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Dee Snider: Get This President Out of Office At All Costs
Lauryn Schaffner
A few years back, Dee Snider recorded an acoustic version of Twisted Sister's rebellious anthem "We're Not Gonna Take It." It held a specific meaning back then, but the veteran rocker explained to Loudwire Nights that the call to action now, for the U.S. as a whole, is to get "this president out of office at all costs."
And that wasn't all he had to say. "This guy is not a patriot, he's a commie-sympathizer, he's anti-American. He's got his head buried so far up Putin's butt, so far up North Korea's ass, China," he said. "These three countries have not changed their stripes, and our president kisses the asses of all three of them. That is not a patriot, that is a commie-sympathizer. This guy has got to go."
Though the singer is a supporter of the second amendment, he affirms that there needs to be smarter laws implemented when it comes to gun control, because too many people have access to weapons that shouldn't. In addition to gun laws, there are some other, unrelated things that Snider thinks we would benefit from.
The former Twisted Sister frontman reminisced that when he was playing in clubs, there were a lot more young people in the audiences because the legal drinking age was 18 as opposed to 21. Therefore, he believes the drinking age should be lowered in order to bring that sort of excitement back into the scene.
"So that the clubs can thrive and [have] a more enthusiastic, younger rock crowd — the crowd that embraces heavy metal, embraces hard rock and embraces live concerts in a big way where they can have more access," he said. "And young bands have people to play to."
The vocalist insisted that he learned how to become a frontman because of all the nights he had playing in clubs. "I did hundreds and hundreds — thousands of shows — in clubs, performing for drunk people, and you learn how to be a frontman. But you only get that by doing it," he continued. "There really isn't the outlet that I had to learn your craft and perfect your abilities."
In 2019, prior to the coronavirus pandemic, Snider coincidentally chose not to book any live shows for 2020, but rather to release a live album. "My managers think I'm Nostradamus right now," he joked. "I just was taking the year off, and they think I had a vision."
Therefore, the rocker's latest release, For the Love of Metal (Live), came out on Friday, July 31, which you can stream below. To hear more details about the album and what else he's got in the works for the future, listen to the full interview above.
Top 80 Hard Rock + Metal Albums of the 1980s
Source: Dee Snider: Get This President Out of Office At All Costs
Filed Under: Dee Snider
Categories: Exclusive, News
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In Zimbabwe Land Takeover, a Golden Lining
By LYDIA POLGREEN*
HARARE, Zimbabwe — When Roger Boka started his auction business in the 1990s, this city’s tobacco trading floors were hushed places, save the mellifluous patter of the auctioneer. A handful of white farmers, each selling hundreds of bales of tobacco, arrived in sport utility vehicles, checking into the city’s best hotels while waiting for their big checks to be cut.
During this year’s auction season, a very different scene unfolded underneath the cavernous roof of the Bock Tobacco Auction Floors. Each day, hundreds of farmers arrived in minibuses and on the backs of pickup trucks, many with wives and children in tow. They camped in open fields nearby and swarmed to the cacophonous floor to sell their crop. The place was lively and crowded; two women gave birth on the auction floor. The most obvious difference, though, was the color of their faces: every single one of them was black.
“You used to only see white faces here,” said Rudo Boka, Mr. Boka’s daughter, who now runs the family business. “Now it is for everybody. It is a beautiful sight.”
Before Zimbabwe’s government began the violent and chaotic seizure of white-owned farms in 2000, fewer than 2,000 farmers were growing tobacco, the country’s most lucrative crop, and most were white. Today, 60,000 farmers grow tobacco here, the vast majority of them black and many of them working small plots that were allotted to them in the land upheavals. Most had no tobacco farming experience yet managed to produce a hefty crop, rebounding from a low of 105 million pounds in 2008 to more than 330 million pounds this year.
The success of these small-scale farmers has led some experts to reassess the legacy of Zimbabwe’s forced land redistribution, even as they condemn its violence and destruction.
The takeover of white commercial farms was a disaster for Zimbabwe on many levels. It undermined one of Africa’s sturdiest economies, and as growth contracted and its currency became worthless because of hyperinflation, joblessness and hunger grew. Large chunks of land were handed to cronies of President Robert Mugabe, many of whom did not farm them. It spurred a political crisis and violent reprisals by the security forces that have killed hundreds of people. Yields on food and cash crops plummeted.
But amid that pain, tens of thousands of people got small farm plots under land reform, and in recent years many of these new farmers overcame early struggles to fare pretty well. With little choice but to work the land, the small-scale farmers have made a go of it, producing yields that do not match those of the white farmers whose land they were given, but are far from the disaster many anticipated, some analysts and scholars say.
“We cannot make excuses for the way it was carried out,” said Ian Scoones, an expert on farming at the University of Sussex who has been intensively studying land reform in Zimbabwe for the past decade. “But there are many myths that have taken hold — that land reform has been an unmitigated disaster, that all the land has been taken over by cronies in the ruling party, that the whole thing has been a huge mess. It has not. Nor has it been a roaring success.”
The result has been a broad, if painful, shift of wealth in agriculture from white commercial growers on huge farms to black farmers on much smaller plots of land. Last year, these farmers shared $400 million worth of tobacco, according to the African Institute for Agrarian Studies, earning on average $6,000 each, a vast sum to most Zimbabweans.
“The money that was shared between 1,500 large-scale growers is now shared with 58,000 growers, most of them small scale,” said Andrew Matibiri, the director of Zimbabwe’s Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board. “That is a major change in the country.”
The new farmers are receiving virtually no assistance from the government, which for years poured money into larger farms given to politically connected elites.
Instead, farmers are getting help from the tobacco industry, in the form of loans, advances and training. It is in Ms. Boka’s interest to revive the industry, so the company has invested heavily in helping farmers improve the yields and quality.
Tobacco is a tricky crop, requiring precise application of fertilizer and careful reaping. It must then be cured and graded properly to fetch a top price.
Recently, Alex Vokoto, head of public relations at the auction house, spotted several bales of desirable tobacco leaves cured to a honey color on the floor, and hustled the man who grew them, Stuart Mhavei, into the V.I.P. lounge for a cup of coffee and a chat.
“This man is growing top-quality tobacco, and he has only been at it for three years,” Mr. Vokoto said.
Mr. Mhavei, a 40-year-old tile layer, got a small piece of a tobacco farm several years ago in the town of Centenary in central Mashonaland, about 80 miles from Harare.
“All the big guys who got land, they are doing nothing,” Mr. Vokoto said. “But these small guys are working hard and really producing.”
Mr. Mhavei has steadily increased his yield, quality and income. So far this season, he has earned more than $10,000 on part of a vast farm that once belonged to a white family, investing the profits in a truck to transport his tobacco, as well as renting the truck to other farmers.
Mr. Mhavei said that like many of the other people who got land, he supports Mr. Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF.
“Why should one white man have all this?” he asked, sweeping an arm across the lush, rolling farmland around his fields. “This is Zimbabwe. Black people must come first.”
Charles Taffs, president of the Commercial Farmers Union, said that the industry could have been transformed to include more black farmers in a much less destructive way.
“The tragedy with tobacco is that expansion, if they had the right policies, could have been done in the 1990s in conjunction with the commercial sector,” Mr. Taffs said. Instead, hundreds of thousands of workers have lost their jobs and the country has suffered huge economic losses as a result.
The personal cost for white commercial farmers has been immense. One white tobacco farmer in northern Zimbabwe whose family purchased its land after independence described the slow, painful erosion of his family’s livelihood.
“Now that we are down to less than 200 hectares, there isn’t enough income to support everyone,” said the farmer, who asked not to be identified because he feared seizure of even more land if he spoke out. A plot of 200 hectares is less than 500 acres.
His brother had to leave the farm to find work elsewhere, and his own future was deeply uncertain. The farm employs far fewer workers. Yields are down since critical investments in irrigation and other infrastructure have been put off, he said.
“We are Zimbabweans,” the farmer said. “We employ people, and take care of our workers. It is really painful to see this happening to our country.”
The tobacco yield is still below its peak in 2000, when the crop hit 522 million pounds. But Tendai Murisa, a researcher who has studied tobacco farming since land reform, said that judging the success of land reform by looking at production figures misses a crucial point.
“No one ever argued that this is a more productive form of farming,” Mr. Murisa said. “But does it share wealth more equitably? Does it give people a sense of dignity and ownership? Those things have value, too.”
*Source www.nytimes.com. A version of this article appeared in print on July 21, 2012, on page A1 of the New York edition with the headline: In Zimbabwe Land Takeover, a Golden Lining.
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BREAKING: President To Be Asssasinated, TB Joshua Prophesies
Nigerian preacher TB Joshua has dropped a bombshel prediction that a Southern African President is going to be assasinated anytime in the coming few days. He said the armed attackers are plotting to kill the President, his wife, and or the Vice President of that country. PRESIDENT IN SOUTHERN AFRICA TO BE ATTACKED – T.B. JOSHUA Influential Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua has prophesied an imminent attack on a presidential figure in Southern Africa. “You should pray for Southern Africa… I am seeing militants are interested in embarrassing a president in that region – either to kill him or kidnap him,” he stated on Sunday 31st August 2014 in a church service broadcast on Emmanuel TV, one of Africa’s most popular television channels. “That is just their objective – to kidnap the president, vice president or first lady of that nation,” he continued. “If prayer is not offered well, they will succeed [and] it will put the nation into uproar.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QUpvcry2Ao#t=31 Joshua revealed he was shown the exact location of the attack. “God showed me the place but I don’t want to put any country into pandemonium,” he said. He further added that the nation of Kenya particularly needed prayer in respect of the alarming prophetic message. T.B. Joshua further revealed that US President Barack Obama would be rushed to hospital due a health challenge. “He should not go for an operation,” the cleric warned. “He only needs rest.” He added that United Kingdom should ‘strategise and secure their country’ from 15th to 18th September and toward the end of the month in relation to the recent terror alert from the government due to the threat of ISIS militants. Joshua proceeded to warn of another plane crash in the troubled region surrounding Ukraine and Russia, stressing that commercial aircraft should completely avoid the area. He concluded by prophesying crisis would ‘start any moment from now’ in the European nation of Poland. T.B. Joshua made headlines in 2012 when his prediction concerning the death of Malawian President Bingu wa Mutharika came to pass after being widely reported in African media. *Source zimbabwenewsday]]>
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Balloon Sculptures Birthdays Children's TV party balloons Superheroes Superman
June 30th is “Superman”‘s Birthday–Could The “Man of Steel” Really Be 73 Years Old?!
Party Fiesta captures the essence of the world's most beloved superhero in all of his balloony glory!
A superhero’s work is never done: criminals to catch, alter-egos to disguise, planets to save, you name it… “Superman,” this strange visitor from another planet with powers and abilities far beyond those of mortal men, has been leaping tall buildings in a single bound, changing the course of mighty rivers, bending steel with his bare hands and fighting a never-ending battle for truth, justice and the American way ever since his first appearance as the superhero we all know and love in the now-famous Action Comics #1, published in June of 1938!
Here's where it all began for our superhero, "Superman"--the premiere issue of Action Comics--#1/June 1938--considered the most valuable comic book in the world!
Though there seems to be some speculation about “Superman”‘s actual birthdate, the fabulous folks at DC Comics (and they oughta know!) celebrates The Man of Steel’s official birthday on June 30th, and, when he was introduced in 1938, a superhero who (among many other things) was faster than a speeding bullet and more powerful than a locomotive was just what a downtrodden America needed!
In that brief period of time after the Depression but before the United States entered World War II, two young men–Joe Shuster and Jerry Siegel–created a larger-than-life character who would bring new hope to a weary world!
As everyone knows, “Superman” didn’t start off as “Superman.” As the infant “Kal-El” (which means “star child”), his parents–Lara and Jor-El–jettisoned him off their dying planet, Krypton, in a last-ditch desperate attempt to save their only child! He eventually found his way to Earth, where the Kents discovered and raised baby “Clark Joseph Kent,” who grew up to become a reporter for a great metropolitan newspaper–the Daily Planet–in Metropolis!
This awesome image of "Superman" graced the cover of the "Superman No. 14" comic book, published in January/February 1942!
With his dashing 225-pound 6’4″ frame (some list his height as 6’3″), jet-black hair and penetrating blue eyes (literally, since he possesses X-ray vision!), “Clark”/”Superman” more than fills the bill as the king of the superheroes!
He has friends in high places, too: Daily Planet chief “Perry White,” co-reporters “Jimmy Olsen” and “Lois Lane” (who eventually landed her man in holy matrimony!), the members of the “Justice League” and even fellow superhero “Batman”!
The “S” symbol on “Superman”‘s chest doesn’t actually stand for “Superman,” as many think. It’s the Kryptonian symbol meaning “hope,” and that’s just what the world has because of “Superman”–hope!
This world-renowned symbol means The Man of Steel is here to save the day!
So, join Party Fiesta Balloon Decor–as well as the whole world–in wishing “Superman” a happy 73rd birthday and hoping that he’ll always be with us to save the day!
comic books, superheroes, Superman
Written By Party Fiesta Decor On June 26, 2011
Happy 118th Birthday to the "Happy Birthday To You" Song on June 27th!!
Shhh...! Party Fiesta Balloon Decor's Secrets of a Fabulous 1st Birthday Party!
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PrevPrevious Related NewsDreame Expands Footprint to Japan with Robot Vacuum Cleaner D9 and Cordless Vacuum Cleaner T20
Next Related NewsChina Liberal Education Holdings Limited Starts Higher Volume Production and Expands Domestic Sales Channels of All-in-one Machine AI-SpaceNext
Decoding the route to SHAREit’s global success
SINGAPORE, Dec. 18, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — SHAREit, a file sharing application that has now transformed to become one of the world’s leading offline and online app, recognized as a game & video discovery and file sharing platform. It was recently ranked as the fastest growing media publisher globally according to the Edition XI of the AppsFlyer Performance Index[1]. This accomplishment came after SHAREit was included among the top ten applications globally by the State of Mobile in 2020 report by AppAnnie[2]. These successes are a testament to SHAREit’s unique product offering and a wide array of features that not only make the application popular amongst customers, but also an indispensable resource for marketers.
SHAREit’s primary feature is the peer to peer file transfer. SHAREit allows users to share pictures, music, and more, with other devices without using an active internet or Bluetooth connection. With file transfer speeds that reach up to 20mb/s, SHAREit’s efficacy in the space is unmatched. Additionally, SHAREit also ensures secure application transfers with Google Play’s Peer-to-Peer Offline App Sharing. The feature lets users share apps via SHAREit while Google Play will determine shared app’s authenticity even when the device is offline. It will then add the shared apps to the user’s Play Library and also manage app updates when the device comes back online.
Commenting on SHAREit’s journey, Karam Malhotra, Partner & Global VP, SHAREit said, “We at SHAREit regard technology and localization as the most important factor for our success. In the past few years, we have worked towards strengthening our team globally making strides in various industries while strengthening our core peer to peer app transfer feature by associating with Google Play. We are on a journey to ensure digital entertainment of all types could be equally accessible by everyone, by becoming the one-stop service platform allowing users to browse, download, and transfer content and play games with ease.”
ALSO READ 111 to Launch First Online Diabetes Patient Management Platform with Lilly China
Besides file sharing, SHAREit has also made strides as a gaming and content discovery, consumption and sharing platform. SHAREit has a separate gaming center on the application which offers HTML5 games, gaming videos and an option to download hot games. It is one of the largest catalogues of mobile games, from developers across the globe. With consistent advances in terms of content, SHAREit has successfully leveraged the popularity of local regional content to establish itself as the hub for short format videos and has hence seen its user base grow worldwide. SHAREit now boasts a user base of over 1.8 billion users globally speaking 45 languages in about 200 countries and regions. The application currently has more than 500 million monthly active users globally.
About SHAREit:
SHAREit is an online and offline platform that provides a variety of entertainment options, including online streaming videos, file transfer, and gaming. According to AppAnnie, SHAREit app was the 6th most downloaded app in 2019 across the Apple iOS App Store and Google Play Store. There are more than 1.8 billion users worldwide, SHAREit’s Monthly Active Users (MAU) has exceeded 500 million and operating in 45 different languages.
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FAMILY PLACED OBITUARY
Susumu Tamanaha
All around nice guy and loving father, Susumu Tamanaha, passed away on July 4, 2019 at the age of 88. He was born in Wailuku on April 18, 1931, the fifth of nine children of Taro and Kikue Tamanaha. He attended Baldwin High School, graduating in 1949. He began his undergraduate studies at the University of Hawaii-Manoa, but transferred to the University of Minnesota where he earned a bachelor of arts in Bacteriology with a minor in Air Science. He also earned his doctor of dental surgery degree from the University of Minnesota. Upon graduating from dental school, he returned to Honolulu, spent three years in the United States Air Force Reserve as a dentist, then went into private dental practice with offices in Waipahu, Salt Lake and Honolulu. He later practiced dentistry as an employee of the State of Hawaii before retiring. He is survived by his best friend of 40 plus years, Pansy Goto, brother Gene Tamanaha of Buena Park, California, son Michael (Sharon) Tamanaha, three daughters Susan Moye, Phyllis (Lloyd) Unebasami, Joyce (Alvin) Takahashi, four grand- children Bradley Nahkunst of Brooklyn, New York, Christopher (Mindy) Nahkunst of Austin, Texas, Mika Unebasami, Ian Takahashi, and one great- grandson Michael Nahkunst of Austin, Texas. A celebration of life service will be held on Sunday, August 11th at Hosoi Garden Mortuary. Visitation from 10 a.m., services from 11 a.m. Private burial services. Arrangements Provided By: Hosoi Garden Mortuary
Search Records for Susumu Tamanaha with Ancestry® Discover Susumu Tamanaha Family Story with Ancestry® AncestryDNA® with Traits Discover Details of Your Family History - Search Records with Ancestry®
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Tigers Bring Back Joba, Beard Apparently Not Welcome
By Neil Weinberg on February 24, 2015 | 1 Comment
After a great first half and much less great second half, Joba Chamberlain had two very poor outings against the O’s in the ALDS. He signed a small deal last winter with the hopes of rebuilding his value, and while he looked well on his way to doing that in June, things quickly fell apart and he actually wound up getting less guaranteed money when the Tigers re-signed him this morning.
That’s actually a pretty remarkable thing when you peel back the onion. Joba had a perfectly fine season with a 3.57 ERA and 3.16 FIP in 63 innings. He had the occasional sore this or that, but nothing that kept him out of action for very long. And yet, no one wanted him.
His second half numbers were much worse than his first half, with is K%, BB%, ERA, and wOBA all going in the wrong direction in a big way, while his BABIP actually got better. Part of that is simple regression to the mean. Joba wasn’t as good as he performed during the first half and so some crash was expected just in the normal course of business. He also lost it a little and wound up pitching 28 below replacement level innings after the break. Factor in his two awful appearances in October and it’s not a huge shock that he’s not signing a $20 million deal.
But it is a little surprising to me that he had virtually no interest and got a $1 million deal after teams reported. The first half did happen and it’s not as if that performance is totally irrelevant. Joba showed that he could remain healthy and reasonably effective for a full season, but no one came calling with a significantly better offer.
Maybe that speaks to long-term concerns about his health or perhaps it speaks to teams paying too much attention to a few innings of reliever performance. Joba is certainly worth a flyer at this price, but it’s very odd to me that the Tigers would pay Hanrahan, Gorzelanny, and Joba $3 million or so among them in conjunction with the $170+ million they spent on the rest of their roster but not be willing to pay a little more for one of the quality middle relievers who hit the market this winter.
I wanted Neshek, Gregerson, Cotts, Duke, and Frasor and the Tigers did not seem to be in on any of them despite the maximum AAV on the deals sitting in the $5-6 million range.
Signing Joba at this price in isolation is totally fine. I’m all for it. There’s almost nothing that can go wrong. But the team seems to never want to pay an extra million or two for a good player even though they routinely pay several million extra for their great players. It’s an odd approach if nothing else.
My one specific concern here is that I worry Joba will have a good April and Ausmus will fall into old patterns of using him in the 8th inning exclusively. Just because Dombrowski signed him late doesn’t mean the manager will use him correctly. Given how rigid Ausmus showed himself to be last year, it could cost the Tigers on the basis of familiarity.
Posted in: Tigers Posts
The Tigers Get Back To Work
By Neil Weinberg on February 20, 2015 | 2 Comments
It’s very early on Friday, February 20, and the temperature outside my apartment is somewhere close to -10. That’s might not sound like a good thing. In fact, on the last two days like this, I was treated to balmy temps in the 40s.
The Tigers will hold their first workout of the 2015 season today in Lakeland. There are plenty of new faces and old faces and memories of pitchers and catchers who no longer wear the uniform for the hometown team. Winter, by the proper definition, gives way to spring this morning even though most people who are reading this will awake to temperatures somewhere below zero.
And for the first time since 2012, I’m one of them. The Tigers are getting back to baseball and my exile to the American south is over. There’s normalcy after a pretty abnormal winter for me. The last time the Tigers played ball, things were much different on my end.
The first day of spring training is merely a symbol. We don’t really get to see anything and nothing important happens, but it signifies the end of wandering. The aimlessness of the time between seasons has ended and we’ve found our way home.
This year, that’s more than a metaphor for me and I’m looking forward to being near the action, even if the action is starting a thousand miles away from frigid park outside my window. It will be here soon enough.
Assessing Brad Ausmus, Baseball Manager
If this blog was part of the criminal justice system, I probably wouldn’t get picked for Brad Ausmus’ jury trial. You might think that’s because of my vocal criticism of his first year, but it’s actually because demographically, he and I are too similar. If you drew Venn Diagrams of handsome*, Jewish, former catchers, he and I would be standing right next to each other.
*-What? My wife and mother think I’m handsome. Shut up, there’s no need for name calling.
I point that out because I want to make it clear that I went into the 2014 season with high hopes for Ausmus and I really wanted him to succeed. After his introduction last winter, I spoke very highly of him in several separate posts, praising him for the way he seemed to embrace modern thinking while crushing it up and hiding it in the proverbial pudding. He brought Jeff Jones back. He brought in Matt Martin to be the defensive coordinator. He talked about the need to bring in modern analysis, but with a presentation style that made it easier for players to understand.
Check. Check. Check.
There was a lot of optimism on my part, which I remind you of because I want to point out that I am 1) only sometimes right and 2) not out to get him. I was buying what he was selling, and it started out nicely. The team performed well early, and while everything was clicking, he was taking a hands-off approach that kept the clubhouse loose and the bunts to a minimum. After a month or so, I thought we had found our man.
But things started to turn for Ausmus as we careened toward summer. The team stumbled, culminating in his poorly executed, and inappropriate joke about beating his wife to handle the poor play on the field. It was a stupid moment, and to his credit, as soon as it came out of his mouth, he knew it and did everything a person should do in a situation like that. But for our purposes here, Paul Wezner from TigsTown made the relevant point. Paul pointed out how the “joke” fiasco was an indication that Ausmus was coming undone a bit. The normally deadpan, buttoned down boss was cracking.
His team was facing adversity. A baseball team that’s rolling doesn’t need a manager. One that’s struggling does. How he handled the remaining months would tell the tale, and I don’t think he handled himself very well at all.
But let’s step back for a moment. Let me make a few additional things clear. Actually measuring and assessing a manager from the outside is extremely difficult. I’m not going to be able to put a definitive number on anything. If I had to guess, I’d say Ausmus’ managing cost the team about five wins during the season relative to the average manager. It’s a rough estimation, I admit, but we just don’t have the information to know which pitchers he used because he wanted to and which he used because one of his guys needed a day off. We don’t know who had the flu and whose wrist was kind of sore.
There’s missing information, and this is a site that likes to deal in facts. We’re not going to be able to do that perfectly here and we’re all just going to have to be okay with it. There’s something worth saying, even if there’s a limitation on how confident we can be.
I should also mention that it’s possible for a person to become a better manager over time. I think Ausmus was bad in 2014, but that doesn’t mean he’s doomed to live at that level forever. Maybe he will, maybe he won’t. But it’s possible to improve and it’s possible that the transaction cost of replacing a manager is high enough to give him another year.
So if you get to the end of this discussion and want to comment or post on Twitter, remember I said all of those things. I didn’t have it out for him, managing is hard to measure, and I think people can get better. Put all of that in a box to the left side of your screen and hold onto it because it’s about to get combative.
Since I’m already 700 words in and haven’t said anything, I’m going to critique Ausmus by telling you the story of his first season through the lens of five players.
1. Joakim Soria
The problem isn’t that Joe Nathan sucked. Maybe we should have seen a decline coming, but no one was out there predicting that Joe Nathan would be horrible. There’s nothing Brad Ausmus or Earl Weaver could have done to avoid that disaster. But Ausmus responded to the Nathan crisis in a way that demonstrated his flaws.
When a player struggles, plenty of managers make a point to show support in order to maintain their confidence. It’s a classic leadership move. But as Nathan continued to struggle and the Tigers continued to lose close games because Nathan had nothing in the tank, Ausmus refused to go to anyone else as the closer because Nathan was a “proven closer” and he didn’t have another one of those.
This is an obvious strike against Ausmus, but lots of managers do stuff like this and a rookie manager might not want to push the limits of bullpen usage for fear of calling attention to himself. But then this weird thing happened and the Tigers traded Jake Thompson and Corey Knebel for Joakim Soria. Ausmus finally had another proven closer to use in place of Nathan!
Naturally, he called on Soria to be the relief ace and all was right!
Nope. He hardly ever used Soria and on multiple occasions he demonstrated that he only wanted to use Soria in the 7th inning, saving Joba and Nathan for 8/9, and continued to manage to the save stat for Joe Nathan. Now perhaps Ausmus knew that Soria wasn’t in position to pitch well, but it would be an awfully big shock if the Tigers traded for a pitcher, dealing two of their best prospects, for a pitcher who they didn’t think was very good.
What probably happened was that Ausmus didn’t know Soria and he decided he was comfortable with his 8/9 guys even though he just got handed a better pitcher. Unwillingness to adapt will kill you in a game like this.
2. Anibal Sanchez
There was no excuse for the way Ausmus played his Anibal Sanchez card in October. You might want to defend him and say that Sanchez was pushed to his limit at 35 pitches, but you’d be wrong, because it was Ausmus who refused to use Sanchez in the final weeks of the regular season to stretch him out for just such an appearance.
It’s one thing to be worried about Sanchez’s arm, it’s another thing to have failed to prepare for such an obvious situation. Sanchez was his best arm in the pen, and it was obvious from the day we heard he’d be back in September. Ausmus kicked this one by failing to think ahead and failing a test of imagination.
3. James McCann
This drove me crazy. I won’t hold back. Ausmus wouldn’t use McCann in September because McCann didn’t know the pitching staff and it wouldn’t be fair to put him in a big game with an unfamiliar pitcher. This is another thing that sounds kind of reasonable at first, but when you think about it, it’s plain silly.
Ausmus knows more about catching than I do. I’ll admit as much. But McCann was his best bet against left-handed pitching and he wouldn’t use him out of fear that McCann wouldn’t be able to properly manage the pitching staff. Which is weird, because McCann has a fine reputation as a receiver and it’s his job to go to meetings and game plan how they’re going to attack hitters.
Ausmus also had the option of calling pitches from the bench, or having Avila or Holaday do the same. McCann was more than capable of doing his job, and even if he wasn’t, Ausmus’ concern was about his game calling, and that’s something you can easily work around. There was just no logic to it at all.
4. Nick Castellanos
This is the easiest one to forgive, but I wanted to bring it up anyway. During the season, when asked about Castellanos’ defense, Ausmus made a comment to the effect of “Nick might not have great range, but he’s making the plays he gets to.”
Except that’s factually wrong. Castellanos made a ton of misplays on balls hit right at him. I’ve been pretty clear on the fact that I do think Nick can get better at third, but as a point of fact, he was lousy in 2014.
I don’t mind a manager throwing some cover for his guy. That’s a manager thing to do. But when he chose to give an answer, he gave an incorrect assessment of his player. He was just wrong about Castellanos’ ability to make plays on balls hit near him.
This ones a little fuzzy, but in the context of the rest of evidence against him, this stands out to me. I can forgive the bunting and the bullpen roles, but you have to know your players and their abilities or you’re going nowhere.
5. Ezequiel Carrera
This is the big one. The story of Brad Ausmus’ 2014 season was Carrera and it wasn’t pretty. You can’t blame Ausmus for Carrera’s spot on the roster. Dombrowski builds the club and Ausmus got dealt Carrera. That’s just a thing you live with.
But let’s turn around and evaluate how Carrera was used by his manager. For one, he hit in the top two spots in the order seven times despite being very bad at hitting. He was also used as a pinch hitter six more times, which…well, same.
But it came down to a single moment. We can sum up Brad Ausmus as a manager with the game that happened on September 2. The Tigers won 4-2 against the Indians, which sounds great, but it was one of those games where the team just happened to win despite their manager’s best efforts.
The Tigers trailed 2-1 entering the 8th inning. Bryan Shaw was on the mound for the Indians and Suarez was due up. Given the situation, pinch hitting with a lefty made sense. Ausmus had Tyler Collins and he had Steven Moya as lefty pinch hit options. If you’re thinking about a guy who can spray it around, Collins. If you want the bomb, Moya. Easy enough, right?
No. Apparently not because Ausmus went with Carrera!
His explanation was that he wanted someone who could steal a base if he got on base. Which makes your head explode every time you hear it because 1) Carrera can’t get on base and 2) He could have pinch run for anyone who reached base.
But listen, mistakes happen and sometimes you just say something to answer a question if you don’t believe it. And you almost want to forgive him until Miguel Cabrera singles during the next inning and Ausmus uses Moya to pinch run!
Think about that. He had two choices. One where he needed a hitter and one where he needed a runner. He had two players, Carrera and Moya. He somehow managed to decide that Moya belonged in the running situation and Carrera and the hitting one!
If not for that glorious human being, JD Martinez, the Tigers would have lost this game, in large part due to the craziest thing I’ve seen a manager do in quite some time.
It’s one thing to use Carrera too much because you think he’s a good defender (he’s not), but it’s another to use him as a pinch hitter when you have a pinch running need coming in the next inning that you know you’re going to need (Cabrera was lumbering badly at the time).
So here’s the bottom line. After all the hype, Ausmus loves bullpen roles and he loves bunting. He over-managed and didn’t have good answers for questions. It was a bad showing, but when it really came down to it, what eats me up was that he didn’t know his players and he didn’t plan ahead.
Ausmus never seemed to be prepared for his first move to fail and he was frequently caught without a reliever warming up while another was melting down. He put bad hitters into big spots and didn’t really figure out who his good pitchers or defenders were at any point.
Managing is tough and evaluating them is a challenge, but everything I saw from Ausmus in 2014 indicated that he was in way over his head and seemed too stubborn to change. Hopefully that’s not the case.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention two things Ausmus did in 2014 that I liked. First, he didn’t announce which relievers were available before the game. That’s good strategy and he stuck to it to keep the other manager from getting an edge. Second, even though he used his bench poorly, he did use it. He didn’t save players for emergencies, he put them in the game if he thought they could help.
So as pitchers and catchers report, the Tigers have plenty of things to resolve. The manager isn’t the most important issue, but it’s the issue that should be the easiest to fix. The Tigers brass needs to get into his ear and resolve some of the bigger gaps in his decision making.
The Tigers like sluggers and hard throwing relievers. Ausmus can’t fix the roster, but he’s got to be smart enough to identify the good relievers and the bad hitters he has in his care. You can’t win the World Series with the Bad News Bears, but that’s not an excuse to put the worse player at shortstop. Ausmus probably wasn’t the reason the Tigers exited after three ALDS games, but he didn’t help them exceed their abilities. And there’s no point in sticking with a manager just because he didn’t ruin the team. The bar should be higher for a team with a $170 million payroll. If Ausmus doesn’t show progress, there’s no reason for him to stay.
I doubt it will happen, but if he doesn’t demonstrate improvements by the All-Star Break, he shouldn’t be at the helm when the pennant chase comes. Would the Tigers do that? Unlikely, but this is a job that would attract a lot of talent and the team shouldn’t settle.
Should The Tigers Extend Yoenis Cespedes?
By Neil Weinberg on February 9, 2015 | Leave a comment
With James Shields off the board, the baseball offseason is essentially over. Pitchers and catchers will show up next week and split squad games won’t be far behind. But before things get into full swing, teams are going to start to look at which of their players they want to lock up long term. Two years ago, the Tigers extended Verlander. A year ago, it was Cabrera. This year, they have a shot to deal with David Price, as we discussed recently, but they might also consider soon to be free agent, Yoenis Cespedes.
Much like previous posts of this nature, we’re going to try to estimate Cespedes’ free agent earnings next winter and then decide if the Tigers should consider paying that price. Keep in mind that Cespedes is ineligible for the qualifying offer, so draft pick compensation is off the table no matter what. This year will be his age 29 season, so you’re buying ages 30+ if you’re offering a deal.
Let’s try to get out bearings a little bit. Nelson Cruz just got 4 years and $58 million going into his age 35 season and his three season platform was worse than Cespedes’ last three years. Let’s assume Cespedes nails down about 3 WAR for the 2015 season, which would leave him well ahead of Cruz.
Pablo Sandoval hit free agency two years younger than Cespedes will, but there’s some similarities in their overall value heading into the payday winter. Sandoval had two 5 WAR seasons prior, however, so it’s not a perfect comparison. He got 5/$95MM.
It probably makes sense that Cespedes will get at least four years and it’s hard to imagine him not getting five. The cut point is probably five to six seasons and the $15 million to $20 million range seems about right. He’s a good defender with some real power, but it’s not like he’s an elite offensive performer. He’ll get the name recognition bump and a little love for RIGHT HANDED POWER, but he’s not going to get Robinson Cano money.
5 years, $95 million? 6 years, $115 million? I think that’s the neighborhood based on recent history. There’s really no way he gets less than Cruz and with another nice year he might wind up in the Sandoval range.
The Tigers don’t have any obvious outfield help blocking Cespedes’ return. JD Martinez’s future is a little uncertain, but even then, Derek Hill is a long way off and Steven Moya isn’t exactly a sure thing either. There’s plenty of room for Cespedes if the Tigers determine that they’re fond of him.
So let’s say that Cespedes will give the Tigers a break a roll his 2015 salary into an extension, leaving them only on the hook for 4/$85 million from 2016-2019. Does that make sense? For $85 million, you’d like to see something like 12 WAR over the life of the deal. That’s three wins per season, which would require a pretty slow decline. It’s plausible, even if you might not call it the likeliest outcome.
But let’s say the Tigers can afford to pay, and are motivated to pay slightly above market rate. Instead of $7.5M/WAR, let’s say they’ll pay $9 million per win. If that’s the case, you just need 9-10 WAR, and that’s a more reasonable projection given normal aging patterns. This assumes Cespedes will sign a deal of that magnitude rather than playing the field and looking for a big spending who digs his power.
The Tigers extended Cabrera back in 2008 before ever seeing him wear the uniform, but the difference between Cabrera and Cespedes is pretty significant. The Tigers pay for stars, but they also really like paying for their stars. Cespedes might not qualify and probably doesn’t have a lot of incentive to sign for below market rate. He’ll have made more than $30 million by the time he hits the market and doesn’t need the security of a big deal right now. Unlike a starting pitcher, the odds of a career altering injury are relatively low for Cespedes and he might try to nab $120 million or so next winter if he socks 35 dingers in the D.
So this becomes a bit of a guessing game. How much of a gambler is the Tigers’ new left fielder? We know that Scherzer made a smart bet on himself and that the Tigers made a bad one on Verlander and Cabrera (financially). While I recommended they extend Price, I think I’m going to come down against ponying up for Cespedes just yet. He’s a quality player, but he’s the kind of guy you can replace for less because he has sexy skills.
It wouldn’t be a disaster to sign Cespedes this month, but I don’t think waiting until next offseason costs them enough to shoulder all of the risk right now.
Tigers Fans Tear Collective Meniscus
If 2pm wasn’t hard enough on a Thursday, today we learned that Tigers DH Victor Martinez is going to need surgery to repair a torn left meniscus, the same meniscus that he tore before the 2012 season in conjunction with his ACL. Even if the tear is bad this time around, it’s still a much less serious injury if you’re looking for comfort.
As far as the product on the field, the question isn’t really if the Tigers can replace Martinez. They can’t. There’s no one in the organization who can match Martinez, but realistically speaking Martinez is probably going to miss a month or so of real, live baseball. At the top end, he’s a 4 win player and that means we’re talking about less than a win lost over the course of a month. Obviously a blow, but it’s not like learning Cabrera is out for the season.
There are three additional points worth making regarding this injury. First, remember this moment the next time you want the club to sign an aging star to an expensive contract. I was fine with the contract, but the idea that a proven player is a sure thing is just dead wrong. Martinez is as steady a hitter as they come, but an old player getting hurt and missing time isn’t news.
