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Art and Sciences and is on the faculty at the School of Cinematic Arts at the University of Southern California. She has been an advisor at the Sundance Documentary Edit and Storytelling Lab since June 2004. Emmy nominated Composer, Miriam Cutler is passionate about scoring documentaries, among them Emmy winning, Sundance, and Oscar nominated films: Ethel, Los in LA Mancha, Thin, Poster Girl, Kings Point, Ghosts of Abu Ghraib, American Promise, Vito, Desert of Forbidden Art, Scouts Honor, License to Kill, and The Hunting Ground. Miriam Co-Produced and scored One Lucky Elephant and has served as Lab Advisor for the Sundance Institute Documentary Composers Lab, on documentary juries including Sundance, Independent Spirit Awards, IDA Awards. She has co-produced two Grammy-nominated live jazz albums on PolyGram/Verve for Joe Williams, and albums for Nina Simone, Shirley Horn, and Marlena Shaw plus albums of her own music. Miriam is an Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences Documentary Branch member, a long time board member of The Society of Composers and Lyricists, and a film expert for the USC/US State Department’s American Film Showcase. For more information please visit www.miriamcutler.com Sebastian Heinrich Sebastian Heinrich is the COO and Co-Founder of Kavana Entertainment. A German citizen, Sebastian now has 8 years of experience in the Film/Television industry, maintaining a fresh perspective in the Hollywood scene. Sebastian received a Bachelor of Arts in Film/Cinema/Video Studies at MHMK, and a Certificate of Directing and the Certificate of the Business and Management of Entertainment at UCLA Extension. Sebastian is an editor and director, known for Kiss (2011), Angst (2010) and Inflagranti (2012). Sebastian was Chief Editor at Diamond Lane Films, Advertising Monitor at Defend Music Inc., Video Editor at Aligned Signs, and Assistant at Magnet Media Group. Sebastian offers a strong understanding of the production process and holds a strong foothold in the European Film and Television Industry. Kavana Entertainment LLC Kavana is a media resources company that specializes in exchanging film and television services between the US and the world, and facilitates the development of high caliber media projects. It serves global clients both in consulting and production. Did you go through a similar experience? Share your story with us here. Download Director's statement Download Filmmaker Filmography Download photo: Cristina and Bruce waiting for the doctor Download photo: Cristina and Bruce at the hospital, eve of Shabbat Download photo: Cristina and Bruce at the hospital Download Cristina poster When my friend Cristina was diagnosed with cancer for the second time, she asked me to film her. Although she was a script supervisor and knew film, I reminded her what it meant to have a camera in her face and a constant presence through this difficult journey. But she was adamant. Cristina wanted to send a message to the world, in her own words: Live Now. I told her I would do it if she promised me a happy ending. Armed with my little HDcam and as much strength as I could muster, I began to film what turned out to be the most intimate and difficult film I’ve ever made. The doctors gave Cristina two to five years to live. I thought I had more time than what ended up being a short journey. In the seven years that Cristina was married to my best friend Bruce, she was in and out of hospitals for four years. It was hard to grapple with the unfairness of this all, with a disease that affects many families and destroys one's body, cell by cell. Five months after I started filming, with only 20 hours of footage of this remarkable woman’s fight, my camera had to shut off. I was not emotionally able to view the footage for three years. As harrowing as the experience was, and without a happy ending, I am committed to living my life to its fullest each and every moment. Cristina was the brave soul and beautiful spirit that reminded me of that through her love and appreciation for life. That's what I am here to share with you, with all of us. A Film by Michèle Ohayon • 39 min • Documentary • Completed 2016 Michèle Ohayon, Director Filmography & Awards ‘It was a Wonderful Life’ (1987), narrated by Jodie Foster with music by Melissa Etheridge, aired on PBS and OXYGEN, won the Gold Award at the Houston Film Festival and an IDA nomination. ‘Colors Straight Up’ (1997), received nominations for the 1997 Academy Award® for Best Documentary Feature, the DGA’s Outstanding Directorial Achievement, the IFP Spirit Award, and the Golden Spire Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, as well as 11 national awards. ‘Colors Straight Up’ also aired on PBS and all over the world. ‘Cowboy del Amor’ (2005), was WGA and IDA nominated and won both Jury and Audience Awards at the SXSW festival, as well as Best Documentary at Santa Fe, Durango and Cinefest. It aired on Showtime. ‘Steal a Pencil for Me’ (2007), a production collaboration with NETFLIX, opened at the Berlinale in 2008, screened at the United Nations, garnered the Audience Award at Sonoma Film Festival and the Yad Vashem Chairman Award at the Jerusalem Film Festival. The film was honored at the Spirit of Anne Frank Awards and nominated for the IDA ABC/Video Source Award 2007. It aired on PBS’ Independent Lens. ‘S.O.S/State of Security’ (2011), opened at the Berlin Film Festival, showed at the Moma and Georgetown, and is utilized as an educational tool for National Security awareness and for policy makers. It was chosen to be part of the IDA Academy qualifier theatrical showcase at the Laemmle theaters 2012. ‘Solar Roadways’ (2012), a short environmental documentary that Michèle produced and directed in 2012 as part of the FOCUS FORWARD series, opened at the Tribeca Film festival, Big Eddy, Madeira. Warsaw and Anchorage film festival. It was chosen to participate in the GOOGLE X talks and continues to travel. ‘Cristina’ (2016), Directed by Michèle Ohayon. An intimate journey of a 37 year old Cristina, as fate brings to her life both a new love and an unbeatable challenge. Will be shown on Netflix. ‘Power’ (2016), in Post production, Co-Director. A documentary feature connecting the dots of energy- from a small village in Uganda, to the super powers of the west. www.powerthemovie.com The Filmmakers: Kavana Entertainment info@kavanaent.com Karen Fried & Associates, 818-980-6220 Karen@kfried.net Sara@kfried.net	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8631
__label__cc	0.656789	0.343211	Top 5 reasons why people distrust science When someone asks me why so many people, especially religious people, don’t believe what scientists tell us, it is too easy to say that people are ignorant or have one standard of evidence for soul-saving preachers and another for know-it-all scientists. There are better explanations. 1. Science is awesome. The products of science are impressive, powerful, and dangerous. Scientific knowledge and understanding inspires technology. It gives us the World Wide Web, smartphones, supercomputers, spacecraft, robots, and weapons of mass destruction. Our lives are easier and more connected than those of our ancestors. Progress costs us much in privacy, security, and freedom. Medical innovations such as vaccines, antibiotics, pain-killers, contraceptives, anti-depressants, MRIs and mammograms extend our lives while making us more dependent upon them as nostrums and panaceas. Genetic engineering in plants and animals is remarkable but provokes neophobia and paranoia. What if its ubiquitous use threatens natural resource sustainability? Science enables people to do immoral things. Drones and clones are scary. 2. Science defies common-sense and challenges established world-views. "Seeing is believing" but collective experience tells us not to believe everything we see. Common-sense says that whatever occurs happens for a reason, but physicists say otherwise. Modern physics finds that some events are uncaused when we can't help but think that every thing and every event has a cause. Subatomic particles can come into existence and perish by virtue of spontaneous energy fluctuations in a vacuum. Even the entire universe whose present form emerged in a cosmic explosion 13.7 billion years ago may not have had an ultimate or first cause. Some scientific models continue to suggest an eternal, cyclical, or oscillatory universe rather than a single creation event. Cosmologists say that the universe doesn't have a center and doesn't have an edge. Science progresses by upsetting and superseding old world-views. Scholars in ancient and medieval times believed Earth was the fixed center of the cosmos, that there are only as many basic, unchanging kinds of organisms as God separately created, and that there are just four elements which comprise everything: earth, air, fire, water. But the history of science is a tale of numerous rejections of old beliefs. For almost 2000 years physicians practiced blood-letting, believing that good health required the delicate balance of bodily fluids: blood, yellow bile, phlegm, and black bile. Empirical observations revealed that bloodletting killed more people than it healed. Nobody still thinks disease is caused by angry gods or evil demons. We now treat mental illness without trepanations or exorcisms. 