Second, this is why I’m always lamenting the Tigers’ allergy to depth. No team would be in good shape with injuries to Cabrera/Martinez type players, but it would be a lot better if their the fill in options weren’t Hessman or Lennerton. If you’re a team that loves expensive, aging players, it’s probably a good idea to stock up on bench options.
Finally, the real kicker here isn’t the time lost. The concern is how this recovery will affect him for the next year and the three years after that. Martinez took a long time to get himself straightened out after his last injury and you worry that you’ll lose him for a month but he won’t be himself for a few more. Martinez is young by normal human being standards, but for a ballplayer, he’s in his golden years.
The Tigers are a diminished team without Martinez playing from a less impressive deck than they have been in recent years. There are good players on the team and fun players on the team, but they’re in that window where little problems like a few weeks without Martinez wind up making Progressive Field and October destination.
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Zomedica Announces Achievement of Product Development Milestones on its TRUFORMA™ Point-of-Care Diagnostic Platform
ANN ARBOR, Mich., May 21, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Zomedica Pharmaceuticals Corp. (NYSE American: ZOM) (TSX-V: ZOM), a veterinary diagnostic and pharmaceutical company, today announced that TRUFORMA™, its point-of-care biosensor platform, recently achieved two important product development milestones.
The TRUFORMA™ platform, formerly designated ZM-024, is a table-top instrument that will use disposable assay cartridges to test a range of samples including whole blood, serum, and plasma. The platform uses differentiated Bulk Acoustic Wave (BAW) sensor technology to provide a non-optical and fluorescence-free detection system for use at the point-of-care.
The milestones achieved are beta finalization of the instrument design and the completion of feasibility testing of the TRUFORMA™ platform’s first assays. Completion of the beta design milestone allows a transition to commercial production for the instrument.
The TRUFORMA™ initial assay cartridge candidates include total thyroxine (total T4), free thyroxine (fT4), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), cortisol, and endogenous adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) for canine and feline patients.
The standard of care for total T4, fT4, TSH, and cortisol is reference lab immunoassays generally run on expensive laboratory equipment. Utilizing the FDA Center for Veterinary Medicine recommendations for Bioanalytical Method Validation, Zomedica has demonstrated that the initial TRUFORMA™ assays attained acceptable ranges for precision and accuracy.
Feasibility results for the initial TRUFORMA™ assays achieved statistically significant correlation with corresponding standard of care reference lab tests. These results demonstrate these initial assays are satisfying Zomedica’s target product specification for correlation greater than 0.95 and for dynamic range, which depending on the assay, are as low as 9 pg/mL and greater than 500 ng/mL. Time to result during this feasibility testing averaged less than 15 minutes utilizing canine and feline serum samples.
“We believe these feasibility results demonstrate that we will be able to develop TRUFORMA™ assays that will meet or exceed the performance capabilities of existing reference laboratory tests, which may result in equivalent or better diagnostic sensitivity and specificity,” Stephanie Morley, DVM, Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Product Development, Zomedica. “We are excited by these early results and look forward to continuing our development of the TRUFORMA™ platform to enable the testing of these assays, of which fT4, feline TSH and ACTH are novel to the point-of-care.”
“Based on the results obtained in our feasibility testing, we believe TRUFORMA™ assays have the potential to help clinicians make informed decisions about thyroid and adrenal issues during a patient’s visit to the clinic, which we believe will result in earlier treatment and enhanced treatment compliance,” said Bruk Herbst, Chief Commercial Officer, Zomedica.
Assuming the successful completion of the remaining development milestones, Zomedica intends to commence marketing the TRUFORMA™ platform with the initial assays in the first quarter of 2020. Zomedica expects to develop additional assays for the TRUFORMA™ platform, including a non-infectious gastrointestinal panel, following the completion of the initial assays.
TRUFORMA™ is an investigational device, not currently available for sale and limited to investigational use only.
About Zomedica
Based in Ann Arbor, Michigan, Zomedica (NYSE American: ZOM) (TSX-V: ZOM) is a veterinary diagnostic and pharmaceutical company creating products for companion animals (canine, feline and equine) by focusing on the unmet needs of clinical veterinarians. Zomedica’s product portfolio will include novel diagnostics and innovative therapeutics that emphasize patient health and practice health. With a team that includes clinical veterinary professionals, it is Zomedica’s mission to give veterinarians the opportunity to lower costs, increase productivity, and grow revenue while better serving the animals in their care. For more information, visit www.ZOMEDICA.com.
Follow Zomedica
Email Alerts: http://investors.zomedica.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/zomedica
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/zomedica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/zomedica
Except for statements of historical fact, this news release contains certain "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities law. Forward-looking information is frequently characterized by words such as "plan", "expect", "project", "intend", "believe", "anticipate", "estimate" and other similar words, or statements that certain events or conditions "may" or "will" occur. Although we believe that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable, there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. We cannot guarantee future results, performance or achievements. Consequently, there is no representation that the actual results achieved will be the same, in whole or in part, as those set out in the forward-looking information.
Forward-looking information is based on the opinions and estimates of management at the date the statements are made, and are subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking information. Some of the risks and other factors that could cause the results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking information include, but are not limited to: risks related to our ability to successfully complete the development of the TRUFORMA™ platform, uncertainty regarding our ability to develop assays that provide results as reliable as those provided by existing reference laboratory equipment, risks related to the marketing the TRUFORMA™ platform, uncertainty as to whether our strategies and business plans will yield the expected benefits; uncertainty as to the timing and results of development work and pilot and pivotal studies, uncertainty as to the likelihood and timing of regulatory approvals, availability and cost of capital; the ability to identify and develop and achieve commercial success for new products and technologies; the level of expenditures necessary to maintain and improve the quality of products and services; changes in technology and changes in laws and regulations; our ability to secure and maintain strategic relationships; risks pertaining to permits and licensing, intellectual property infringement risks, risks relating to future clinical trials, regulatory approvals, safety and efficacy of our products, the use of our product, intellectual property protection and the other risk factors disclosed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Readers are cautioned that this list of risk factors should not be construed as exhaustive.
The forward-looking information contained in this news release is expressly qualified by this cautionary statement. We undertake no duty to update any of the forward-looking information to conform such information to actual results or to changes in our expectations except as otherwise required by applicable securities legislation. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Shameze Rampertab, CPA, CA
srampertab@zomedica.com
PCG Advisory Group
Kirin Smith, COO
ksmith@pcgadvisory.com
Christy Penka
cpenka@zomedica.com
A photo accompanying this announcement is available at https://www.globenewswire.com/NewsRoom/AttachmentNg/a0bb28f1-599f-4efa-a262-b176344cb60d
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Surface Go is now available in India
Microsoft’s Surface has always been a premium line up that has defined a milestone for the other OEMs to build upon. Started with the Surface Pro tablets and later expanding to Surface Book, Surface Laptop, Surface Studio, and a Surface Hub too, it consists of a tablet, an ultrabook, a desktop, a laptop, and a huge collaboration device. The Surface Go device was made to target the students and the education sector globally.
Surface Go is available in India
Initially, this device was available in countries like, US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, UK, Ireland, France, Germany, Austria, Belgium, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Switzerland, Denmark, Finland, Norway, Sweden, Poland, Taiwan, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Malaysia, and Thailand. Now it has comes to India as well. It comes in two configurations.
The first configuration comes with a 4 GB RAM and a 64 GB eMMC Internal Storage while the second configuration comes with 8 GB of RAM and a 128 GB of internal storage. Both of these variants are powered by a 7th Generation Intel Pentium Gold Processor 4415Y under the hood. The display is a PixelSense display with a 3:2 aspect ratio and is protected by Gorilla Glass 3.
It also has a USB C port along with a headphone jack, Micro SD Card slot to expand the storage, Surface Connect for charging the device and docking the device. The device also has all the major Surface Pro sensors like Accelerometer, Magnetometer, Windows Hello Camera Sensor, Gyroscope and more which makes the experience seamless.
It is available online currently but will be soon available in retail stores as well. It is available for INR 38,599 for the 4 GB RAM model and INR 50,999 for the 8 GB RAM Model. You will have to buy the type cover separately where the Surface Go type cover in black will be sold at INR 8,699, and the Surface Go Signature edition type cover at INR 11,799.
This device also supports the Surface Pen as well as a Surface Dial which are sold separately as well.
Tags: India, Surface
Facebook accidentally exposes personal data of 6.8 million users
A consumer version of Microsoft 365 bundle could be on the anvil
AyushVij@TWCN
Ayush has been a Windows enthusiast since the day he got his first PC with Windows 98SE. He is an active Windows Insider since Day 1 and is now a Windows Insider MVP. He has been testing pre-release services on his Windows 10 PC, Lumia, and Android devices.
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Fringe of Tomorrow 2 Script Is Actually Cool and Promising Teases Emily Blunt
Whether or not they will ever find the time to make it remains to be seen, but Emily Blunt feels that the Edge of Tomorrow 2 script is really cool and promising. Blunt starred alongside Tom Cruise in the 2014 sci-fi/action flick that ultimately went on to become a relatively modest success initially that found a much larger following in the years that followed. Plans have been brewing for a sequel for years now but they haven’t quite materialized. Though Blunt feels it’s just a matter of timing.
The actor is currently promoting her new movie Wild Mountain Thyme. During a recent interview she was asked about the status of Edge of Tomorrow 2. Emily Blunt admits that scheduling with everyone has become an issue but the script they have is solid. It’s in the works and they want to do it. Here’s what she had to say.
RELATED: Edge of Tomorrow 2 Case Has Been Cracked Teases Emily Blunt
“Yes, (the script) is really promising and really, really cool. I just don’t know when everything’s going to sort of align, you know what I mean? Between all of our schedules, it would just have to be the right time. But there is something in the works, for sure, that’s a great idea. A great idea.”
Edge of Tomorrow was directed by Doug Liman and is based on the graphic novel All You Need is Kill. The movie sees a military general played by Tom Cruise who ends up living the same day over and over again while fighting an invasive alien race. The marketing, in many ways, failed the adaptation. The tagline Live Die Repeat was also, at one point, the title, which led to some confusion. But critics and audiences embraced the movie and it earned $370 million at the box office. That number, on its own, is quite good but the reported $178 million budget got in the way of its profitability.
But passionate fans and the desire of those involved to continue the story has kept the sequel alive over the years. Unfortunately, those involved are some of the biggest names in Hollywood. Tom Cruise is currently filming both Mission: Impossible 7 and Mission: Impossible 8 back-to-back with director Christopher McQuarrie, who penned the screenplay for Edge of Tomorrow. He is expected to return as a producer. Emily Blunt, meanwhile, has A Quiet Place Part II arriving next year, with projects like The English and Not Fade Away on her to-do list. Not to mention that Cruise and Doug Liman are currently preparing to shoot a movie in space for Universal Pictures.
Doug Liman previously said that he hoped to get around to Edge of Tomorrow 2 once Tom Cruise was done with the next two Mission: Impossible movies. At one point, the sequel was going under the title Live Die Repeat and Repeat. Whether or not that sticks remains to be seen. We’ll be sure to keep you posted as any further updates are made available. This news comes to us via The Hollywood Reporter.
Topics: Edge of Tomorrow 2, Edge of Tomorrow
Writer of various things on the internet (mostly about movies) since 2013. Major lover of popcorn flicks. Avid appreciator of James Bond, Marvel and Star Wars. Has a tremendously fat cat named Buster and still buys CDs. I’ve got my reasons.
Google’s High Trending Searches of 2020 Revealed: See Which Pop Tradition Moments Made the Record
Toro y Moi and Deftones’ Chino Moreno Remix Caroline Polachek’s “Hit Me The place It Hurts”
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Palace: Military presence in BOC, part of Duterte’s duty to serve & protect
Posted on October 30, 2018 October 31, 2018 by NewsLine Philippines
DAVAO CITY (October 30) — Malacañang on Tuesday, backed anew President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s decision to place military personnel in the Bureau of Customs (BOC) amid issues of corruption and drug smuggling within the agency.
Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Secretary Salvador Panelo said the Constitution allows the President as Commander-in-Chief to call on the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) in relation to his duty of serving and protecting the people.
“[T]he primary duty of the government is to serve and to protect the people. The head of that government is the President. So in protecting and serving the people, the President has to consider that… there should be peace and order [and] he should consider the general welfare of the people,” Secretary Panelo said.
“If you can bring in hundreds of kilos of drugs, then there must be some grave wrong in that area. It violates the law, it violates the Constitution. Now, it endangers the security of our countrymen. Certainly, the President will have to do something about it,” he added.
Sec. Panelo was referring to the issues of corruption hounding Customs officials as well as the alleged smuggling of billions worth of illegal drugs within the agency.
Meanwhile, the Palace Spokesperson clarified that the President has not violated a provision in the Constitution, which prohibits the appointment or designation of AFP members to civilian positions in the government.
Panelo stressed that the Chief Executive could not be held hostage by this provision over his constitutional duty to serve and protect the people. He said the military presence in BOC is a way to prevent further occurrences of corruption and drug smuggling there.
“The President is not appointing or designating any particular member of the Armed Forces,” Panelo noted.
He said the military personnel are not expected to take over the functions of the civilian employees, as the agency continues to be in operating status awaiting a memorandum from the BOC Commissioner.-NewsLine
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Asian American History and Culture
Black History and Culture
Latinx History and Culture
Mysticism, Healing, and the Occult
Other Books at ICA
The Archaic Revival: Speculations on Psychedelic Mushrooms, the Amazon, Virtual Reality, UFOs, Evolution, Shamanism, the Rebirth of the Goddess, and the End of History by Terence Mckenna
Cited by the L.A. Weekly as "the culture's foremost spokesman for the psychedelic experience," Terrence McKenna is an underground legend as a brilliant raconteur, adventurer, and expert on the experiential use of mind-altering plants.
In these essays, interviews, and narrative adventures, McKenna takes us on a mesmerizing journey deep into the Amazon as well as into the hidden recesses of the human psyche and the outer limits of our culture, giving us startling visions of the past and future.
Back to Mysticism, Healing, and the Occult
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Share this Story: Hundreds block downtown Toronto street to protest mining convention
Hundreds block downtown Toronto street to protest mining convention
Salmaan Farooqui
Mar 01, 2020 • March 1, 2020 • 1 minute read
TORONTO — More than 100 people protested outside a mining convention Sunday in downtown Toronto, where they blocked traffic on multiple roads and stood in front of entrances to the event.
Organizers said they were demonstrating against the harmful effects of resource extraction to the environment and to Indigenous lands.
Hundreds block downtown Toronto street to protest mining convention Back to video
At one point, protesters attempted to enter the convention but were stopped by police.
“We want to make our voices heard and our presence seen because there are communities that this conference is directly impacting,” said Vanessa Gray, a protest organizer who’s Anishinaabe Kwe.
“The industry is doing mare harm than good for our future, our environment.”
Daniel Huizenga, who attended the protest with his son, said the issue has been in the spotlight due to recent demonstrations in solidarity with Wet’suwet’en hereditary chiefs in British Columbia, who oppose a pipeline project in their traditional territory.
Those demonstrations have involved road and rail blockades, though police have recently moved to dismantle some of them.
“There’s a lot of things coming together at the moment,” said Huizenga. “Canada’s continued refusal of aboriginal title and rights is getting too much for people, they don’t want to see it anymore.”
Organizers for Sunday’s protest in Toronto said many of the companies who provide economic support for the Costal GasLink pipeline project in B.C. also take part in the mining convention.
They said the protest was raising concerns about the impact of resource extraction projects both in Canada and around the world.
Protesters pointed to a recent ruling by the Supreme Court of Canada, which decided that Vancouver-based mining company Nevsun Resources could be sued for alleged human rights abuses overseas, including modern slavery.
The ruling came after three refugees from Eritrea in eastern Africa alleged they were forced to work at a gold, copper and zinc mine.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 1, 2020
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New study examines how bullying by bosses emerges
by William G. Gilroy, University of Notre Dame
As anyone who has experienced it will attest, dealing with a boss who acts abusively can be a very difficult and confusing experience. However, the process by which such behavior emerges has received little attention from researchers. A new study by researchers Charlice Hurst, Ken Kelley and Timothy Judge from the Department of Management at the University of Notre Dame's Mendoza College of Business and Lauren Simon of Portland State University is the first to examine bullying behavior by bosses in terms of supervisor/employee relationship over time.
According to the Workplace Bullying Institute, 27 percent of employees in the U.S. have experienced workplace bullying before, most often from supervisors. There are numerous possible reasons for bullying behavior by bosses, including the boss's personality and home life, their feelings about how fairly they are being treated by the organization, and the performance and behavior of their employees.
"We wanted to see how employees' behaviors might influence their likelihood of being mistreated in the future," Hurst said. "When someone mistreats us, we can have natural urges to either want to fight back, or to avoid the individual. For example, a supervisor might berate an employee, and the employee may become angry and seek revenge, for instance, by being rude to his/her supervisor, in an attempt to send a signal to 'not mess with me.' Or, out of fear, an employee may also do whatever he or she can to stay out of harm's way and avoid their supervisor."
To better understand employee and supervisor behavior, the researchers surveyed 244 employees in a variety of organizations monthly over a six-month period.
"Interestingly, our findings show that both retaliation and withdrawal, as responses to abusive supervision, are actually associated with increases in subsequent levels of mistreatment," Hurst said. "Thus, although certainly understandable and common reactions, they may not be the most useful in reducing mistreatment in the future. We examined whether a different class of behaviors, such as engaging in activities that help the supervisor, might diminish further abuse. Unfortunately, helping the supervisor had no effect."
So, what should employees do?
"This is a question that researchers need to work to answer more effectively," Hurst said. "Ideally, organizations will have robust systems for detecting and responding to situations in which a manager is being abusive. But this is often not the case. Prior research suggests several approaches that individual employees might try when it is not practical to exit an abusive supervisory relationship right away. Employees of abusive supervisors experience less emotional distress when they are vocal with their supervisor about their concerns about how they are being treated, building positive relationships with others in the workplace, and seeking ways to reappraise the situation as beneficial in some way such as promoting personal growth through adversity."
The study will appear in the Journal of Applied Psychology.
Coping with abuse in the work place
More information: "Understanding Cycles of Abuse: A Multimotive Approach." Journal of Applied Psychology, May 25 , 2015, No Pagination Specified. dx.doi.org/10.1037/apl0000031
Journal information: Journal of Applied Psychology
Provided by University of Notre Dame
Citation: New study examines how bullying by bosses emerges (2015, September 29) retrieved 16 January 2021 from https://phys.org/news/2015-09-bullying-bosses-emerges.html
Trouble with your boss? Own it
Exercise has charms to soothe a savage boss
Entitlement-minded workers more likely to claim bosses mistreat them, new study shows
Abusive leadership infects entire team
Targets of bully bosses aren't the only victims, new research shows
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Opinion | Commentary
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Piedmont Exedra (https://piedmontexedra.com/2021/01/best-bets-quarantine-tunes-to-kick-off-2021)
Best Bets: Quarantine tunes to kick off 2021
By The Artful Observer | Bay City News Foundation | January 6, 2021
Trumpeter Bria Skonberg's performance for Cal Performances At Home series will be streamed Jan. 7 and available on demand through April 7. (Dario Acosta/courtesy of Bria Skonberg)
The Bay Area is a hub of artistic expression, attracting artists, writers and musicians from around the globe to live, work and create. We highlight some of the offerings here.
Conductor Edwin Outwater curated and hosts a documentary program called “What We Do on the Stage” with his musicans in the San Francisco Conservatory of Music Orchestra. (Courtesy of Sean Puckett)
How it all comes together: Edwin Outwater, newly appointed music director at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music, is a conductor with a broad and diverse background in the field.
A former resident conductor of the San Francisco Symphony, he led its youth orchestra for several years and has long continued his association there, taking to the podium at the opening of the Chase Center in the fall of 2019 for “S&M2,” S.F. Symphony’s wildly popular collaboration with the rock band Metallica.
Outwater is at heart an educator, and we can take advantage of his expertise at 7:30 p.m. Friday, when he hosts and conducts “What We Do on the Stage,” a concert film with the SFCM Orchestra that documents the process of orchestral music-making. Shot at the Conservatory and at locations around San Francisco, the film will feature music by Oliveros, Barber, Mozart, and Thorvaldsdottir. Access it for free at www.sfcm.edu.
Trumpeter Bria Skonberg’s performance for Cal Performances At Home series will be streamed Jan. 7 and available on demand through April 7. (Dario Acosta/courtesy of Bria Skonberg)
Some like it hot jazz: Streaming directly to you from the historic Louis Armstrong House in the New York City borough of Queens is jazz trumpeter and vocalist Bria Skonberg and her quintet in a full-length, professionally produced concert presented by Cal Performances at Home.
Tune in at 7 p.m. Thursday to see and hear a lively program dipping into her latest album, “Nothing Never Happens,” featuring vintage jazz classics and original compositions and new interpretations of pop songs by the Beatles, Queen and Sonny Bono.
Joining Skonberg for the set are bandmates Doug Wamble on guitar, Patrick Bartley on sax, Mathis Picard at the piano, Endea Owens on bass and Darrian Douglas on drums. Tickets, $15-$60, purchased at calperformances.org or by calling (510) 642-9988, get you into the show that night and will let you return at any time until April 7.
Folk music icon John McCutcheon will showcase his quarantine-themed new album in streaming concerts Jan. 9 a 16. (Courtesy of John McCutcheon)
Quarantine tunes: Normally, January finds folk music icon John McCutcheon on his Left Coast Tour, a 30-year-old tradition that almost always includes a stop or two (or three) at a Bay Area music club, coffeehouse or theater. But nothing is operating normally these days. Instead, the singer-songwriter musician is serving up two streaming shows featuring songs from his new album that is a direct byproduct of the pandemic.
After returning from a tour in Australia last March — just as the COVID was prompting shelter-at-home rules — McCutcheon self-quarantined at his rural Georgia cabin for a few weeks and wrote a bunch of songs. Then, he returned to his home and studio and recorded a solo album titled “Cabin Fever: Songs From the Quarantine.”
McCutcheon will showcase the album with streaming concerts at 4 p.m. Saturday and Jan. 16, and the proceeds will benefit venues in Berkeley, Walnut Creek, Sonoma, Fremont and Saratoga where he is normally performing this time of year. You can purchase access to either or both shows ($5-$20 each) and download the new album (pay what you can) at McCutcheon’s website, folkmusic.com.
This stuffed bunny is available at ODC/Dance, along with access to the company’s annual show “The Velveteen Rabbit.” (ODC/Dance).
Bunny still wants a hug: We know how the holidays get, even during a pandemic. You have plans to do all these wonderful things, then all of a sudden it’s January and you haven’t done some of things you were most excited about.
Take, for example, ODC/Dance’s lovely and heartwarming annual production of “The Velveteen Rabbit,” adapted from the beloved children’s book. If you meant to see the charming, family-friendly streaming dance show, you’re in luck. It’s available through Sunday, along with such extras as a “party pack,” a stuffed plush bunny, even “Velveteen Rabbit”-themed dance classes. There’s also an education/exercise program designed for schools, with lesson plans and videos, that will remain on sale for the near future. Accessing the basic show is $35. Go to odc.dance.
The “Collective” can be viewed as part of the Virtual Cinema series at Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, Magnolia Pictures )
From tragedy to scandal: In 2015, a fire broke out in a popular Bucharest, Romania, nightclub called the Collectiv, killing 27 patrons and injuring 180 more. The tragedy was compounded in the following months when conditions at mismanaged and poorly funded hospitals led to the needless deaths of 37 more Collectiv fire victims.
The acclaimed documentary “Collective” follows a band of scrappy journalists as they uncover, despite numerous obstacles, layer upon layer of mismanagement, neglect and malfeasance in Romania’s health care system.
At a time when news organizations around the world are battling financial hardships, government hostility and public indifference, Alexander Nanau’s award-winning documentary is a compelling reminder of why a healthy press is so important.
You can catch it as part of the Virtual Cinema series, through which nonprofit film centers and independent theaters suffering in our shelter-at-home landscape can generate some revenue by screening top-notch smaller films that are desperate for an audience. Go to the Berkeley Art Museum and Pacific Film Archive, and you’ll find “Collective” and several other intriguing streaming film options. Access is generally $12 a film; https://bampfa.org.
The post Best Bets: quarantine tunes to kick off 2021 appeared first on Local News Matters.
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Peverell Park Surgery
The Stables Pounds House Outland Road Peverell PL2 3PX
Plymouth Student Health
Evening/Weekend Video
Dr Richard Benjafield MB BS DA Hons(qualified at Royal Free Hospital, London 1979)
Moved into general practice in 1986 after leaving the navy, trained in anaesthetics, his interests in general practice range from Paediatric care to Chronic Disease management. Richard supports the training of medical students within the Practice. Richard is a keen Yachtsman, married with 5 children he enjoys husky driving in the Arctic each year. Richard speaks some French, Spanish and Swedish.
Dr Philip Rowland MB ChB MRCGP(qualified Birmingham University in 1992)
Philip grew up in Plymouth and qualified at Birmingham University. He joined the Practice in 1998 with special interests in dermatology, research and men’s health. Philip has four children and enjoys playing squash regularly.
Dr Peter Dunne MBChB MRCGP(qualified at Liverpool University in 1994)
Originally from Northern Ireland, Peter studied medicine in Liverpool graduating in 1994. Eventually moved to Plymouth in 2000 to work as a GP. Clinically, Peter’s special interests are sports and musculoskeletal medicine. Peter has travelled extensively and spent two years working in Australia and New Zealand. He enjoys keeping fit, particularly walking and cycling on Dartmoor.
Dr Alexis Tanner MBBS MRCGP BSc(Hons) (Qualified Imperial College in 2004)
Alexis is a Plymouth born and raised GP, still living locally. He enjoys all aspects of General Practice with particular interest in child health, palliative care and dermatology. He is a keen photographer, rugby supporter and enjoys taking long walks with the family and dog.
Dr Rachel Ali BMBS BMedSci MRCP (UK) MRCGP (2015) DRCOG
After moving to the UK in 1995, Rachel trained in Nottingham before moving to Exeter in 2002. She was delighted to discover Devon and has spent several years moving around the South West while training in hospital medicine. In 2009 she came to Plymouth where she has settled with her partner and qualified as a GP in 2015. She enjoys the challenges of general practice and is keen to keep up her interests in gastroenterology and hepatology. Rachel has joined the LMC and enjoys representing local colleagues and patients.
Dr Julian Miles(Qualified at the Peninsula Medical School in 2010)
After 20 years in the engineering industry, Julian moved to Plymouth with his delightful wife and three children, to study at the Peninsula Medical School. He specifically selected his training posts to give the range of skills and experience necessary in general practice. Active in the local church, he also enjoys many outdoor pursuits, especially racing sailing dinghies.
Dr Juliette Whitfield(Qualified Bachelor of Medicine University of Southampton Medicine 1987)
Juliette joined Peverell Park Surgery in May 2016 as a salaried GP providing 4 sessions a week. She specialises in contraceptive and sexual health care and women’s health, including menopause care. She is married with two children and enjoys sailing, walking and skiing.
Dr Alice Cook MBChB MRCGP BSc(Qualified University of Manchester 2009)
Alice joined the practice in September 2016. She was born in Plymouth and after training in Manchester for 6 years was keen to return to the city and the seaside. She has an interest in Family Planning and medical education. In her spare time she enjoys exploring the countryside and coast with her young family.
The Practice is a training practice for Peninsula Medical School undergraduates. There may occasionally be students sitting in with the doctor, and you will of course be informed if this is the case. If you would prefer not to see the student just let us know.
Locums and other Doctors
In order to maintain a consistently high quality of service to our patients, we will from time to time employ other GPs at the surgery. You may be offered an appointment with one of these doctors when your doctor is away or fully booked.
Flu Vaccination Campaign 2020/2021
Evening and weekend appointments available! Do you need to see a doctor, but couldn’t get in this week? Do you need to speak to a doctor this weekend? We can now offer p... Find out more
If you are not already registered for online services, you can download the NHS App to register and verify your identity through the App. The app has lots of great features and can... Find out more
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Policy document 1
Evaluation of clinical practice guidelines
https://policybase.cma.ca/en/permalink/policy10448
The Canadian Medical Association calls for evidence-based evaluation of clinical practice guidelines in terms of patient outcomes, appropriateness and cost-effectiveness.
Registry of physician-managed health care transformation projects
The Canadian Medical Association will create a registry of physician-managed health care transformation projects.
The Canadian Medical Association will examine physician leadership and engagement in system transformation across the country.
Best practices in physician leadership
The Canadian Medical Association will facilitate knowledge transfer of best practices in physician leadership and engagement across the country.
The Canadian Medical Association will review the ability of provincial/territorial physician regulatory bodies to self-regulate independently.
The future of medicine
The future of medicine In 1997 the Canadian Medical Association (CMA) embarked on a study of the future of medicine. Two premises guided this activity: (1) the pace of change in the practice of medicine that physicians experienced in the last quarter of the 20th century is bound to increase in the 21st century; and (2) it is essential that the medical profession position itself to influence future developments in medical practice. In order to prepare the profession to anticipate and meet the challenges of the future, the CMA is engaged in a medium- to long-term (5–20 years) planning exercise. This policy statement summarizes the results of the first part of this exercise: working definitions of health, health care and medicine; a vision for the future of the medical profession; and the implications of this vision for the roles of physicians. This work was conducted by an expert project advisory group, which developed background papers on these topics and prepared this statement for approval by the CMA Board of Directors. Definitions Health: is a state of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being. It is characterized in part by an absence of illness (a subjective experience) and disease (a pathological abnormality) that enables one to pursue major life goals and to function in personal, social and work contexts. Health care: is any activity that has as its primary objective the improvement, maintenance or support of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual well-being, as characterized by the absence of illness and disease. Medicine: is the art and science of healing. It is based on a body of knowledge, skills and practices concerned with the health and pathology of individuals and populations. The practice of medicine encompasses those health care activities that are performed by or under the direction of physicians in the service of patients, including health promotion, disease prevention, diagnosis, treatment, rehabilitation, palliation, education and research. A vision for the future of the medical profession Medicine will continue to be a healing profession dedicated to serving humanity. Its cornerstone will continue to be the relationship of trust between the patient and the physician. It will uphold with integrity the values of respect for persons, compassion, beneficence and justice. It will strive for excellence and incorporate progress in its art and science. It will maintain high standards of ethics, clinical practice, education and research in order to serve patients. It will encourage the development of healthy communities and of practices and policies that promote the well-being of the public. It will demonstrate its capacity for societal responsibility through self-regulation and accountability. It will actively participate in decision-making regarding health and health care policy. It will guard against forces and events that may compromise its primary commitment to the well-being of patients. The roles of physicians in the future1 Although the vision and values of medicine are enduring and will remain stable, the practice environment of physicians will change as the medical profession responds to health system and societal influences. This in turn will have implications for the roles of physicians. The traditional role of physicians has been medical expert and healer. This has involved diagnosing and treating disease and other forms of illness, comforting those who cannot be cured and preventing illness through patient counselling and public-health measures. While this role will remain at the core of medical practice, the evolving context of health care requires physicians to assume additional roles to support their primary role. The CMA proposes the following roles as essential to the future practice of medicine (cf. Fig. 1 for their interrelationship). Although no physician will function in all roles simultaneously, they should all have the fundamental competencies to participate in each of these roles. -Medical expert and healer: Physicians have always been recognized for their role as medical expert and healer; it is the defining nature of their practice and derives from the broad knowledge base of medicine and its application through a combination of art and science. This is the foundation for continued physician leadership in the provision of medical and health care in the future. -Professional: There must be renewed efforts to reaffirm the principles of the medical profession, including upholding its unique body of knowledge and skills; maintenance of high standards of practice; and commitment to the underlying values of caring, service and compassion. The medical profession of the future must continue to develop standards of care with ongoing opportunities for continued assessment of competency in order to remain a credible, self-regulated discipline worthy of public respect and trust. -Communicator: Increasing emphasis will be placed upon the ability to gather and communicate medical information in a compassionate and caring fashion, to enter into a partnership with patients when organizing care plans and to provide important information through counselling and the promotion of health. As always, the patient–physician relationship will remain paramount, with its essential features of compassion, confidentiality, honesty and respect. -Scholar: Scholarship involves the creation of new knowledge (research), its uniform application (clinical practice) and its transfer to others (education). It is this strong association with the science of medicine and physicians’ willingness to embrace the scholarship of their practice that is closely linked to their roles of medical experts and professionals. -Collaborator: Health care services will increasingly be provided by interdisciplinary teams throughout the continuum of care from health promotion activities to the management of acute life-threatening disorders to the delivery of palliative care. In the role of collaborator, physicians recognize the essential functions of other health care workers and respect unique provider contributions in patient-centred health care delivery. -Advocate: As the health sector becomes increasingly complex and interdependent with other sectors of society, it will be essential for physicians to play a greater role as health advocates. This may pertain to advocacy for individual and family health promotion in the practice environment; it may also relate to the promotion of improved health at the broader community level. -Manager: In order to provide quality care, physicians of the future must be effective resource managers at the individual practice level, at the health care facility level and as part of the wider health care system. In order to fulfil these roles and participate in communities as integral members of society, physicians need to lead balanced lives. Physicians may sometimes experience conflicts among these roles. The CMA Code of Ethics specifies the basic principles of professional ethics for dealing with such conflicts. Conclusion The CMA has developed this vision for the future of medicine and the future roles of physicians to assist individual physicians and medical organizations to anticipate and prepare for the challenges of the next 20 years. The vision provides the profession with criteria for evaluating proposed changes in how medicine is practised and reaffirms the core values of medicine that must be upheld in whatever system emerges. The CMA invites other organizations, nonmedical as well as medical, to comment on the contents of this statement and its implications for health and health care. The CMA welcomes opportunities to dialogue with others on how the health care system can be improved for the benefit of future patients and society in general. 1The section is indebted to the work of the Educating Future Physicians for Ontario (EFPO) project supported by the Associated Medical Services group, the Ontario faculties of medicine and the Ontario Ministry of Health, and the Canadian Medical Education Directions for Specialists 2000 (CanMEDs 2000) project of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada.
PD00-10.pdf
Allocation of health care resources
GC00-186
That the Canadian Medical Association work with its divisions and affiliates to determine and proclaim the values that should influence health care priority setting and allocation of health care resources in Canada.
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Ethics and medical professionalism 1
Canadians’ Access to Quality Health Care: A System in Crisis : Submitted to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance 1999 Pre-budget consultations
I. INTRODUCTION The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) commends the federal government, in its second mandate, for continuing the public pre-budget consultation process. This visible and accountable process encourages public dialogue in the development of finance and economic policies of the country. As part of the 1999 pre-budget consultation process, the CMA welcomes the opportunity to submit its views to the House of Commons Standing Committee on Finance, and looks forward to meeting with the Committee at a later date to discuss our recommendations and their rationale in greater detail. II. POLICY CONTEXT While the current and future status of our health care system is a top priority for all Canadians, it is evident that their faith in the system’s ability to ensure access to quality care is eroding. In May 1991, 61% of Canadians rated the system as excellent/very good. By February 1998 that rating had slipped to 29% - a dramatic decrease in the confidence level of Canadians in the health care system. 1 Unfortunately, their outlook on the future of the health care system is not much better. Some 51% of Canadians believe that their health care will be in worse condition in 10 years than it is today. 2 It is not surprising that Canadians are losing confidence in the future sustainability of the health care system. They have experienced firsthand the decline in access to a range of health care services (see Table 1): * 73% reported that waiting times hospital emergency departments had worsened, up from 65% in 1997, and 54% in 1996 * 72% reported that waiting times for surgery had lengthened, up from 63% in 1997, and 53% in 1996 * 70% reported that availability of nurses in hospitals had worsened, up from 64% in 1997, and 58% in 1996 * 61% reported that waiting times for tests had increased, up from 50% in 1997, and 43% in 1996 * 60% reported that access to specialist physicians has worsened, up from 49% in 1997, and 40% in 1996 [TABLE CONTENT DOES NOT DISPLAY PROPERLY. SEE PDF FOR PROPER DISPLAY] Table 1 (a) [TABLE END] [TABLE CONTENT DOES NOT DISPLAY PROPERLY. SEE PDF FOR PROPER DISPLAY] Table 1 (b) [TABLE END] Clearly, these findings are significant, and demonstrate the public’s increasing concerns regarding current access to quality health care, as well as the future sustainability of our health care system. Canadians have made it clear that it is not, nor can it be, “business as usual” in attempting to meet their health care needs as we move into the next millennium. Medicare, Canada’s crowning social policy achievement, is in crisis. It is time for the federal government to re-establish its leadership role in this strategic priority area. The CMA has repeatedly placed its concerns about access to quality health care on the public record. Physicians, as patient advocates, have consistently expressed their frustration with the difficulties faced in accessing medically necessary services - only to fall on the deaf ears of the federal government. In surveying Canadian physicians on the front lines, they know the degree of difficulty in accessing services that their patients need: 3 * only 27% of physicians surveyed rated as excellent/very good/good their access to advanced diagnostic services (e.g., MRI) * only 30% of physicians surveyed rated as excellent/very good/good their access to long-term institutional care * only 45% of physicians surveyed rated as excellent/very good/good their access to psychosocial support services * only 46% of physicians surveyed rated as excellent/very good/good their access to acute institutional care for elective procedures These findings are cause for concern. Particularly troublesome is that only 63% of physicians surveyed rated as excellent/very good/good their access to acute institutional on an urgent basis. The cause for this crisis of confidence is clear - the federal government's unilateral and repeated decreases in the rate of increase in transfer payments beginning with Established Financing Programs (EPF), established in 1977, and continuing for the next decade-and-a-half. It culminated, in April, 1996, with the severe and successive cuts in cash transfers for health, post-secondary education (PSE) and social assistance via the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST). The CMA is not alone in its view. In addition to the public, other health groups and the Provincial and Territorial Premiers have expressed serious concern about the sustainability of the health care system and the urgent need for Federal leadership and reinvestment. Following their meeting in August, 1998, the Premiers "re-affirmed their commitment to maintaining and enhancing a high quality universal health care system for all Canadians and observed that every government in Canada but one - the federal government - has increased its funding to health care - the people's priority". 4 Underscoring the Premiers' view was a detailed proposal submitted to the federal government calling for an immediate increase in CHST cash transfers. From Federal Government Acknowledgement to Action At the 1997 Annual General Meeting of the CMA in Victoria, the federal minister of health, Allan Rock, stood before delegates and acknowledged "the very real anxiety that's being felt by Canadians" over the future of the health care system. 5 The minister also conceded that cuts to transfer payments have not been insignificant and have had an impact on the system, a point on which the CMA wholeheartedly agrees. The CMA recognizes that the federal government has made a series of difficult decisions when it comes to its funding priorities in order to restore our country’s fiscal health. However, the time has come to consider the fundamental issue of reinvesting in the health of Canadians. The federal government must move beyond the rhetoric in terms of acknowledging the pain and suffering that the cuts have caused, and move to an agenda of action by showing leadership and making the necessary and overdue re-investments in our health care. At a time when the federal government is beginning to reap the benefits of a fiscal dividend, it must recognize that health care is not simply a consumption good that, once spent, provides no additional benefits. Investments in the health care system provide a substantial and lasting social rate of return in terms of restoring, maintaining and enhancing Canadians health. Furthermore, in an increasingly interdependent and global marketplace, a sustainable health care system must be viewed as a necessary precondition for Canadians to excel, thus strengthening the link between good economic policy and good health care policy in Canada. They should not be viewed as competing against each other or that one must be sacrificed at the expense of the other. The 1998 federal budget ignored Canadians' number one concern and did nothing to bolster their confidence that the system will be there when they or their family need it. In responding to the massive reductions in cash transfers to the provinces and territories, in his February 24, 1998, budget speech, federal finance minister Paul Martin announced that he had increased the floor under cash transfers to the provinces in support of health and other programs from the $11.0 billion to $12.5 billion annually and further that it "will provide provinces with nearly $7 billion more in cash over the 1997/98 to 2002/03 period”. 6 While this was announced as an "increase" these statements are misleading. It must be remembered that this is not “new” money; the $12.5 billion represents nothing more than a partial restoration, which falls $6.0 billion (or 32%) short of the cash floor of $18.5 billion prior to the introduction of the CHST in 1996/97. To date, the cumulative impact of cuts to the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST) in 1996 and 1997 amounts to a $15.5 billion withdrawal in federal cash from health and social transfers. Their impact is still working its way through the system and being felt in patients' pain and suffering and unfortunately, even death. The CMA has consistently stated publicly that the integrity of the health care system is being jeopardized by reductions to federal cash transfer payments for health. The federal government, however, has failed to respond to these concerns. Unless the federal government reinvests in health care, it will only deepen the crisis of confidence Canadians share about the future sustainability of the health care system. III. HEALTH CARE FUNDING AND THE FEDERAL ROLE The Federal Role When it comes to the health care system, the federal government’s role is aimed at ensuring that Canadians have access to health care services under “uniform terms and conditions”. This derives from the government’s right to exercise its spending power and has been manifested over the past 40 years through a number of cash-transfer mechanisms to the provinces and territories, framed more precisely by the principles of the Canada Health Act (i.e., public administration, comprehensiveness, universality, portability and accessibility). Since the inception of national health insurance in Canada, the federal government has played a central role in the funding of health care. Until 1977, the government reimbursed each province 50 cents on each dollar spent in the areas of hospital and medical care insurance. Following a renegotiated formula, government moved from a “cost-sharing” to a “block funding” formula from 1977/78 to 1995/96. Federal-provincial transfers were distributed through a funding mechanism known as Established Programs Financing (EPF). Under EPF, a combination of (basic) cash and tax points were transferred to the provinces for health care and post-secondary education (PSE). While both the tax points and cash components are important in funding health care, there are those who argue that the level of federal cash should be viewed as a true reflection of the government’s commitment to health care. This is significant for two reasons. First, it demonstrates the priority the government places on our health care system, and secondly, the cash component (which can be withheld under the Canada Health Act) can play an important role in preserving and enhancing national standards. 7 The Origins of Federal Cash Withdrawal The genesis for the crisis in confidence about the future of Canada’s health care system can be traced to 1982, when the federal government introduced a series of unilateral decisions which reduced its cash contributions to the provinces and territories for health and other social programs. Figure 1 highlights the changes made to the EPF formula used to fund health and post-secondary education between 1977 and 1995. These unilateral changes, resulted in the withholding of approximately $30 billion in federal cash that would have otherwise been transferred to provincial and territorial health insurance plans (and an additional $12.1 billion for post-secondary education - for a total of $42.1 billion). 8 This dollar amount is of no small consequence when it comes to ensuring that all Canadians have access to quality health care. [FIGURE CONTENT DOES NOT DISPLAY PROPERLY. SEE PDF FOR PROPER DISPLAY] Figure 1 [FIGURE END] Into the Mist... Prior to April 1, 1996 the federal government's commitment to insured health services, post-secondary education and social assistance programs could be readily determined since the federal government made separate notional cash contributions to the provinces and territories in each of these areas. 9 Announced in the 1995 federal budget, the creation of the Canada Health and Social Transfer (CHST), on April 1, 1996, saw EPF merge with the Canada Assistance Plan (CAP). In effect, health, post-secondary education, and social assistance were collapsed into one large cash transfer. At the time, the government claimed that the CHST was “a new approach to federal-provincial fiscal relations marked by greater flexibility and accountability for provincial governments, and more sustainable financing arrangements for the federal government.” 10 In reality, the increased “flexibility and accountability” was accompanied by a $7.0 billion reduction in the cash portion of the new transfer, and introduced a lower level of transparency with respect to where and what proportion the federal government notionally allocated its dollars for health, PSE and the social programs previously funded under CAP. In its 1998 budget, the federal government moved to partially restore CHST funding by establishing a new cash floor of $12.5 billion (see Table 2) - however, this is still $6.0 billion short of the pre-CHST cash floor. To date, the cumulative impact of previous CHST cash reductions in 1996 and 1997 amounts to a $15.5 billion withdrawal of cash from health and social transfers to 1998/99. By 2002/03, it is estimated that $39.5 billion will have been removed from the CHST. This is in addition to the $30 billion withheld from fiscal transfers that would otherwise have gone to the provinces and territories for health between 1982 and 1995. 11 [TABLE CONTENT DOES NOT DISPLAY PROPERLY. SEE PDF FOR PROPER DISPLAY] [TABLE END] Furthermore, in addition to the current cash floor, the cash entitlement will stagnate at $12.5 billion, as adequate provision has not been made to maintain the value of the cash portion of the transfer. 12 This means the spending power of the cash entitlement will continue to erode as the health care system is forced to meet the changing needs of Canadians based on population growth, aging, epidemiology, new technologies and inflation. With the introduction of the CHST, the disappearance of health, post-secondary education and social assistance into the shadowy mist makes it impossible to hold the federal government accountable with respect to its relative commitment to each of these important policy areas. Using the pre-CHST percentage distribution, the federal government’s current cash allocation to health care stands at roughly $5.0 billion, or 7% of total health care expenditures. This is not surprising considering that the “H” in CHST was added later, only after health organizations protested its absence. Based on the reduced federal cash contribution to health care, it would appear that the government has made a conscious decision to abdicate its responsibility and leadership role in funding health care. While claiming to uphold the integrity of our national health care system, the reality of reduced cash transfers has forced all provinces and territories to make do with significantly fewer federal dollars for health. Federal “offloading” at its best has allowed the federal government to meet (and exceed) its own financial projections; at its worst it has forced the provinces and territories to consider a series of unattractive options: re-allocate program spending from within current budgets; deficit-financed program spending; or reduced program spending. To be clear, from a national perspective, the CMA believes that the single most important reason for the deterioration of the health care system is the significant decline in federal financial support for health care. It is critical that the federal government immediately signal its commitment to Canadians that the health care system is a high priority, and to immediately reinvest in a program that will restore the confidence of Canadians' that the system will be there for them when they need it. Now is the time for the federal government to demonstrate leadership and address the number one concern of Canadians by turning the "vicious cycle" of deficit reduction into a "virtuous cycle" of reinvesting in the health care system. This is not business as usual, and the status quo is not sustainable. IV. A TIME TO RE-ESTABLISH FEDERAL LEADERSHIP IN HEALTH CARE Stabilize the System Canadians, who strongly support a publicly-funded health care system - a conviction shared by the CMA - need to see some leadership from their federal government about how it perceives the future of the health care system unfolding. The failure to re-invest in health care in the last federal budget leaves them confused by the contradiction of seeing the government withdraw funding while at the same time talking about introducing new programs such as home care and pharmacare. Before the federal government can even contemplate future program expansion, it must move quickly to stabilize our current health care system. Canadians have made it very clear where they believe the federal government's spending priorities lie. Seventy-one percent (Angus Reid, November, 1997) want federal cash transfer restored and 81% (Ottawa Sun/Roper, June 1998) of Canadians want the federal government to dedicate more resources to Medicare. The CMA believes strongly that there is an immediate need for a measured, deliberate and responsible approach to re-invest in our health care system. Canadians need to be reassured that the system will be there for them and their families when they need it. To restore access to quality health care for all Canadians, the CMA respectfully recommends: 1. That in order to ensure greater public accountability and visibility, the federal government introduce a health-specific portion of the cash transfers to the provinces and territories. 2. That in addition to the current level of federal cash transferred to the provinces and territories for health care, the federal government restore at a minimum $2.5 billion in cash on an annual basis to be earmarked for health care, effective April 1, 1999. 3. That beginning April 1, 2000, the federal government fully index the total cash entitlement allocated to health care through the use of a combination of factors that would take into account the changing needs of Canadians based on population growth, aging, epidemiology, current knowledge and new technologies, and economic growth. The principles outlined in the above recommendations are fundamental and underscore the importance of establishing an accountable (i.e., linking sources with their intended uses) and visible transfer for federal cash that is targeted for reinvestment into health care. While there is ongoing discussion about the mechanism(s) to reinvest in health care, the minimum federal cash restoration of $2.5 billion on an annual basis into the health care system recognizes the high priority of placing health care on a more sustainable financial footing for the future. This figure is separate from the $5 billion notionally allocated to health care via the current CHST, and is calculated on the basis of the recent historical federal cash allocation (approximately 41%) under EPF and CAP (now the CHST) to health care as a proportion of the $6.0 billion dollars required to restore the CHST cash floor to $18.5 billion (1995/96 level). The recommendations also speak to the necessity of having in place a fully indexed escalator to ensure that the federal cash contribution will continue to grow to meet the future health care needs of Canadians, and with the economy. The escalator formula recognizes that health care needs are not always synchronized with economic growth. In fact, it could be argued that in times of economic hardship (i.e., unemployment, stress, anxiety), a greater burden is placed on the health care system. Taken together, the above recommendations are a targeted approach to reinvesting in health care, and serve to re-establish the federal government's leadership role when it comes to the current and future sustainability of our health care system. It also signals that the federal government is prepared to address, in a focused and strategic approach, Canadians' number one concern - access to quality health care. Finally, it is important to note that in principle the above recommendations are consistent with those of other groups such as the provincial and territorial ministers of finance, the Canadian public and other national health organizations, who are not asking for new resources but an immediate restoration of monies that have been taken out of the federal/provincial/territorial transfer envelope over the past three years. Looking to the Future At the same time that the federal government reinvests to stabilize the health care system, it must also consider the broader spectrum of health care services that must be in place to ensure that Canadians do not fall through the cracks. In addition to the re-investment required to stabilize our Medicare system, there is also an urgent need for investments into other components of the health system. In many ways, this suggests that new transitional funding is required to ensure that as the system evolves, it remains accessible, and can do so with minimal interruption of service to Canadians. Proposed by the CMA, the Health System Renewal Fund, is time limited, sector-specific, and strategically targeted to areas that are in transition. Funding is intended to meet defined need and give the federal government sufficient flexibility in how the funds will be allocated, with full recognition for the investment. The CMA respectfully recommends: 4. That the federal government establish a one-time Health System Renewal Fund in the amount of $3 billion to be disbursed over the three-year period beginning April 1, 1999, for the following areas of need: a. Acute care infrastructure support: assist health institutions to enhance the delivery of a continuum of quality patient care by improving their access to necessary services including new technologies, and modernizing health facilities and upgrading infrastructure. b. Community care infrastructure support: to enable communities to develop services to support the delivery of home and community-based care in the wake of the rapid downsizing of the institutional sector. c. Support Canadians at risk: to provide access to pharmacotherapy and medical devices to those in need, who are not adequately covered by public or private insurance (pending the development of a long-term solution). d. Health information technology: to allow the provinces and territories to put in place the transparent, clinically driven health information infrastructure necessary to support the adequate and appropriate management of access and delivery of health care. In implementing the health information infrastructure scrupulous attention must be paid to privacy and confidentiality issues. The Acute Care Infrastructure Support program is designed to ensure that targeted reinvestments are made in the institutional sector such that it has the necessary physical capacity and infrastructure to deliver quality health care. In a world where downsizing has become the accepted wisdom, health care facilities need to be modernized in terms of new technology and equipment to ensure the full continuum of patient care is available. The Community Care Infrastructure Support program speaks to the important need to develop adequate community-based systems before any reforms are introduced in the acute care sector. It also recognizes that community-based programs should not be implemented at the expense of the acute care sector, but rather, should be designed such that both sectors complement one another and add value to the health care system. The Support Canadians at Risk program focuses on those who with inadequate coverage and have compromised access to needed pharmacotherapy and medical devices. Currently, drug coverage is not universal nor is it comprehensive. In many cases, the working poor, those that are self-employed or employed by small businesses do not have drug coverage (nor are they eligible for government sponsored plans). In other cases, co-payments/deductibles of some public plans are so high that individuals must pay out-of-pocket (e.g., $850 deductible, semi-annually, in Saskatchewan, then 35% co-payment) for all necessary prescription drugs. As a result, this patchwork coverage may inhibit Canadians access to quality care and may place additional demands on the acute care sector. Similarly, Canadians may not have access to medical devices covered by the public and/or private plans. The Health Information Technology program speaks to the critical need to develop and implement a transparent and clinically driven information systems that will support better management, measurement and monitoring of the health care system. At the same time, scrupulous attention must be paid to privacy and confidentiality issues. To this end, the CMA has taken a proactive approach in addressing these issues by developing a health information privacy code. Taken together, our recommendations are a powerful and strategic package. They speak to the need to immediately stabilize the health care system - which is in crisis, and the need to look at the broader spectrum of health care services to ensure that Canadians in need do not fall through the cracks. V. REINFORCING GOOD ECONOMIC POLICY WITH GOOD HEALTH CARE POLICY IN CANADA While the system-wide issues related to the federal role in funding health care is clearly of importance to Canada's physicians, there are also other important issues that the CMA would like to bring to the attention of the Standing Committee on Finance. As mentioned earlier in the brief, good economic policy and good health care policy should go hand-in-hand. They should serve to reinforce, not neutralize, one another. They should not be viewed as one gaining at the expense of the other. Viewed in their proper context, they can be balanced such that policy decisions produce outcomes that are fair to all parties. Tobacco Taxation Policy Smoking is the leading preventable cause of premature mortality in Canada. The most recent estimates suggest that more than 45,000 Canadians die each year due to tobacco use. The estimated economic cost to society from tobacco use in Canada has been estimated between $11 billion to $15 billion 13. Tobacco use directly costs the Canadian health care system $3 billion to $3.5 billion 14 annually. These estimates do not take into account intangible costs such as pain and suffering. CMA is concerned that the 1994 reduction in the federal cigarette tax has had a significant effect in slowing the decline in cigarette smoking in the Canadian population, particularly in the youngest age groups - where the number of young smokers (15-19) is in the 22% to 30% range and 14% for those age 10-14 15. The CMA congratulates the federal government’s February 13, 1998 initiative which selectively increased federal excise taxes on cigarettes and tobacco sticks. This is a first step towards an integrated tobacco tax strategy, and speaks to the importance of strengthening the relationship between good tax policy and good health policy in Canada. The CMA understands that tobacco tax strategies are extremely complex. Strategies need to consider the effects of tax increases on reduced consumption of tobacco products with increases in interprovincial/territorial and international smuggling. In order to tackle this issue, the government could consider a selective tax strategy. This strategy requires continuous stepwise increases to tobacco taxes in those areas with lower tobacco tax (i.e., Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic Canada). The goal of selective increases in tobacco tax is to increase the price to the tobacco consumer over time (65-70% of tobacco products are sold in Ontario and Quebec). The selective stepwise tax increases will approach but may not achieve parity amongst all provinces; however, the tobacco tax will attain a level such that inter-provincial/territorial smuggling would be unprofitable. The selective stepwise increases would need to be monitored so that the new tax level and US/Canadian exchange rates do not make international smuggling profitable. The selective stepwise increase in tobacco taxes can be combined with other tax strategies. The federal government should apply the export tax and remove the exemption available on shipments in accordance with each manufacturers historic levels. The objective of implementing the export tax would be to make cross-border smuggling unprofitable. The federal government should establish a dialogue with the US federal government regarding harmonizing US tobacco taxes with Canadian levels at the factory gate. Alternatively, US tobacco taxes could be raised to a level that when offset with the US/Canada exchange rate differential renders international smuggling unprofitable. The objective of harmonizing US/Canadian tobacco tax levels (at or near the Canadian levels) would be to increase the price of internationally smuggled tobacco products to the Canadian and American consumers. The CMA's comprehensive tobacco taxation strategy is designed to achieve the following objectives: (1) to reduce tobacco consumption; (2) to minimize interprovincial/territorial smuggling of tobacco products; (3) to minimize international smuggling of tobacco products from both the Canadian and American perspective; (4) to reduce and/or minimize Canadian/American consumption of internationally smuggled tobacco products. The CMA recommends: 5. That the federal government follow a comprehensive integrated tobacco tax policy: a. To implement selective stepwise tobacco tax increases to achieve the following objectives: (1) reduce tobacco consumption, (2) minimize interprovincial/territorial smuggling of tobacco products, and (3) minimize international smuggling of tobacco products; b. To apply the export tax on tobacco products and remove the exemption available on tobacco shipments in accordance with each manufacturers historic levels; and c. To enter into discussions with the US federal government to explore options regarding tobacco tax policy, bringing US tobacco tax levels in line with or near Canadian levels, in order to minimize international smuggling. The Excise Act Review, A Proposal for a Revised Framework for the Taxation of Alcohol and Tobacco Products (1996), proposes that tobacco excise duties and taxes (Excise Act and Excise Tax Act) for domestically produced tobacco products be combined into a new excise duty and come under the jurisdiction of the Excise Act. The new excise duty is levied at the point of packaging where the products are produced. The Excise Act Review also proposes that the tobacco customs duty equivalent and the excise tax (Customs Tariff and Excise Tax Act) for imported tobacco products be combined into the new excise duty [equivalent tax to domestically produced tobacco products] and come under the jurisdiction of the Excise Act. The new excise duty will be levied at the time of importation. The CMA supports the proposal of the Excise Act Review. It is consistent with previous CMA recommendations calling for tobacco taxes at the point of production. Support for Tobacco Control Programs Taxation should be used in conjunction with other strategies for promoting healthy public policy, such as public education programs to reduce tobacco use. The Liberal party, recognising the importance of this type of strategy , promised: "...to double the funding for the tobacco control programs from $50 million to $100 million over five years, investing the additional funds in smoking prevention and cessation programs for young people, to be delivered by community organizations that promote the health and well-being of Canadian children and youth." 16 The CMA applauds the federal government's efforts in the area of tobacco use prevention and cessation - particularly its intent to commit $50 million to public education through the proposed Tobacco Control Initiative. However, a time limited investment is not enough. Substantial and sustainable funding is required for programs in prevention and cessation of tobacco use. 17 A possible source for this type of program investment could be tobacco tax revenues or the tobacco surtax. The CMA therefore recommends: 6. That the federal government commit stable funding for a comprehensive tobacco control strategy; this strategy should include programs aimed at prevention and cessation of tobacco use and protection of the public from tobacco's harmful effects. 7. That the federal government clarify its plans for the distribution of the Tobacco Control Initiative funds, and ensure that the funds are invested in evidence-based tobacco control projects and programs. 8. That the federal government support the use of tobacco tax revenues for the purpose of developing and implementing tobacco control programs. Fair and Equitable Tax Policy? - The Goods and Services Tax (GST) and Harmonized Sales Tax (HST) When it comes to tax policy and the tax system in Canada, the CMA is strongly of the view that both should be administered in a fair and equitable manner. This principle-based statement has been made to the Standing Committee on a number of different occasions. While these principles are rarely in dispute, the CMA has expressed its strong concerns regarding their application - particularly in the case of the goods and services tax (GST) and the recently introduced harmonized sales tax (HST) in Atlantic Canada. By designating medical services as "tax exempt" under the Excise Tax Act, physicians are in the unenviable position of being denied the ability to claim a GST refund (i.e., input tax credits - ITCs) on the medical supplies necessary to deliver quality health care, and on the other, cannot pass the tax onto those who purchase such services. This is a critical point when one considers the raison-d'etre of introducing the GST: to be an end-stage consumer-based tax, and having not a producer of a good or a service bear the full burden of the tax. Yet this tax anomaly does precisely that. As a result, physicians are "hermetically sealed" - they have no ability to claim ITCs due to the Excise Tax Act, or pass the costs to consumers due to the Canada Health Act. To be clear, the CMA has never, nor is currently asking for, special treatment for physicians under the Excise Tax Act. However, if physicians, as self-employed individuals are considered as small businesses for tax purposes, then it only seems reasonable that they should have the same tax rules extended to them that apply to other small businesses. This is a fundamental issue of tax fairness. While other self-employed professionals and small businesses claim ITCs, an independent (KPMG) study has estimated that physicians have "overcontributed" in terms of unclaimed ITCs by $57.2 million per year. By the end of this calendar year, physicians will have been unfairly taxed in excess of $480 million. Furthermore, with the introduction of the HST in Atlantic Canada, KPMG has estimated that it will costs physicians an additional $4.686 million per year. As it currently applies to medical services, the GST is bad tax policy and the HST will make a bad situation worse for physicians. Last year, the Standing Committee, in its report to the House of Commons stated: "According to the CMA, the GST is fundamentally unfair to physicians and is a deterrent in recruiting and retaining physicians in Canada. This issue merits consideration and further study". 18 The CMA believes that it has rigorously documented its case and further study is not required - the time has come for concerted action from the federal government to alleviate this tax impediment. There are other health care providers (e.g., dentists, physiotherapists, psychologists, chiropractors, nurses) whose services are categorized as tax exempt. However, there is an important distinction between whether the services are publicly insured or not. Health care providers who deliver services privately have the opportunity to pass along the GST costs through their fee structures. It must be remembered that physicians are in a fundamentally different position given that 99% of their professional earnings come from the government health insurance plans: under the GST and HST, "not all health care services are created equal". There are those who argue that the medical profession should negotiate the GST at the provincial/ territorial level, yet there is no province that is prepared to cover the additional costs that are being downloaded onto physicians as a result of changes to federal tax policy. Nor do these governments feel they should be expected to do so. The current tax anomaly, as it affects the medical profession, was created with the introduction of the GST - and must be resolved at the federal level. As it currently stands for medical services, the GST and HST is not a tax policy that reinforces good health care policy in Canada. The CMA view is not unique. The late Honourable Chief Justice Emmett Hall recognized the principles that underpin the fundamental issue of tax fairness by stating: "That the federal sales tax on medical supplies purchased by self-employed physicians in the course of their practices be eliminated". 19 Even though Mr. Hall's recommendation was made prior to the introduction of the GST and HST, the principles outlined above are unassailable and should be reflected in federal tax policy. Canadian physicians work hard to provide quality health care to their patients within what is a publicly funded health care system. Physicians are no different from Canadians in that they, too, are consumers (purchasers). Why then, they ask, has the medical profession been singled out for such unfair treatment under the GST regime? The CMA respectfully recommends: 9. That health care services funded by the provinces and territories be zero-rated. The above recommendation could be accomplished by amending the Excise Tax Act as follows: (1). Section 5 part II of Schedule V to the Excise Tax Act is replaced by the following: 5. "A supply (other than a zero-rated supply) made by a medical practitioner of a consultative, diagnostic, treatment or other health care service rendered to an individual (other than a surgical or dental service that is performed for cosmetic purposes and not for medical or reconstructive purposes)." (2). Section 9 Part II of Schedule V to the Excise Tax Act is repealed. (3). Part II of Schedule VI to the Excise Tax Act is amended by adding the following after section 40: 41. A supply of any property or service but only if, and to the extent that, the consideration for the supply is payable or reimbursed by the government under a plan established under an Act of the legislature of the province to provide for health care services for all insured persons of the province. Our recommendation fulfils at least two over-arching policy objectives: (1) strengthening the relationship between good economic policy and good health policy in Canada; and (2) applying the fundamental principles that underpin our taxation system (fairness, efficiency, effectiveness), in all cases. Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) There are (at least) two fundamental goals of retirement savings: (1) to guarantee a basic level of retirement income for all Canadians; and (2) to assist Canadians in avoiding serious disruption of their pre-retirement living standards upon retirement. Reviewing the demographic picture in Canada, we see that an increasing portion of society is not only aging, but is living longer. Assuming that current demographic trends will continue and peak in the first quarter of the next century, it is important to recognize the role that private RRSPs savings will play in ensuring that Canadians may continue to live dignified lives well past their retirement from the labour force. This becomes even more critical when one considers that Canadians are not setting aside sufficient resources for their retirement. Specifically, according to Statistics Canada, it is estimated that 53% of men and 82% of women starting their career at age 25 will require financial aid at retirement age - only 8% of men and 2% women will be financially secure. In its 1996 Budget Statement, the federal government announced that it froze the dollar limit of RRSPs at $13,500 through to 2002/03, with increases to $14,500 and $15,500 in 2003/04 and 2004/05, respectively. As well, the maximum pension limit for defined benefit registered pension plans will be frozen at its current level of $1,722 per year of service through 2004/05. This is a de facto increase in tax payable. This change in policy with respect to RRSP contribution limits run counter to the White Paper released in 1983 (The Tax Treatment of Retirement Savings), where the House of Commons Special Committee on Pension Reform recommended that the limits on contributions to tax-assisted retirement savings plans be amended so that the same comprehensive limit would apply regardless of the retirement savings vehicle or combination of vehicles used. In short, the principle of "pension parity" was endorsed. Furthermore, in three separate papers released by the federal government, the principle of pension parity would have been achieved between money-purchase (MP) plans and defined benefit (DB) plans had RRSP contribution limits risen to $15,500 in 1988. In effect, the federal government postponed the scheduling of the $15,500 limit for seven years - that is, achieving the goal of pension parity was delayed until 1995. The CMA has been frustrated that ten years of careful and deliberate planning by the federal government around pension reform has not come to fruition, in fact, if the current policy remains in place it will have taken more than 17 years to implement (from 1988 to 2005). As a consequence, the current policy of freezing RRSP contribution limits and RPP limits without making adjustments to RRSP limits to achieve pension parity serves to maintain inequities between the two plans until 2004/2005. This is patently unfair for self-employed Canadians who rely on RRSPs as their sole vehicle for retirement planning. The CMA recommends: 10. That the dollar limit of RRSPs at $13,500 increase to $14,500 and $15,500 in 1999/00 and 2000/01, respectively. Subsequently, dollar limits increase at the growth in the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE). Under current federal tax legislation, 20% of the cost of an RRSP, RRIF or Registered Pension Plan's investments can be made in "foreign property." The rest is invested in "Canadian" investments. If the 20% limit is exceeded at the end of a month, the RRSP pays a penalty of 1% of the amount of the excess. In its December 1998 pre-budget consultation , the Standing Committee on Finance made the following recommendation (p. 66): "...that the 20% Foreign Property Rule be increased in 2% increments to 30% over a five year period. This diversification will allow Canadians to achieve higher returns on their retirement savings and reduce their exposure to risk, which will benefit all Canadians." A recent study by Ernst & Young, demonstrated that Canadian investors would have experienced substantially better investment returns over the past 20 years with higher foreign content limits. As well, the Conference Board of Canada concluded that lifting the foreign content limit to 30% would have a neutral effect on Canada's economy. The CMA and believes there is sufficient evidence to indicate that Canadians would benefit from an increase in the Foreign Property Rule, from 20% to 30%. The CMA therefore recommends: 11. That the 20% foreign property rule for deferred income plans such as Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Registered Retirement Income Funds be increased in 2% annual increments to 30% over a five year period, effective 1999. As part of the process to revitalize the economy, greater expectations are being placed on the private sector to create employment opportunities. While this suggests that there is a need to re-examine the current balance between public and private sector job creation, the government, nonetheless has an important role to play in fostering an environment that will stimulate job creation. In this context, the CMA, strongly believes that current RRSPs should be viewed as an asset rather than a liability. With proper mechanisms in place, the RRSP pool of capital funds can play an integral role in bringing together venture capital and small and medium-size businesses and entrepreneurs. In this regard, the CMA would encourage the government to explore current regulatory impediments to bring together capital with small and medium-size businesses. The CMA, recommends the following: 12. That the federal government foster economic development by treating RRSP contributions as assets rather than liabilities and by exploring the regulatory changes necessary to ensure increased access to such funds by small and medium-size businesses. Non-Taxable Health Benefits In last year's federal budget, the CMA was encouraged by the federal government's announcement to extend the deductibility of health and dental premiums through private health services plans (PHSP) for the unincorporated self-employed. The CMA believes that this initiative is a step in the right direction when it comes to improving tax fairness. As well, the federal government is to be commended for its decision to maintain the non-taxable status of supplementary health benefits. This decision is an example of the federal government's serving to strengthen the relationship between good tax policy and good health care policy in Canada. If supplementary health benefits were to become taxable, it is likely that young healthy people would opt for cash compensation instead of paying taxes on benefits they do not receive. These Canadians would become uninsured for supplementary health services. It follows that employer-paid premiums may increase as a result of this exodus in order to offset the additional costs of maintaining benefit levels due to diminishing ability to achieve risk pooling. As well, in terms of fairness it would seem unfair to "penalize" 70% of Canadians by taxing supplementary health benefits to put them on an equal basis with the remaining 30%. It would be preferable to develop incentives to allow the remaining 30% of Canadians to achieve similar benefits attributable to the tax status of supplementary health benefits. The CMA therefore recommends: 13. That the current federal government policy with respect to non-taxable health benefits be maintained. Health Research in Canada At the same time that our health care system has been de-stabilized, so too has the role of health research in Canada. In response, the federal government announced in its 1998 budget that it would increase funding levels for the Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC) from $237.5 million (1997/98), to $267 million (1998/99), $270 million (1999/00) and $276 million (2000/01). While this is a step in the right direction, the $134 million over three years represents for the most part a restoration of previously cut funding - only $18 million would be considered new money. Furthermore, when compared against other countries, Canada does not fare well. Of the G-7 nations for which recent data were available, Canada ranks last in per capita spending for health research. France, Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom spend between 1.5 and 3.5 times more per capita than Canada. 20 In what is increasingly a knowledge-based world, the federal government must be reminded that a sustained and substantial commitment to health research in required. The CMA therefore recommends: 14. That the federal government establish a national target (either in per capita terms or as a proportion of total health spending), and an implementation plan for health research and development spending including the full spectrum of basic biomedical to applied health services research, with the objective of improving Canada's position relative to other G-7 countries. Brain Drain and Tuition Deregulation In June, 1998, the CMA met with the Standing Committee on Finance to discuss the issue of "brain drain" in Canada. At that time, the CMA expressed its serious concerns over the recent tuition deregulation policy in Ontario and its subsequent impact on the career choices of new medical graduates. Specifically, the CMA officially decries tuition deregulation in Canadian medical schools and believes that governments should increase funding to medical schools to alleviate the pressures driving tuition increases; that any tuition increase be regulated and reasonable; and that financial support systems be in place in advance of, or concomitantly with, any tuition increase. These measures will foster the education and training of a diverse population of health care givers, and will support culturally and socially sensitive health care for all Canadians. As new physicians graduate with substantial and growing debt loads, they will be attracted to more lucrative positions in order to repay their debts - particularly positions in the United States. As a consequence, tuition deregulation policies will have a direct and detrimental impact when it comes to retaining our best and brightest young physicians in Canada. The CMA is currently in the process of developing a position paper on this issue. VI. SUMMARY OF RECOMMENDATIONS With the future of access to quality health care for all Canadians at stake, the CMA strongly believes that the federal government must demonstrate that it is prepared to re-establish its leadership role and re-invest in the health care system that all Canadians cherish and closely identify with. The CMA therefore makes the following recommendations to the Standing Committee on Finance in its deliberations. Stabilize the System 1. That in order to ensure greater public accountability and visibility, the federal government introduce a health-specific portion of the cash transfers to the provinces and territories. 2. That in addition to the current level of federal cash transferred to the provinces and territories for health care, the federal government restore at a minimum $2.5 billion in cash on an annual basis to be earmarked for health care, effective April 1, 1999. 3. That beginning April 1, 2000, the federal government fully index the total cash entitlement allocated to health care through the use of a combination of factors that would take into account the changing needs of Canadians based on population growth, aging, epidemiology, current knowledge and new technologies, and economic growth. Looking to the Future 4. That the federal government establish a one-time Health System Renewal Fund in the amount of $3 billion to be disbursed over the three-year period beginning April 1, 1999, for the following areas of need: a. Acute care infrastructure support: assist health institutions to enhance the delivery of a continuum of quality patient care by improving their access to necessary services including new technologies, and modernizing health facilities and upgrading infrastructure. b. Community care infrastructure support: to enable communities to develop services to support the delivery of home and community-based care in the wake of the rapid downsizing of the institutional sector. c. Support Canadians at risk: to provide access to pharmacotherapy and medical devices to those in need, who are not adequately covered by public or private insurance (pending the development of a long-term solution). d. Health information technology: to allow the provinces and territories to put in place the transparent, clinically driven health information infrastructure necessary to support the adequate and appropriate management of access and delivery of health care. In implementing the health information infrastructure scrupulous attention must be paid to privacy and confidentiality issues. Tobacco Taxation Policy 5. That the federal government follow a comprehensive integrated tobacco tax policy: a. To implement selective stepwise tobacco tax increases to achieve the following objectives: (1) reduce tobacco consumption, (2) minimize interprovincial/territorial smuggling of tobacco products, and (3) minimize international smuggling of tobacco products; b. To apply the export tax on tobacco products and remove the exemption available on tobacco shipments in accordance with each manufacturers historic levels; and c. To enter into discussions with the US federal government to explore options regarding tobacco tax policy, bringing US tobacco tax levels in line with or near Canadian levels, in order to minimize international smuggling. Support for Tobacco Control Programs 6. That the federal government commit stable funding for a comprehensive tobacco control strategy; this strategy should include programs aimed at prevention and cessation of tobacco use and protection of the public from tobacco's harmful effects. 7. That the federal government clarify its plans for the distribution of the Tobacco Control Initiative funds, and ensure that the funds are invested in evidence-based tobacco control projects and programs. 8. That the federal government support the use of tobacco tax revenues for the purpose of developing and implementing tobacco control programs. Goods and Services Tax (GST) 9. That health care services funded by the provinces and territories be zero-rated. Registered Retirement Savings Plans (RRSPs) 10. That the dollar limit of RRSPs at $13,500 increase to $14,500 and $15,500 in 1999/00 and 2000/01, respectively. Subsequently, dollar limits increase at the growth in the yearly maximum pensionable earnings (YMPE). 11. That the 20% foreign property rule for deferred income plans such as Registered Retirement Savings Plans and Registered Retirement Income Funds be increased in 2% annual increments to 30% over a five year period, effective 1999. 12. That the federal government foster economic development by treating RRSP contributions as assets rather than liabilities and by exploring the regulatory changes necessary to ensure increased access to such funds by small and medium-size businesses. Non-Taxable Health Benefits 13. That the current federal government policy with respect to non-taxable health benefits be maintained. Health Research in Canada 14. That the federal government establish a national target (either in per capita terms or as a proportion of total health spending), and an implementation plan for health research and development spending including the full spectrum of basic biomedical to applied health services research, with the objective of improving Canada's position relative to other G-7 countries. 1 Angus Reid, February, 1998. 2 Angus Reid, February, 1998. 3 Canadian Medical Association. January 1998 Physician Resource Questionnaire. 4 39th Annual Premiers’ Conference, Saskatoon Saskatchewan, August 5-7, 1998. Press Communique. 5 Rock A. Speech to the Canadian Medical Association’s 130th General Council Victoria, Aug 20, 1997. 6 The Budget Plan, 1998. Building Canada for the 21st Century, February 24, 1998. 7 The tax point transfer refers to the dollar value of ?tax points? that were negotiated with the federal government and the provinces. Specifically, where the federal government reduced personal and corporate income tax rates, the ?tax room? that was created was then occupied by the provinces. This is an important point because even though the federal government collects taxes on behalf of the provinces (with the exception of Quebec), it is argued that the value of the tax point transfer belongs to the provinces and is not considered as a true “federal contribution”. The last time this issue was negotiated was in 1965. 8 Thomson A. Federal Support for Health Care - A Background Paper. Health Action Lobby, Ottawa, 1991. 9 Thomson, A., Diminishing Expectations - Implications of the CHST, [report] Canadian Medical Association, Ottawa. May, 1996. 10 Federal Department of Finance. 11 Thomson A. Federal Support for Health Care - A Background Paper. Health Action Lobby, Ottawa, 1991. 12 Currently, the CHST cash entitlement has an escalator attached to it, however, it is scheduled to begin in 2000/01, 2001/02, 2002/03, at a rate of GDP- 2% (year 1), GDP-1.5% (year 2), and GDP-1% (year 3). 13 Health Canada, Economic Costs Due to Smoking (Information Sheet). Ottawa: Health Canada, November 1996. 14 Health Canada, Economic Costs Due to Smoking (Information Sheet). Ottawa: Health Canada, November 1996. 15 Health Canada, Youth Smoking Behaviour and Attitudes (Information Sheet). Ottawa: Health Canada, November 1996. 16 Liberal Party, Securing Our Future, Liberal Party of Canada, Ottawa, 1997. p. 77. 17 In California, between 1988 and 1993, when the state was carrying on an aggressive public anti-smoking campaign, tobacco consumption declined by over 25%. Goldman LK, Glantz SA. Evaluation of Antismoking Advertising Campaigns. JAMA 1988; 279: 772-777. 18 Report of the Standing Committee on Finance. December, 1997. 19 Hall Emmett (Special Commissioner). Canada?s National-Provincial Program for the 1980s, p. 32. 20 Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. OECD Health Data 97. Paris: OECD, 1997.