3. Scientists make contrary and even contradictory claims. Researchers report that recent studies show low carbohydrate diets are healthier than low fat diets. If true, this contradicts established scientific findings and subsequent recommendations to reduce fats more than carbohydrates in one’s diet. They’ve reversed recommendations on salt and cholesterol intake as well. What are we supposed to believe when authorities change their minds? Mainstream reports of science often distort the significance of some research, especially conclusions based on small samples or low quality, preliminary studies. Bad science makes headlines in part due to the politics of science itself. Often a specialist in one discipline, say, a cardiothoracic surgeon with a popular television show, becomes an authority on nutrition for the general public. Beware the authoritative non-expert. Physicians get the science wrong. Some doctors are scientists but most are not. A “Referendum on Alcohol in the Practice of Medicine” prepared for the U.S. Congress in 1922 revealed that over 50% of physicians surveyed continued to prescribe “spiritus fermenti” or whisky, wine and beer as a necessary therapeutic agent for treating influenza, pneumonia, heart failure, shock, anemia, diabetes, cancer, asthma, dyspepsia, snakebite, lactation problems, and old age. So far no randomized controlled clinical trial (RCT) on even moderate alcohol consumption and mortality outcomes has been done. The medicinal benefits of alcohol have yet to be found. We must fact-check all sources of information, but when is the last time you looked at scientific literature? 4. Science is hard to do and assess, it is especially difficult for non-experts to understand. The general public cannot easily check whether what scientist's assert is true. Scientists study complex, difficult to observe phenomena. They do so by drawing finer distinctions than common-sense and ordinary language permits. Without advanced training or at least a college course in inductive reasoning or statistics, most people who acquire a scientific conclusion from non-expert, second-hand sources cannot process it competently. We like stories not statistics. Ordinary people trust personal experiences and testimony but scientists rank types of evidence differently. In science any hypothesis is incredible if it cannot be falsified by experiment (i.e. tested with the possibility of being rejected). Use science databases such as NCBI or PubMed. Do an online search with terms that narrow the field to higher quality sources, e.g. “low carbohydrate diet versus low fat diet meta-analysis randomized controlled”. Here is rough guide to spotting bad science. Also, Trish Greenhalgh (1997) has a nice series of very short must read articles on "How To Read a Paper” that explain how to interpret different kinds of research papers. 5. Scientists doubt or reject what most people believe. Most Americans believe in supernaturals (Harris Poll, 2013). People think that supernaturals explain events, but scientists don’t. Angels visit, ghosts haunt, devils make us sin, gods make and destroy worlds. For scientists, and methodological naturalists in general, supernaturals are superfluous. This is why so many are atheists (Pew Research, 2009). Science abjures faith and demands testable evidence. Its predictions are dire. All of this alienates scientists from non-scientists. When beliefs are threatened by new facts, people grasp onto unfalsifiable justifications. Motivated reasoning and confirmation bias affects negatively our ability to evaluate scientific evidence. So when scientists tell us what we don’t want to hear we are dubious. We just don’t want to listen to people who are so negative all of the time. Scott Merlino Posted by G. Randolph Mayes at 12:24 PM 12 comments: Do gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry? Like most liberals, I strongly support the movement to legalize gay and lesbian marriage. But it is surprisingly difficult to discern what sort of argument the courts could use that would convincingly show that gays and lesbians have a constitutional right to marry. Most of the debate tends to focus on either of two distinct lines of argument. The first is the “born that way” argument: A person’s sexual orientation is either inborn or fixed at an early age. It is wrong to criminalize behavior that a person does not choose to engage in. Therefore, gay/lesbian sex as well as marriage should neither be prohibited nor criminalized. This argument is open to two serious objections. (a) Although the first premise is widely believed to be true, it is in fact an empirical claim whose supposed truth is still vigorously debated among researchers. (b) Even if premise 1 is true, the conclusion does not follow, for even if a person has a homosexual orientation, it does not follow that his or her sexual conduct must not be freely chosen. After all, many persons who are clearly heterosexual in orientation freely choose not to marry and/or engage in any sexual activity with persons of the opposite sex. Sexual orientation alone does not determine a person’s behavior. The second argument maintains that laws prohibiting gay/lesbian sex or marriage are sexist and therefore in violation of the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment. This is a strange argument. Even if one grants that laws prohibiting gay/lesbian marriage are sexist because they deliberately deny lesbians the right to marry, states that have such laws (as well as the armed forces) have plausibly replied that the prohibition isn’t sexist because they apply to gay males as well as lesbian females. Such laws are really gender-neutral. Moreover, it is unwise to categorize such laws as sexist when it seems much closer to the truth to say they are motivated by homophobia, not sexism. So what are the courts to do when called upon to decide the constitutionality of gay/lesbian marriage? One possibility is they could, in effect, shift the burden of proof from the supporters of gay/lesbian marriage to the opponents. How so? They could require that the proponents of whatever anti-gay marriage law is before the court show that it satisfies the rational basis test, i.e., that the law satisfies some legitimate state purpose. This is a minimal requirement that any contested law must meet to qualify as valid law. But in this case, that wouldn’t be an easy thing to show. They can’t just say a majority of the public wants it that way, or that we have a long history of forbidding gay marriage, or that gays cannot be good parents of young children (empirically false), or that gay marriages threaten heterosexual marriages (patently false). I don’t know what they could say that would show a gay marriage ban serves a legitimate state purpose. Clifford Anderson What is naturalism? The following is not a defense of naturalism, just a quick summary of the basic outlook and philosophical practice of naturalized philosophers, finishing with some standard criticisms and an indication of its current popularity. (Written for tonight's Philosophy Club discussion on naturalism at Professor Dowden's home.) Naturalism and human knowledge Naturalism is associated with the rejection of First Philosophy (the idea that philosophical inquiry is logically prior to scientific inquiry, and that part of the task of philosophy is to determine the scope, limits, and proper method of the latter by a priori means.) Following Hume, naturalists tend to regard FP as historically unproductive and probably incoherent. Naturalists tend to emphasize the fact that philosophers don't have special tools or methods unavailable to scientists. Hence, they tend to see philosophical knowledge and scientific knowledge as continuous rather than categorically distinct. Naturalists tend to approve of Otto Neurath's metaphor that "We are like sailors who on the open sea must reconstruct their ship but are never able to start afresh from the bottom." Naturalism and human understanding Naturalists tend to think that improving our understanding of the world amounts to developing theories that provide better explanations of it, which at least partly means theories that improve our ability to predict and control the future. They tend to see this process as something that is inherently unkind to existing beliefs and intuitions. As such, naturalists tend to be very dubious about philosophical inquiries that begin with questions like "What is the nature of ___?" (where the blank is filled in with words like: knowledge, time, free will, self, goodness, etc.) and which proceed by exploring our ordinary intuitions about the meaning of these words. Naturalism and human cognition Naturalists take it as well-established that human beings are animals and that human knowledge and understanding is an evolved capacity. They believe our claims about the world have to be compatible with a scientific understanding of our perceptual and cognitive mechanisms (which of course is still in its infancy.) This, of course, means that naturalists reject supernatural knowledge and understanding. So, for example, the idea that some of our knowledge was simply revealed to us by a supernatural agent is a non starter from a naturalistic perspective. In a similar vein, naturalists also reject the Cartesian and Platonic view that humans are born with ideas of divine origin. (They do not