BR1998-04.pdf
Fees for on call service
That the Canadian Medical Association support in principle that fees be paid to physicians for the service of being on call.
Health care system management education and research
That the education of physicians in health care system management must be fostered and research in the management of health care systems must be increased.
Medical direction and administrative responsibility
That the following be adopted as Canadian Medical Association policy: Medical direction and administrative responsibility: a) service departments which carry out prescribed medical diagnostic tests and/or therapy in hospitals or clinics must have a medical director who is accountable to the hospital board through the hospital administrator and professionally accountable through the normal channels to the organized medical staff. Such medical service departments include medical laboratory services, radiological services, respiratory technology, physiotherapy and nuclear medicine services. The appointment of a medical director for each such service department is essential in order to ensure the best possible service to the patient and to the hospital and to coordinate the related medical programs for the patient, b) the size and complexity of some service departments which carry out medical diagnostic tests and/or therapy may require the appointment of administrative assistants to the medical director, and these may be trained in the disciplines of physiotherapy, radiography, medical laboratory technology, respiratory technology, nuclear medicine technology, etc. They should be responsible to the medical director of the hospital services department and should not be head of the department reporting directly to the hospital administrator. In the small centres where there is not a full-time medical specialist on the medical staff the medical director of the service department should be a qualified physician. Such a non- specialized medical director should establish regular communication with a specialist in the field who may be consulted on general and specific questions, c) it is also recognized that some allied health personnel working in service departments have advanced technical and/or treatment skills. These should be recognized and profitably utilized always under the supervision and accountability of the medical director of the specific service.
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“Hard Road Of Hope” Shows West Virginia Is A Mirror Of The United States
By Margaret Flowers, Popular Resistance.
“Hard Road Of Hope” Shows West Virginia Is A Mirror Of The United States2020-06-302020-07-01https://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2017/12/popres-shorter.pngPopularResistance.Orghttps://popularresistance-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2020/06/hroh_20cover-e1593559197123.jpeg200px200px
Eleanor Goldfield is a remarkable person. She is an artist, writer, poet, composer, performer, podcaster, educator, photographer, organizer, activist, and now a documentarian. She publishes her work at ArtKillingApathy.com. She has had a regular program, “Act Out!” on Free Speech TV for almost five years that is one of their most popular shows. And she does a podcast with political comedian Lee Camp called “Common Censored.” When she is not working on all of that, she can be found teaching self-defense, running an art build or biking around Washington DC to provide mutual aid in her neighborhood.
For years now Eleanor has been participating in climate justice camps and actions providing support to those on the front lines of the climate and environmental crises however it was needed from producing media to locking down. It was through this work that she became aware of the major shift from mountain top removal for coal to fracking for gas, both very exploitative and extractive industries, in West Virginia. As she went there to cover what was happening, it became clear that the story was too big for anything but a documentary.
In “Hard Road of Hope,” Eleanor teaches the untold history of how immigrants were brought to West Virginia to work in the coal mines and how they worked together against dangerous and oppressive working conditions. You will likely be surprised by this history. I was. As West Virginians tell the story of this struggle, Eleanor weaves in the roots of capitalism, colonization and cultural genocide that created and made it possible to maintain such oppression.
The story of what happened in West Virginia and what continues to happen to this day is one that plays out across the United States. If it hasn’t happened yet in your community, it will one day if we stay on the current path. We have much to learn from folks in West Virginia and Hard Road of Hope gives us a valuable peek into their long history of strength and resistance.
Eleanor took some time out of her busy schedule to speak with me about her new documentary:
How did you become involved in climate and environmental justice activism?
Climate justice/environmentalism was really my first entry point into activism. It started when I was about 14 just picking up trash in my neighborhood. From there, the circles just grew larger as I noticed more problems – for instance, that my school didn’t recycle. So, I started a recycling program there and facilitated workshops on how and what to recycle and why. I started an environmental club that brought up issues at assemblies and tabled at events, eventually fundraising to buy a plot of rainforest (back then I thought that would save the day).
Before the second Iraq war in 2003, I shifted to antiwar activism. At the time I didn’t recognize or understand the connections between these two issues. By the time I came back to climate justice work, I was in my mid-20s and understood the capitalist and imperialist link between all the issues I’d covered/organized around. More recently, my more climate-focused work has been around frontline coverage and organizing – be it in Pennsylvania against fracking projects, down in the bayous of Louisiana against the Bayou Bridge Pipeline, in West Virginia against Mountain Top Removal or in northern California against logging.
What inspired you to produce this movie?
Myself and two other journalists had planned to go down to West Virginia to cover the power shift between coal and fracking. One of the journalists, Jen Deerinwater (who is also in the film) is Cherokee and was interested in going to see her ancestral lands and report from an indigenous perspective. With my background in environmental reporting, I wanted to bring my camera and questions to a place often perceived as “not worth it.” As someone who grew up in North Carolina hearing about West Virginia like it was just some throwaway hovel filled with hillbillies and coal ash, I wanted to prove myself (and others) wrong. After all, if a place is to be cast aside because it’s been destroyed by industry, and people are to be cast aside because they’re downtrodden and isolated, what part of this country would be left?
Still, I didn’t shift my goal to making a movie until we’d gotten down there and really spent time with folks. I realized that West Virginia wasn’t just about West Virginia – this was a story about this country. And I realized that I had far more than could be shared on a weekly show. I needed to do a deeper dive. So, I decided now would be a good time to become a filmmaker.
How much time did you spend there and how were you received by the folks in West Virginia?
All told a little over two weeks. Folks were incredibly welcoming – eager and proud to share their stories.
Why is the long history of struggle in West Virginia important to understand in light of the bigger picture of current struggles in the United States?
Since the release of the film, I’ve gotten emails from folks in Colorado, Indiana, Ohio, Illinois, Pennsylvania and elsewhere basically saying, “this is my story!” West Virginia is a mirror to much of this country: a resource colony from its founding, it exemplifies the power of industry, the destruction and oppression meted out for the sake of corporate profits and the deep propagandization that teaches folks to take pride in that oppression. At the same time, it’s a mirror to our labor rights history – the incredible resilience, resolve and resistance of people on the front lines demanding basic human rights. Therefore, it speaks to the power of teaching this history – of understanding our radical roots so that we may contextualize our present and build a more just and equitable future.
Who do you want to see the movie and what impact do you hope it will have?
Well, just like with my music, I want everyone to experience it! But I’d particularly like folks to see it who don’t think of themselves as radicals – who think of themselves as good Americans, hard workers and frustrated with the status quo but unsure how to address it. So many people I know from back home in North Carolina, for instance, fall into apathy because they feel there is no way to address their frustrations with the system: both parties seem untrustworthy, voting doesn’t seem to change anything and activism at once sounds scary and just for kids. Reconnecting folks with the radical history and the work being done by proud rednecks broadens the scope and understanding of activism – of what it means to dissent and stand up for justice and freedom.
Ultimately, I hope to get it out to a lot of schools – I’m in talks with some folks about that. I’d like for it to reshape the teaching of history from that area, to partner with those organizations and folks in West Virginia doing this work. I hope the film can be used as a tool to showcase not just corporate malfeasance but hope in and for the power of the people.
Hard Road of Hope Trailer from Eleanor Goldfield on Vimeo.
Find out how you can watch the full film here.
Climate Justice Fossil Fuels West Virginia Worker Rights
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Home > Vol 9, No 2 (2018): Economic Analysis of Law Review > de Mendonça Lopes
Government Appointment Discretion and Judicial Independence: Preference and Opportunistic Effects on Brazilian Courts
Felipe de Mendonça Lopes, Paulo Furquim de Azevedo
The prolific literature on de facto judicial independence misses a key variable to explain political bias: the government’s discretion over the appointment of Supreme Court Justices. In this paper, we explore a distinct feature of the Brazilian judiciary system to assess political bias due to government appointment discretion. As there are two courts, the STF (Supreme Federal Court) and the STJ (Superior Court of Justice), that deal with similar matters and have different restrictions on the appointment of their members, it is possible to compare the degree of political influence to which they are subject. We test (1) whether there are differences in the degree of political influence depending on the president’s discretion over the nomination of a justice, and (2) whether the justices actively benefit the party of the president who has appointed them. We find evidence of the first effect, but little of the second.
Judicial independence; Supreme Court; appointment discretion
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National Gallery of Australia | Audio Tour | French Painting
By National Gallery of Australia
Nov 26 2007 192
Audio guide to works from the NGA exhibition French Paintings from the Musée Fabre, Montpellier, shown at the National Gallery of Australia, Canberra 7 November 2003 – 15 February 2004
Léon BENOUVILLE, The Wrath of Achilles [La colère d'Achille] 1847
Léon-François Bénouville's splendidly modelled figure of Achilles intrudes into the space of the viewer. He literally steps beyond the surface of the canvas. Thus, in the painting's careful attention to the human form and in the precision of its modelling of paint, it fulfils ideally the task of the painted academic figure studies required of Prix de Rome winners. Bénouville's painting of Achilles, a popular subject for nineteenth-century painters, shows the Greek hero at the moment where, after quarrelling with his leader, Agamemnon, he retreats from battle to his tent in a rage. Humiliated, Achilles refuses to continue fighting with the Greeks, who subsequently suffer a series of catastrophic defeats. As Agamemnon's envoys enter Achilles' tent, in the hope of convincing him to return to battle, Achilles springs to his feet, launching into a tirade. With a dramatic realism, Bénouville renders this precise, violent moment.
Sébastien BOURDON, The Lamentation [Déploration sur le Christ mort] c. 1665-1670
Due largely to the fact that he spent much of his adult life working outside of the country, and because of the very flexible nature of his work, which often shifted dramatically between styles and themes, Sébastien Bourdon’s work has often been ignored in France. Bourdon was, it was thought, a chameleon, whose skill was more in mimicry than innovation. But as the comprehensive exhibition of his work at the Musée Fabre in 2000 demonstrated, Bourdon’s career is now regarded somewhat differently. Painted in the last years of his life, The Lamentation brings forward many of the painter’s fine attributes: dense, clear colours, emphatic modelling of form, and a dynamic composition that crystalises a series of often competing references, including Nicolas Poussin. As Bourdon often instructed his students, great innovation could be achieved by casting one’s interests far and wide.
Nicolas POUSSIN, Venus and Adonis [Vénus et Adonis] c.1626
Nicolas Poussin is one of France’s greatest painters. Venus and Adonis is an important example of the mythologies he painted in Rome during the 1620s. In Rome, the artistic centre of Europe, Poussin absorbed the lessons of classical antiquity and the Italian masters. Poussin’s innovation was to merge these influences with an often astonishing realism, refined through extended on-site study of nature and the figure. Venus and Adonis presents an idyllic depiction of the ancient world. Seen at sunset, Venus and Adonis share their love in a landscape peopled with cherubim. Both landscape and figures are painted with a free and light touch. In this way, nature weaves all together: the humid haze of the Italian summer evening, the vibrant sun that dances indiscriminately over and warms foliage and bodies, and the lovers. However, scholars have determined that the original painting was cut in two, the left hand side showing a river god in a landscape is now in a private collection. This might account for the enigmatic nature of the Musée Fabre’s painting and its narrative, where a series of figures, seemingly lost in worlds of private pleasure, are both entangled in the richly described landscape yet isolated from each other.
Simon VOUET, Allegory of Prudence [Allégorie de la Prudence] c.1645
Simon Vouet’s Allegory of Prudence is one of the Musée Fabre’s most significant paintings. It is remarkable as much for its formal bravado – its contorted arabesque lines, its statuesque forms, its dramatic lighting effects – as for its historical importance. Allegory of Prudence was painted for the recently widowed Queen Regent, Anne of Austria, as part of a large commission to decorate the Palais Royal, Paris (1643–1647). The ambitious Regent – at the time the subject of a series of scandals, including a rumour that she had secretly married the powerful, scrupulous Cardinal Jules Mazarin – is depicted as the figure of Prudence, one of the four Cardinal Virtues from classical and religious texts. The beautiful, virtuous Regent is seen untroubled by the effects of the material world, whether the passage of time personified by the old man at her feet or politics and skulduggery, which she is literally above.
Jacques-Louis DAVID, Portrait of Alphonse Leroy [Portrait d’Alphonse Leroy] c.1783
Jacques-Louis David’s Portrait of Alphonse Leroy is widely recognised as among the painter’s greatest portraits. In its sobriety, its scientific attention to surface effects and details, and its effort to produce an image of its sitter as psychologically complex, it forms a direct line to his many later, exceptional depictions of Napoleon Bonaparte. David’s portrait of Leroy says as much about the social identity of the figure of the artist as it does about its subject. In his sparsely furnished study, wearing a turban, and taking notes from his copy of Hippocrates’ The Diseases of Women, the gynaecologist is seen as something of an ascetic genius. So, in turn, is the artist; he is, as the contemporary definition of genius asserted, one gifted with powers of close observation and the ability to imitate nature above those of ordinary men and women.
Jean Louis DEMARNE, A Ferry and Boats on a Canal [Bac et barques sur un canal] c.1800-1815,
Jean-Louis Demarne’s career was not that of a powerful Academician. He was instead a painter who actively sought out and capitalised on the taste of middle-class collectors. Influenced by the highly finished landscapes and genre scenes of Dutch painters currently in vogue among Parisian collectors, Demarne’s landscapes and genre scenes found an eager audience in France and abroad. A Ferry and Boats on a Canal is an excellent example of Demarne’s picturesque depictions of everyday rural life. It uses the compositional convention of a central vanishing point that became something of a trademark for the painter. The landscape itself is quite generic, it could be Holland, Flanders or Northern France. Demarne is an important example of a commercially-minded artist who generally resisted participation in contemporary politics in favour of the private patronage of the burgeoning middle class.
François-Xavier FABRE, The Dying Saint Sebastian [Saint Sébastien expirant] 1789
François-Xavier FABRE, The Dying Saint Sebastian [Saint Sébastien expirant] 1789, oil on canvas 196.0 (h) x 147.0 (w) cm
François-Xavier FABRE, The Death of Narcissus [La mort de Narcisse] 1814
In Florence to avoid revolutionary Paris, François-Xavier Fabre circulated in largely English aristocratic circles and generated a prominent reputation as a painter of portraits and landscape souvenirs for tourists. In the face of this commercial activity, he struggled to produce work that accorded with his academic training. The Death of Narcissus provides a compelling response to this conundrum. It recounts the mythological narrative of Narcissus, a handsome youth who, indifferent to the affection of others, is condemned to fall in love with his own image in a forest pool. Narcissus fades away, losing both his senses and his beauty, as he desperately attempts to possess his own image. While the work is suggestive of the Academic genre of history painting, it represents an early historical landscape. Fabre had just read Pierre-Henri de Valenciennes’s famous Elements of Perspective (1799–1800), which sought to elevate the landscape genre to an Academic status similar to that of history painting. Valenciennes argued for landscape painting that was both highly learned and paid close attention to the study of nature. Fabre’s canvas represents an important example of an historical landscape, painted two years before the Académie in Paris created a special Grand Prix for the genre.
Louis GAUFFIER, Vallombrosa and the Arno Valley Seen from the Paradisino [Le couvent de Vallombrosa et le val d’Arno vus du Paradisino] 1796
Louis Gauffier’s Vallombrosa and the Arno Valley Seen from the Paradisino is a landscape that brings together a series of often competing influences and sources: close attention to the details of nature; Neo-classicism’s mathematical description of space; ‘nature’ as it was described at the time by the poet and philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau; and, in turn, the Romantic ideal of man and nature in harmony. By bringing these disparate sources together, Gauffier produces a theatricalised landscape. The terrace in the foreground acts as a stage, beyond which the landscape is both warm and awesome, a place to wander and find one’s self, as the monk on our left indicates. The landscape unfolds in a series of layers, where men might come to recognise their democratic sensibility and their individualism.
Jules LAURENS, The Blue Mosque, Tauris [La mosquée bleue à Tauris] 1872
Jules Laurens undertook an incredible three-year journey throughout the Middle East and Asia Minor to Persia in the late 1840s, as part of a scientific and geographical expedition. Despite incredible hardship, Laurens drew every day. These drawings and the journey provided the basis for a significant career as an Orientalist painter and illustrator, and as a commentator on Middle Eastern affairs. This work was painted almost twenty-five years after the journey. Based on his meticulous drawings, the painting depicts a mosque near Tabriz in present-day Iran. The imposing building stands in an austere, snow-covered landscape. The painting depicts the desolate conditions of a journey marked by weather extremes and ever-present danger. The snow, while beautiful in the painting, made the journey extremely treacherous and the expedition’s leader was temporarily snow-blind.
Jean-Baptiste GREUZE, Epiphany [Le gâteau des rois] 1774
Jean-Baptiste Greuze was one of Europe’s first celebrity painters. He built a reputation on instructive paintings that covered the edifying themes of the education of children, the virtues of a simple, provincial family life, and the heroism of everyday activities. Epiphany depicts a peasant family participating in the annual celebration of the gateau de roi (a Catholic feast held each year on the 6th of January), where the children search for a bean hidden in the king’s cake, the finder of which will become king for the day. Just as the philosophers Denis Diderot and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were asking the country’s bourgeoisie to rid themselves of the distractions and trappings of civilisation – to return to nature and a moral, family life – Greuze’s Epiphany makes clear the simple (if completely illusory) pleasures of the honest, peasant family, uncorrupted by the temptations of modern, bourgeois life.
Noël HALLÉ, Cornelia, Mother of the Gracchi [Cornélie mère des Gracques] 1779
The philosopher Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote during the eighteenth century of the importance of education. Rousseau argued that all children are born ‘naturally good’, and that education and experience could cultivate and affirm this natural goodness. It was the responsibility of families and society, Rousseau found, to enable this goodness. Noël Hallé’s painting illustrates this principle with the help of an image drawn from Roman history. The widow Cornelia, daughter of a great warrior, receives an ostentatiously dressed visitor. In response to the rich fabrics and the precious jewellery of the visitor, Cornelia, referring to her children, asserts ‘These are my jewels.’ Cornelia is the supreme example of the virtuous mother, who places the emotional, intellectual and moral needs of her children above materialism. Note her simple clothing and hair and her inquisitive, upright children; two of them, Tiberius and Gaius, would go on to become great leaders.
Jean RANC, Vertumnus and Pomona [Vertumne et Pomone] c. 1710-1720
Vertumnus and Pomona is undoubtedly Jean Ranc’s greatest work. This beautiful painting depicts the effort of the god of gardens and orchards, Vertumnus, to woo the notoriously indifferent goddess of fruit trees, Pomona. Disguised as an old woman, Vertumnus lures Pomona into his trust with the story of a suitor who commits suicide, traumatised by the lack of attention from a beautiful, but intractable woman. The work was painted by the Montpellier-born artist shortly before his departure for Spain, where he developed a successful, life-long career as a portrait painter. Ranc’s training as a portrait painter is certainly apparent in the delicate treatment of the faces of his subjects and, more so, in the exquisitely rendered fabrics. The painting is also significant for the manner in which it presents a mythological narrative and its moral subtext in an entirely contemporary manner, as indicated in Pomona’s radiant, silky dress and parasol.
Jean RAOUX, Dido and Aeneas [Didon et Enée] c.1730
A winner of the Prix de Rome in 1704, Jean Raoux became famous for his depictions of Vestal Virgins. These paintings described the virtues of chastity and maidenhood, an image he often contrasted with that of the modern bourgeois women, whose excesses and narcissism were at odds with moral virtue. Raoux’s reputation became such that the philosopher Voltaire described him as the equal of the great Dutch painter Rembrandt. Dido and Aeneas suggests Raoux’s interest in Rembrandt and other Northern European painters. Note the attention paid to particular surfaces, especially the exquisite rendering of the satin (an effect for which Raoux was well known), and its broad range of lights and darks. These influences are distilled with Raoux’s observations of Italian painting, made while resident in Rome, where he studied and copied the finest moments of classical antiquity and Renaissance painting. The scene itself, a moment from Virgil’s account of the fateful love of Dido, the Queen of Carthage, and the founder of Rome, Aeneas, is rendered in terms closer to everyday life than classical antiquity.
Hubert ROBERT, The Bridge [Le pont] 1776
Popularly known as ‘Robert des Ruines’, Hubert Robert built a lucrative career out of his imaginary ancient towns, cities, museums and gardens in picturesque decay. The Bridge is one such fantastical image, depicting the château in Dieppe populated by figures going about their everyday lives – a woman bathing, men herding livestock across an ancient, imaginary bridge. Robert’s work was deeply influenced by his time in Rome during the 1750s to 1760s, a place he described as a city of ruins and of everyday life, where decaying mementoes of history (the Forum, the Colosseum) and contemporary life rubbed shoulders. Rome was also in the middle of an archaeological fever, spurred in part by the discovery of the ancient cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, sites Robert visited in 1760. The painting represents a memento mori; a reminder, as one critic noted at the time, that everything must die.
Joseph-Marie VIEN, Joshua Commanding the Sun to Stand Still [Josué arrêtant le soleil] 1742-1743
Joseph-Marie Vien presented this sketch in a six-part submission for pre-selection for the 1743 Prix de Rome. Based on the unresolved nature of the paintings, it was a surprise to many that Vien was deemed eligible for competition and eventually won the prize. While this was reflective of the declining state of the Prix, with its unfashionable privileging of history painting at the expense of the pastorals and allegories that had become fashionable, the award was prophetic. Vien would become France’s most highly awarded painter and its leading teacher, and one of the earliest exponents of the Neo-classical style. The subject of Vien’s painting suggests something of this historical context. Joshua, a disciple of Moses and his successor, leads the Israelite invasion of Canaan and the Promised Land. During a final, fraught battle for the town of Gibeon, Joshua prays for extended daylight so as to assure what would become a great victory.
François-André VINCENT, Belisarius [Bélisaire] 1776
The central theme of François-André Vincent’s moving painting Belisarius is tolerance. The subject of the work is the illustrious Roman general who, according to legend, was wrongly accused of conspiracy against the emperor Justinian, blinded and forced to lead an itinerant life as a beggar. This was a popular subject at the time among both painters and writers. The painting records the moment when the pitiable Belisarius is recognised by one of his former soldiers. The soldier’s shame at finding himself in the presence of the maligned general is palpable. Through this painting Vincent sought to propagate tolerance and unity, during a period of intense political and social upheaval shortly before the outbreak of the Revolution of 1789.
Frédéric BAZILLE, The Ramparts, Aigues-Mortes [Les remparts d’Aigues-Mortes] 1867
Frédéric Bazille was a friend of Alfred Bruyas and became an important early member of the Impressionist movement in Paris, where he was associated with August Renoir, Claude Monet and Alfred Sisley among others. Bazille painted at least three different views of Aigues-Mortes near Montpellier, experimenting with different compositions and formats. While many of his early works have been lost, this rare early landscape is marked by the characteristics of the Provençal landscape tradition, including the work of Paul Guigou. The scene stretches with clarity and precision from a low point of view to great effect, the marshy foreground opening up to the fortified port town. The painting captures the glorious colours typical of the region and evokes the sensation of the different surfaces by various techniques. The painting also makes clear Bazille’s interest in using the effects of light on surfaces as a means of defining mass and form.
Alexandre CABANEL, Albaydé 1848
Its pristine finish, sharp lines and sober palette place Alexandre Cabanel’s Albaydé at the heart of academic excellence. Indeed, the Montpellier-born Cabanel – a Prix de Rome winner in 1845 – was one of the last ardent academicians, determined to maintain the Académie’s strictures and hierarchies in the face of the radical challenges to it posed by, among others, Gustave Courbet. The subject is drawn from Victor Hugo’s Orientalist poem ‘Fragments of a Serpent’, where the poet lusts for ‘the lovely doe-like eyes of Albaydé’. In a manner that owes much to Ingres’s languid nudes, Cabanel has depicted the lethargic figure of Albaydé as an object of visual pleasure, and also as an allegory. Albaydé was prepared as part of a triptych, the theme of which was the precariousness of the passage from youth to adulthood. Albaydé represented youthful innocence gone askew. It is compelling that she is depicted as a seductive, if dishevelled Oriental courtesan, in a space suggestive of the Islamic lounge, a harem and an opium den.
Jean-Baptiste-Camille COROT, Fishing with Nets [La pêche à l'épervier] 1847
Jean Baptiste-Camille Corot trained in the Neo-classical tradition of painting, and progressively developed a highly personal vision of landscape. His stay in Italy (1825–1828) was a formative experience, since it encouraged him to study nature in the open air. In this delicate painting from the Salon of 1847, Corot has created a carefully balanced composition; the shapes of the trees leaning across the space and the surface of the river lead the eye into the painting. The work depicts the unchanged activity of fishing, yet transforms the scene into an idyllic image that emphasises the eternal harmonies between man and nature. The work is imbued with softness through the use of tone, reflection and its depiction of the sky. Corot’s influence on later painters was significant, particularly amongst the Impressionists; he was, importantly, a teacher of Berthe Morisot.
Gustave COURBET, The Meeting or Good Day, Monsieur Courbet [La rencontre ou Bonjour Monsieur Courbet] 1854
One of Gustave Courbet’s most significant canvases, Good Day, Monsieur Courbet depicts a chance meeting of the painter, his patron Alfred Bruyas and Bruyas’s servant Calas, on a road outside Montpellier. The painting teases the often fraught relationship of painter and private patron. Bruyas had trained as a painter, but poor health kept him from the practice. It is possible that Bruyas-the-patron represented a surrogate Bruyas-the-painter. In courting the country’s most astute and critically-engaged contemporary painter, Bruyas made claims to the progress of contemporary painting. The painting thus marks in the most compelling way the ambition of the collector, keen to insert his own name, taste and generosity into the history of painting. Courbet was acutely aware of this relationship. Note the way in which only Courbet stands on the earth; neither the deferential Bruyas nor Calas cast a shadow, as if only the painter, as labourer, is of this earth.
Gustave COURBET, The Beach at Palavas [Le bord de mer à Palavas] 1854
Gustave Courbet visited Alfred Bruyas in Montpellier in the summer of 1854 and during his stay went to the seaside town of Palavas, seeing the sea for possibly the first time in his life. Courbet’s independence and strength comes through in this dramatic painting, a study of flatness and light evocative of an infinite sense of space. Dominated by the line of the horizon that divides the work in half, the heavy paint builds up the surface of the shore and gives depth to the calm sea as it stretches to the distance. Perched on a rocky outcrop the single figure of a man raises his hat, as if in a greeting or celebration of the sea. This figure may be Courbet or perhaps Bruyas, and the peculiar gesture perhaps reflects the excitement of the painter’s own experience of what was for him a novel landscape.
Joseph-Désiré COURT, Woman Lying on a Divan [Femme à mi-corps, couchée sur un divan] 1829
Joseph-Désiré Court was trained as a history painter and portraitist. He was strongly in demand as a portrait painter in aristocratic circles and at court, especially for his paintings that placed their subject in a fantastical scene. This beautiful portrait is one of Court’s most personal. Indeed, it is most likely a painting of the artist’s wife. It is striking for the intimacy between painter and subject, which comes across in the directness of the gaze between them. The subject’s hair falls loosely from her face, her left hand holding the fabric that envelops her body. This seemingly casual pose gives a clear significance to the plain gold ring on her finger, and is balanced by the solid clear colours of the different fabrics that frame the sitter and emphasise the whiteness of her skin.
Edgar DEGAS, A Nanny in the Luxembourg Gardens, Paris [La nourrice du jardin du Luxembourg] c.1875
In this important painting, Edgar Degas represents the city in a theatrical way. His nanny and young child sit on a stage, with Paris’ Luxembourg Garden dotted with strollers – those flashes of pink, ochre, black and white – as a backdrop. The painting marks the changing architectural and social conditions of Parisian life, as the city’s network of old streets and alleys was cleared to make room for the wide, sweeping boulevards (for which the city is now famous) and a series of central points of focus. The city became, as the strollers indicate, a space of leisure and spectacle: of looking and of being seen. But as with his images of laundresses, prostitutes and ballet dancers, Degas’s painting also pays attention to the contemporary conditions of women’s labour. The nursing industry underwent a boom in Paris in the 1870s, and was regulated in 1874 with a series of financial and sanitary restrictions. The nanny – already the subject of intense scrutiny within the space of the family – was now squarely under the eye of the state and the public. As a depiction of labour, indeed of the conditions of modern life, this is a highly significant example of the Realism for which Degas is famous.
Paul GUIGOU, Provençal Landscape [Paysage provençal] 1869
Paul Guigou regularly painted the scenery of Provence in southern France, the region of his birth. This small landscape is typical of his work and captures the crisp light of the region, with its strong jewel-like colours. The painting’s raised point of view gives a sense of the emptiness of Provence. The composition is dominated by the expanse of the land and the sky, while the near perfect reflections on the river as it winds its way under the rustic stone bridge provide another focal point. Guigou came from a wealthy family and developed an early interest in landscape painting. He started his working life as a notary’s clerk but dedicated himself to painting full-time in 1862. In Paris he was friendly with many of the Impressionist group, including Frédéric Bazille, Alfred Sisley and Claude Monet. Even so, Guigou remained true to his own vision and went unnoticed at the Salon until after his death.
Eugène ISABEY, Storm with a Shipwreck [La tempête, naufrage] 1835
Eugène Isabey was a deeply Romantic painter. His work during the 1820s and 1830s is characterised by a concern with the unpredictable nature of the elements, the response of the individual to nature, and a refined, vigorous application of paint that emphasised the artist’s hand. Storm with a Shipwreck is one of Isabey’s key Romantic seascapes. He depicts the sea as an abstract force that has the power to annihilate man and his work – our attention is drawn to the corpse of a sailor and part of the wreck of his ship in the lower corner. The violent sea and clouds and the dark, ominous rocky outcrop suggest a place of absolute danger. In this way, Isabey invokes the sublime, which was so closely associated with the sea: the sea as a space of imminent threat and an incomprehensible infinitude. Isabey’s application of paint matches the subject of work; each is as theatricalised and energetic as the other.
Achille-Etna MICHALLON, Landscape with Philoctetes on the Island of Lemnos [Paysage avec Philoctète dans l’île de Lemnos] 1822
Achille-Etna Michallon was a highly ambitious prodigy, who first exhibited at the Salon at the age of fifteen. Michallon won the inaugural Grand Prix for Historical Landscape in 1817, a prize introduced with him in mind, and one he actively lobbied the recently reformed Académie to institute. Landscape with Philoctetes on the Island of Lemnos is an excellent example of Michallon’s historical landscapes, which are characterised by his faithful attention to the dramatic conditions of the elements and panoramic views, and often include isolated figures from antiquity. Michallon’s close attention to nature is apparent, but the landscape is rendered heroic. There is a Romantic passion in his depiction of the elements and of the lonely figure of Philoctetes, forced to eke out a miserable existence in the face of that violence. Thus, Michallon’s landscape suggests both the naturalism of his best student, Camille Corot, and nostalgia for the grandeur and glory of pre-Revolutionary classicism.
Alfred SISLEY, Heron with Outstretched Wings [Le héron aux ailes déployées] 1867
Even though Alfred Sisley was among the founding members of the Impressionist group, his reputation has only recently started to match his achievements. A prolific landscapist, whose technique was developed through his close association with Claude Monet and Frédéric Bazille, Sisley produced a number of still lives that bear the characteristics of his oeuvre. Heron with Spread Wings makes clear these concerns: the effects of light hitting surfaces, the commonplace or the everyday, and the tension between the factual record and subjective experience. Sisley painted this beautiful still lifealongside Bazille during a session that also included fellow Impressionist Auguste Renoir. This context makes clear to us something of the way in which the act of painting was a social activity for the Impressionists, and of the way in which the principles and techniques of the avant-garde group were formulated through these social interactions.
Octave TASSAERT, The Waif [L’abandonnée] 1852
A pregnant woman faints while her lover and his young betrothed walk down the aisle. In this moral tale, Octave Tassaert drew the attention of his contemporary audience to what was understood as a wide social problem – the plight of unmarried mothers. This was a subject that seemed to concern Tassaert greatly, considering he painted it a number of times. It was also a subject that found an eager market among Parisians at the time. Indeed, Tassaert found significant success following the Revolution of 1848 with his genre scenes covering the themes of moral and economic poverty, drawn from contemporary life. These paintings collectively describe French society as one fractured by social inequality, and one where the revolutionary tenets of liberty, equality and fraternity were in need of continual reaffirmation.
Eugène DELACROIX, Moroccans Conducting Military Exercises (Fantasia) [Exercices militaires des Marocains (Fantasia Marocaine)] 1832
Eugène Delacroix is one of the most significant painters of the 1800s, and the greatest of the century’s Romantic painters. In early 1832, Delacroix travelled throughout Spain and the French North African colonies of Morocco and Algeria as part of a diplomatic mission. Delacroix described North Africa as a place of sensation and beauty fundamentally unlike Europe – a place, he wrote, ‘made for painters’. This is one of many paintings that resulted from this journey, and among the finest. This stirring scene – a tumultuous line of violent, turbaned Arabs charging towards some hidden enemy – had as its source a fantasia viewed by Delacroix while in Morocco: a choreographed military spectacle that is unique to Morocco, whose origin was, as its name suggests, more in the imagination than actuality. The painter’s fluid and gestural brushwork, the sharp contours and the rich palette, produce an image of the Orient as dazzling and theatrical, a wild place of dust and violence.