reject innate ideas of evolutionary origin.) Naturalists also tend to reject the idea that there are categorically distinct realms of, say, moral, aesthetic, logical and mathematical knowledge, which can be apprehended in ways that aren't answerable to a scientific understanding of our perceptual and cognitive abilities. Naturalism and the value of philosophical inquiry Naturalism is not associated with a distinct view of the value of philosophical inquiry. Some naturalists, such as those who participate in experimental philosophy, see themselves as scientists who study questions that have been traditionally conceived as philosophical in nature. Generally speaking they deal with naturalized versions of these questions. For example, our newest faculty member Dan Weijers, is an experimental philosopher who does empirical research on happiness. Conceived as ethics, his work might be characterized as addressing a naturalized version of a traditional ethical question: What causes happiness and how can we make more of it? Other naturalistic philosophers see themselves as trying to make a distinct contribution to scientific problems at a conceptual level. They analyze scientific concepts and propose ways of improving them for scientific purposes. They also participate in the development of emerging conceptual frameworks, such as those that are currently being developed for scientific inquiry into consciousness, cognition, and communication. Often this involves explicating a term, the familiar meaning of which seems to be essentially supernatural or non natural, in a way that is susceptible to scientific inquiry. For example, the idea that personal identity consists in an unchanging 'self' that is the owner of its thoughts, feelings and body parts does not make sense in naturalistic terms. But there is little question that human beings have a distinct feeling of ownership and of being self aware, so the naturalistic project is to explicate a concept of self that will serve scientific inquiry into how and why this occurs. Still other naturalistic philosophers explore the way that different areas of scientific inquiry are related and specifically how knowledge claims at different levels (e.g., physics, biology, psychology, sociology) are related. This approach is basically in accord with Wilfrid Sellars' view that philosophy is the study of "how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term." Critical stances on naturalism Most critiques of naturalism focus on naturalism as a prescriptive account about the right way to do philosophy. The main problem with prescribing naturalism to others is that it will typically seem to involve making the kind of a priori claims that naturalists themselves reject. For example, naturalists who insist that there is, and can be, no perspective outside of science from which to evaluate scientific knowledge and understanding may appear to need to inhabit that perspective in order to substantiate the claim. Metaphysical naturalists who claim to know that there are no non-natural properties are susceptible to the same kind of criticism. Naturalism may also appear to be self-defeating. Some, for example, believe that a fundamentally scientific perspective on human perception and cognition (specifically an evolutionary one that holds that our mental capacities evolved to serve the ends of survival, not truth) leads to the view that scientific knowledge is either not achievable or miraculous. Naturalists also find it challenging to produce a compelling account of the nature of logical and mathematical knowledge, which may seem to entail the existence of abstract objects that we know by means that are inscrutable from a naturalistic perspective. Naturalism as described here is not in any way committed to the so-called naturalistic fallacy or the is-ought fallacy. The current status of naturalism According to a survey conducted by David Chalmers and David Bourget, about 50% of professional philosophers describe themselves as accepting or leaning toward naturalism, whereas about 26% accept or lean toward anti-naturalism. The remaining 24% declined to answer for one reason or another. Posted by G. Randolph Mayes at 11:29 AM 4 comments: Aristotle and the infinite The world envisioned by Aristotle contains the infinite. Let’s consider where and how. His world fits within a heavenly sphere, so every physical line is finitely long. So is every mathematical line. Aristotle’s reason is that the mathematicians’ diagrams used in his day always could fit on a piece of papyrus. Unfortunately, he was mistaken about what mathematicians required. Euclid’s fifth postulate, the axiom of parallel lines, contains the phrase “if extended indefinitely.” Later mathematicians understood this deficiency in the Aristotelian system and tried very hard, but unsuccessfully, to deduce the fifth postulate from the others. Aristotle used two kinds of infinity. He explicitly denied the existence of the actual infinite both in the physical world and in mathematics, but he accepted the potential infinite in both realms. Forcing Zeno to say that Achilles’ path to catch the tortoise is potentially infinite but not actually infinite is Aristotle’s clever way out of Zeno’s Paradox. Unfortunately for Aristotle there is a more fruitful treatment of the paradox. Aristotle’s chosen labels for kinds of infinity easily lead to misunderstanding. Potential infinities do not have the potential to become actual infinities. “Potential infinity” is Aristotle’s technical term that requires a repeatable, but incomplete, process. The term “actual infinite” does not imply being actual (i.e., real). It implies there is no dependency on some process in time. When Aristotle says something is infinite, he does not mean this infinity is merely possible. He means it is real or actual, but just not an actual infinity. Actual infinities are not actual. Potential infinities are actual, not potential. Thus the confusion. Aristotle believed the sequence of natural numbers is potentially infinite in two different ways—by adding and by dividing. Regarding addition, numbers can be abstracted from existing objects and then a unit can be repeatedly added over time to the previous number. Yet at any time, there are only finitely many natural numbers produced by this or any other process. This reasoning also works for future time; for any day there is always tomorrow, or so Aristotle believed. The reasoning does not work for cows in the field; we cannot truly say there is always another cow. The second way that the sequence of natural numbers is potentially infinite is based on the way that continuous magnitudes are potentially infinite. Given a specific continuous magnitude such as the distance between Achilles and the tortoise, it can be repeatedly split or divided, and one can count the number of its divisions so far. Yet it always could be divided again, thereby adding one to the count. It is in this second way that natural numbers are potentially infinite, Aristotle would say. Georg Cantor (1845-1918) would disagree and claim the natural numbers are an actual infinity. Cantor re-defined the term “potentially infinite” so that any potentially infinite set of numbers is a growing subset of a pre-existing actually infinite set of numbers. There is more to be learned from examining the details of Aristotle’s notion of potential infinity. He says that what is infinitely divisible is continuous, but he does not believe that continuous magnitudes are divisible into indivisible points. Cantor does. Aristotle also believes that lines are not composed of points, although he believes there is an infinity of points on any line. Consider Achilles’ continuous path in pursuit of a tortoise that is crawling away from him. What is the ontological status, for Aristotle, of the points where Achilles might be? The points where he stops are real because they are the end of a line and are independent of any activity by the analyst. The points where he merely might be are not independent of the analyst. They exist only in the derivative sense of being the product of a permanent possibility of division, and they do not exist independent of this division. Zeno and 21st century realist philosophers would say instead that the points do exist independent of this division. Those philosophers infer from the fact that Achilles might stop at a point to there being this point where he might stop. Aristotle would not accept this inference. You can chase unicorns without there being unicorns you are chasing, he might say. Aristotle probably would not have been happy with saying Achilles is always at some point or other. What then does Aristotle mean by saying Achilles runs past a potential infinity of points? The key idea is that, for Aristotle, a continuous line can be divided anywhere but not everywhere. Aristotle would say the line is not composed of a potential infinity of points, but rather it has a structure such that the analyst theoretically can imagine Achilles stopping somewhere new even if he does not actually stop there, and in that sense the analyst can create a new point along Achilles’ path, and either of those newly created sub-paths on each side of the point can in turn be subdivided by yet another point, and so on. However, the line is potentially infinite only because there exists a theoretical division of the line, not a practical one, since the analyst cannot live long enough nor engage in the mental effort to have Achilles arrive at a new point for every old point, Aristotle would say. At any moment in the analyst’s theoretical division, there always will be unactualized potential future divisions. Having a new analyst pick up the job left incomplete by the first analyst would not change this result. So, the potential infinity of Achilles’ path does not depend upon any unending process existing. It is enough that the theoretical division exists. One last comment on Aristotle and infinity. He never thought of infinity as having a measure or number. Archimedes (287-212 B.C.E.) was the first person to do this. In the Archimedes Palimpsest, he argued that the number of lines inside a rectangle is equal to the number of triangles inside a prism. Unfortunately, there is no evidence that he paused to explore these numbers. Brad Dowden Do gays and lesbians have a constitutional right t...	