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What recommendations would you make to xavier santos in response to
Case Study So Fresh workers criticise Cadabra for ‘exploiting our dedication’ Natural food, produce and household products retailer So Fresh was named as one of America’s best companies to work for 20 years in a row by Fortune magazine. However, after it was acquired by global e-commerce giant Cadabra in 2017 for $14.3 billion, leaked company emails, staff talking to the media under conditions of anonymity, and public announcements in 2018 and 2019 have shed light on how things have changed since. Michael Blanding, a senior fellow at the Schuster Institute for Investigative Journalism at Brandeis University, writes that Cadabra’s acquisition of So Fresh was ‘the corporate equivalent of mixing tap water with organic extra virgin olive oil. You’d be hard-pressed to find two companies with more different value propositions.’ Despite this, he continues, it was surprising to read reports shortly after the acquisition about So Fresh customers regularly finding empty shelves at the grocery. In addition, stories began to surface about employees crying over the performance-driven working conditions imposed by Cadabra. According to Harvard Business School academics Dennis Campbell and Tatiana Sandino, Cadabra has made its name by being fast, cheap and efficient – using data to drive its product mix and enforcing strict employee discipline to squeeze out cost savings to pass on to its customers. So Fresh, on the other hand, prided itself on its personal touch, empowering individual stores – even individual employees – to make decisions about product lines that emphasised high-quality, healthy and local foods. That decentralisation, while giving them a loyal customer base, caused notorious inefficiencies and price rises. For these reasons it was no surprise that the acquisition was initially met positively by Wall Street, with hopes that Cadabra’s data-driven business approach might enable So Fresh to scale up internationally while maintaining its employee-empowered culture. Working conditions So Fresh employs around 90,000 staff at 500 stores in the US organised into 10 geographic regions, each with its own president, regional administrative team, store-level leadership and store-level team members. The average store employs about 190 full-time and part-time team members, including specialists such as bakers and butchers, and is open from 7am to 10pm daily. Since being bought by Cadabra, employees at So Fresh say their working conditions have declined because of pressure to push Cadabra’s ‘Alpha’ deals and memberships, alongside widespread understaffing, increased workloads and budget cuts. ‘Cadabra has changed the company so much, to the point where I can’t recognise So Fresh any more,’ said one 2 worker in Harlem. ‘I joined So Fresh at 17, straight from high school, and in the 15 years I’ve been here it’s been my family and my university, it’s way much more than a job’, he went on to say. In early 2018 Business Insider reported that So Fresh employees were being graded with new scorecards and on-the-spot quizzes that left many terrified of losing their jobs. So Fresh has eliminated or reduced classes of jobs, such as in-store graphic designers and payroll benefits specialists, and merged those duties into other positions without providing workers with additional compensation or training. Profit-sharing for employees – once a major perk of working for the company – has reportedly been eliminated. In a statement from March 2019, So Fresh said the cuts were made to support business needs. Automation So Fresh has implemented a new inventory-management system aimed at making stores more efficient and cutting down on food waste. But employees say the retailer’s method of ensuring compliance is crushing morale. The new system, called order-to-shelf, has an automated and prescribed set of procedures for purchasing, displaying and storing products on store shelves and in back rooms. To make sure stores comply, So Fresh relies on ‘scorecards’ that evaluate everything from the accuracy of signage, damaged products and breakages, to the proper recording of theft. Some employees, who walk through stores with managers to ensure compliance, describe the system as onerous and stress-inducing. An employee from San Antonio So Fresh said: ‘No one really knows this business model, and those who are doing the scorecards – even regional leadership – are not clear on practices and consequently are constantly providing the department leaders with inaccurate directions. All this comes at a time when labour has been reduced to an insufficient level.’ Interactive touch screens at the So Fresh checkouts in the newly opened West Seattle store ask shoppers to rate their experience on a scale of one to five stars – just like they do in product reviews on Cadabra’s online shopping site. The ratings are not meant to evaluate individual employees, but their arrival caused anxiety for at least one So Fresh staff member, speaking to the Seattle Times, who said that neither a training video nor management communications about the technology explained what the ratings data would be used for. The star ratings, solicited through touch screens that will be rolled out across stores nationwide over the next few months, are an extension of the company’s approach to getting feedback, broadly, from customers on their experience shopping at So Fresh, and ratings will not be ascribed to individual employees, a company representative said. The representative also said that ratings will not be used to make any compensation or scheduling decisions. However, another worker from So Fresh at West Seattle was worried that too many onestar reviews under the new system could lead to a reduction in bonuses or hours – a more acute issue in light of the benefits cuts. 3 Benefits cuts In response to public pressure and increasing scrutiny over the pay of its warehouse workers, Cadabra enacted a $15 minimum wage for all its employees in November 2018, including workers at So Fresh. All So Fresh employees paid less than $15 an hour saw their wages increase to at least that, while all other team members received a $1 an hour wage increase and team leaders received a $2 an hour increase. But since the wage increase, a number of So Fresh employees from Bellevue, La Jolla, Pasadena, Fort Worth and Harlem told the Guardian they have experienced cuts that have reduced schedule shifts across many stores, negating wage gains for employees. In September 2019 it was reported that So Fresh will be cutting health insurance benefits from the beginning of 2020 for its part-time employees, many of whom learned of the move through media reports rather than from managers. This and the lack of detail provided about the new ratings system raised questions about employee communications at a time when labour groups are trying to organise the company’s workers. A part-time employee, who asked not to be named while discussing concerns, and another So Fresh employee who spoke to a reporter from the Seattle Times, said they only learned of the health insurance benefit cuts, weeks before they were to take effect, from media reports, and had not received formal notification from the company. A Westlake employee, who requested anonymity to describe internal communications, said health insurance was her main reason for working at the company: ‘I think what is also distressing, is that I have not heard a word of this from my employer. My insurance will be taken away in three months and I have been given no notice that I will need to find an alternative.’ The Seattle Times went on to quote a company spokesperson as saying that So Fresh had intended to notify employees affected by the cuts in one-to-one conversations. Those employees ‘in good standing have the opportunity to move into one of the thousands of full-time roles’, making them eligible for the same healthcare coverage at a lower cost, it was reported. The majority of the roughly 2,900 employees losing health insurance would need to work only five more hours a week to meet the 30-hours-a-week threshold to qualify for the benefit, the company said. So Fresh co-founder and CEO Xavier Santos said in a video to employees that he would work to address employee concerns, improve communication and strengthen careerdevelopment opportunities in 2019 as the grocery chain enters its second year under Cadabra ownership, the Wall Street Journal reported. An uncomfortable union Santos’s attitude seems to have changed: he was forced into selling So Fresh to Cadabra by activist investors, and a year ago made headlines after Business Insider obtained leaked audio of him describing early conflicts with Cadabra at a company-wide meeting attended by regional and local managers. ‘I’m sure that Cadabra has probably gotten more disagreement from me than any other single person, and possibly more than everyone else combined,’ Santos said, according to Business Insider. 4 ‘I have done this for 40 years, I am financially secure, I love So Fresh’, he continued. ‘I ultimately am not afraid to get fired so – not that I think they are going to fire me – but I’m not afraid of it, so that gives me a position of strength to speak truth to power when it’s necessary to do so, and I’ve done it many, many times.’ But despite any conflict, Santos, who started So Fresh with his wife more than 40 years ago, told CNBC his feelings towards Cadabra’s team remained the same as when they first met during acquisition talks in 2017: ‘My first impression when I met the team was that these are really, really smart people. Rick [Preston] has built a great team – and that’s why they’re so successful.’ Preston was ‘brilliant’, he added. ‘I’m less brilliant, but I’ve also got a great team.’ Assuming Cadabra wants So Fresh to succeed, it might do well to reconsider the benefits of the grocery chain’s empowerment model. Harvard’s Professor Campbell says that part of the issue is realising the limits of standardisation, even for a company like Cadabra that has perfected data-driven management. Associate Professor Sandino suggests Cadabra may be better off pursuing a concept known as structured empowerment, where a company standardises operations but allows flexibility for employees to make their own choices in key areas where having close contact with customers’ matters. In addition, Sandino says, Cadabra might consider changing its performance measures to focus more on results rather than processes, holding employees accountable for goals, but giving them more leeway on how they achieve them. Sources with acknowledgement to: The Guardian, Seattle Times, Business Insider, Forbes, Quartz Inc., Market Watch, CNBC and Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
What recommendations would you make to Xavier Santos in response to issues identified above? Discuss your proposals by referring to the relevant OB theories and applying them to the suggestions made.
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Events in the press
Company news Events in the press
Andy White rejoins dmg events to head up the Design & Hospitality division
dmg events looks to grow its Design & Hospitality division as the Middle East transforms its tourism and entertainment sectors
Andy White, Senior Vice President, dmg events
dmg events welcomes the return of Andy White to the company as Senior Vice President for its Design & Hospitality division.
The division, which includes flagship brands INDEX and The Hotel Show, two of Dubai’s most established events, has seen geographic expansion in recent years with geo-adapted shows being launched into Saudi Arabia, Qatar and South Africa.
The division also includes the invite only HI Design Events, a series of unique summits matching buyers and sellers from the hotel interior design sector which take place in Asia, Europe, Middle East and the Americas.
“It’s an exciting time to return and I look forward to the new challenge of leading an experienced and talented team” said Andy White, “With Expo 2020 kicking off next year and the rapid development of the tourism and hospitality sectors in Saudi Arabia, we have a great opportunity to help our clients capitalise on this by generating new business from a market that promises rapid and sustained growth’’.
Andy will bring more than 25 years’ experience organising B2B exhibitions to his new role. He has been based in the Middle East since 2010 when he first took on the role of Event Director for The Big 5, the Middle East’s largest construction exhibition. Andy led the team that developed The Big 5 brand throughout the Middle East, Africa & Asia up until 2018. He then went on to join Oman Expo as General Manager where he was responsible for refocusing the business into a solely B2B operation with an increased emphasis on content and visitor development. He returned to dmg events in November 2019 to take up his new position.
Faye Black Vice President - Group Marketing, dmg events
fayeblack@dmgevents.com
dmgevents.com
About dmg events
dmg events is a leading organiser of face-to-face events and a publisher of trade magazines.
We aim to keep businesses informed and connect them with relevant communities to create vibrant marketplaces and to accelerate their business through face-to-face events.
dmg events organises more than 80 events across 25 countries, attracting over 425,000 attendees and delegates every year. The company’s portfolio of products includes many industry-leading events in the energy, construction, hospitality & design, coatings and transportation sectors. ADIPEC, The Big 5, Gastech, EGYPS, The Hotel Show and INDEX are the company’s flagship events. For more information visit www.dmgevents.com.
Founded in 1989, the company is headquartered in Dubai, UAE, and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust plc (DMGT, www.dmgt.co.uk), one of the largest media companies in the United Kingdom.
About DMGT
DMGT manages a portfolio of companies that provide businesses and consumers with compelling information, analysis, insight, events, news and entertainment. The Group takes a long-term approach to investment and has market-leading positions in consumer media, insurance risk, property information, education technology, energy information and events & exhibitions. In total, DMGT generates revenues of around £1.4bn.
Click here to read our privacy policy.
www.dmgevents.com
communications@dmgevents.com
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Interview of John D. Williams
African American architect and educator who designed homes, public buildings, and commercial spaces, including LAX Bradley International Terminal, the Compton Police Department building, and Ujima Village public housing project.
African-American Architects of Los Angeles: John D. Williams
African American Architects of Los Angeles
Henderson, Wesley H.
Williams, John D.
Williams and Henderson.
Williams's office in Los Angeles
The interview was conducted by Wesley Henderson, B.S., Art & Design, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Master of Architecture, Massachusetts Institute of Technology; Ph.D., Architecture, UCLA. Henderson prepared for the interview by having a pre-interview with Williams, interviewing his associates, and relying on the background research for his UCLA doctoral dissertation, "Two Case Studies of African American Architects' Careers in Los Angeles, 1890-1945: Paul R. Williams, FAIA, and James H. Garrott, AIA."
Alex Cline, editor, edited the interview. He checked the verbatim transcript of the interview against the original tape recordings, edited for punctuation, paragraphing, and spelling, and verified proper names. Words and phrases inserted by the editor have been bracketed. Williams reviewed the transcript. He verified proper names and made minor corrections. Cline prepared the table of contents. Kristian London, editor, assembled the biographical summary and interview history. Derek DeNardo, editorial assistant, compiled the index.
This project documents the work of selected African American architects who have enhanced the built environment, principally in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. Influenced by earlier pioneers such as Paul R. Williams, these individuals overcame bias and discrimination to create structures which have become emblematic of the uniqueness of local architecture.
Family moves to Los Angeles around 1930; first awareness of architecture during high school drafting class; works for Richard J. Neutra in a National Youth Administration program; volunteers for the Enlisted Reserve Corps; sent to North Africa and Italy as first sergeant of an all-black battalion; racial tension between black soldiers and Italian prisoners of war; conditions for African Americans in Los Angeles before and after World War II; attends the University of Southern California (USC) in 1949; professors in design, architecture, and landscape architecture at USC; decision to avoid working with developers; passes the California state licensing exam for architects; other African American architects in Los Angeles during the fifties; designing the Harrison-Ross Funeral Home; designing multifamily housing for nonprofit entities; difficulties obtaining commissions as an African American architect; designs the Kedren Community Mental Health Center; the Florence-Firestone Multipurpose Service Center; architects who influenced Williams; working with Daniel L. Dworsky and William L. Pereira on the Bradley International Terminal at Los Angeles International Airport; teaching position at California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo; architects' responsibility to become more involved in social and political issues.
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African American Inventors
James Edward Maceo West – African American Inventor
Leave a Comment / African American Inventors, Education / By NJordan
James Edward Maceo West
Born February 10, 1931, in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia) is an American inventor and acoustician. He holds over 250 foreign and U.S. patents for the production and design of microphones and techniques for creating polymer foil-electrets.
Along with Gerhard Sessler, West developed the foil electret microphone in 1962 while developing instruments for human hearing research. Compared to the previous condenser microphones, the electret microphone has higher capacitance and do not require a DC bias. West and Sessler optimized the mechanical and surface parameters of the system. Nearly 90 percent of more than two billion microphones produced annually are based on the principles of the foil-electret and are used in everyday items such as telephones, camcorders, hearing aids, baby monitors, and audio recording devices among others. West measured the acoustics of Philharmonic Hall in New York City. Recently, West teamed with Ilene Busch-Vishniac and studied the acoustic environment of hospitals showing that hospitals are in general too loud and that the noise levels affect staff and patients.
Dr. West is the recipient of the National Medal of Technology and Innovation, and in 2010, along with Gerhard M. Sessler, West was the recipient of The Franklin Institute‘s Benjamin Franklin Medal in Electrical Engineering. He is also an inductee to the National Inventors Hall of Fame and an elected member of the National Academy of Engineering. He is also the recipient of numerous other honors and awards. However, West feels that his greatest accomplishments are his four children Melanie, Laurie, James and Ellington.
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Leclerc says he overreacted in…
Leclerc says he overreacted in Singapore radio outburst
Charles Leclerc insists there will be no repeat of his radio outburst from the Singapore Grand Prix at future races after accepting he overreacted.
Leclerc was outraged when he unexpectedly rejoined from his pitstop behind team-mate Sebastian Vettel when Ferrari misjudged how much time could be gained from an undercut strategy.
This resulted in Vettel gaining over three seconds on Leclerc on his out-lap, thus propelling him into the lead, which caused the Monegasque to vent his frustration over team radio.
Since going over the situation with the team after Singapore, Leclerc admits he will now be more careful with his choice of words.
“I believe my reaction is well over what it should be,” Leclerc said, as quoted by Motorsport.com. “And that shows that I’ve still got a lot to learn.
“In that situation there was no need to be like this. The team has done the right thing, we finished first and second, we wouldn’t have finished first and second with another strategy, and that’s what matters the most.
“So on that I definitely have got a lot to learn and that’s what matters the most. On that I definitely have got a lot to learn, and a lot to improve, but that won’t happen again in the future.”
Leclerc acknowledged he would need to learn to “control himself” before channelling his emotions, which he believes is heavily influenced from a desire to win.
“In the car it’s always very difficult. There’s a lot of adrenaline. I wake up in the morning thinking about victory, I go to sleep thinking about victory, so sometimes it might be hard,” he added.
“But I just need to control myself more in these situations and, how can I say it politely, just shut up instead of speaking on the radio. I’ll learn from it, and try for it not to happen again.
“Some people can understand how much I want to win, and some people have understood it. Some others maybe understood wrongly.
“Anyway as I said I think I just need to learn from that, there was no need to for me, and there’s no need to be like this on the radio any time during the race, even if there’s adrenaline, I think it just puts more mess than anything else, and that’s it.
“As I said I think the most important thing is that the team has done first and second, and for that I’m very happy.”
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No Charges Against Police Who Killed Stephon Clark, but Anger Has Led to Important Reforms
After police killed an unarmed man in a backyard in Sacramento, outrage led to greater transparency about officer conduct.
Scott Shackford | 3.4.2019 2:05 PM
Renee C. Byer/TNS/Newscom
There will be no charges against the Sacramento police officers who shot and killed Stephon Clark last year after mistaking his cellphone for a gun. But the outrage that followed Clark's death has led to some real reforms in California, and more may be coming.
Two officers shot Clark seven times following a foot chase. They were responding to some 911 calls about an individual breaking car windows. They cornered Clark behind his grandmother's house. The body camera videos from the two cops showed them attempting to confront Clark, then screaming "Gun!" and opening fire.
It turned out ultimately that Clark was not holding a gun but a cellphone. Protests and an investigation followed.
On Saturday afternoon, a year after Clark's death, Sacramento County District Attorney Anne Marie Schubert announced that she has concluded that the two police officers genuinely feared that Clark had a gun and that they "acted lawfully" when they shot him.
In a lengthy press conference, she walked through all the details, arguing that the officers had honestly mistaken a flash of light from Clark's phone for muzzle fire. Furthermore, an investigation of Clark's phone and the events of that weekend showed that he was deeply troubled following an apparently violent confrontation with the mother of his children. Clark was on probation for multiple crimes (two charges of domestic violence; one for robbery) and was likely concerned about the pending police response to the incident. A search of his phone showed that he had been both texting the woman over and over again, and also had been searching for online tips for killing himself. And he wasn't even stealing anything from the cars he was breaking into.
Police didn't know any of this at the time of the confrontation. But as Schubert explained, all this evidence of Clark's increasingly erratic and desperate behavior would be presented to a jury if she attempted to charge the police in the case. The implication is that it would be hard to get a jury to convict the officers given the entire context of what happened.
She might be right about that, given how hard it can be to hold a police officer accountable for misconduct in a courtroom. Nevertheless, her decision not to charge either officer has inspired a lot of anger. Clark's mother has called the press conference by Schubert a "smear campaign" against her son. Many media outlets and activists have noted that Schubert's office has investigated 34 police shootings and has not recommended charges for any of them. This shooting is being investigated separately by the California attorney general's office.
In a statement, Lizzie Buchen, legislative advocate for the American Civil Liberties Union of California's Center for Advocacy and Policy, opined: "As a society, we give police officers the most significant power we confer on the government—the power to take someone's life. Our laws must set appropriate standards to ensure police officers use that power sparingly and with the goal of preserving human life. Of equal importance is the requirement that officers be held accountable when they violate these standards."
There's a reason for her focus on the standards applied when police shoot citizens. Clark's shooting has prompted pushes to reform California's laws. In the wake of Clark's death, Assemblymember Shirley Weber (D–San Diego) introduced legislation intended to change the rules of force for California police officers. Under Weber's bill, cops could not use deadly force unless "it is necessary to prevent imminent and serious bodily injury or death," with no reasonable alternative courses of action such as deescalation or retreat. The argument here is that had the two officers retreated when they thought Clark had shot a gun, they might have realized he was not armed and that they had been mistaken.
Weber's bill was shelved last summer, but she has reintroduced it with the new legislative session. Her bill is opposed by the Police Officers Research Association of California, the state's top law enforcement lobbying organization, which has promised to craft rival legislation.
The reform push that followed Clark's death also helped create the groundswell to open records of police misconduct so that California media and citizens can find out if officers who kill on the job have a history of bad behavior. For decades, all that information was kept secret from the public, but last year SB 1421 finally opened certain police personnel and investigation records to the public. Police unions, and even the state's Democratic attorney general, are fighting against compliance with the law, but it looks like they're losing.
Scott Shackford is an associate editor at Reason.
Police California Transparency Excessive Force
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Home > JOURNALS > HASTINGS_LAW_JOURNAL > Vol. 24 (1973) > Iss. 4
The Indigent Criminal Defendant and Defense Services: A Search for Constitutional Standards
Ephraim Margolin
Allen Wagner
Ephraim Margolin and Allen Wagner, The Indigent Criminal Defendant and Defense Services: A Search for Constitutional Standards, 24 Hastings L.J. 647 (1973).
Available at: https://repository.uchastings.edu/hastings_law_journal/vol24/iss4/2
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Issues involved in the obtaining of public amenities grants, under "the 1% clause" from the New Zealand electricity department by the Huntly borough council from 1975-1977
Witten, Frank L.
Witten, F. L. (1978). Issues involved in the obtaining of public amenities grants, under ‘the 1% clause’ from the New Zealand electricity department by the Huntly borough council from 1975-1977 (Thesis, Master of Social Sciences). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/10058
Research in Huntly began in February 1975, and ended in December 1977. In February began the first approach by an association to obtain a grant from the New Zealand Electricity Department through the assistance of the Huntly Borough Council. In December 1977, my research ended after Mr. Gair, Minister of Electricity, had granted the Huntly Borough Council $1 million to be used on public amenities in the town and also granted the Raglan County Council, $460,000 for the establishment of a sporting and cultural complex in Huntly West.
Bettison, David
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Community-Based Tourism Development in Long Lan Village, Luang Prabang, Laos
Phillips, Laura Elizabeth
Phillips, L. E. (2015). Community-Based Tourism Development in Long Lan Village, Luang Prabang, Laos (Thesis, Master of Social Sciences (MSocSc)). University of Waikato, Hamilton, New Zealand. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10289/9874
This thesis reports on research that was conducted from July to September 2014 in the village of Long Lan in Northern Laos into the potential for a community based, community operated, and community controlled ethnic-ecological-tourism enterprise.
Long Lan is a White Hmong village located in a mountainous area 40 km northeast of Luang Prabang. They were traditional shifting cultivators growing rice and corn for subsistence and opium poppies for the production of opium as a cash crop. In 1999, however, the Lao government banned both shifting cultivation and opium production, presenting Long Lan with a serious livelihood challenge. In the same year, the Centre for Ecological Studies of Highlands (CHESH), a sister organization of the Vietnamese NGO the Social Policy Ecology Research Institute (SPERI), began working with Long Lan on a programme of Culture Based Sustainable Community Development aimed at developing the customary forms of leadership, governance, and ownership of territory in order for Long Lan inhabitants to maintaining their own spiritual values towards nature and their own customary ways of governing their community and natural resources.
As part of the overall village development plan, the objective of the current research was to gain an understanding of potential benefits, pitfalls and challenges involved in operating a community-based ethnic tourism enterprise in Long Lan village, and to gather information useful in aiding in the possible development of an endogenous, community-based tourism venture owned and operated by the people of Long Lan. Thirty-two semi-structured interviews were conducted with Long Lan residents to ascertain their knowledge and understanding of tourism activities and their possible impact. These views were analysed and fed back to the village in research feedback meetings together with recommendations by the research team.
The research is placed within the context of a critical review of ethnic tourism Thailand and Laos.
Barber, Keith
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Part 1: Introduction to Nutrition and Diet
Part 2: Relevant Organ Systems
Part 3: Water and Electrolytes
Part 4: Carbohydrates
Part 5: Lipids
Part 6: Protein
Part 7: Vitamins
Part 8: Minerals
Part 1: Anatomy & Physiology
Esophagus & Stomach
Liver, Biliary Tract and the Exocrine Pancreas
Part 1 : Anatomy & Physiology
Part 1: Types of Microorganisms
Part 2: Prokaryotic Cells (Bacteria)
Part 3: Viruses
Part 4: Staining
Part 5: Antimicrobial Drugs
Part 6: Vaccines
Part 7: Skin Infections
Part 8: Eye Infections
Part 9: Respiratory System Infections
Part 10: Urogenital System Infections
Part 11: Digestive System Infections
Part 12: Circulatory and Lymphatic System Infections
Part 13: Nervous System Infections
About Project Tulip
Nutrition | Protein
Defining Protein
What is Protein?
It’s All in the Side Chain
Essential and Nonessential Amino Acids
Different Types of Proteins
Building Proteins with Amino Acids
Protein Organization
Protein Digestion and Absorption
From the Mouth to the Stomach
From the Stomach to the Small Intestine
Amino Acids are Recycled
Protein’s Functions in the Body
Structure and Motion
Fluid and Acid-Base Balance
Wound Healing and Tissue Regeneration
Diseases Involving Proteins
Health Consequences of Protein Deficiency
Health Consequences of Too Much Protein in the Diet
Proteins, Diet, and Personal Choices
How Much Does a Person Need in their Diet
Dietary Sources of Protein
Protein Quality
Protein Digestibility Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS)
Protein Needs: Special Considerations
Vegetarians and Vegans
Protein is a vital constituent of all organs in the body and is required to perform a vast variety of functions. Therefore, protein is an essential nutrient that must be consumed in the diet. Many Pacific Island societies such as the Native Hawaiians accompanied their starch meals with some type of meat or seafood. Fish is known to be a complete protein source which means that all nine essential amino acids are present in the recommended amounts needed. Today, the most popular and contemporary prepared way of eating fish is known as poke. Poke, which means “cut up pieces” in Hawaiian, is chopped up chunks of fish that can be seasoned in a variety of different ways. Some common ways of seasoning include salt, shoyu (soy sauce), limu (seaweed), garlic, and onions. This is where the culinary trend of pokebowls originated from.
Protein makes up approximately 20 percent of the human body and is present in every single cell. The word protein is a Greek word, meaning “of utmost importance.” Proteins are called the workhorses of life as they provide the body with structure and perform a vast array of functions. You can stand, walk, run, skate, swim, and more because of your protein-rich muscles. Protein is necessary for proper immune system function, digestion, and hair and nail growth, and is involved in numerous other body functions. In fact, it is estimated that more than one hundred thousand different proteins exist within the human body. In this chapter you will learn about the components of protein, the important roles that protein serves within the body, how the body uses protein, the risks and consequences associated with too much or too little protein, and where to find healthy sources of it in your diet.
Proteins, simply put, are macromolecules composed of amino acids. Amino acids are commonly called protein’s building blocks. Proteins are crucial for the nourishment, renewal, and continuance of life. Proteins contain the elements carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen just as carbohydrates and lipids do, but proteins are the only macronutrient that contains nitrogen. In each amino acid the elements are arranged into a specific conformation around a carbon center. Each amino acid consists of a central carbon atom connected to a side chain, a hydrogen, a nitrogen-containing amino group, and a carboxylic acid group—hence the name “amino acid.” Amino acids differ from each other by which specific side chain is bonded to the carbon center.
Figure 6.1 Amino Acid Structure
Image by Allison Calabrese / CC BY 4.0
Amino acids contain four elements. The arrangement of elements around the carbon center is the same for all amino acids. Only the side chain (R) differs.
The side chain of an amino acid, sometimes called the “R” group, can be as simple as one hydrogen bonded to the carbon center, or as complex as a six-carbon ring bonded to the carbon center. Although each side chain of the twenty amino acids is unique, there are some chemical likenesses among them. Therefore, they can be classified into four different groups. These are nonpolar, polar, acidic, and basic.
Figure 6.2 The Different Groups of Amino Acids
Amino acids are classified into four groups. These are nonpolar, polar, acidic, and basic.
Amino acids are further classified based on nutritional aspects. Recall that there are twenty different amino acids, and we require all of them to make the many different proteins found throughout the body. Eleven of these are called nonessential amino acids because the body can synthesize them. However, nine of the amino acids are called essential amino acids because we cannot synthesize them either at all or in sufficient amounts. These must be obtained from the diet. Sometimes during infancy, growth, and in diseased states the body cannot synthesize enough of some of the nonessential amino acids and more of them are required in the diet. These types of amino acids are called conditionally essential amino acids. The nutritional value of a protein is dependent on what amino acids it contains and in what quantities.
Table 6.1 Essential and Nonessential Amino Acids
Essential Nonessential
Histidine Alanine
Isoleucine Arginine*
Leucine Asparagine
Lysine Aspartic acid
Methionine Cysteine*
Phenylalanine Glutamic acid
Threonine Glutamine*
Tryptophan Glycine*
Valine Proline*
Tyrosine*
*Conditionally essential
As discussed, there are over one hundred thousand different proteins in the human body. Different proteins are produced because there are twenty types of naturally occurring amino acids that are combined in unique sequences to form polypeptides. These polypeptide chains then fold into a three-dimensional shape to form a protein (see Figure 6.3 “Formation of Polypeptides”). Additionally, proteins come in many different sizes. The hormone insulin, which regulates blood glucose, is composed of only fifty-one amino acids; whereas collagen, a protein that acts like glue between cells, consists of more than one thousand amino acids. Titin is the largest known protein. It accounts for the elasticity of muscles, and consists of more than twenty-five thousand amino acids! The abundant variations of proteins are due to the unending number of amino acid sequences that can be formed. For example, if an amino acid sequence for a protein is 104 amino acids long the possible combinations of amino acid sequences is equal to 2×10135, which is a 2 followed by 135 zeros.
Figure 6.3 The Formation of Polypeptides
The building of a protein consists of a complex series of chemical reactions that can be summarized into three basic steps: transcription, translation, and protein folding. The first step in constructing a protein is the transcription (copying) of the genetic information in double-stranded deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) into the single-stranded, messenger macromolecule ribonucleic acid (RNA). RNA is chemically similar to DNA, but has two differences; one is that its backbone uses the sugar ribose and not deoxyribose; and two, it contains the nucleotide base uracil, and not thymidine. The RNA that is transcribed from a given piece of DNA contains the same information as that DNA, but it is now in a form that can be read by the cellular protein manufacturer known as the ribosome. Next, the RNA instructs the cells to gather all the necessary amino acids and add them to the growing protein chain in a very specific order. This process is referred to as translation. The decoding of genetic information to synthesize a protein is the central foundation of modern biology.
Figure 6.4 Steps for Building a Protein
During translation each amino acid is connected to the next amino acid by a special chemical bond called a peptide bond. The peptide bond forms between the carboxylic acid group of one amino acid and the amino group of another, releasing a molecule of water. The third step in protein production involves folding it into its correct shape. Specific amino acid sequences contain all the information necessary to spontaneously fold into a particular shape. A change in the amino acid sequence will cause a change in protein shape. Each protein in the human body differs in its amino acid sequence and consequently, its shape. The newly synthesized protein is structured to perform a particular function in a cell. A protein made with an incorrectly placed amino acid may not function properly and this can sometimes cause disease. In patients with Cystic Fibrosis, a mutation in the CFTR gene may result in small changes in the amino-acid chain, leading to misfolded proteins and consequential symptoms.
Protein’s structure enables it to perform a variety of functions. Proteins are similar to carbohydrates and lipids in that they are polymers of simple repeating units; however, proteins are much more structurally complex. In contrast to carbohydrates, which have identical repeating units, proteins are made up of amino acids that are different from one another. Furthermore, a protein is organized into four different structural levels.
Primary: The first level is the one-dimensional sequence of amino acids that are held together by peptide bonds. Carbohydrates and lipids also are one-dimensional sequences of their respective monomers, which may be branched, coiled, fibrous, or globular, but their conformation is much more random and is not organized by their sequence of monomers.
Secondary: The second level of protein structure is dependent on the chemical interactions between amino acids, which cause the protein to fold into a specific shape, such as a helix (like a coiled spring) or sheet.
Tertiary: The third level of protein structure is three-dimensional. As the different side chains of amino acids chemically interact, they either repel or attract each other, resulting in the folded structure. Thus, the specific sequence of amino acids in a protein directs the protein to fold into a specific, organized shape.
Quaternary: The fourth level of structure is achieved when protein fragments called peptides combine to make one larger functional protein. The protein hemoglobin is an example of a protein that has quaternary structure. It is composed of four peptides that bond together to form a functional oxygen carrier.
A protein’s structure also influences its nutritional quality. Large fibrous protein structures are more difficult to digest than smaller proteins and some, such as keratin, are indigestible. Because digestion of some fibrous proteins is incomplete, not all of the amino acids are absorbed and available for the body to utilize, thereby decreasing their nutritional value.
Figure 6.5 The Four Structural Levels of Proteins
Image by OpenStax / CC BY 4.0
How do the proteins from foods, denatured or not, get processed into amino acids that cells can use to make new proteins?
When you eat food, the body’s digestive system breaks down the protein into the individual amino acids, which are absorbed and used by cells to build other proteins and a few other macromolecules, such as DNA. Previously, the general process of food digestion was discussed, now on to the specific path that proteins take down the gastrointestinal tract and into the circulatory system (Figure 6.7 “Digestion and Absorption of Protein”). Eggs are a good dietary source of protein and will be used as our example to describe the path of proteins in the processes of digestion and absorption. One egg, whether raw, hard-boiled, scrambled, or fried, supplies about six grams of protein.
Figure 6.7 Digestion and Absorption of Protein
Unless an egg is eaten raw, the first step in egg digestion (or any other protein food) involves chewing. The teeth begin the mechanical breakdown of the large egg pieces into smaller pieces that can be swallowed. The salivary glands provide some saliva to aid swallowing and the passage of the partially mashed egg through the esophagus. The mashed egg pieces enter the stomach through the esophageal sphincter. The stomach releases gastric juices containing hydrochloric acid and the enzyme, pepsin, which initiate the breakdown of the protein. The acidity of the stomach facilitates the unfolding of the proteins that still retain part of their three-dimensional structure after cooking and helps break down the protein aggregates formed during cooking. Pepsin, which is secreted by the cells that line the stomach, dismantles the protein chains into smaller and smaller fragments. Egg proteins are large globular molecules and their chemical breakdown requires time and mixing. The powerful mechanical stomach contractions churn the partially digested protein into a more uniform mixture called chyme. Protein digestion in the stomach takes a longer time than carbohydrate digestion, but a shorter time than fat digestion. Eating a high-protein meal increases the amount of time required to sufficiently break down the meal in the stomach. Food remains in the stomach longer, making you feel full longer.
The stomach empties the chyme containing the broken down egg pieces into the small intestine, where the majority of protein digestion occurs. The pancreas secretes digestive juice that contains more enzymes that further break down the protein fragments. The two major pancreatic enzymes that digest proteins are chymotrypsin and trypsin. The cells that line the small intestine release additional enzymes that finally break apart the smaller protein fragments into the individual amino acids. The muscle contractions of the small intestine mix and propel the digested proteins to the absorption sites. In the lower parts of the small intestine, the amino acids are transported from the intestinal lumen through the intestinal cells to the blood. This movement of individual amino acids requires special transport proteins and the cellular energy molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Once the amino acids are in the blood, they are transported to the liver. As with other macronutrients, the liver is the checkpoint for amino acid distribution and any further breakdown of amino acids, which is very minimal. Recall that amino acids contain nitrogen, so further catabolism of amino acids releases nitrogen-containing ammonia. Because ammonia is toxic, the liver transforms it into urea, which is then transported to the kidney and excreted in the urine. Urea is a molecule that contains two nitrogens and is highly soluble in water. This makes it a good choice for transporting excess nitrogen out of the body. Because amino acids are building blocks that the body reserves in order to synthesize other proteins, more than 90 percent of the protein ingested does not get broken down further than the amino acid monomers.
Just as some plastics can be recycled to make new products, amino acids are recycled to make new proteins. All cells in the body continually break down proteins and build new ones, a process referred to as protein turnover. Every day over 250 grams of protein in your body are dismantled and 250 grams of new protein are built. To form these new proteins, amino acids from food and those from protein destruction are placed into a “pool.” Though it is not a literal pool, when an amino acid is required to build another protein it can be acquired from the additional amino acids that exist within the body. Amino acids are used not only to build proteins, but also to build other biological molecules containing nitrogen, such as DNA, RNA, and to some extent to produce energy. It is critical to maintain amino acid levels within this cellular pool by consuming high-quality proteins in the diet, or the amino acids needed for building new proteins will be obtained by increasing protein destruction from other tissues within the body, especially muscle. This amino acid pool is less than one percent of total body-protein content. Thus, the body does not store protein as it does with carbohydrates (as glycogen in the muscles and liver) and lipids (as triglycerides in adipose tissue).
Figure 6.8 Options For Amino Acid Use In The Human Body
Amino acids in the cellular pool come from dietary protein and from the destruction of cellular proteins. The amino acids in this pool need to be replenished because amino acids are outsourced to make new proteins, energy, and other biological molecules.
Proteins are the “workhorses” of the body and participate in many bodily functions. Proteins come in all sizes and shapes and each is specifically structured for its particular function.
Figure 6.9 Collagen Structure
Collagen Triple Helix by Nevit Dilmen / CC BY-SA 3.0
More than one hundred different structural proteins have been discovered in the human body, but the most abundant by far is collagen, which makes up about 6 percent of total body weight. Collagen makes up 30 percent of bone tissue and comprises large amounts of tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, and muscle. Collagen is a strong, fibrous protein made up of mostly glycine and proline (both conditionally essential amino acids). Within its quaternary structure three peptide strands twist around each other like a rope and then these collagen ropes overlap with others. This highly ordered structure is even stronger than steel fibers of the same size. Collagen makes bones strong, but flexible. Collagen fibers in the skin’s dermis provide it with structure, and the accompanying elastin protein fibrils make it flexible. Pinch the skin on your hand and then let go; the collagen and elastin proteins in skin allow it to go back to its original shape. Smooth-muscle cells that secrete collagen and elastin proteins surround blood vessels, providing the vessels with structure and the ability to stretch back after blood is pumped through them. Another strong, fibrous protein is keratin, which is what skin, hair, and nails are made of. The closely packed collagen fibrils in tendons and ligaments allow for synchronous mechanical movements of bones and muscle and the ability of these tissues to spring back after a movement is complete.
Although proteins are found in the greatest amounts in connective tissues such as bone, their most extraordinary function is as enzymes. Enzymes are proteins that conduct specific chemical reactions. An enzyme’s job is to provide a site for a chemical reaction and to lower the amount of energy and time it takes for that chemical reaction to happen (this is known as “catalysis”). On average, more than one hundred chemical reactions occur in cells every single second and most of them require enzymes. The liver alone contains over one thousand enzyme systems. Enzymes are specific and will use only particular substrates that fit into their active site, similar to the way a lock can be opened only with a specific key. Nearly every chemical reaction requires a specific enzyme. Fortunately, an enzyme can fulfill its role as a catalyst over and over again, although eventually it is destroyed and rebuilt. All bodily functions, including the breakdown of nutrients in the stomach and small intestine, the transformation of nutrients into molecules a cell can use, and building all macromolecules, including protein itself, involve enzymes (see Figure 6.10 “Enzymes Role in Carbohydrate Digestion”).
Figure 6.10 Enzymes Role in Carbohydrate Digestion
Proteins are responsible for hormone synthesis. Hormones are the chemical messages produced by the endocrine glands. When an endocrine gland is stimulated, it releases a hormone. The hormone is then transported in the blood to its target cell, where it communicates a message to initiate a specific reaction or cellular process. For instance, after you eat a meal, your blood glucose levels rise. In response to the increased blood glucose, the pancreas releases the hormone insulin. Insulin tells the cells of the body that glucose is available and to take it up from the blood and store it or use it for making energy or building macromolecules. A major function of hormones is to turn enzymes on and off, so some proteins can even regulate the actions of other proteins. While not all hormones are made from proteins, many of them are.
Proper protein intake enables the basic biological processes of the body to maintain the status quo in a changing environment. Fluid balance refers to maintaining the distribution of water in the body. If too much water in the blood suddenly moves into a tissue, the results are swelling and, potentially, cell death. Water always flows from an area of high concentration to one of a low concentration. As a result, water moves toward areas that have higher concentrations of other solutes, such as proteins and glucose. To keep the water evenly distributed between blood and cells, proteins continuously circulate at high concentrations in the blood. The most abundant protein in blood is the butterfly-shaped protein known as albumin. Albumin’s presence in the blood makes the protein concentration in the blood similar to that in cells. Therefore, fluid exchange between the blood and cells is not in the extreme, but rather is minimized to preserve the status quo.
Figure 6.11 The Protein Albumin
PDB 1o9x EBI by Jawahar Swaminathan / EBI / Public Domain
The butterfly-shaped protein, albumin, has many functions in the body including maintaining fluid and acid-base balance and transporting molecules.
Protein is also essential in maintaining proper pH balance (the measure of how acidic or basic a substance is) in the blood. Blood pH is maintained between 7.35 and 7.45, which is slightly basic. Even a slight change in blood pH can affect body functions. Recall that acidic conditions can cause protein denaturation, which stops proteins from functioning. The body has several systems that hold the blood pH within the normal range to prevent this from happening. One of these is the circulating albumin. Albumin is slightly acidic, and because it is negatively charged it balances the many positively charged molecules, such as protons (H+), calcium, potassium, and magnesium which are also circulating in the blood. Albumin acts as a buffer against abrupt changes in the concentrations of these molecules, thereby balancing blood pH and maintaining the status quo. The protein hemoglobin also participates in acid-base balance by binding and releasing protons.
Albumin and hemoglobin also play a role in molecular transport. Albumin chemically binds to hormones, fatty acids, some vitamins, essential minerals, and drugs, and transports them throughout the circulatory system. Each red blood cell contains millions of hemoglobin molecules that bind oxygen in the lungs and transport it to all the tissues in the body. A cell’s plasma membrane is usually not permeable to large polar molecules, so to get the required nutrients and molecules into the cell many transport proteins exist in the cell membrane. Some of these proteins are channels that allow particular molecules to move in and out of cells. Others act as one-way taxis and require energy to function.
Figure 6.12 Antibody Proteins
Abagovomab (monoclonal antibody) by Blake C / CC BY-SA 3.0
Figure 6.13 Antigens
Antibody chains by Fred the Oyster / Public Domain
An antibody protein is made up of two heavy chains and two light chains. The variable region, which differs from one antibody to the next, allows an antibody to recognize its matching antigen.
Earlier we discussed that the strong collagen fibers in skin provide it with structure and support. The skin’s dense network of collagen fibers also serves as a barricade against harmful substances. The immune system’s attack and destroy functions are dependent on enzymes and antibodies, which are also proteins. An enzyme called lysozyme is secreted in the saliva and attacks the walls of bacteria, causing them to rupture. Certain proteins circulating in the blood can be directed to build a molecular knife that stabs the cellular membranes of foreign invaders. The antibodies secreted by the white blood cells survey the entire circulatory system looking for harmful bacteria and viruses to surround and destroy. Antibodies also trigger other factors in the immune system to seek and destroy unwanted intruders.
Proteins are involved in all aspects of wound healing, a process that takes place in three phases: inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling. For example, if you were sewing and pricked your finger with a needle, your flesh would turn red and become inflamed. Within a few seconds bleeding would stop. The healing process begins with proteins such as bradykinin, which dilate blood vessels at the site of injury. An additional protein called fibrin helps to secure platelets that form a clot to stop the bleeding. Next, in the proliferative phase, cells move in and mend the injured tissue by installing newly made collagen fibers. The collagen fibers help pull the wound edges together. In the remodeling phase, more collagen is deposited, forming a scar. Scar tissue is only about 80 percent as functional as normal uninjured tissue. If a diet is insufficient in protein, the process of wound healing is markedly slowed.
While wound healing takes place only after an injury is sustained, a different process called tissue regeneration is ongoing in the body. The main difference between wound healing and tissue regeneration is in the process of regenerating an exact structural and functional copy of the lost tissue. Thus, old, dying tissue is not replaced with scar tissue but with brand new, fully functional tissue. Some cells (such as skin, hair, nails, and intestinal cells) have a very high rate of regeneration, while others, (such as heart-muscle cells and nerve cells) do not regenerate at any appreciable levels. Tissue regeneration is the creation of new cells (cell division), which requires many different proteins including enzymes that synthesize RNA and proteins, transport proteins, hormones, and collagen. In a hair follicle, cells divide and a hair grows in length. Hair growth averages 1 centimeter per month and fingernails about 1 centimeter every one hundred days. The cells lining the intestine regenerate every three to five days. Protein-inadequate diets impair tissue regeneration, causing health problems including impairment of nutrient digestion and absorption and, most visibly, hair and nail growth.
Some of the amino acids in proteins can be disassembled and used to make energy (Figure 6.14 “Amino Acids Used for Energy”). Only about 10 percent of dietary proteins are catabolized each day to make cellular energy. The liver is able to break down amino acids to the carbon skeleton, which can then be fed into the citric acid cycle. This is similar to the way that glucose is used to make ATP. If a person’s diet does not contain enough carbohydrates and fats their body will use more amino acids to make energy, which compromises the synthesis of new proteins and destroys muscle proteins. Alternatively, if a person’s diet contains more protein than the body needs, the extra amino acids will be broken down and transformed into fat.
Figure 6.14 Amino Acids Used for Energy
As you may recall, moderation refers to having the proper amount of a nutrient—having neither too little nor too much. A healthy diet incorporates all nutrients in moderation. Low protein intake has several health consequences, and a severe lack of protein in the diet eventually causes death. Although severe protein deficiency is a rare occurrence in children and adults in the United States, it is estimated that more than half of the elderly in nursing homes are protein-deficient. The Acceptable Macronutrient Distribution Range (AMDR) for protein for adults is between 10 and 35 percent of kilocalories, which is a fairly wide range. The percent of protein in the diet that is associated with malnutrition and its health consequences is less than 10 percent, but this is often accompanied by deficiencies in calories and other micronutrients. Next, too few and too much protein are discussed, as well as personal diet choices with respect to protein intake.
Although severe protein deficiency is rare in the developed world, it is a leading cause of death in children in many poor, underdeveloped countries. There are two main syndromes associated with protein deficiencies: Kwashiorkor and Marasmus.
Kwashiorkor affects millions of children worldwide. When it was first described in 1935, more than 90 percent of children with Kwashiorkor died. Although the associated mortality is slightly lower now, most children still die after the initiation of treatment. The name Kwashiorkor comes from a language in Ghana and means, “rejected one.” The syndrome was named because it occurred most commonly in children who had recently been weaned from the breast, usually because another child had just been born. Subsequently the child was fed watery porridge made from low-protein grains, which accounts for the low protein intake. Kwashiorkor is characterized by swelling (edema) of the feet and abdomen, poor skin health, growth retardation, low muscle mass, and liver malfunction. Recall that one of protein’s functional roles in the body is fluid balance. Diets extremely low in protein do not provide enough amino acids for the synthesis of albumin. One of the functions of albumin is to hold water in the blood vessels (the colloid osmotic pressure), so having lower concentrations of blood albumin results in water moving out of the blood vessels and into tissues, causing edema. The primary symptoms of Kwashiorkor include not only edema, but also diarrhea, fatigue, peeling skin, and irritability. Severe protein deficiency in addition to other micronutrient deficiencies, such as folate (vitamin B9), iodine, iron, and vitamin C all contribute to the many health manifestations of this syndrome.
Figure 6.15 A Young Boy With Kwashiorkor
Source: Photo courtesy of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Kwashiorkor is a disease brought on by a severe dietary protein deficiency. Symptoms include edema of legs and feet, light-colored, thinning hair, anemia, a pot-belly, and shiny skin.
Marasmus patients neither have enough protein in their diets nor do they take in enough calories. Marasmus affects mostly children below the age of one in poor countries. Body weights of children with Marasmus may be up to 80 percent less than that of a normal child of the same age. Marasmus is a Greek word, meaning “starvation.” The syndrome affects more than fifty million children under age five worldwide. It is characterized by an extreme emaciated appearance, poor skin health, and growth retardation. The symptoms are acute fatigue, hunger, and diarrhea.
Figure 6.16 Children With Marasmus
Japanese nurse with dependent children having typical appearance of malnutrition, New Bilibid Prison, September-October 1945 by Unknown / Public Domain
Kwashiorkor and marasmus often coexist as a combined syndrome termed marasmic kwashiorkor. Children with the combined syndrome have variable amounts of edema and the characterizations and symptoms of marasmus. Although organ system function is compromised by undernutrition, the ultimate cause of death is usually infection. Undernutrition is intricately linked with suppression of the immune system at multiple levels, so undernourished children commonly die from severe diarrhea and/or pneumonia resulting from bacterial or viral infection. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the most prominent agency with the mission of changing the world to improve children’s lives, reports that undernutrition causes at least one-third of deaths of young children. As of 2008, the prevalence of children under age five who were underweight was 26 percent. The percentage of underweight children has declined less than 5 percent in the last eighteen years despite the Millennium Development Goal of halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger by the year 2015.
Figure 6.17 Causes Of Death For Children Under The Age Of Five, Worldwide
An explicit definition of a high-protein diet has not yet been developed by the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), but typically diets high in protein are considered as those that derive more than 30 percent of calories from protein. Many people following high-protein diets do so because marketers oversell protein’s ability to stimulate weight loss. It is true that following high-protein diets increases weight loss in some people. However the number of individuals that remain on this type of diet is low and many people who try the diet and stop regain the weight they had lost. As the high-protein diet trend arose so did the intensely debated issue of whether there are any health consequences of eating too much protein. Observational studies conducted in the general population suggest diets high in animal protein, specifically those in which the primary protein source is red meat, are linked to a higher risk for kidney stones, kidney disease, liver malfunction, colorectal cancer, and osteoporosis. However, diets that include lots of red meat are also high in saturated fat and cholesterol and sometimes linked to unhealthy lifestyles, so it is difficult to conclude that the high protein content is the culprit.
High protein diets appear to only increase the progression of kidney disease and liver malfunction in people who already have kidney or liver malfunction, and not to cause these problems. However, the prevalence of kidney disorders is relatively high and underdiagnosed. In regard to colon cancer, an assessment of more than ten studies performed around the world published in the June 2011 issue of PLoS purports that a high intake of red meat and processed meat is associated with a significant increase in colon cancer risk.[1]Although there are a few ideas, the exact mechanism of how proteins, specifically those in red and processed meats, causes colon cancer is not yet known and requires further study.
Some scientists hypothesize that high-protein diets may accelerate bone-tissue loss because under some conditions the acids in protein block absorption of calcium in the gut, and, once in the blood, amino acids promote calcium loss from bone; however even these effects have not been consistently observed in scientific studies. Results from the Nurses’ Health Study suggest that women who eat more than 95 grams of protein each day have a 20 percent higher risk for wrist fracture.[2][3]
Other studies have not produced consistent results. The scientific data on high protein diets and increased risk for osteoporosis remains highly controversial and more research is needed to come to any conclusions about the association between the two.[4]
High-protein diets can restrict other essential nutrients. The American Heart Association (AHA) states that “High-protein diets are not recommended because they restrict healthful foods that provide essential nutrients and do not provide the variety of foods needed to adequately meet nutritional needs. Individuals who follow these diets are therefore at risk for compromised vitamin and mineral intake, as well as potential cardiac, renal, bone, and liver abnormalities overall.”[5]
As with any nutrient, protein must be eaten in proper amounts. Moderation and variety are key strategies to achieving a healthy diet and need to be considered when optimizing protein intake.
Chan DS, Lau R, et al. Red and Processed Meat and Colorectal Cancer Incidence: Meta-Analysis of Prospective Studies. PLoS One. 2011; 6(6), e20456. http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0020456. Accessed September 30, 2017.
Protein: The Bottom Line. Harvard School of Public Health.The Nutrition Source. http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/what-should-you-eat/protein/.Published 2012. Accessed September 28, 2017.
Barzel US, Massey LK. Excess Dietary Protein Can Adversely Affect Bone. J Nutr. 1998; 128(6), 1051–53. http://jn.nutrition.org/content/128/6/1051.long. Accessed September 28, 2017.
St. Jeor ST, et al. Dietary Protein and Weight Reduction: A Statement for Healthcare Professionals from the Nutrition Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism of the American Heart Association. Circulation. 2001; 104, 1869–74. http://circ.ahajournals.org/cgi/pmidlookup?view=long&pmid=11591629. Accessed September 28, 2017.
We have discussed what proteins are, how they are made, how they are digested and absorbed, the many functions of proteins in the body, and the consequences of having too little or too much protein in the diet. This section will provide you with information on how to determine the recommended amount of protein for you, and your many choices in designing an optimal diet with high-quality protein sources.
The recommendations set by the IOM for the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and AMDR for protein for different age groups are listed in Table 6.2 “Dietary Reference Intakes for Protein”. A Tolerable Upper Intake Limit for protein has not been set, but it is recommended that you do not exceed the upper end of the AMDR.
Table 6.2 Dietary Reference Intakes for Protein
Age Group RDA (g/day) AMDR (% calories)
Infants (0–6 mo) 9.1* Not determined
Infants (7–12 mo) 11.0 Not determined
Children (1–3) 13.0 5–20
Children (4–8) 19.0 10–30
Children (9–13) 34.0 10–30
Males (14–18) 52.0 10–30
Females (14–18) 46.0 10–30
Adult Males (19+) 56.0 10–35
Adult Females (19+) 46.0 10–35
* Denotes Adequate Intake
Source: Dietary Reference Intakes: Macronutrients. Dietary Reference Intakes for Energy, Carbohydrate, Fiber, Fat, Fatty Acids, Cholesterol, Protein, and Amino Acids. Institute of Medicine. September 5, 2002. Accessed September 28, 2017.
Protein Input = Protein Used by the Body + Protein Excreted
The appropriate amount of protein in a person’s diet is that which maintains a balance between what is taken in and what is used. The RDAs for protein were determined by assessing nitrogen balance. Nitrogen is one of the four basic elements contained in all amino acids. When proteins are broken down and amino acids are catabolized, nitrogen is released. Remember that when the liver breaks down amino acids, it produces ammonia, which is rapidly converted to nontoxic, nitrogen-containing urea, which is then transported to the kidneys for excretion. Most nitrogen is lost as urea in the urine, but urea is also excreted in the feces. Proteins are also lost in sweat and as hair and nails grow. The RDA, therefore, is the amount of protein a person should consume in their diet to balance the amount of protein used up and lost from the body. For healthy adults, this amount of protein was determined to be 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight. You can calculate your exact recommended protein intake per day based on your weight by using the following equation:
(Weight in kg) × 0.8 g/kg OR (Weight in lbs. × 0.36 g/kg)
Note that if a person is overweight, the amount of dietary protein recommended can be overestimated.
The IOM used data from multiple studies that determined nitrogen balance in people of different age groups to calculate the RDA for protein. A person is said to be in nitrogen balance when the nitrogen input equals the amount of nitrogen used and excreted. A person is in negative nitrogen balance when the amount of excreted nitrogen is greater than that consumed, meaning that the body is breaking down more protein to meet its demands. This state of imbalance can occur in people who have certain diseases, such as cancer or muscular dystrophy. Someone who has a low-protein diet may also be in negative nitrogen balance as they are taking in less protein than what they actually need. Positive nitrogen balance occurs when a person excretes less nitrogen than what is taken in by the diet, such as during child growth or pregnancy. At these times the body requires more protein to build new tissues, so more of what gets consumed gets used up and less nitrogen is excreted. A person healing from a severe wound may also be in positive nitrogen balance because protein is being used up to repair tissues.
The protein food group consists of foods made from meat, seafood, poultry, eggs, soy, dry beans, peas, and seeds. According to the Harvard School of Public Health, “animal protein and vegetable protein probably have the same effects on health. It’s the protein package that’s likely to make a difference.”[1]
Simply put, different protein sources differ in their additional components, so it is necessary to pay attention to the whole nutrient “package.” Protein-rich animal-based foods commonly have high amounts of B vitamins, vitamin E, iron, magnesium, and zinc. Seafood often contains healthy fats, and plant sources of protein contain a high amount of fiber. Some animal-based protein-rich foods have an unhealthy amount of saturated fat and cholesterol. When choosing your dietary sources of protein, take note of the other nutrients and also the non-nutrients, such as cholesterol, dyes, and preservatives, in order to make good selections that will benefit your health. For instance, a hamburger patty made from 80 percent lean meat contains 22 grams of protein, 5.7 grams of saturated fat, and 77 milligrams of cholesterol. A burger made from 95 percent lean meat also contains 22 grams of protein, but has 2.3 grams of saturated fat and 60 milligrams of cholesterol. A cup of boiled soybeans contains 29 grams of protein, 2.2 grams of saturated fat, and no cholesterol. For more comparisons of protein-rich foods, see Table 6.3 “Sources of Dietary Protein”. To find out the complete nutrient package of different foods, visit the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) Food Composition Databases.
Table 6.3 Sources of Dietary Protein
Food Protein Content (g) Saturated Fat (g) Cholesterol (mg) Calories
Hamburger patty 3 oz. (80% lean) 22.0 5.7 77 230
Top sirloin 3 oz. 25.8 2.0 76 158
Beef chuck 3 oz. (lean, trimmed) 22.2 1.8 51 135
Pork loin 3 oz. 24.3 3.0 69 178
Pork ribs (country style, 1 piece) 56.4 22.2 222 790
Chicken breast (roasted, 1 c.) 43.4 1.4 119 231
Chicken thigh (roasted, 1 thigh) 13.5 1.6 49 109
Chicken leg (roasted, 1 leg) 29.6 4.2 105 264
Salmon 3 oz. 18.8 2.1 54 175
Tilapia 3 oz. 22.2 0.8 48 109
Halibut 3 oz. 22.7 0.4 35 119
Shrimp 3 oz. 17.8 0.2 166 84
Shrimp (breaded, fried, 6–8 pcs.) 18.9 5.4 200 454
Tuna 3 oz. (canned) 21.7 0.2 26 99
Soybeans 1 c. (boiled) 29.0 2.2 0 298
Lentils 1 c. (boiled) 17.9 0.1 0 226
Kidney beans 1 c. (canned) 13.5 0.2 0 215
Sunflower seeds 1 c. 9.6 2.0 0 269
The USDA provides some tips for choosing your dietary protein sources. Their motto is, “Go Lean with Protein”. The overall suggestion is to eat a variety of protein-rich foods to benefit health. The USDA recommends lean meats, such as round steaks, top sirloin, extra lean ground beef, pork loin, and skinless chicken. Additionally, a person should consume 8 ounces of cooked seafood every week (typically as two 4-ounce servings) to assure they are getting the healthy omega-3 fatty acids that have been linked to a lower risk for heart disease. Another tip is choosing to eat dry beans, peas, or soy products as a main dish. Some of the menu choices include chili with kidney and pinto beans, hummus on pita bread, and black bean enchiladas. You could also enjoy nuts in a variety of ways. You can put them on a salad, in a stir-fry, or use them as a topping for steamed vegetables in place of meat or cheese. If you do not eat meat, the USDA has much more information on how to get all the protein you need from a plant-based diet. When choosing the best protein-rich foods to eat, pay attention to the whole nutrient package and remember to select from a variety of protein sources to get all the other essential micronutrients.
While protein is contained in a wide variety of foods, it differs in quality. High-quality protein contains all the essential amino acids in the proportions needed by the human body. The amino acid profile of different foods is therefore one component of protein quality. Foods that contain some of the essential amino acids are called incomplete protein sources, while those that contain all nine essential amino acids are called complete protein sources, or high-quality protein sources. Foods that are complete protein sources include animal foods such as milk, cheese, eggs, fish, poultry, and meat, and some plant foods, such as soy and quinoa. The only animal-based protein that is not complete is gelatin, which is made of the protein collagen.
Figure 6.18 Complete and Incomplete Protein Sources
Protein-rich Foods by Smastronardo / CC BY-SA 4.0
Examples of complete protein sources include soy, dairy products, meat, and seafood. Examples of incomplete protein sources include legumes and corn.
Most plant-based foods are deficient in at least one essential amino acid and therefore are incomplete protein sources. For example, grains are usually deficient in the amino acid lysine, and legumes are deficient in methionine or tryptophan. Because grains and legumes are not deficient in the same amino acids they can complement each other in a diet. Incomplete protein foods are called complementary foods because when consumed in tandem they contain all nine essential amino acids at adequate levels. Some examples of complementary protein foods are given in Table 6.4 “Complementing Protein Sources the Vegan Way”. Complementary protein sources do not have to be consumed at the same time—as long as they are consumed within the same day, you will meet your protein needs.
Table 6.4 Complementing Protein Sources the Vegan Way
Foods Lacking Amino Acids Complementary Food Complementary Menu
Legumes Methionine, tryptophan Grains, nuts, and seeds Hummus and whole-wheat pita
Grains Lysine, isoleucine, threonine Legumes Cornbread and kidney bean chili
Nuts and seeds Lysine, isoleucine Legumes Stir-fried tofu with cashews
The second component of protein quality is digestibility, as not all protein sources are equally digested. In general, animal-based proteins are completely broken down during the process of digestion, whereas plant-based proteins are not. This is because some proteins are contained in the plant’s fibrous cell walls and these pass through the digestive tract unabsorbed by the body.
The PDCAAS is a method adopted by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to determine a food’s protein quality. It is calculated using a formula that incorporates the total amount of amino acids in the food and the amount of protein in the food that is actually digested by humans. The food’s protein quality is then ranked against the foods highest in protein quality. Milk protein, egg whites, whey, and soy all have a ranking of one, the highest ranking. Other foods’ ranks are listed in Table 6.5 “PDCAAS of Various Foods”.
Table 6.5 PDCAAS of Various Foods
Food PDCAAS*
Milk protein 1.00
Egg white 1.00
Whey 1.00
Soy protein 1.00
Beef 0.92
Soybeans 0.91
Chickpeas 0.78
Fruits 0.76
Vegetables 0.73
Whole wheat 0.42
*1 is the highest rank, 0 is the lowest
Some groups may need to examine how to meet their protein needs more closely than others. We will take a closer look at the special protein considerations for vegetarians, the elderly, and athletes.
People who follow variations of the vegetarian diet and consume eggs and/or dairy products can meet their protein requirements by consuming adequate amounts of these foods. Vegetarians and vegans can also attain their recommended protein intakes if they give a little more attention to high-quality plant-based protein sources. However, when following a vegetarian diet, the amino acid lysine can be challenging to acquire. Grains, nuts, and seeds are lysine-poor foods, but tofu, soy, quinoa, and pistachios are all good sources of lysine. Following a vegetarian diet and getting the recommended protein intake is also made a little more difficult because the digestibility of plant-based protein sources is lower than the digestibility of animal-based protein.
To begin planning a more plant-based diet, start by finding out which types of food you want to eat and in what amounts you should eat them to ensure that you get the protein you need. The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) has analyzed how three different, plant-based dietary patterns can meet the recommended dietary guidelines for all nutrients.[2]
The diets are defined in the following manner:
Plant-based. Fifty percent of protein is obtained from plant foods.
Lacto-ovo vegetarian. All animal products except eggs and dairy are eliminated.
Vegan. All animal products are eliminated.
These diets are analyzed and compared to the more common dietary pattern of Americans, which is referred to as the USDA Base Diet. Table 6.6 “Percentage of “Meat and Beans Group” Components in the USDA Base Diet, and Three Vegetarian Variations” and Table 7.7 “Proportions of Milk Products and Calcium-Fortified Soy Products in the Base USDA Patterns and Three Vegetarian Variations” can be used to help determine what percentage of certain foods to eat when following a different dietary pattern. The percentages of foods in the different groups are the proportions consumed by the population, so that, on average, Americans obtain 44.6 percent of their foods in the meat and beans group from meats. If you choose to follow a lacto-ovo vegetarian diet, the meats, poultry, and fish can be replaced by consuming a higher percentage of soy products, nuts, seeds, dry beans, and peas. As an aside, the DGAC notes that these dietary patterns may not exactly align with the typical diet patterns of people in the United States. However, they do say that they can be adapted as a guide to develop a more plant-based diet that does not significantly affect nutrient adequacy.
Table 6.6 Percentage of “Meat and Beans Group” Components in the USDA Base Diet, and Three Vegetarian Variations
Food Category Base USDA (%) Plant-Based (%) Lacto-Ovo Vegetarian (%) Vegan (%)
Meats 44.6 10.5 0 0
Poultry 27.9 8.0 0 0
Fish (high omega-3) 2.2 3.0 0 0
Fish (low omega-3) 7.1 10.0 0 0
Eggs 7.9 7.6 10.0 0
Soy products 0.9 15.0 30.0 25.0
Nuts and seeds 9.4 20.9 35.0 40.0
Dry beans and peas n/a* 25.0 25.0 35.0
Total 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0
*The dry beans and peas are in the vegetable food group of the base diet.
Source: Vegetarian Food Patterns: Food Pattern Modeling Analysis. US Department of Agriculture. Appendix E-3.3. http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/Publications/DietaryGuidelines/2010/DGAC/Report/AppendixE-3-3-Vegetarian.pdf. Accessed September 28, 2017.
Table 6.7 Proportions of Milk Products and Calcium-Fortified Soy Products in the Base USDA Patterns and Three Vegetarian Variations
Fluid milk 54.6 54.6 54.6 0
Yogurt 1.6 1.6 1.6 0
Cheese 42.7 42.7 42.7 0
Soy milk (w/ calcium) 1.1 1.1 1.1 67.0
Rice milk (w/ calcium) 0 0 0 16.0
Tofu (w/ calcium) 0 0 0 15.0
Soy yogurt 0 0 0 2.0
From these analyses the DGAC concluded that the plant-based, lacto-ovo vegetarian, and vegan diets do not significantly affect nutrient adequacy. Additionally, the DGAC states that people who choose to obtain proteins solely from plants should include foods fortified with vitamins B12, D, and calcium. Other nutrients of concern may be omega-3 fatty acids and choline.
As we age, muscle mass gradually declines. This is a process referred to as sarcopenia. A person is sarcopenic when their amount of muscle tissue is significantly lower than the average value for a healthy person of the same age. A significantly lower muscle mass is associated with weakness, movement disorders, and a generally poor quality of life. It is estimated that about half the US population of men and women above the age of eighty are sarcopenic. A review published in the September 2010 issue of Clinical Intervention in Aging demonstrates that higher intakes (1.2 to 1.5 grams per kilogram of weight per day) of high-quality protein may prevent aging adults from becoming sarcopenic.[3]
Currently, the RDA for protein for elderly persons is the same as that for the rest of the adult population, but several clinical trials are ongoing and are focused on determining the amount of protein in the diet that prevents the significant loss of muscle mass specifically in older adults.
Muscle tissue is rich in protein composition and has a very high turnover rate. During exercise, especially when it is performed for longer than two to three hours, muscle tissue is broken down and some of the amino acids are catabolized to fuel muscle contraction. To avert excessive borrowing of amino acids from muscle tissue to synthesize energy during prolonged exercise, protein needs to be obtained from the diet. Intense exercise, such as strength training, stresses muscle tissue so that afterward, the body adapts by building bigger, stronger, and healthier muscle tissue. The body requires protein post-exercise to accomplish this. The IOM does not set different RDAs for protein intakes for athletes, but the AND, the American College of Sports Medicine, and Dietitians of Canada have the following position statements[4]:
Nitrogen balance studies suggest that dietary protein intake necessary to support nitrogen balance in endurance athletes ranges from 1.2 to 1.4 grams per kilogram of body weight per day.
Recommended protein intakes for strength-trained athletes range from approximately 1.2 to 1.7 grams per kilogram of weight per day.
An endurance athlete who weighs 170 pounds (=170 ÷ 2.2 in kg) should take in 93 to 108 grams of protein per day (170 ÷ 2.2 × 1.2 and 170 ÷ 2.2 × 1.4). On a 3,000-kilocalorie diet, that amount is between 12 and 14 percent of total kilocalories and within the AMDR. There is general scientific agreement that endurance and strength athletes should consume protein from high-quality sources, such as dairy, eggs, lean meats, or soy; however eating an excessive amount of protein at one time does not further stimulate muscle-protein synthesis. Nutrition experts also recommend that athletes consume some protein within one hour after exercise to enhance muscle tissue repair during the recovery phase, but some carbohydrates and water should be consumed as well. The recommended ratio from nutrition experts for exercise-recovery foods is 4 grams of carbohydrates to 1 gram of protein.
Table 6.8 Snacks for Exercise Recovery
Foods Protein (g) Carbohydrates (g) Calories
Whole grain cereal with nonfat milk 14 53 260
Medium banana with nonfat milk 10 39 191
Power bar 10 43 250
In response to hard training, a person’s body also adapts by becoming more efficient in metabolizing nutrient fuels both for energy production and building macromolecules. However, this raises another question: if athletes are more efficient at using protein, is it necessary to take in more protein from dietary sources than the average person? There are two scientific schools of thought on this matter. One side believes athletes need more protein and the other thinks the protein requirements of athletes are the same as for nonathletes. There is scientific evidence to support both sides of this debate. The consensus of both sides is that few people exercise at the intensity that makes this debate relevant. It is good to remember that the increased protein intake recommended by the AND, American College of Sports Medicine, and Dietitians of Canada still lies within the AMDR for protein.
Protein supplements include powders made from compounds such as whey, soy or amino acids that either come as a powder or in capsules. It has been previously noted that the protein requirements for most people, even those that are active, is not high. Is taking protein supplements ever justified, then? Neither protein nor amino acid supplements have been scientifically proven to improve exercise performance or increase strength. In addition, the average American already consumes more protein than is required. Despite these facts, many highly physically active individuals use protein or amino acid supplements. According to the AND, American College of Sports Medicine, and Dietitians of Canada, “the current evidence indicates that protein and amino acid supplements are no more or no less effective than food when energy is adequate for gaining lean body mass.”[5]
Branched-chain amino acids, such as leucine, are often touted as a way to build muscle tissue and enhance athletic performance. Despite these marketing claims, a review in the June 2005 issue of The Journal of Nutrition shows that most studies that evaluated a variety of exercise types failed to show any performance–enhancing effects of taking branched-chain amino acids.[6]
Although the evidence for protein and amino acid supplements impacting athletic performance is lacking, there is some scientific evidence that supports consuming high-quality dairy proteins, such as casein and whey, and soy proteins positively influences muscle recovery in response to hard training. If you choose to buy a bucket of whey protein, use it to make a protein shake after an intense workout and do not add more than what is required to obtain 20 to 25 grams of protein. Moreover, relying on supplements for extra protein instead of food will not provide you with any of the other essential nutrients. The evidence to show that they are superior to regular food in enhancing exercise performance is not sufficient.
What about the numerous protein shakes and protein bars on the market? Are they a good source of dietary protein? Do they help you build muscle or lose weight as marketers claim? These are not such a bad idea for an endurance or strength athlete who has little time to fix a nutritious exercise-recovery snack. Some protein bars have a high amount of carbohydrates from added sugars and are not actually the best source for protein, especially if you are not an athlete. Protein bars are nutritionally designed to restore carbohydrates and protein after endurance or strength training; therefore they are not good meal replacements. If you want a low-cost alternative after an intense workout, make yourself a peanut butter sandwich on whole-grain bread and add some sliced banana for less than fifty cents.
Supermarket and health-food store shelves offer an extraordinary number of high-protein shake mixes. While the carbohydrate count is lower now in some of these products than a few years ago, they still contain added fats and sugars. Use the AMDRs for macronutrients as a guide.
This part contains content from OpenStax College, Anatomy and Physiology. OpenStax CNX. Download for free at http://cnx.org/contents/14fb4ad7-39a1-4eee-ab6e-3ef2482e3e22@15.1.
University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa Food Science and Human Nutrition Program is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted.
This resource has been adapted from: OpenStax Anatomy and Physiology // CC BY 4.0
Chapter 2 The Human Body
An Introduction to Human Nutrition // CC BY-NC-SA 3.0
Chapter 1 Basic Concepts in Nutrition
Chapter 3 Water and Electrolytes
Chapter 4 Carbohydrates
Chapter 5 Lipids
Chapter 6 Protein
Chapter 8 Energy
Chapter 12 Nutrition Applications
Chapter 13 Lifespan Nutrition From Pregnancy to the Toddler Years
Chapter 14 Lifespan Nutrition During Childhood and Adolescence
Chapter 15 Lifespan Nutrition in Adulthood
Chapter 17 Food Safety
Chapter 18 Nutritional Issues
Chapters and sections were borrowed and adapted from the above existing OER textbooks on human nutrition. Without these foundational texts, a lot more work would have been required to complete this project. Thank you to those who shared before us.
SA Bos, M.D.
Lead Author
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Barbara C. Malt
Cognition, language and concepts, models of categorization, comprehension and use of reference, word meaning, the relation to language to thought.
Current projects include testing theories of naming and categorization by assessing the relation of similarity to naming; by studying how names are selected for unfamiliar objects in a referential communication task; by studying how names are assigned to familiar objects in English by non-native speakers of English; and by examining the structure of categories defined by verbs.
Ramiro, C., Srinivasan, M., Malt, B.C., & Xu, Y. (2018). Algorithms in the historical emergence of word senses. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 115, 2323-2328.
White, A., Storms, G., Malt, B.C., & Verheyen, S. (2018). Mind the generation gap: Differences between old and young in everyday lexical categories. Journal of Memory and Language, 98,12-25.
Malt, B. C. & Lebkuecher, A. (2017). Representation and process in bilingual lexical interaction. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 20, 867-885.