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8632
__label__cc	0.607569	0.392431	As the day of judgment approaches, half the country sits waiting for a small group of men and women to decide how many of our civil rights we get to keep. After two flawed decisions that draw not from the Constitution, but from policy and opinion, we wait hopefully for a third opinion that will set us free. Today the Supreme Court is slightly tilted in our favor, which is to say that it has a few members who believe that the Constitution is more than blotting paper for their opinions, and that individuals and states have rights, rather than just being troublesome cogs in the mighty machine of the national policy apparatus bent on tackling one growing crisis or another. How long will that tenuous state of affairs endure? Who knows. In the meantime we are caught between an omnipotent executive who believes that he is above the law, an unelected court which includes two of his appointees, one of them his lawyer, and a Congress which does little except spend gargantuan amounts of money. And our best bet is the court, because it is the hardest to bribe and some of its members believe in the law, rather than in the almighty policy ends that justify all means. When the highest official in the land decided to sell the American people into slavery to insurance companies to get his landmark legislation passed, we took to the streets to protest, we changed the composition of Congress, and here we are waiting for the Supreme Court to decide that maybe we aren't the property of the Executive Branch, warm bodies to be traded at the slave market of policy to get a bill passed. 147 years after the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment, we are back to debating slavery. But it's not a debate that began today. Everyone who pays taxes can calculate how much time they spend working for their masters in Washington, D.C. How much of their income the serfs are obligated to send home to the barons in the white palaces who will decide how much of it to hand out to their friends and how much of it to use on the endless expenses of government. Around the same time as the evils of racial slavery were being fought, the building blocks of economic slavery were being hammered together with the Revenue Act of 1861, the first Federal income tax and the first attack on the Constitution, that concluded with the Sixteenth Amendment. One hundred years before the election that brought Obama to power, the Democratic platform called for an income tax, "to the end that wealth may bear its proportionate share of the burdens of the Federal Government". The burden has grown vastly since then. It has grown out of all proportion. And to achieve its goals, the government began selling off its assets. Its chief assets are us. The ObamaCare Mandate is a fairly simple trade between health insurance companies, which largely owe their existence to government tinkering with the health care market, and its government patron. In exchange for giving the government what it wants, the government gives them what they want, us. Supporters of the Mandate have been legitimately confused by all the protests. As they understand it, we are property-- so why are we complaining about being rented out to another master? If Obama and Congress own us, why can't they lease us out to their supporters in the insurance industry? Especially when it's for the greater good. Today we're being leased out to the health insurance industry. Tomorrow we might be sent out to go bring in the harvest, the way that citizens were compelled to in Communist countries. Once we have been designated as warm bodies for sale to the highest bidder, when there is, what politicians can describe as, a legitimate concern, then there is absolutely no end to it. And when China finally decides to recoup some of its investment, there will be a mandate for that too. The Constitution has been so comprehensively violated and we have been deprived of so many rights that defending any right becomes a rear-guard action. After so many violations, we take a stand on the chalk outline of the latest outrage, while having to argue that this is the red line. This is the one that is too much. And we put our faith in a Supreme Court that occasionally respects the Constitution and occasionally creates its own Constitution. And we sit here waiting to find out which it will be this time. Freedom or slavery. Even a Supreme Court defeat for the slavery of the state mandate will not be the end of the story. The policy machine that grinds on in Washington, in state capitals, in municipal city halls and in the halls of a thousand think-tanks and the banquet rooms of a hundred forums is built to deprive people of their rights. It is not easily stopped. Even when the Supreme Court rules against it, it studies the ruling and attacks it from another angle until it gets its way. Many of the modern violations of our rights went through this process, losing a Supreme Court decision and then finding another way through the door. Once the policy apparatus has agreed on something, the mere objection that it is against the law will not halt them for long. The only way to stop the machine is to break the machine. To tear out its levers and gears, to fill it with sand, spill out its oil and turn it to grind uselessly facing a wall. A Supreme Court of Constitutionalists might deal it some serious setbacks, but it has become clear that we are headed into dark territory where the laws don't matter anymore. Obama has shed most of the pretense of legality, doing things because he wants them done. The legal rationale for ObamaCare never existed. Those who wrote and passed it did not believe that such a rationale was even needed. Their only argument has been the policy argument, the ends justifying the means. The policy ends which justify the oppressive means is their argument for every one of their endless streams of abuses. It is a position that places them and their actions completely outside the law. Anything they do is justified because it is for the greater good, to meet one "growing crisis" or another, whether it's health care, obesity, racism, bullying, profiteering, homophobia, high prices or anything you see discussed with serious faces and even more serious hairdos on the evening news. Even Supreme Court rulings depend on executive compliance. Obama has demonstrated several times that he will simply not comply with the law. And a showdown between the law and an executive backed by the media and a parade train of experts, not to mention a completely corrupt Attorney General, will not be a pretty sight. The mere willingness of the executive branch to operate outside the law acts as a restraint on the Supreme Court's willingness to challenge the executive. That is what FDR managed to accomplish by alternately terrorizing and bypassing the Supreme Court. Obama has shown every sign of being willing to do the same thing. Some liberals are already proposing their own court packing schemes. The Washington Post has an article calling for upping the number of justices from 9 to 19, which is certainly one way to gain a majority. The left has gotten this far by subverting institutions and it is being increasingly open about not caring for the forms or for anything that interferes with its objectives. As a defense against it, the Supreme Court is a fragile entity. It is meant to serve as a final review for a law-abiding legislature, not for a thuggish executive and a legislature that passes bills without knowing what it is in them. In an era in which the executive, the legislative and the judicial branches have all been warped, none of them can be relied on to do the right thing. We are in the midst of another Civil War. Not a war of bullets, but a war of laws. And the lawmaking apparatus is a tool for depriving people of rights, not a tool for creating safe spaces for rights. In the firefight, those who want to limit rights through government mandates will have the upper hand. The Supreme Court, as a reviewing body, is less vulnerable to the seduction of legislation than the legislative and executive branches, but it has done its share of legislating, and activist Federal judges are a reliable way of subverting democracy and states' rights. We can't depend on the Supreme Court to do the right thing, though it can