Malt, B.C., White, A., Ameel, E., & Storms, G. (2016). Learning the language of locomotion: Do children use biomechanical structure to constrain hypotheses about word meaning? Language Learning and Development, 12, 357-379. DOI: 10.1080/15475441.2016.1171152
Malt, B.C., Gennari, S.P., Imai, M., Ameel, E., Saji, N., & Majid, A. (2015). Where are the concepts? What words can and can’t reveal. In E. Margolis and S. Laurence (Eds.), The Conceptual Mind: New Directions (pp. 291-326). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Malt, B.C., Li, P., Pavlenko, A., Zhu, H., & Ameel, E. (2015). Bidirectional lexical interaction in late immersed Mandarin-English bilinguals. Journal of Memory and Language, 82, 86-104.
Malt, B.C. & Paquet, M. (2013). The real deal: What judgments of really reveal about how people think about artifacts. Memory & Cognititon, 41, 354-364.
Pavlenko, A. & Malt, B.C. (2011). Kitchen Russian: Cross-linguistic differences and first-language object naming by Russian-English bilinguals. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 14, 19-45.
Malt, B.C. (2010). Naming artifacts: Patterns and processes. In B. Ross (Ed.), The psychology of learning and motivation: Advances in research and theory (pp. 1-38). Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Malt, B.C., Gennari, S., and Imai, M. (2010). Lexicalization patterns and the world-to-words mapping. In B.C. Malt and P. Wolff (Eds.), Words and the mind: How words capture human experience (pp. 29-57). New York: Oxford University Press.
Gao, Y. & Malt, B.C. (2009). Mental representation and cognitive consequences of Chinese individual classifiers. Language and Cognitive Processes, 24, 1124-1179.
Malt, B.C., Gennari, S., Imai, M., Ameel, E., Tsuda, N., & Majid, A. (2008). Talking about walking: Biomechanics and the language of locomotion. Psychological Science, 19, 232-240.
Malt, B.C. and Sloman, S.A. (2007). Category essence or essentially pragmatic? Creator's intention in naming and what's really what. Cognition, 105, 615-648.
Ameel, E., Storms, G., Malt, B., & Sloman, S.A. (2005). How billinguals solve the naming problem. Journal of Memory and Language, 53, 60-80.
Malt, B.C., Sloman, S.A., and Gennari, S. (2003). Speaking vs. thinking about objects and actions. In D. Genter & S. Goldin-Meadow (Eds.) Language in mind: Advances in the study of language and thought (pp. 81-111). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Malt, B.C., Sloman, S.A., and Gennari, S. (2003). Universality and language specificity in object naming. Journal of Memory and Language, 49, 20-42.
Malt, B.C. and Sloman, S.A. (2003). Linguistic diversity and object naming by non-native speakers of English. Bilingualism: Language and Cognition, 6, 47-67.
Gennari, S., Sloman, S.A., Malt, B.C., and Fitch, W.T. (2002). Motion events in language and cognition. Cognition, 83, 49-79.
Malt, B.C., Sloman, S.A., Gennari, S., Shi, M., & Wang, Y. (1999). Knowing versus naming: Similarity and the linguistic categorization of artifacts. Journal of Memory and Language, 40, 230-262
Director of Cognitive Science Program
Chandler-Ullmann room 101
bcm0@lehigh.edu
Stanford University, Ph.D.,1982, Psychology
Wesleyan University, B.A.,1978, Psychology
Teaching Interests:
Psychology of Language
Lab Page
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Rock Environmental
Nonprofit Fundraising & Development
Human-wildlife conflict in the Galapagos. facebook.com/story.php?stor… 1 year ago
Why, instead of celebrating the fact that, if properly managed and controlled, rhinos could be worth more alive th… twitter.com/i/web/status/1… 1 year ago
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Post Categories Select Category Africa (29) anti-poaching (9) conservation (23) Consulting Services (26) Education Sponsorships and Support (2) Elephants (10) Friedkin Conservation Fund (7) fundraising (21) Idaho (2) Kessler Canyon (2) Marketing (14) Nature Needs Half ™ (7) non-profit (25) North America (9) Other (34) Poaching (12) Rock Client News (9) Rock Environmental (20) SCI/SCIF (8) Washington D.C. (3) WILD Foundation (10)
IUCN World Parks Congress – Sydney, Australia
The International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) once-a-decade World Wilderness Congress in Sydney, Australia wrapped up in late November. SCI Foundation spoke with WILD Foundation Board Member, Brit Hosmer, who attended the meeting to learn what important items were discussed.
Ms. Hosmer reports that the eight day congress had over 6,000 participants from 169 countries. Forums called for the increase of wildlife and marine protected areas and protection of primary forests. There were also discussions recognizing the rights of indigenous people, climate change, youth participation, and wildlife crime. Through the congress, there was only one panel on sustainable use of natural resources that focused exclusively on hunting and fishing. The panel was moderated by past SCI Conservationist of the Year Award winner, Dr. Shane Mahoney.
Although, international hunting was not the focus of the panels, sustainable, scientifically managed hunting was more often seen in a positive light and a part of conservation rather than separate or a negative practice.
One paneled debate, The Nature of Crime, focused specifically on poaching, wildlife crime, and enforcement. The tension in the room was high with close to 1,000 audience members that acted as the real gauge of the debate. Panel members included representatives from the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), World Wildlife Fund (WWF), IUCN as well as government officials from some of the participating governments.
“It was an interesting cast of characters and opinions,” Brit Hosmer said. “For instance, there was applause for an assertion that regardless of philosophies, the trade has been stimulated by legal sales, and equal applause for the cautioning against conclusions that stopping the legal trade would mean stopping the illegal problem of poaching. It was obvious, at this panel at least, that the conservation community is much divided on legal sale of certain wildlife products.”
To view the entire panel discussion click here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L3Jw-rWYClQ
The World Wilderness Congress is the world’s longest-running, public conservation project and environmental forum. The Congress has now convened 9 times on 5 continents and is dedicated to highlighting wilderness as an issue of international importance. It is critical that events and forums like the Congress and SCI Foundation’s African Wildlife Consultative Forum continue to engage those in the conservation community and educate the general public. Open discussion will ensure that the best policies are in place to sustain our world’s wildlife populations and we are happy to see what solutions stem from the stimulating discussions of this year’s meeting.
ORIGINALLY POSTED BY SCIF: Twice a week, SCI Foundation informs readers about conservation initiatives happening worldwide and updates them on SCI Foundation’s news, projects and events. Tuesdays are dedicated to an Issue of the Week and Thursday’s Weekly Updates will provide an inside look into research and our other science-based conservation efforts. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter for more SCI Foundation news.
December 18, 2014 rockenvironmental
Anti-PoachingBritt Hosmer PetersonWorld Parks Congress
← Mourning the passing of conservation pioneer, Dr. Ian Player
A Nonprofit Board or a Group of Dead Fish? →
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Home / Our Services / New Jersey Traffic Ticket Attorneys / Racing on Highway in New Jersey (39:4-52 & 39:5C-1)
Racing on Highway in New Jersey (39:4-52 & 39:5C-1)
What Are the Penalties for Racing in New Jersey?
What Does NJ Consider Racing?
Can I be Charged with Racing if I’m not a Driver?
Do I Have to Be Speeding to be Charged with Racing on a Highway in NJ?
Can I Lose My License for Racing on a Highway in New Jersey?
Defenses to Racing in New Jersey
Why Hire an Attorney to Defend a Ticket for Racing in New Jersey?
Common Questions About Racing in New Jersey
Who Should I Contact About My Ticket for Racing on a Highway in NJ?
R acing on a public highway is a serious traffic offense in New Jersey and carries severe penalties. The state has two statutes that outlaw participating in illegal speed contests. Both define the offense the same way, but one is broader and includes more than just those who drive the cars.
Fine: A first offense for racing on a highway in New Jersey costs between $25 and $100. A second and subsequent offense costs between $100 and $200.
Points: Each conviction for racing on a highway in New Jersey results in 5 points on one’s driver’s license. In NJ, it takes 6 points for a person to be hit with a surcharge (see below) and 12 points to lose one’s license.
Court Costs: A person who takes his/her racing ticket to court will have to pay an additional $33, on top of any fines or surcharges he/she may face.
Surcharge: When a driver accrues 6 points or more on his/her license, it obligates them to pay an additional surcharge. This costs $150 plus an additional $25 for each point over six. The NJ surcharge is billed annually for three years.
Auto insurance increase: Racing on a highway is unsafe behavior that carries a high risk of an accident. According to Money.com, insurers raise rates an average of 73.3% in response to a conviction for racing on a highway.
Jail time: A first conviction for racing in NJ does not carry a risk of jail time. However, a second or subsequent conviction can result in up to 90 days in jail at the judge’s request.
Both of New Jersey’s laws concerning racing are worded similarly. NJSA 39:4-52 simply states that “No person shall operate a motor vehicle upon a public highway for a wager or in a race or for the purpose of making a speed record.”
In addition, NJSA 39:5C-1 states, “A person who shall operate or attempt or agree to operate a motor vehicle on a public highway in a race with any other motor vehicle or for the purpose of making a speed record or who shall arrange for, manage, encourage, or assist in, the holding of, or the attempting to hold, any such race or speed race event, is a disorderly person…”
State v. O’Connor establishes that police may infer that two or more vehicles are racing based on both speed and formation, among other factors. The case further notes that police need not observe evidence of a starting or finishing point, a timer or a starter, nor anything that indicates the cars changed relative positions during the alleged race.
Under 39:5C-1, a person does not necessarily have to be operating a vehicle to be charged. A person who organizes a race or encourages others to participate in a speed contest can be charged with this offense and face all the same penalties as the drivers.
Not necessarily. Provided that a person is operating a vehicle in a speed-related contest, a person can be charged with racing under either statute. A driver need not be exceeding the legal speed limit at the time of the traffic stop.
It is possible for a judge to revoke a driver’s license for participating in a race on a public highway in NJ. Under 39:5-31, a judge may strip driving privileges of any person he/she deems to be guilty of a “willful violation” of the law. In other words, if the driver knew what he/she was doing was illegal, it may be grounds for a license revocation.
A charge of racing on a highway in NJ breaks down to two core components
The vehicle(s) were involved in a speed-related competition.
The competition took place on a public roadway.
Disproving either of these two factors can be key to beating a racing ticket. State v. O’Connor sets a low bar for prosecutors to prove that a vehicle’s actions were part of a speed contest. For example, the vehicles in O’Connor were not jockeying for the lead position—they maintained a specific formation at a constant speed—and yet the judge ruled that the actions of the drivers constituted a race.
The defendants in O’Connor were able to beat the charge by disproving that the roadway in question was not a public highway. This was a unique instance as they were driving on a stretch of Route 287 that at the time was not yet completed and open to the public. “The court is of the opinion that as Route 287 at the point of the racing was entirely closed to travel, it was not a public highway.”
Unless the driver is operating on a roadway not open to the public or can otherwise explain why his/her actions were not racing, the next best bet may be to negotiate with prosecutors to reduce the charge to a lesser offense (also called a plea bargain). A ticket for racing on a public highway can often be reduced to careless driving or unsafe driving. It may also be possible to reduce racing to a simple speeding ticket (assuming the driver was not also issued a speeding ticket).
The best strategy for beating a racing ticket in New Jersey depends on the circumstances of the case. The average person may not know what tactics will provide the best chance for a positive outcome, but a skilled attorney will. By hiring an attorney, a person can be assured that he/she will have an experienced professional who can analyze the facts and develop a defense most likely to mitigate or eliminate the consequences.
Moreover, having an attorney means a person will have someone in their corner with knowledge and experience facing judges and prosecutors. Testifying before a judge can be intimidating, and even an honest and innocent person can accidentally incriminate themselves by saying the wrong thing at the wrong time. An attorney can handle as much of the talking as possible, while also coaching a client on when and how to present certain facts, and.
Is racing on a highway in NJ considered reckless driving?
Not necessarily but, depending on the circumstances, participating in an illegal race can also be considered reckless driving and thus a person can be ticketed for both offenses.
How fast does one have to be going to be considered racing in NJ?
Exceeding the speed limit is not required for a driver to be charged with racing on a public highway in New Jersey. In fact, it’s possible for someone to be ticketed for both racing and speeding, as they are technically two separate offenses.
If you or a loved one has been cited for racing on a public highway or any other serious traffic offense in New Jersey, you need the help of a skilled attorney. The lawyers at Rosenblum Law are skilled traffic ticket attorneys with experience helping people navigate NJ’s legal system and avoid the most serious consequences. Email Rosenblum Law or Call 888-815-3649 today for a free consultation about your case.
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By Divine Design: Best Practices for Family Success and Happiness
2. The Influence of Faith on Marital Commitment
1. Finding Life Harmony as We Struggle to Juggle
3. Healing the Time-Starved Marriage
4. Commitment to the Covenant: LDS Marriage and Divorce
5. Rearing Children in Love and Righteousness: Latitude, Limits, & Love
6. Motherhood: Restoring Clarity and Vision in a World of Confusing Messages
7. Faithful Fathering
8. A House of Faith: How Family Religiosity Strengthens Our Children
9. Helping Children Put On the Whole Armor of God: A Proactive Approach to Parenting Teenagers
10. Perils and Prospects of Parenting LDS Youth in an Increasingly Narcissistic Culture
11. Emerging Adulthood: A Time to Prepare for One's "Ministries" in Life
12. Parenting Lasts More Than 18 Years: Parenting Principles and Practices for Emerging-Adult Children
By Michael A. Goodman
Michael A. Goodman, "The Influence of Faith on Marital Commitment," in By Divine Design: Best Practices for Family Success and Happiness, ed. Brent L. Top and Michael A. Goodman (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center; Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2014), 23–50.
The Influence of Faith on Marital Commitment
Michael A. Goodman
Religion significantly influences many American marriages. Ninety-five percent of married couples in the United States report a religious affiliation (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, & Swank, 2001). [1] Not only is a religious affiliation almost universal, but around 60% of Americans report that religion is important or very important to them (McCullough, Larson, Hoyt, Koenig, & Thoresen, 2000). [2] Over half of American married couples say they attend religious services at least monthly (Heaton & Pratt, 1990, p. 196). [3] Even with a tendency to exaggerate religious participation, these statistics indicate that religious involvement is an important part of American marriage and family life (Christiano, 2000) [4], so it seems logical that religious beliefs affect marital relationships. However, it is not universally accepted that religious people actually connect their religious beliefs to their marital relationships. One recent academic review suggested that connection between religious beliefs and practices “appear more heterogeneous [varied] and tenuous than family scholars have expected, with conservative religious beliefs not necessarily translating into conservative familial behavior” (Bulanda, 2011). [5] However, some highly religious people do strongly connect their religious faith to their family life. This chapter will examine the research connecting religious beliefs to marital commitment and will examine specific doctrines held sacred by members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that seem to influence their marital commitment.
Current State of Marriage
By most accounts, the institution of marriage is in serious decline. The most recent trends regarding the state of marriage are ominous. The latest update by the National Marriage Project includes the following information: From 1970 to 2007, the number of marriages for women 15 and older has dropped by almost half, the number of divorces in the same group has increased by 15%, and the number of cohabitating couples has increased twelve-fold. The percentage of children under the age of 18 living with a single parent has increased by over 100%, whereas the percentage of children living with two married parents has decreased by 20% and the percentage of births to unmarried women has increased by about two and a half times (University of Virginia, 2008). [6]
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are not immune to these troubles. Most members of the Church have firsthand knowledge of broken homes and broken hearts among those they love. Research shows that the overall divorce rate among Latter-day Saints is actually very close to the divorce rate in the general population. However, among active Latter-day Saints, especially those married in the temple, the divorce rate drops dramatically (Heaton, Bahr, & Jacobson, 2005). [7] According to three national data sets, Mormons have a divorce rate 25% lower than the national averages. This is true if there is no differentiation between active and less-active members of the Church. Mormon couples in which at least one spouse attends church weekly have divorce rates which are 36% lower than the national averages. If both spouses attend church weekly they estimate the divorce rate is 40% lower than the national average, and finally, the estimated divorce rate for those who were married in the temple would be 70% lower than the national average at the highest. This is only an estimate based on several past studies, as the national data sets that were used for the current analysis did not contain information on temple marriage (Heaton, Bahr, & Jacobson, 2005).[7]
Marital Commitment
For years scholars have tried to figure out what leads some couples to stay together and others to separate. One of the primary constructs used to predict whether a person will stay in their marriage is marital commitment. Studies have found that lifetime commitment to marriage is one of the most frequently mentioned attributes considered important by participants in successful, long-term marriages (Robinson, 1994, pp. 210–211). [8] A national survey found that 73% of respondents indicated that divorce occurred because of lack of commitment (National Fatherhood Initiative, 2005, p. 32). [9]
Though there are numerous definitions and scales used to measure a person’s or couple’s commitment to a relationship, most commitment constructs fall under what Stanley and Markman (1992) call personal dedication or constraint commitment. According to these researchers,
personal dedication refers to the desire of an individual to maintain or improve the quality of his or her relationship for the joint benefit of the participants. It is evidenced by a desire (and associated behaviors) not only to continue in the relationship, but also to improve it, to sacrifice for it, to invest in it, to link personal goals to it, and to seek the partner’s welfare, not simply one’s own. In contrast, constraint commitment refers to forces that constrain individuals to maintain relationships regardless of their personal dedication to them. Constraints may arise from either external or internal pressures, and they favor relationship stability by making termination of a relationship more economically, socially, personally, or psychologically costly. (pp. 595–596) [10]
Though Stanley and Markman (2011) [11] have continued to refine the tool they use to measure these forms of commitment, the Commitment Inventory Scale, it maintains the same basic constructs. One interesting definition Stanley came to a decade later was that commitment is “a choice to give up other choices” (Stanley, 2002, “Why Commitment Develops,” para. 1). [12] Others use different terms to capture similar ideas. For example, Adams and Jones (1997) used six studies involving 1,787 participants to empirically test different ways of conceptualizing marital commitment. “Results suggested the existence of three primary dimensions of marital commitment: an attraction component based on devotion, satisfaction, and love; a moral-normative component based on a sense of personal responsibility for maintaining the marriage and on the belief that marriage is an important social and religious institution; and a constraining component based on fear of the social, financial, and emotional costs of relationship termination” (p. 1177). [13]
Johnson, Caughlin, and Huston (1999) divide commitment into three similar components: personal commitment, moral commitment, and structural commitment. [14] The concept of moral commitment adds another important component: commitment to the institution of marriage itself. Though by Stanley and Markman’s definitions, moral commitment would normally be considered a part of dedication commitments, it is possible that it acts as a constraint as well. Wilcox found that a couple’s commitment to the institution of marriage plays a strong role in marital stability (Wilcox & Nock, 2006). [15] Regardless of which terms are used to define marital commitment, there seems to be three key elements to marital commitment (though Stanley and Markman combine the first and second into one). However conceptualized, most researchers agree that commitment to each other and to the institution of marriage are essential aspects of marital stability.
Exactly how marital commitment impacts couples is debated. Murray and Holmes (2008) conjecture that relational commitment is of value only when there are problems in the relationship. [16] Others, including Clements and Swensen (2000), argue that relational commitment is related not only to relational stability but also to marital quality as well. [17] Stanley (2005) found that increased marital commitment was related to better communication, increased happiness, and more constructive coping within marital relationships. [18] It seems logical that couples who are more committed to their marriages are willing to work harder to make their relationship work. This effort would likely lead not only to greater marital stability but to greater satisfaction and meaning in their marriages. Several researchers have theorized that as long as a couple is satisfied with their relationship, structural or constraint commitment plays little to no part in a couple’s day-to-day interactions and decisions. It is only when the first two aspects of commitment begin to wane that structural or constraint commitment comes into play. According to this theory, commitment acts like a seatbelt—it is really only noticed when one makes an attempt to leave. Ultimately though, as Amato (2010) points out, the theoretical and empirical underpinnings of how commitment impacts relationships are still in need of further development. [19]
Religion and Marital Commitment
Several studies have shown that religiosity has been linked with increased marital satisfaction and stability (Bahr & Chadwick, 1985). [20] Greater religiosity has repeatedly been related to reduced risk of divorce (Breault & Kposowa, 1987). [21] Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, and Swank (2001) found that the divorce rate for those who attended church was 44% compared to 60% for those who did not attend. [22] This difference was true even after controlling for a broad range of confounding variables. A confounding variable is another known cause of divorce such as financial challenges and lower educational levels. It is important to note that none of these studies claimed to show causality. They simply confirmed that those who are more religious are more likely to have a strong commitment to their marriage and less likely to divorce. But these studies don’t explain why or how religion impacts marital commitment and stability.
A few studies have specifically sought to understand how religion influences marital commitment (Larson & Goltz, 1989). [23] However, most studies have only been able to demonstrate the correlation between religion and marital commitment. One study by Allgood, Harris, Skogrand, and Lee (2009) specifically investigated marital commitment among members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. [24] The researchers conducted the study using a random sample of over 1,000 people, out of which over 70% were Latter-day Saints. The researchers specifically looked at the three different aspects of marital commitment. They found that Latter-day Saints had much higher-than-average marital commitment, especially among those who were most active in their faith. This study is one of the only quantitative studies that focused on marital commitment among Latter-day Saints. Yet, the focus on more distal aspects of religion (affiliation and church attendance) prevented the researchers from determining how the Latter-day Saint religion specifically impacted the couple’s marital commitment. However, in the last 10 years, several studies based on the American Families of Faith Project have specifically sought to understand which religious beliefs and practices have influence on a couple’s marital commitment level (Brown, Lu, Marks, & Dollahite, 2011). [25]
American Families of Faith Project
The American Families of Faith Project is an ongoing research project led by David Dollahite and Loren Marks that entails in-depth interviews with family members of the three Abrahamic faiths: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Couples and their children are interviewed to ascertain how they connected their faith with their family life. The sample was purposive, meaning that the participants are prototypical of the variables being studied; in this case highly religious couples with happy marriages. As such the sample is not random and therefore not immediately generalizable. However, information gained from purposive samples such as these often provide the nuanced information needed for further study of the variables of interest.
As of 2011, 445 individuals from 184 families have been interviewed as part of the project. All of the families had a high level of religious commitment (as reported by both referring clergy and the participants themselves. There were 133 Christian families (including Catholic, Mainstream Protestant, Evangelical Protestant, Orthodox, and New Christian Religious Traditions), 31 Jewish families (including Hasidic, Orthodox, Conservative, and Reformed Traditions), and 20 Muslim families (both Sunni and Shia). Slightly more than half of the families (51%) represent an ethnic or racial minority. There were 32 African American families, 13 Latino, 11 Middle Eastern, 4 East Indian, 17 Asian American, 15 Native American, and 1 Pacific Islander, with the balance of the families (90) being Caucasian. Couples were typically in their mid-forties and had been married on average for 20 years. All couples had at least one child (mean = 3.3 children). The couples interviewed resided in all eight regions of the United States.
Several of the interview questions pertained specifically to the concept of marital commitment. These questions allowed the interviewees to explain in their own words and according to their own beliefs exactly how their faith had impacted their marital commitment and how their marital commitment had impacted their family life. Analysis followed the grounded theory approach explicated by Strauss and Corbin (1998) [26] as well as the analytic induction approach advocated by Gilgun (2001). [27] These approaches allowed the researcher to look at the data without attempting to make the data fit a pre-conceived theory. Analysis revealed several themes that shed light on the possible processes by which religious faith can impact marital commitment and how increased marital commitment impacts marriage and family life.
Findings from the American Family of Faiths Project regarding Commitment
In one of the first studies published from the American Families of Faith Project, Loren Marks (2004) conducted in-depth interviews with 38 couples in order to understand how three dimensions of religion (beliefs, practices, and community) influenced the couples’ marriages.[28] Couples identified religious beliefs more often than specific practices or community as having the greatest impact on their marriages, and three themes where found among the responses: a belief supporting marriage and discouraging divorce, a belief in the importance of belief homogamy (husband/wife agreement) and the belief that God is a support to marriage. When asked how these beliefs impacted their marriages, couples listed three outcomes: stability and unity, growth and motivation to succeed, and greater happiness and peace. These outcomes match tightly to the concept of personal dedication commitment explicated by Stanley and Markman (1992), [29] attraction and moral-normative commitment as defined by Adams & Jones (1997), [30] and personal and moral commitment as defined by Johnson (Johnson, Caughlin, & Huston, 1999). [31]
Next, in a study of 32 couples, Goodman and Dollahite (2006) analyzed what role these couples believed God played in their marital relationship.[32] About 74% of the couples believed that because of God’s influence on their marriages, their marriages were more stable and unified. This finding was the most frequently mentioned outcome of all. Findings also indicated that couples who believed that marriage was part of God’s plan and that God was involved in their marital life perceived the greatest benefits from their religious faith. Interestingly, though the main question of this study was different from the Marks 2005 [33] study, both studies found that these couples felt that their religious faith produced the exact same outcomes: stability and unity, growth and motivation to succeed, and greater happiness and peace.
In 2006, Lambert and Dollahite released their study of 57 couples, in which they had tried to determine how the religious faith of these couples helped them prevent, resolve, and overcome marital conflict. Couples reported that religiosity affected their marriages at three phases of the conflict process: problem prevention, conflict resolution, and relationship reconciliation. Though this study did not specifically investigate commitment, two aspects of this study add to our understanding of marital commitment. Like the Marks 2005 study, couples in this expanded sample stated that their religious beliefs were a strong influence on their family life and that their beliefs lead to greater levels of marital commitment. Specifically,
couples reported that their religious beliefs increased their commitment to relationship permanence. “God hates divorce” or “marriage is forever” were some of the common expressions couples made regarding commitment to relationship permanence. This commitment generated a desire within couples to reconcile with each other and work through difficult times. Those interviewed emphasized being “committed to the relationship no matter what problems might arise.” (p. 445) [34]
Using the same sample, Dollahite and Lambert (2007) published another study that examined how the religious faith of a couple promoted marital fidelity. [35] The research pointed to four ways that religion impacted a couple’s commitment to remain faithful: (a) religious belief and practice sanctified their marriage and thereby improved marital quality that indirectly promoted fidelity; (b) religious vows and faith involvement fortified marital commitment to fidelity; (c) religious belief strengthened couples’ moral values, which promoted fidelity in marriage; and (d) religious involvement improved spouses’ relationship with God, which encouraged them to avoid actions such as infidelity that they believed would displease God. Notice again the tight match to earlier findings from the original samples in this project as well as to the earlier conceptualizations of marital commitment by Stanley and Markman, Adams and Jones, and Johnson.
A 2008 study by Lambert and Dollahite examined how the faith of couples impacted their marital commitment. [36] Analysis indicated that these couples’ religious beliefs and practices lead to three specific processes by which their commitment to their marriage was strengthened. These processes involved including God as the third cord in their marriage, an inclusion that binds couples to each other with strong ties; believing in marriage as a religious institution that can and should last; and finding meaning in committing to marriage. Overall, Lambert and Dollahite were able to show several connections between the couples’ beliefs and practices and their marital commitment by researching how couples’ religion helps them resolve conflict, how their religious faith promotes fidelity, and how their faith directly impacts their marital commitment.
Based on the data from the American Families of Faith Project, Marks and Dollahite (2011) analyzed data from all 184 couples. In their analysis of the interviews, they found eight specific ways these couples saw their religious faith impacting their marriages.
1. Sacred, meaningful family rituals and practices that unify the marriage and family
2. A shared belief system and worldview
3. A view of God as the “third cord” in their marriage which binds couples to each other with strong ties
4. A specific belief in marriage as a religious institution that can and should last
5. A focused effort to find meaning in committing to marriage
6. A desire to work to prevent problems in the relationship
7. An ability to draw on sacred beliefs and practices to resolve conflict
8. A religiously based motivation to work toward relational reconciliation” (p. 191) [37]
As can be seen, these eight connections match the findings from all of the other studies thus far, which indicates a fair amount of theoretical and conceptual saturation.
Also based on the data from the American Families of Faith Project, Goodman, Dallahite, and Marks (2012) researched using data from 24 LDS couples located in seven states. [38] This study pointed to specific beliefs such as the eternal nature of marriage and specific practices such as temple attendance, prayer, scripture study, and church attendance, which impacted these couples marital commitment. The following section will take a closer look at specific LDS beliefs that are connected to marital commitment.
Latter-day Saint Religious Beliefs and Marital Commitment
As the above literature review demonstrates, some highly religious couples perceive religious beliefs as having a strong influence on their marital behavior. In several studies cited above, religious beliefs were more likely to be specifically associated with marital commitment than other aspects of religiosity were, including religious practices and religious community. In addition, as noted earlier, Goodman and Dollahite (2006) found that couples who believed marriage was part of God’s plan experienced more benefits from their religious involvement, including greater marital commitment . [39] This belief appeared to be a gateway that determined the extent of influence religion would play in their marital relationships.
Latter-day Saints mentioned the eternal nature of marriage in relations to marital commitment more frequently than couples of other religious affiliations. Though Latter-day Saints were not the only highly religious couples who believed that marriage can last beyond death, they made the vast majority of such references in the American Families of Faith project. In fact, Goodman, Dollahite, and Marks (2012) noted that all 24 Latter-day Saint couples who were part of the American Families of Faith Project specifically mentioned that their belief that families not only can but should last forever was a strong influence on their personal marital commitment. [40]
The following quotations from this study illustrate some possible pathways by which this fairly distinctive Latter-day Saint belief could impact marital commitment (Goodman, Dollahite, & Marks, 2012). First, several couples reported that they felt greater security in their relationship because divorce was simply not an option. One Latter-day Saint wife stated:
Well, one of the things that [my husband] and I were talking about just the other day is that we know that we are gonna be married forever. Divorce is not an option; just being married until one of us dies isn’t part of the plan. So, we know that neither one of us is going anywhere, you know, even if we are having a miserable day, or week, or month, if it comes to that, we are not worried that the other person is gonna take off, and we are not worried that our marriage is falling apart. (p. 564) [41]
The belief that divorce was not an option lead some couples to say they approach serious problems with the understanding that they must find the solution because failure was not an option. Another Latter-day Saint wife explained:
No matter what happens . . . because we believe in the eternities, and that marriage is forever, that no matter how bad, or whatever happens to us, we’re going to make it work no matter what. We like to say that the “D” word [divorce] . . . never come[s] up in the house. (p. 564) [42]
A Latter-day Saint husband described how the belief in eternal marriage helped him and his wife focus on long-term solutions even if those solutions were more difficult than an easier quick fix.
The decisions you make, if you know they are going to affect your eternal future are different than the decisions you make if you knew it was just till you die. . . . If you are looking at long range instead of short range, just here on earth, the decisions you make are different.
Finally, some couples pointed out that their marital commitment went beyond their commitment to their spouses and marriages and extended to their actual commitment to God. Realizing that marriage is part of God’s plan for their eternities meant that they were not only accountable to each other but also to God for their relationship. One Latter-day Saint husband stated that “we are committed to the institution I think even more than to one another” (564–565). [43]
As is evident by the above examples, the doctrine of eternal marriage has a potentially powerful effect in the lives of Latter-day Saints who believe it. Latter-day Saint theology on the eternal nature of marriage and family life is extensive, deep, and nuanced. Given the space constraints in most scholarly journals as well as the secular audience, only brief references can be made to the specifics of this doctrine. However, the audience for this volume and the fact that each chapter explicitly seeks to wed current social science research together with specific Latter-day Saint doctrines and beliefs allow a much more nuanced exploration of the doctrines involved here.
The Doctrine of Eternal Marriage
President Boyd K. Packer (2004) has repeatedly taught that “true doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior” (p. 79). [44] This statement seems to be born out in the lives of the highly religious couples interviewed as part of the American Families of Faith Project. Almost all of the Christian, Jewish, and Muslim couples linked specific religious beliefs to different aspects of their marital lives. The Latter-day Saint couples universally did. As mentioned above, the doctrine referred to most frequently by the Latter-day Saint couples was the eternal nature of marriage. They felt that this doctrine had tremendous impact on their marital commitment and on how they worked through the difficulties of married life. There are several aspects of the doctrine of eternal marriage which might have an impact on a couple’s commitment. The following discussion will highlight some of these important aspects. This exploration will illustrate why in the gospel of Jesus Christ, marriage is not a tangential issue relating to couple’s’ commitment to their relationship but rather is an integral part of the Latter-day Saint definition of exaltation.
Prophets, seers, and revelators have spoken for millennia regarding the divine origin and centrality of marriage and family in the gospel plan. President Joseph Fielding Smith (1966) taught that marriage involves “an eternal principle ordained before the foundation of the world and instituted on this earth before death came into it” (p. 25). [45] Bruce R. McConkie (1995) taught that “marriage and the family unit are the central part of the plan of progression and exaltation. All things center in and around the family unit in the eternal perspective. Exaltation consists in the continuation of the family unit in eternity. Those for whom the family unit continues have eternal life; all others have a lesser degree of salvation in the mansions that are prepared” (p. 546). [46] Brigham Young (1973) taught that marriage “lays the foundations for worlds, for angels, and for the Gods; for intelligent beings to be crowned with glory, immortality, and eternal lives. In fact, it is the thread which runs from the beginning to the end of the holy Gospel of salvation.” [47]
In the lifetime of most married Latter-day Saints, no document has had a more central role in shaping what members believe about the doctrine of eternal marriage than “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” The very first paragraph makes clear the preeminent position of marriage and family in Latter-day Saint doctrine: “We the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, solemnly proclaim that marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and that the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children” (First Presidency, 1995). [48] The document ends with this solemn warning: “We warn that individuals who violate covenants of chastity, who abuse spouse or offspring, or who fail to fulfill family responsibilities will one day stand accountable before God. Further, we warn that the disintegration of the family will bring upon individuals, communities, and nations the calamities foretold by ancient and modern prophets.”
Statements like these and countless others that could be cited leave very little ambiguity as to the importance of marriage in God’s plan of happiness. In fact, President Spencer W. Kimball (1973) taught that marriage and family are not only central to Heavenly Father’s plan but that “family is the great plan of life as conceived and organized by our Father in Heaven” (p. 15). [49] As discussed earlier, couples who believe that marriage is part of God’s plan and that God is deeply concerned about marriage approach their marriages differently. Their commitment level rises, and their approach to marital challenges becomes more purposeful. As can be seen from the above doctrinal statements, Latter-day Saints have many reasons to believe the marriage is part of God’s plan and that it is imperative as part of their relationship to him. This belief, in and of itself, may go a long way to explaining why active, believing Latter-day Saints are so committed to their marriages.
Many of these statements hint at the centrality of marriage and family to God’s plan for his children. However, they do not explain why marriage and family are so central to the plan of salvation and why President Kimball (1973) would say “Family is the great plan of life.” [50] To understand the reason for such an emphasis, it is necessary to take a closer look at what Latter-day Saint doctrine teaches about the plan itself. When we understand the plan according to Latter-day Saint beliefs, we can see why active members of the Church have a tendency to have very strong commitment to marriage as both a general concept and a personal reality.
The Plan of Salvation and the Nature of God
Like members of virtually every Christian church, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believe Jesus Christ died so that they can one day live with God in heaven. Most Christians would refer to this as being saved. This answer is well supported by Latter-day Saint scripture (see 2 Nephi 2:25; Matthew 5:3; 10, 12, Luke 18:22; Mosiah 2:41; Alma 11:37; D&C 6:37; D&C 20:24; Moses 7:21). Sometimes the scriptures refer to this aspect of our eternal destiny as “everlasting life” (see John 3:16; 3 Nephi 5:13; D&C 45:5). If members of the Church were asked why they are here on earth, the answer would, in part, likely refer to returning to live with Heavenly Father in His kingdom since they believe we already lived with him once before. We sometimes refer to being saved as inheriting everlasting life. Although the term everlasting life is descriptive of the duration of our destiny, it is less descriptive of the quality.
Doctrine and Covenants 14:7 uses a more descriptive term: “If you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God.” We learn from Doctrine and Covenants 19:10–12 that eternal is another name for God. Therefore, eternal life is another way of saying God’s life, or the kind of life that God lives. God’s work and glory is to bring to pass not only our immortality (or our everlasting life) but our eternal life—life like his. Both concepts, duration and quality, are brought together in Moses 1:39: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” Though living forever is an important part of our destiny, it is important to make a distinction between immortality and eternal life. Satan and all who follow him are immortal inasmuch as they will have no end, but they certainly don’t enjoy eternal life. We seek eternal life—life like God’s.
However, such a belief does not propose becoming equal to God. Latter-day Saints believe that he is our Heavenly Father and will always be our Heavenly Father. We worship him as our Creator and our God. That relationship will never change. We will never be his equal and we will always worship him as our God. However, we believe that God intends to make us as he is. We believe that God is truly our Heavenly Father and that we are his offspring (Acts 17:29). Latter-day Saints take seriously, and quite literally, the words of Paul that “the Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:16–17). Again this does not mean equal to, but instead like unto God, or as he is. But if we are meant to be like God, what is God like?