occasionally be an important ally in the struggle to restore the Constitution, the rule of law and the rights of the individual. The ball is not in their court, it is in ours. And it is important that we understand what is at stake. Behind all the policy debates is a simple question. Do we want to be free men and women or will we agree to be slaves? The final review of every act of government does not come from within the government, but from the people, who have to decide what is acceptable and unacceptable. This is a law of human nature that is not subject to any higher court, only the court of the conscience. Rights and freedoms do not come from government, they come from the people. We have seen how in Egypt, the people chose slavery. That makes it all the more vital to remember that, no matter what we are told, we have a choice, and the greatest power that we have is the knowledge that the choice and the final decision are ours. People spoke out on this all across the nation. They do not want it but things are being decided even against the will of the people. There aren't nearly enough Americans taking to the streets in protest. Besides, the left has far too many unelected apparatchiks. Slang for a communist lacky but there are American, liberal versions. We just don't have a term for them. You should have posted this article on July 4. I'm afraid it's already getting trite to point out that Obama makes George III look positively beneficent and law-abiding. Daniel, once again. you go to the heart of the matter: are we to be slaves or are we to be free men? The process that you see underway in the US has been pre-dated by a similar one in Europe. Pre-dated by at least a century. Over here, a free people have been seduced by a bill of goods that predicates itself on "redistribution of wealth" and "fairness" and they have willingly shackled themselves to a tyrany. Karl Marx and his followers knew a simple truth: if you can get people to abandon God then you can bind them to any proposition that serves to act as a surrogate. A few days ago you wrote of "The Cult of Obama" and how millions of Americans had become disciples in a new religion based on transformative change. Barack Obama was so obviously a fraud that I firmly believed that Americans would reject him. The more I was decieved. The result of thye 2008 election filled me with an abiding sadness. The country that was the last hope of a free world was down the pan. Had God abandoned His great love, America? We will see. In my heart, I think not. I think He has merely handed an opportunity to Americans to reject their folly and cleave to freedom and His love. You're in the Last Chance Saloon. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and He will deliver you from your bondage. Heads up lads, the game's afoot. Among the many articles you have written, this one is brilliant. One point I saw only vaguely - that we were wage slaves for the government. The second, that we were slaves on a "plantation" owned by political barons, to be leased or sold, as they saw fit. The last I did not see. But now it is clear. From this, it is clear that supreme court, congress, senate - all instruments to prevent barony, are now useless. It will be the people who will have to decide and take action, against a state that is fully armed. What is also clear is that no matter how good a system is, it will eventually become corrupt, and a threat to the decent man. Such a system will eventually have to be taken down by force. Bravo, Daniel! Often your columns are informative, other times weighed with gloom. This one is absolutely inspiring. See you on the barricades, if we're destined to erect them. Yuri 28/6/12 On the subject of income taxation, has anyone else noticed that a flat tax (which I support) is actually a progressive tax? That is, that it taxes the rich more -- regardless of how much they consume government services. Is there any proposed method of taxation which could tax each individual based on the amount of government services consumed? The only texample I can think of, off-hand, would be a toll road. #Churchill- Believe it or not the 2008 election worked out the best it could. I know that sounds crazy. After 8 years of Bush running around telling people he was a Conservative, and pushing a Liberal agenda, and essentially tarnishing all of Conservatism, we had a generation who had forgot the perils of living under a Progressive Marxist rule. If we had elected John McCain it would have only continued the destruction of Conservatism started Bush Sr and Jr. Young idealists indoctrinated at Liberal Universities would have what their Professors taught them vindicated essentially ending Conservatism forever. As the saying went, in order to get Reagan, we needed to survive Carter. Personaly I doubt Romney is Reagan-esque, but then again I'm not sure Reagan was Conservative enough to get us out of the mess we are currently in. Either way, many Liberals are finally seeing the dangers of Progressivism. So I just read that they upheld it. Guess the whole "Freedom" thing is officialy dead. Not a complete surprise. Roberts was threatened and he backed down. Welcome to Thug Nation. The Supreme Court took the narrowest possible view of it and ruled that the government can 'tax' us to pay the tax to a third party. Aside from everything else, the concept of what a tax is just got expanded. Also expect to see the same liberal pundits denouncing Roberts to suddenly begin describing him as a voice of reason. And if he keeps this up, he'll be another Kennedy before long. Alex 28/6/12 Majority of parasites and idiots rules - true democracy. Republic is dead. It will take another 3-5-10 years and private sector will be sucked dry. Then what? Where the money will come from? Judging by the history – more brutal and open confiscation of private property and dwindling freedom/individual rites. PS Please, raise your hand if you think your private retirement savings account is safe from expropriation. Damn. Just Damn. Again, remember, expecting any branch of government to reform itself is a lost cause. A thing that is warped rarely straightens itself. Nancy Coppock 28/6/12 Edmund Burke opined that the root of religious persecution was unwanted kindness. There will be no stopping these god-presuming religious zealots. We are fodder for their own power. What was Roberts threatened with? Of course, whatever it was he established what he is and all that was left was haggling over the price. Not sure why everyone is so surprised. Roberts was appointed by Bush. And Bush wasn never as Conservative as he claimed he was. # revereridesagain- He was threatened with a tarnished reputation as a partisan. Progs are great at revising history. His legacy depended on him making them happy. To the rest of us, he will go down as a Marxist enabler and coward. The threat was that he'd be called a "partisan"? That's it??? And for that Roberts has sold us out?? I want to read Clarence Thomas's opinion. He's the only one on the bench with a true intellect and he's usually on our side. http://www.volokh.com/2012/06/28/was-scalias-dissent-originally-a-majority-opinion/ the 'dissent' was originally the majority opinion, so roberts defected Rights and freedoms do not come from government,they come from God who always give a godless,reprobate people over to the darkness they have embraced by rejecting Him ! I getting harder to ignore the fact that once blessed America is now a cursed land. And makes fools of the judges... He leads princes away plundered, And overthrows the mighty... He makes nations great, and destroys them; I understand exactly what you're saying. As I wrote, Americans have been given an opportunity to see the true face of tyranny - if they don't like it, throw them out. This Obamacare decision is a similar wake-up call. It should energise freedom loving people to get out and vote. John Roberts:( A native Buffalonian. What is it with my city? Already people are clamoring to move to Canda now. I've read and heard of this Tweet online and on TV "I'm marrying a Canadian n moving to Canada 😏. Retweeted by Jacob ... Screwthis commie country, I'm moving to #Canada #whoswithme. Americans are only getting more of what they have been tolerating for decades. We tolerated unconstitutional acts in 1913, 1973, 1992, 1993 and many more. This is just a beginning because our masters have nothing but contempt for us. This really lays out whats coming next- The Pelican Brief with a twist http://www.canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/47701 Most Americans will simply yawn, go back to watching "Snooki" on TV and go shopping at the Mall for things they don't need. Our MSM Overlords have successfully dumbed-down the populace by years and years of politically correct news reporting and trashy TV programs. Even a brilliant guy like Mike Bloomberg watches that dopey program about women in their 20's with nonsensical man problems and STDs. Forgot to add according to the New York Post. Wonder what Rupert Murdoch watches? Anony: Which is exactly why I've abandoned the MSM. I first learned of the decision on RT/American, after CNN and friends got it wrong. OT but Michael Savage was way out of line: "Conservative firebrand Michael Savage is not known to mince words--one of his favorite adjectives is "Islamofascist," and in 2009 he was banned from entering the United Kingdom on grounds of extremism. But on Thursday, the popular radio talk show host's outspokenness veered into particularly strange territory when he suggested that Chief Justice John Roberts' epilepsy medication was responsible for his decision to uphold President Obama's health care law. "Let's talk about Roberts," Savage said. "I'm going to tell you something that you're not gonna hear anywhere else, that you must pay attention to. "It's well known that Roberts, unfortunately for him, has suffered from epileptic seizures. Therefore he has been on medication. "Therefore neurologists will tell you that medication used for seizure disorders, such as epilepsy, can introduce mental slowing, forgetfulness and other cognitive problems. And if you look at Roberts' writings you can see the cognitive disassociation (sic) in what he is saying..." Blast Roberts and his decision, make fun of where he was born but this...this is really below the belt. Richard of Oz 29/6/12 Welcome to our world in Australia. We also have a dysfunctional group of leftars ruling us in an overbaearing, holier than thou manner. We have had "universal" health care since the early 70s, and it works well if you are precisely what these fools aspire you to be - that is, an umemployed (unemployable) 'droid sucking from the public teat. Those of us who are still working, pay for this twice, once through our income tax, then at the end of the year hit with a tarrif. Of course, we are also to be hit a "carbon" tax tomorrow, which should remove a number of those pesky old people when they can't afford to put the heater on in Winter, or their fan in summer. Daniel, may I suggest you put your formidable talents to having a look at this big, new tax, and see what your future will be? Remember, these people are world wide. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavours, but I don't hold out much hope that anyone will dismantle your health "care" system in the future, now that it is in. They - the apparatchiks of the health industry - will come to rely on it.	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8633
__label__cc	0.748965	0.251035	UPDATE: MAY IS THE MONTH OF INJUSTICE May 16th is when the blockbuster video game Injustice 2, a fighting game developed by Netherrealm Studios, will be released. I played and loved the first game, Injustice: Gods Among Us, so I am very excited for this sequel to be released. One particularly awesome part of the first game was it's wild story featuring a world governed by Superman, Earth's most powerful hero, now it's most dangerous dictator. To complement this aspect of the product, a comic book series started and has expanded quite a bit since it's inception. These comics tell the story the bridges the five year time gap between the game's shocking opening scene and where the majority of the narrative takes place. I've already read and reviewed the first three volumes, but in preparation for the release of Injustice 2, I thought it might be fun to try to read through the rest of it since I was able to pick up many of the digital volumes at a discounted price. I will also attempt to read and review the Injustice 2 prequel comics, but since those are still actively being released issue by issue, I can't promise how many of those I will get to (or how many will be available even). UPDATE: I've now read and reviewed all of the currently available volumes of INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US. I had a blast reading through these and I hope others take the time to give this series a chance because it's really great. Here are all the reviews I have to date: INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US VOLUME 1 Reviewed on 6/3/15 Reviewed on 6/28/15 INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR TWO VOLUME 1 Reviewed on 10/8/16 INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR THREE VOLUME 1 INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FOUR VOLUME 1 INJUSTICE GODS AMONG US YEAR FIVE VOLUME 1 INJUSTICE 2 VOLUME 1 PREVIEW (Issues 1-5) Now that I've read through all of this here is what I have next: INJUSTICE YEAR FIVE VOLUME 3 comes out later this June. I'm not sure if this is the actual finale to this series or not, but I'm definitely looking forward to it either way. I've been enjoying the new INJUSTICE 2 comic so I think I'll continue to follow that as new issues get released. There's a ton of other stuff outside of this series that I'm of course dying to get to so while the rest of INJUSTICE is still being worked on, I'll be moving onto other things I didn't read through the GROUND ZEROES comic line which is a rehashing of Injustice 1's story except through the perspective of Harley Quinn. While that's definitely a neat idea, those looking to just catch up on the first game's narrative, can also just watch a Youtube Video that collects the game's many cut-scenes like the one below by CG Movie Trailer which does a nice job of mixing in little bits of gameplay to make the transitions from scene to scene less awkward. Or of course, you can also catch up on the story by playing the game itself which is fantastic. I replayed the story mode myself to get myself ready for the sequel. UPDATE: GRAVITAS CHAPTER 4 Kanso wrestles with his fears as he prepares to face his boss Fredryko and accept punishment for not completing the job on time. Along the way, he meets a bitter rival, and a dear ally. Labels: GRAVITAS, MY WRITING, UPDATES REVIEW ROUNDUP: THE FOREVERS THE FOREVERS is an odd series I discovered while wandering around a local comic book shop. The strange art style and mysterious premise grabbed me as well as the fact that the series is pretty new. It's probably a little outside of my usual comfort zone as far as language and overall mood are concerned,but I'm giving the series a chance in the hopes that I've found something different and special. 4/5 Everyone wants to be famous... Right off the bat, this issue slams it's readers with strange and striking imagery. It quickly flaunts a sort of hazy realism in it's art style and a wastes no time in establishing it's dark and depressing tone. The overall premise is that this friend group gets together and seemingly casts some kind of spell, referred to only as "The Ritual." The idea is that all of them will become famous as a result, but none of them really know what comes after that. As magical pacts go, there is always a catch and that is where the story picks up. The primary character in this story appears to be Jaime. He's a rough-around-the-edges rock star who while not past his prime, does seem to be a little washed up. He's slipped pretty deep into substance abuse and even deeper into self-pity. The issue delves into his toxic relationship with Kate Sage, one of the seven involved in The Ritual. Overall, things are pretty bleak, and they don't get much brighter when the story shifts focus over to Daisy Cates, another one of the seven. Things do take an interesting turn though when it is revealed that someone is out to kill these former friends and current superstars. One of the seven dies a fairly gruesome death, apparently at the hand of someone they know. This sets up future issues to be far more interesting as the group will likely discover that their fame has consequences beyond the fact that it has led some of them to self-destructive tendencies. Bronson Pierce is introduced at the very end and it feels like he's been expecting something like this to happen. After going through this moody first chapter, I definitely felt intrigued to move forward. The art alone is pretty compelling and I'm hoping that the series dives a little deeper into the dark mysticism that it's introduced. PLEASE NOTE: Going forward, the reviews of each installment will have spoilers for those that came before. 3/5 Someone is on the hunt... This issue picks up right where the last left off. Jaime is in rough shape after his wild attack on a fellow rock star, a stunt that soils his public opinion and sullies his comeback performance that night. Immediately, I found the way the panels cut between two different scenes simultaneously to be kind of jarring. The art does it's best to reflect the different sequences happening in unison by changing the colors and lighting, but I still didn't care for this more hectic approach to the page composition. Sure the way they did the first one was a little weird too, but I found myself having to stop just to try to get my bearings on who was doing what and when. It doesn't help that the first couple pages do this with a scene from the past and the present, while the rest seem to be exclusively in the present tense. Weird visual storytelling techniques aside, I did still find this issue to be pretty good and I guess in a way, I liked that it had a confusing feel. The imagery gets weirder in spots and they definitely deepened the sense of magical realism that the first issue mostly hinted at. In the wake of Daisy's murder, Bronson is in full-on rich detective mode and even displays some kind of super strength when his own safety is threatened. An attempt on Kate's life brings Jaime back from his international rehab and I will say that it was pretty rewarding to see these two make up a little especially after their bitter parting in the first issue. The ending left me even more intrigued and will hopefully provide the story with some much needed focus now that the threat has been sufficiently established. I'm excited to see where things will go with this series and to find out who is hunting these characters. #/5 Coming soon... Review to come... UPDATE: GRAVITAS BEGINS! Gravitas is now at the point where I can say it's officially launched. The first four chapters are posted up along with several informational pages that give a little more info about the project, outline some key terms, and catalog the ever-growing cast. It's been a fair bit of work to get things off the ground and now the real work can begin. If you haven't checked it out yet, then please head on over now and see how things are shaping up. I'll be hard at work adding new chapters all the time so be sure to keep checking back or subscribe by email if you enjoy the overall premise. REVIEW: EVERY HEART A DOORWAY Life after Wonderland... What was life like for Alice when she returned from her adventure down the rabbit hole? That's the main theme that EVERY HEART A DOORWAY explores. I first heard about this short novel from the Booktube SFF Readalongs on Goodreads. I went in without knowing much about it, but did find the concept intriguing. 4/5 This quick read does a nice job of exploring it's core concepts though the more fantastical elements are not as prominent as they should have been and I have mixed feelings about the ending. Overall, though this was a fun and enjoyable read. The story primarily follows Nancy, a girl who's just returned from a world of darkness and death, but also one of magic and beauty. She finds herself at a boarding school, thinking that it is meant for treating youths with mental illnesses when it's actually a school meant to service kids who made trips into fantastical worlds and have been returned to their own world for one reason or another. In Nancy's case, she served the Lord of the Dead and loved to be in his court. Before she could pursue further aspirations within it, he told her she would need to prove her dedication and loyalty to him in her own world. She meets other students and learns about all of the different types of worlds a young person could wander into. Some are candy-colored whimsical wonderlands, some are highly ordered fairy lands, and a few are dark underworlds. It was a lot of fun to see her learn to interact with others having both very similar yet also different experiences as her. The cast is pretty varied and extremely weird. The author does a nice job of conveying all the different types of trauma that these characters have experienced while also offering valid reasons for why they would want to return to whichever magical realm they'd wandered into. Even though the story is pretty short, I felt like I got to know them all pretty well thanks to how wonderfully their distinct quirks are written. The one thing that did bother me a little is that I had a hard time picturing what one of the characters looked like. At one point in the story I thought he was a boy mistaken for a girl at childhood, but then it sounded more like he might actually be transgender. The SJWs of the world would probably jump down my throat saying it shouldn't matter, but I'm a very visual person so I found my inability to reliably picture his appearance to be distracting. This world is all about travelling to unknown lands, but the story itself is primarily set in the mundane world that we all call home. While this fits nicely into the overall theme of the narrative, it's also a shame that the more fantastic realms are never really explored. What little descriptions that are provided of these more magical places is all done well and it honestly was impressive how the author could paint so clear a picture with so few words, but I still couldn't help but want to explore this aspect of the universe a little more or at least that more of the mystical crossed over into the mundane. All that said, the school in which most of the action takes place is a pretty interesting location. It reminded me a little bit of Xavier's School for Extraordinary Children from the X-MEN franchise. There's science equipment in the basement, books in the attic, an assortment of classrooms, and even a large tree in the yard. The charm of this place does help make up for the lack of magical worlds that are explored and the fact that the students bring a little bit of those worlds back with them is also cool. Nancy has her ability to become eerily still, one character can animate bones with a flute only audible to the dead, and another brings her scientific prowess back with her. This idea that the normal world will never again be wholly normal for these people was a neat concept to explore and I liked how it created the perception that even the "normal" world isn't quite as dull as you'd expect. There's a certain whimsy that marks the style of the writing. It helps keep even some of the darker contents feeling a little more lighthearted. That said, there are some very dark places that this story goes to. Sex and sexuality, death, secrets, abandonment, and rejection are all explored in great detail and the author doesn't really pull any punches. About a third of the way through the story, students start dying at the hand of one very sadistic murderer. This gives a little more focus to the narrative, but fortunately it doesn't fall into the classic who-done-it formula. The mystery just kind of unravels itself as the characters reactively deal with the consequences of the murders rather than proactively trying to solve them. I thought it was a pretty interesting approach to a murder mystery and I liked that I was actually surprised by the outcome of who the killer turned out to be. I thought for sure it was going to be one character for the majority of the book, lamenting in being able to predict the outcome so early on, only to have my theory be crushed. In hindsight, there were clues which might have tipped me off and that made the final reveal all the more satisfying. It was also great how the killers motivations tied back to some of the central themes of the story itself. Overall, I think this is a story that really earns its darkness and makes good use of it to craft a compelling ending. All of that said, I did hope that the resolution would take a different direction than it did, but I think there will be plenty of people who actually do enjoy how Nancy's story ends. This is one of those rare reads that probably won't totally blow your mind, but it will feel delightfully original in the ways that matter. There are a few pretty interesting concepts which get explored, some quirky characters to fall for, and a good murder mystery that swoops in to help carry the story forward to the end. If you're looking for a quick read that's a little different from what you'd normally find in the science fiction and fantasy genres, then this one is definitely worth a look. If you're looking for more thoughts and opinions on this work, you can always check it out on Goodreads. REVIEW: MONSTRESS VOLUME 1: AWAKENING A hunger born of darkness... I'd seen and heard a little about MONSTRESS, but it wasn't until this graphic novel made the shortlist for the Booktube SFF Awards (an annual reading group on Goodreads). I knew this one would be a little bit out there and that's partly why I'd never bothered to look into it too much, but based off of all the high praise that this comic was getting in the group, I felt compelled to buy it on Comixology and see if I would like it as much as others do. 4/5 While this definitely ventures a little outside of my comfort zone in terms of anime-ish weirdness and over-the-top gore, I did actually like this painstakingly detailed and intriguingly dark piece of graphic fiction. This is the one area in my opinion that I think the story actually falls a little bit flat. Don't get me wrong, I found all of the heroes and villains to be pretty interesting. The issue I have simply stems from the fact that I didn't feel particularly invested in any of them. I did find their goals and motivations to be compelling and there are a lot of bad-asses running around which is always fun, I just needed that little extra bit of humanity that wasn't there to really connect with them. Even Maika, who's the principal heroine of the story just felt a little cold and hard to relate to at times. This is definitely one of those harsh fantasy worlds where the people living in it have become rather callous. This made sense to me given the circumstances, but I'm the type of reader that needs at least one character to cling to, so there was something missing here for me. I did love how stylish everyone is from the pseudo-religious order of sexy witches to the grand army of the Dusk Court. All of them look wonderfully unique and I felt like their visuals added to their personalities in a significant way. I'll also say that I actually kind of liked some of the cutsier characters. Normally, I would find these characters to be impossibly irritating, but I think in this case they were actually the ones I liked the most. The dystopian semi-steampunk high fantasy world of MONSTRESS is by far one of the best things that the series has going for it. Humans and non-humans have a sort of cold war going on after the fallout of a battle at a place called Constantine. The various non-humans are viewed as monsters and the order of witches that serve as the primary antagonists of the story have no qualms about committing horrible acts of cruelty upon even the most benign of them. I was a little confused by some of the origins of how these non-humans came to be. There are references to having "ancient" blood but it's a little unclear to me as to exactly what that means and whether all of the different creatures descend from the same god-like beings that seemingly no longer wander the world. There's also some confusion around what exactly the towering phantoms are and what kind of creature inhabits Maika's body. All of this weird mysticism and interracial conflict is complimented nicely by a sprawling world that is breathtakingly rendered by some stunning artwork. Towering cities, creepy laboratories, dark forests, and soulscapes are just a few of the exotic locations this story visits and all of them felt equally interesting which is quite an achievement for any work of epic fantasy. One thing to know about this graphic novel is that it is incredibly dark and morbidly violent. People are beaten, maimed, murdered, and sometimes resurrected in horrific ways that are sure to disturb more than a few people. A lot of it probably isn't totally out of the realm of what an avid anime fan is used to, but for those like me who really aren't all that much into anime at all, some of the imagery will probably rub you the wrong way. I found the story and characters compelling enough where this never deterred me from wanting to continue, but I also could have gone without some of the more detailed depictions of graphic violence. There's also a pretty deep psychological brand of horror that the story explores. They don't call this series "Monstress" for nothing. It turns out that Maika suffers from a deep and disturbing hunger that she can't control, the likes of which threaten to drag her down into the darkness. I found her symbiotic relationship with the monster living within her to be pretty tense at times. It's pulled off in an interesting way and by the end of the volume I found myself very curious as to where this theme will go. There's not much to say about this aspect of the volume other than that it is some of the best and most consistent comic artwork that I've ever seen. Everything, the characters, the backdrops, the landscapes, and the props, are all intricate and vibrantly colored. The style is definitely at least a little reminiscent of anime-type art, but it's also very detailed and the lighting is very well done. If you can stomach the more gruesome bits and tolerate some of the inherent strangeness, then this graphic novel can be a pretty enjoyable and wild ride. The art in and of itself make giving this a read more than worth it, but I think the story is pretty worthwhile as well. There's just a lot that this series has going for it and it would be a shame for anyone not to give it a good look. If you want more info and/or reviews on MONSTRESS VOLUME 1: AWAKENING, then be sure to check it out on Goodreads. UPDATE: NEW REVIEWS AND THE BOOKTUBE SFF READALONG The Booktube SFF Awards Read-alongs are back this year. Due to a few different reasons, I've been finding it hard to keep up with them this time, but I did read entries in the Graphic Novel and Short Fiction categories from their March Read-along. The reviews for those will be coming shortly. If you haven't heard of this group yet, then you should definitely check them out, they read a lot of awesome books and I've discovered some thing that I would have missed otherwise. Here are the reviews that will be coming out this week: (CLICK FOR REVIEW) (Review Coming) I have also already read and reviewed DESCENDER VOLUME 2: MACHINE MOON, the Graphic Novel in the April reading list and I'd definitely recommend checking it out. BOOK TALK: ONE HUNDRED PAGES FOR READY PLAYER ONE It's not often that I've found myself in a place where I just couldn't bring myself to finish a book. Normally, I can trudge on and sometimes do enjoy the way things turn out, but such was not the case with READY PLAYER ONE. This is a book that is widely beloved and I have heard high praise about from a lot of people I know well and respect. So you can imagine my surprise, when I dove in at last to this book and found that I actually just didn't like it at all. In fact, I made it a little further than one hundred pages before calling it quits and just getting to that point took me a while even with skimming. Now, since I did not finish, I am not going to write a formal review, nor will I give this a rating since I'm not sure how ethical that is really. Instead, I'll just share my admittedly unpopular thoughts on why this book vexed me so much and why I decided to stop reading it. 1. Alls The Pop Cultures Don't get me wrong, I love a pop culture reference as much as the next person. They can express a connection you're probably already making in your head or perhaps catch you off guard. But this is only when they are well done and well placed, not to mention, carefully selected. My fundamental problem with READY PLAYER ONE is that it's basically "Pop Culture Reference: The Novel: 80's Edition." It's too much and honestly, a few of the "references" are so extravagant, that I'm am genuinely shocked that this novel never came under fire for copyright infringement. It's not sampling from things like Grim's Fairy Tales or other public domain works, these are fairly recent pieces of media and they are pretty extensively borrowed from, especially on the side of the gaming world. To be honest, this seemed to be all the novel really had to offer me. It's like an extended sharing of one's love for different nerdy things and I've frankly had more interesting nerd-talks with friends both in person and online. 2. You Can Trust Me As a Reader I may be a nerd, but I'm not socially inept. When a character is described as having a particular facial expression, I don't then a need a follow-up sentence to tell me how they're feeling. I also don't need to be reminded about the same things over and over again. This is by far the most repetitive and distrustful writing I have ever come across and in the one hundred something pages I read, there was no sign of this improving. The classic "show don't tell" rule is something that every writing class ever will teach young writers. It's also something that's fairly difficult to overcome, but as a reader, I guess I just find it personally offensive to have this one fundamental principal so flagrantly disobeyed. Does this kind of thing happen from time to time in other works of popular fiction? Yes, of course it does, as someone who's tried his hand at writing, I do appreciate the tendency to want to tell rather than show, but this is a professionally published piece of fiction and it's very distracting to me that writing basics are so carelessly ignored here. At the end of the day we read fiction to feel something, right? We want to be invested in the characters, engrossed in the story, and captivated by the world. In the case of this book, I simply didn't care about anything or anyone. I've played enough MMOs (Massively Multiplayer Online Games) where the idea of a virtual reality world wasn't all that novel to me and I was bummed that nothing particularly interesting was done with this setting aside from having the real-world public school system live inside of it. When I passed one hundred pages, I just didn't have a reason "why" I would want to continue. So ultimately I'm setting this down. Now, if you've made it to this part of the post, you might be fuming over how many criticisms I have for this story and/or wondering why I bothered to write all of this. While this probably seems like an angry rant, it actually isn't for the most part. I do find myself disappointed that this book has received so much praise as I think there are just a lot of books out there with better writing and a lot more intrigue. I also share my thoughts/opinions because I've learned some things about myself as a reader. Namely, I think the one hundred page rule is garbage (if you haven't heard of this it's just a little piece of advice book lovers, especially teachers, will sometimes give that says to give a book 100 pages and put it down if it's still not gripping you). I knew right away that I would hate this book and I should never have spent as much time struggling through it as I did. I am happy that many have made a good connection with this book, it's certainly always nice to see that happen even when I don't like it much myself. I also need to do a better job at understanding that different books will appeal to different people for different reasons. Most of the time, books I end up liking are ones that hook me right away. Books I don't love, tend to be a struggle from beginning to end. I think I've decided that hooking your readers is part of the artistry of writing, so from here on in, if I'm not feeling a story after the opening bit, then I'm probably going to move onto one of the many books that I'm still dying to get to. Reading should never feel like a chore and I think I sometimes make it that way for myself. So from here on in, no more bearing with things for the first hundred pages or so, I'll either be all in or all out. Labels: BOOK TALKS	cc/2021-04/en_head_0000.json.gz/line8634

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