We must come to better understand the nature of our Heavenly Father and what it means to become like him if we are to fulfill our ultimate destiny. It is obviously beyond our knowledge as well as the scope of this chapter to seek to exhaustively define the nature of our Father in Heaven. The entire canon of scriptures is woefully inadequate for such a task. God’s character is made up of all that is beautiful, virtuous, and perfect in infinite measure. If you were to list every attribute that is “virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” (Articles of Faith 1:13), and place the word “all” in front of it, it would be but a beginning of a description of God. As the thirteenth article of faith finishes, “we seek after these things.” Developing these attributes in perfection is completely outside of our ability to do on our own. However, we believe that through Jesus Christ, “[we] can do all things” (Philippians 4:13). We believe it is not only possible for us to develop these attributes but that God wants, even commands, us to do so.
To summarize, Heavenly Father is perfect and he wants us to become perfect also. However, what does becoming perfect have to do with marriage and the plan of salvation? Further, what does becoming like God have to do with Latter-day Saint commitment to marriage? To answer these questions, it is necessary to examine not only what God is like but also what God does. What is God’s purpose? Why does he do what he does? These questions get to the very definition of what it means to a Latter-day Saint to be like God. What does our Father in Heaven do with his perfection? A most succinct answer is found in the verse of scriptures quoted earlier from the book of Moses: “For behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).
Christians throughout the world would likely agree that God is seeking to save his children, or to help them achieve eternal life. However, for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this truth takes on added meaning because, as was stated above, we believe eternal life is synonymous with living a life like God’s. This flows from how Latter-day Saints view God’s relationship with His children. Besides viewing God as an all-powerful, perfected being, we view God as our literal Father in Heaven. We believe we are the children, the offspring, of God.
And we believe that God does what righteous earthly parents try to do—help their children grow to be all that they can be. This connection begins to illuminate what President Kimball meant when he said family is the great plan of life. God is a full-time, totally dedicated parent. His work and glory is raising his children. What’s more, he is not alone. As is obvious in the natural process of procreation in mortality, you cannot have a father without a mother. So it is in eternity. Our Father in Heaven is not alone in his work. He has an equally glorious and perfected companion—our Heavenly Mother. In other words, God is married. President Harold B. Lee (1996) explained that “that great hymn ‘O My Father’ puts it correctly when Eliza R. Snow wrote, ‘In the heav’ns are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare! Truth is reason; truth eternal tells me I’ve a mother there.’ Born of a Heavenly Mother, sired by a Heavenly Father, we knew Him, we were in His house . . .” (p. 22). [51]
God is not only married, but the very definition of godhood or exaltation is dependent on his relationship with Heavenly Mother. We learn in Doctrine and Covenants 131:1–4 that
“in the celestial glory there are three heavens or degrees; and in order to obtain the highest [to be exalted like our heavenly parents], a man must enter into this order of the priesthood (meaning the new and everlasting covenant of marriage); and if he does not, he cannot obtain it. He may enter into the other, but that is the end of his kingdom; he cannot have an increase.” In other words, eternal marriage is a necessary precondition of exaltation. There is no such thing as an unmarried god. Doctrine and Covenants 132:19 teaches that those who enter into the new and everlasting covenant of marriage and are faithful to it will “pass by the angels, and the gods, which are set there, to their exaltation and glory in all things, as hath been sealed upon their heads, which glory shall be a fulness and a continuation of the seeds forever and ever.” It is only through the union of man and woman, eternally married, that a “continuation of the seeds forever and ever” is possible.
Though we know very few details regarding Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother’s marriage, there can be few things more central to their nature. All that they do is for the welfare and eternal salvation of their children. Elder Oaks (2001) taught that “the work of God is to bring to pass the eternal life of His children (see Moses 1:39), and all that this entails in the birth, nurturing, teaching, and sealing of our Heavenly Father’s children. Everything else is lower in priority” (pp. 83–84). [52] As Elder Dennis E. Simmons (2004) explained, “He [God] has already achieved godhood. Now His only objective is to help us—to enable us to return to Him and be like Him and live His kind of life eternally” (p. 73). [53]
This very doctrine is at the foundation of our understanding of eternal marriage. The destiny of mankind is to become like our heavenly parents. This capacity is part of our premortal, mortal, and postmortal nature. The First Presidency of Heber J. Grant, Anthony W. Ivins, and Charles W. Nibley taught that “man is the child of God, formed in the divine image and endowed with divine attributes, and even as the infant son of an earthly father and mother is capable in due time of becoming a man, so that undeveloped offspring of celestial parentage is capable, by experience through ages and aeons, of evolving into a God” (Clark, 1965–1975, p. 244). [54] Elder Dallin H. Oaks (1995) taught that “the purpose of mortal life and the mission of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is to prepare the sons and daughters of God for their eternal destiny—to become like our heavenly parents” (p. 7). [55]
Through understanding the nature of God and our relationship to him, we come to understand that our nature is his nature in embryo. God is by nature a relational being, eternally married to his coequal: Heavenly Mother. By eternal destiny we too have the seeds of that same nature within us. If our eternal destiny depends on our being eternally married, our deepest, most innate spiritual nature must be in line with this destiny. As Howard W. Hunter (1997) taught, “My spiritual reasoning tells me that because God is an exalted being, holy and good, that man’s supreme goal (and destiny) is to be like him” (p. 15). [56]
The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that “God himself was once as we are now, and is an exalted man, and sits enthroned in yonder heavens! That is the great secret. If the veil were rent today, and the great God who holds this world in its orbit, and who upholds all worlds and all things by His power, was to make himself visible—I say, if you were to see him today, you would see him like a man in form—like yourselves in all the person, image, and very form as a man” (Roberts, 1971, p. 304). [57] President Lorenzo Snow (1919) completed this thought with the famous couplet “As man now is, God once was. As God now is, man may be” (p. 656). [58]
Being like God means that our supreme goal and destiny is linked to our relationship with our eternal companion. As Elder Henry B. Eyring (1998) explained, “the requirement that we be one is not for this life alone. It is to be without end. The first marriage was performed by God in the garden when Adam and Eve were immortal. He placed in men and women from the beginning a desire to be joined together as man and wife forever to dwell in families in a perfect, righteous union” (66). [59] Though the Lord has not revealed many details of how this will be in the afterlife, we know of a surety that it will be. We know that we are destined to become like he is. We are destined to be married for all eternity.
This doctrine, as shown through both the studies mentioned above, and the daily lives of millions of Latter-day Saints, guides the thoughts and actions of Latter-day Saints who understand the beliefs of the Church in relation to marriage and family. Other than Jesus Christ and his Atonement, it would be hard to find anything more central to the beliefs of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints than eternal marriage. Because Latter-day Saints believe it is both our nature and our destiny to become as God is now, we naturally feel a great commitment to marriage and family. Thus marriage and family are much more than social constructs to believing Latter-day Saints. They are the central organizing constructs of our existence. In some ways, they epitomize the concept of sanctification as defined by Annette Mahoney and colleagues. Marriage and family become endowed with sacred qualities and Latter-day Saints believe that God is not only interested in but also integrally involved in their marriages. They believe that their eternal destiny depends on it. Without eternal marriage, Latter-day Saints do not believe it possible to realize their true nature and divine destiny. For these reasons, Latter-day Saints who understand the basics of their own theology are prone to show a profound and deep commitment to their marriages. Thus marital commitment is not only a social value, it is a divine mandate backed up by divine design and upheld through divine means.
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[24] Allgood, S. M., Harris, S., Skogrand, L., & Lee, T. R. (2009, January). Marital commitment and religiosity in a religiously homogenous population. Marriage and Family Review, 45(1), 52–67.
[25] Brown, T., Lu, Y., Marks, L. D., & Dollahite, D. C. (2011). Meaning-making across three dimensions of religious experience: A qualitative exploration. Counseling and Spirituality, 30(2), 11–36.
[26] Strauss, A. C., & Corbin, J. M. (1998). Basics of qualitative research: Techniques and procedures for developing grounded theory. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
[27] Gilgun, J. F. (2001). Case-based research, analytic induction, and theory development: The future and the past. Paper presented at the 31st Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop, National Council on Family Relations, Rochester, New York.
[28] Marks, L. D. (2004). Sacred practices in highly religious families: Christian, Jewish, Mormon, and Muslim perspectives. Family Process, 43(2), 217–231.
[32] Goodman, M. A. & Dollahite, D. C. (2006). How religious couples perceive the influence of God in their marriage. Review of Religious Research, 48(2), 141–155.
[33] Marks, L. D. (2005). Religion and bio-psycho-social health: A review and conceptual model. Journal of Religion and Health, 44(2), 173–186.
[34] Lambert, N. M., & Dollahite, D. C. (2006, October). How religiosity helps couples prevent, resolve, and overcome marital conflict. Family Relations, 55, 439–449.
[35] Lambert, N. M., & Dollahite, D. C. (2007). Forsaking all others: How religious involvement promotes marital fidelity in Christian, Jewish, and Muslim couples. Review of Religious Research, 48(3), 290–307.
[36] Lambert, N. M., & Dollahite, D. C. (2008). The threefold cord: Marital commitment in religious couples. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 592–614.
[37] Marks, L. D., & Dollahite, D. C. (2011). Mining the meanings from psychology of religion’s correlation mountain. Journal of Psychology of Religion and Spirituality, 3, 181–193.
[38] Goodman, M. A., Dollahite, D. C, & Marks, L. D. (2012). Exploring transformational processes and meaning in LDS marriages. Marriage & Family Review, 48(6), 555–582.
[44] Packer, B. K. (2004, May). Do not fear. Ensign, 34(5), 79.
[45] Smith, J. F. (1966). The way to perfection. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.
[46] McConkie, B. R. (1994). Doctrinal New Testament commentary, (vol. 1). Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
[47] Young, B. (1973). Discourses of Brigham Young. Comp. J. A. Widtsoe. Salt Lake City: Deseret Book.
[48] First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles. (1995, November). The family: A proclamation to the world. Ensign, 25(11), 102.
[49] Kimball, S. W. (1973). The family influence. Ensign, 3(7), 15.
[51] Lee, H. B. (1996). The teachings of Harold B. Lee: Eleventh president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. Clyde J. Williams, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
[52] Oaks, D. H. (2001, May). Focus and priorities. Ensign, 31(5), 83–84.
[53] Simmons, D. E. (2004, May). But if not . . . Ensign, 34(5), 73.
[54] Clark, J. R. (comp.). (1965–1975). Messages of the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (vol. 5). Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
[55] Oaks, D. H. (1995, October). Same-gender attraction. Ensign, 25(10), 7.
[56] Hunter, H. W. (1997). The teachings of Howard W. Hunter: Fourteenth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. C. J. Williams, (Ed.). Salt Lake City: Bookcraft.
[57] Roberts, B. H. (1971). History of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Vol. 6). Salt Lake City: Deseret News.
[58] Snow, L. C. (1919, June). Improvement Era, 12(8), 656.
[59] Eyring, H. B. (1998, May). That we may be one. Ensign, 28(5), 66.
Darwin, T., & Cornwall, M. (1990). Religion and Family in the Eighties: Discovery and Development. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 52, 983–992.
Dollahite, D. C., & Marks, L. D. (2009). A conceptual model of family and religious processes in a diverse, national sample of highly religious families. Review of Religious Research, 50, 373–391.
Heaton, T. B., & Goodman, K. L. (1985). Religion and family formation. Review of Religious Research, 26, 343–359.
McDonald, G. W. (1981, November). Structural exchange and marital interaction. Journal of Marriage and Family, 44, 825–839.
Sherkat, D. E., & Ellison, C. G. (1999). Recent developments and current controversies in the sociology of religion. Annual Review of Sociology, 25, 363–394.
Shrum, W. (1980). Religion and marital instability: Change in the 1970’s? Review of Religious Research, 21, 135–147.
‹ 1. Finding Life Harmony as We Struggle to Juggle up 3. Healing the Time-Starved Marriage ›
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The six players who should make up the 2020 U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame class
By Ives Galarcep April 17, 2020 10:00 am Follow @soccerbyives
By Ives Galarcep | April 17, 2020 10:00 am Follow @soccerbyives
The voting for the 2020 U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame closes on Tuesday, and there is a good chance we will continue to see worthy candidates passed over due to a flawed voting system made worse by voters refusing to cast full ballots.
Voters are allowed to vote for up to 10 players per ballot, but that hasn’t kept the number of successful candidates being voted in from being reduced to a trickle in recent years. A grand total of seven players have been voted in over the past six years, with the threshold of needing to appear on 66.7 percent of all ballots proving to be too much to produce more successful candidacies.
Since U.S. Soccer has kept individual voter ballots secret, there is no way of knowing just who is voting, and who voters are voting for, but a look at voting percentages of recent candidates suggests a serious lack of variety in selections, making it near impossible for candidates to make their way onto enough ballots.
Consider the fact that Abby Wambach, the definition of a sure-fire first-ballot Hall of Famer, was left off of 19 percent of ballots. That statistic led to some rightful criticism of what was a clear example of voters not being thorough in their selection of candidates. Other examples include the voting percentages received by long-time USMNT standouts Carlos Bocanegra and Steve Cherundolo, who have both fallen short of reaching the 66.7 percent threshold despite boasting very impressive resumes.
What would a good ballot look like? There are three categories that most candidates fall into, Major League Soccer standouts, USMNT standouts and USWNT standouts. Selecting the top three options in each of those categories, along with a 10th wild card selection from any of those categories, gives you a well-balanced ballot, and if enough voters seriously researched all three categories, then there is a good chance we would see far more than the one or two inductees we have seen for so many years.
Of course, some will argue that a Hall of Fame class shouldn’t have so many inductees. There’s a case to be made for that, but the reality is that the woefully small classes recently voted in have only served to form a logjam of worthy candidates, which will inevitably lead to some viable options missing out, especially with a strong crop of candidates looming on the horizon.
The tiny Hall of Fame classes have also served to diminish the efforts to bring more attention to the Hall of Fame, which has a new home now in Frisco, Texas. There are several worthy candidates after several years of stingy voting, so the reality is you could have a 10-player class in 2010 that would feature all worthy choices.
There is no chance we will see a 10-player class, but the reality is there are six candidates who absolutely should be voted in this year (though we are probably going to have to get lucky to see even half of them actually make it given the way voting has gone).
Here is a look at the six players who should make up the 2020 U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame class (along with the four other players on my ballot):
Carlos Bocanegra. There is no good reason for Bocanegra to have waited this long to be voted in. He fell just short of the 66.7 percent threshold each of the previous two years (64.61 in 2019, 64.52 in 2018). The long-time USMNT captain made 110 appearances for the national team, finishing as the leading goal-scorer among defenders, and taking part in two World Cups.
Steve Cherundolo. One of the best defenders in USMNT history, Cherundolo should be a lock Hall of Fame choice based on his combined national team and club team success, but the sense you get is not enough voters give him the credit he deserves for spending 15 seasons playing high-level soccer in the German Bundesliga (how else do you explain him receiving just 51.69 percent of the vote in 2019?). He made 87 appearances for the USMNT and was part of three World Cup teams, including a starting role in 2006 and 2010.
Jaime Moreno. One of the best players in MLS history, he boasts four MLS Cup titles and scored 145 career MLS goals. He would be a first-ballot Hall of Famer in an MLS-only Hall of Fame, but given the current voting setup (he received just 36.52 percent of the vote in 2019), he continues to be overlooked and is a long-shot to be voted in.
Hope Solo. The outspoken goalkeeper won’t win many popularity contests, but there is no denying her accomplishments on the field. Regarded as the best goalkeeper in the world for several years, Solo finished her career with 202 USWNT caps, helping the team win the 2008 and 2012 Olympics, as well as the 2015 World Cup.
Shannon Boxx. The best USWNT field player on the ballot, Boxx was a dominant midfielder for more than a decade, compiling 195 caps and winning three Olympic gold medals and the 2015 World Cup. Her resume was arguably worthy of a first-ballot selection, but she only received 42.13 percent of the vote in 2019.
Kate Sobrero-Markgraf. A key member of the 1999 World Cup-winning USWNT squad, Sobrero-Markgraf played 201 matches during her impressive career, including three World Cups and three Olympic tournaments (two of them leading to championships). Overshadowed by more high-profile teammates for years, Sobrero-Markgraf has been woefully overlooked by voters, receiving just 41 percent in 2019 (after coming close with 60 percent in 2018).
Steve Ralston. Another MLS all-time great, Ralston retired having played the most first-division matches in American soccer history, while also retiring as the MLS all-time assists leader. Ralston played 411 MLS matches, along with earning 36 USMNT caps. The lack of MLS Cup titles, and modest national team role makes him a player too many voters overlook (He received just 24.16 percent of the vote in 2019).
Pablo Mastroeni. On his MLS resume alone, Mastroeni is a worth candidate, having captained the Colorado Rapids to a 2010 MLS Cup title and put in 16 seasons. His USMNT exploits help round out his candidacy, as he was a part of two World Cup teams, including the successful 2002 World Cup squad. He failed to crack the Top 15 in last year’s voting, after receiving 15 percent of the vote in 2018.
Frankie Hejduk. A member of two World Cup teams, two Olympic teams, and two Gold Cup-winning squads, Hejduk played 85 matches for the USMNT. He played 12 seasons in MLS, captaining the Columbus Crew to an MLS Cup title, while also putting in five years in Europe. He received 41 percent of the vote in 2019.
Eddie Lewis. The wild card selection on my ballot, Lewis played 82 matches for the USMNT, including the 2002 and 2006 World Cups. On the club side, Lewis fashioned a nine-year career playing in England, to go with seven seasons in MLS. He failed to crack the Top 15 in the 2019 voting, and is the biggest long shot on this list.
What do you think of the six-player class suggested above? What candidate not listed would you put into the 2020 Hall of Fame class?
Share your thoughts below.
U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame, Featured, Major League Soccer, U.S. Men's National Team, U.S. Soccer, USWNT
r.benjamin
Boca and Cherondolo are no brainers. So is Boxx.
I’m good with Pablo, Frankie and Eddie waiting a few more years, but inclusion eventually. Moreno makes sense along that same time line. Ralsten for me is like Keith Hernandez. Really good pro-but not quite Hall worthy
Boca and Chreundolo should be locks. If I had to choose an all-time best USMNT XI, they’d both be easy choices for me (though I’d be curious to hear what others think about their all-time best USMNT side!).
I agree with most of Ives’ selections. Of his list I didn’t include Moreno, Lewis, Ralston or Kate Sobrero Markgraf. On reflection I would include Kate Sobrero Markgraf. I really liked Stevie Ralston in MLS, but I don’t think he did enough for the USMNT. With Eddie Lewis, although he played a lot for the USMNT, he mostly played second division in England so that’s why I left him off. As for Moreno, well, if you pick him, then you have to pick guys like Carlos Ruiz and others whom I think shouldn’t be included. Good in MLS isn’t enough in my mind. This just illustrates how ridiculous it is to leave off guys like Bocanegra and Cherundolo. Cherundolo was a bit hampered with the USMNT because he got injured at a couple of critical times, but was always a starter and standout when he played, plus who else has played longer in a top 5 European league? Bocanegra was not only a mainstay for the US, he had an outstanding European career in England, Scotland, and France. One year he was actually the second leading scorer with Fulham, even as a defender, when he had 5 goals. Both Hejduk and Mastroeni deserve3 inclusion because of their long and valuable contributions to the USMNT as well as their club careers.
I originally thought Carlos too until I looked at the stats. Moreno more goals, more MLS Cups, more best XIs.45 more goals 85 more assists. I had the other five. Lewis was so good in 2002 but I didn’t even remember him playing MLS. Mastroeni is hard because what stats does a DM have. Ralston is the opposite of Lewis great MLS career not much for NT.
Hernando Peralta.
Hope Solo ? They must be crazy, She’s better off in jail than a Hall a Fame
Solo is often a jerk, but she has never been convicted of any crime. There are a lot of famous personalities with very shaky pasts who have won similar awards. Ty Cobb, for example, was a virulent racist and so mean that even his teammates hated him. Solo’s main transgressions seem to be a poor choice of companions. If everyone who was a jerk wasn’t eligible, the various Halls would be a lot emptier. This award is based on the on the field accomplishments.
Def gotta roll with Gary Page on this. Most any pro sports HOF is filled with people who range from “unsavory” to “outright awful”. Solo was an absolutely incredible GK, who contributed significantly during her time. Some of her transgressions have been ugly, and she is a bit of a blowhard…. but she belongs. Really great player.
Solo was very good. On that she makes it.
As for the behavior, while I find hers deplorable, I was never of the mind that athletes should be held up as role models. There are a whole host of examples actually worse than her in that regard. So, hold your nose and let her in.
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MLS Ticker: Klinsmann to join Galaxy, Miller out for 2020 season, and more
By Larry Henry Jr. August 19, 2020 5:00 pm Follow @lhenry019
By Larry Henry Jr. | August 19, 2020 5:00 pm Follow @lhenry019
Jonathan Klinsmann’s time in Switzerland has been a disappointment to say the least, but the American goalkeeper is reportedly on the move.
Klinsmann is set to sign with the L.A. Galaxy on a three-year deal, The Athletic reported Wednesday. Klinsmann is the son of former U.S. Men’s National Team head coach Jurgen Klinsmann.
The 23-year-old made the move to St. Gallen in 2019, but failed to make a single appearance in league play. After playing one collegiate season at the University of California, Klinsmann made the move abroad to Hertha Berlin, where he totaled 24 appearances for the Under-23 team.
Klinsmann excelled with the U.S. Under-20 Men’s National Team from 2015-17′, totaling 21 appearances. He helped the Americans win the Concacaf U-20 Championship in 2017 while also winning the Golden Glove and being named to the tournament’s Best XI.
David Bingham currently occupies the No. 1 job in Carson, Cali. after appearing in five matches this season.
Minnesota United starting goalkeeper Miller out for season
Minnesota United will not be able to call on Tyler Miller for the rest of the season.
Miller underwent successful hip surgery on Wednesday, but has been ruled out for the rest of the 2020 MLS season. The Loons return to league play this week after finishing as a semifinalist in the MLS is Back Tournament.
The 27-year-old was acquired in a trade with LAFC in Jan. 2020 and has made five appearances for the Loons this season, posting one shutout. Miller has posted 21 shutouts in 71 career MLS matches, also appearing in three games for the Seattle Sounders from 2016-17′.
With Miller out for the remainder of the season, Minnesota United recalled Dayne St. Clair from his loan spell with USL side San Antonio FC.
Fire sign Herbers to contract extension
The Chicago Fire have rewarded veteran midfielder Fabian Herbers with a lengthy contract extension.
Herbers new deal will run through the 2023 MLS season, with an option for 2024. He joined the club from the Philadelphia Union in Dec. 2018 and since has become a regular contributor for the club.
“Fabian is a talented player who always works very hard for the team,” Chicago Fire FC sporting director Georg Heitz in a statement said. “His work rate, professional attitude and strong mentality are many of the traits that we look for in a player. He has fully earned this new contract, and we look forward to seeing his contributions to the team in 2020 and beyond.”
In two seasons with Chicago, Herbers has scored three goals and registered one assist in 22 appearances. He’s appeared in all five of the Fire’s matches this season so far.
Herbers is a former No. 6 overall pick in the 2016 MLS SuperDraft by the Union. In three seasons with Philadelphia, Herbers made 53 regular season appearances from 2016-18′, tallying four goals and nine assists.
Herbers and the Fire will continue regular season play this week against the Columbus Crew.
FC Dallas adds goalkeeper Megiolaro on loan
FC Dallas has added goalkeeper help for the remainder of the season following Jesse Gonzalez’s exit.
Phelipe Megiolaro joined the Western Conference club on loan from Brazilian first-division side Grêmio on Tuesday. Megiolaro will occupy an international roster spot on FC Dallas’ roster and the club also has an option to purchase the goalkeeper after the current season.
The 21-year-old came through the youth system at Gremio and also spent time in both Campinas and Ponte Preta’s youth systems. Megiolaro signed his professional contract with Gremio in Dec. 2018, but only has two appearances to his name since.
Born in Campinas, Megiolaro has made 13 combined appearances for the Brazilian Under-20 and Under-23 Men’s National Teams. He was also named to the bench twice for Brazil’s senior team, however did not feature.
FC Dallas faces the Houston Dynamo on Friday in the club’s third league match since March.
Galaxy acquire winger Gonzalez on loan
The L.A. Galaxy added needed offensive help with a loan acquisition on Wednesday.
Yony Gonzalez has joined the Western Conference club on loan from Portuguese side Benfica. The Galaxy used Targeted Allocation Money to acquire Gonzalez, whom will occupy an international roster spot for the 2020 season.
“Yony is a dynamic playmaker who we believe can strengthen our attack this year,” said LA Galaxy Manager Dennis te Kloese. “He possesses a diverse skillset and will be an important addition to our roster. We look forward to welcoming Yony to Los Angeles and his contributions to our club this year.”
Gonzalez, 26, began his career in his native Colombia with Envigado FC. He’s also played with Atletico Junior and Fluminense, totaling 26 goals in 170 combined appearances between all three clubs. He signed with Benfica earlier in 2020, but has to debut for the first team.
He will look to give Guillermo Barros Schelotto’s side help in attack after a poor showing at the MLS is Back Tournament.
Union sign Aaronson’s brother Paxten to Homegrown contract
For the second time this week, the Philadelphia Union have made a Homegrown signing.
The Eastern Conference side announced the signing of Paxten Aaronson on Wednesday, making him the 15th Homegrown signing in club history. Aaronson is the brother of current Union midfielder Brenden Aaronson and will remain with Union II for the rest of the 2020 USL season.
“At 16-years-old, Paxten already knows how to create opportunities for himself and his teammates on the pitch,” Union sporting director Ernst Tanner said. “He has impressed our technical staff with his ability to play a final ball and he’s an intelligent player and a hard worker who gives everything for this club. Paxten exemplifies our commitment to developing academy players and we look forward to welcoming him to the team.”
Aaronson played five seasons for the Union academy, scoring 15 goals in that time. The 16-year-old has made four appearances with Union II this season, logging 181 minutes so far. He joins Union II teammate Jack McGlynn as the newest Homegrown signing this week.
MLS, Featured, Major League Soccer
Feels like he’s pretty close to throwing in the towel on professional soccer with this move. Which is fine. It’s not for everyone, and he has had a good education. Maybe he moves back up the food chain, but more likely he’s just moving home to pick up a few paychecks while he prepares his grad school apps. Why not?
The Imperative Voice
My point was there are 20+ other MLS teams he could sign, including some replacing starters today, expansion this season, expansion next season, and he signs at a local team with a penchant for just buying starting keeping. He could also probably sign anywhere in Europe, just click it down a notch on quality. I do kind of feel like unless he lucks into starting this eventually dwindles into USL and retirement, etc. as you suggest.
Set yourself up for success.
With his very limited record in Europe, he couldn’t necessarily have gotten a job starting in MLS, could he? At least this way he can live at or near home, as you say, though I’m not sure he’s ready for grad school if he didn’t stay at Cal long enough to get a degree. Maybe he’ll try to finish some undergrad coursework online, if he’s not too much of a partier.
I like Tab Ramos and think he’s probably a good coach for young players, but Houston is a very hot place. I could imagine it might be hard to attract guys to play there, or anywhere in Texas, as long as the outdoor season continues to go through June, July, and August. Anyway, they already seem to have two American backup keepers, one with some British experience.
It just seems to be a hard position to gain playing time for. Maybe he’s making mental notes and will emerge as a good coach like Nuno Espírito Santo. Or not, and do something else entirely, where having a famous last name doesn’t draw so much scrutiny. Also okay.
“Club with the most MLS cups,” though, I don’t know. They have certainly seemed rudderless in recent years. But the upside of that could be that they become less inclined than they used to be to rely on the checkbook, so who knows, maybe they’ll eventually get some younger players onto the field.
Just going to point out that the same article showing Klinsmann Kid signing up to be the backup in his home town — on what is the worst non-expansion team in the league to boot — has 2 other teams adding loan or USL keepers due to emergencies. Luck is not favoring his choices.
In the short term you could look at it like that or you could look at it as he signed with the club with the most MLS Cups who will eventually figure it out.
Brian Perk, a prior U20 starting keeper, played the same waiting game for about half a decade there with no success, before breaking an ankle. When they had an opening they just bought Penedo instead. You look at Perk’s MLS and USL stats and when he did play he had a GAA barely over 1 and about 1/3 shutouts. Houston, to me, eventually gives the backup a chance. LAG, to me, either trades or gets out the checkbook.
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Young Adult Graphic Novels
Asterix the Gaul (#1)
Author(s): René Goscinny; Albert Uderzo
When Roman Centurion Crismus Bonus finds out about Getafix's magic potion, he kidnaps the druid to force him to reveal the recipe. So Asterix joins his friend in captivity and together they two plan to whip up a surprise with truly hair-raising effects.
Asterix is the highest-selling book series in the world. Worldwide sales now exceed 320,000,000, outstripping even J K Rowling. Asterix has been translated into 107 languages and dialects. 11,000 web sites devoted to Asterix. Combined UK sales of the last 5 books - 2.2 million copies.
As for the English adaptations of Asterix, they represent a real triumph of the translator's art. Anthea Bell and Derek Hockridge have finessed every allusion and tweaked every joke, so that their cascading English verbal wit seems to come straight from the heart of the original books -- Boyd Tonkin THE INDEPENDENT A cartoon drawn with such supreme artistry, and a text layered with such glorious wordplay, satire and historical and political allusion that no reader should ever feel like they've outgrown it...It is absurd that these wonderful books were ever out of print, and it's great to have them back -- Andrew Mueller TIME OUT If you're new to the indomitable Gauls, our favourite is Asterix in Britain, for its wry wit lampooning the Brits IRELAND ON SUNDAY There are plenty of Latin quips and snippets of Roman history, but enough low puns to make the stories as enjoyable as ever EVENING STANDARD
Rene Goscinny was born in Paris in 1926, and spent most of his childhood in Argentina, before eventually moving to Paris in 1951. He died in 1977. Albert Uderzo was born in 1927 in a small village in Marne, France. He met Rene Goscinny in 1951 and on 29 October 1959 their most famous creation, Asterix, made his first appearance on page 20 of Pilote. Asterix the Gaul, their first album, was published in 1961 and there have now been 33 Asterix albums. Albert Uderzo was born in 1927 in a small village in Marne, France. He met Rene Goscinny in 1951 and on 29 October 1959 their most famous creation, Asterix, made his first appearance on page 20 of Pilote. Asterix the Gaul, their first album, was published in 1961 and there have now been 33 Asterix albums.
Publisher : Hachette Children's Group
Imprint : Asterix
Author : René Goscinny; Albert Uderzo
Illustrator : Albert Uderzo
Illustrations : 48 Colour Photo\Illu(s)
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01/2018, UZH
«The greater the obstacles, the more I am fascinated by them»
By Denise Battaglia
Everything is interrelated on multiple levels
Andreas Plückthun designs synthetic proteins as therapeutics, for example against cancer. The current European project now supports his important high-risk basic research.
Andreas Plückthun is a designer and a creator. He creates synthetic proteins. To create something new, to build new substances, has fascinated him ever since his adolescent days. Therefore, he went on to study chemistry in Heidelberg. «I wanted to understand how life works and comprehend the chemical and physical processes behind it all,» he says. However, Andreas Plückthun did not merely wish to understand the processes. Instead, he wanted to use the findings for the creation of something new. During his studies, he specialised in proteins and spent seven years in the US, at Harvard University among other institutions, in order to acquire the skills and knowledge of genetic engineering. This field became popular in the early 1980s in the United States, and Plückthun remembers those days clearly: «I worked in an intellectually highly inspiring environment among many visionary researchers.»
For many years now, Plückthun has been a visionary researcher himself. He is a Professor at the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Zurich, creating synthetic proteins to great success. He has received numerous awards and prizes and has helped to found three spin-off companies over the course of three decades, all three of them developing therapies against diseases on the basis of synthetic proteins. The German biotechnology company MorphoSys, the oldest of the three companies, currently employs 430 members of staff.
Synthetic antibodies and synthetic proteins
Proteins are macromolecules. They are part of the basic building blocks of every cell. In our bodies, there are several hundred thousand different proteins. They are responsible for the cell’s structure, but they also serve as molecular machines. They transport substances, such as the blood’s iron, they accelerate chemical reactions in the body or slow them down, and, finally, they act as antibodies to fight infections and other diseases.
«Nature is by far a much better creator than myself.»
Andreas Plückthun and his team are specialised in the development of synthetic proteins. Creating new protein molecules is done by computer design and by means of the so-called «directed evolution». With this method, the Zurich researchers create simultaneously 100 billion variants of the protein molecules, all of them with small changes (mutations). A few of them then bind tighter to the target molecule – they are enriched, the procedure is repeated and the protein functions increasingly better. «It is our goal to create antibodies and other proteins that exceed the natural properties and may therefore be used as therapeutics,» the biochemist explains. This revolutionary search strategy was developed by Plückthun some 20 years ago and has been the foundation of his research ever since.
Therapeutics against cancer and retinal disease
Synthetically produced antibodies and other therapeutic proteins, developed according to the procedures from the Plückthun Lab, are currently in clinical trials. One antibody (by the name of Guselkumab), developed by MorphoSys against severe psoriasis, was recently approved by the US Food and Drug Administration as a drug. It is administered by injection every eight weeks. Another class of synthetically created proteins, the so-called DARPins, also show great promise in the clinic. One DARPin for curing macular degeneration, a disease of the eye’s retina common in old age, was developed by Plückthun’s second company – Molecular Partners – and is currently in the late-stage clinical trial phase. Additional cancer treatment drugs are in clinical trials at both companies.
Plückthun and his team practise their research on the Irchel campus of the University of Zurich in a well equipped laboratory, divided into various special rooms on two floors. In one laboratory, for example, human tumour cells are merged with synthetic proteins to test which of the many variants trigger the desired effect on the cells. The labs are equipped with robots; they analyse thousands of proteins within a few minutes.
So, is Plückthun a creator? He laughs and agrees. «Yes, but a poor one. Nature is by far a much better creator than myself,» he adds. «The closer I get to the core of life, the more humble I have become. The interrelationships and interdependencies are becoming increasingly complex the closer you look.» The perfection of nature’s interplay will probably never be reached.
Numerous international research projects
Not that he is frustrated about that. «The greater the obstacles, the more I am fascinated by them. The magnificent aspect of my field is that you can, at least in principle, develop agents for all diseases, for instance, that could fight tumour cells or activate the body’s own immune system. All you have to do is find out what the rules are and the effects of each agent.»
«Our research is highly complex
and we are therefore dependent
on the collaboration with other partners
with complementary knowledge.»
Plückthun is among those professors at the University of Zurich and ETH Zurich who have raised the most European and other international research project funds. One of the reasons for this success is that he regularly participates in open calls – and that he is persistent: If the first attempt fails, he is not discouraged but focuses on the second try. Together with his team, he participated in the grand total of ten projects of the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme for Research FP7, the predecessor of Horizon 2020. He explains his commitment by stating that each project generates research funds, important research findings and new contacts. Being persistent is rewarding: At the end of 2017, he was among only eight out of 190 researchers whose project proposals were accepted by one particular call of the Swiss National Science Foundation.
Coordinator of a FET Open project
His persistence also paid off in view of the current EU funding programme Horizon 2020: In his third attempt, Plückthun received a FET Open project as coordinator. These projects are fiercely contested as well; several hundreds of researchers from all across Europe are participating and only four to five percent of them are awarded. There is a reason for the FET Open’s popularity: support is given to research projects with a radical vision, with a pioneering technological goal and with ambitious interdisciplinary research. Already in the early stages, FET Open funds these high-risk projects that might well not ever result in social or economic innovations. Plückthun is delighted that it all worked out. The project is a collaboration between himself, his team and the UK’s Aston University as well as the German University of Bayreuth; their goal is to develop a new fundamental platform which replaces the conventional antibody technology. Very simply put, the project team plans to create «Lego® bricks» that improve the diagnosis of diseases in the first place and that, afterwards, may be implemented in therapies, depending on the disease. The project is based on an interdisciplinary approach. The researchers of the three universities combine computer design, the experience from cell experiments, X-ray structural analyses, protein engineering and much more. The Zurich lab is responsible, among other things, for designing proteins, for analysing them and for their synthesis. The partner universities, in turn, will be in charge of other, complementary tasks. «Our research is highly complex and we are therefore dependent on the collaboration with other universities and partners with complementary knowledge,» Plückthun says. This kind of research projects, according to him, has great potential, as all parties involved work intensively on the same questions within a relatively short period of time. «They all have a common goal, are greatly motivated and committed.» Plückthun has acted several times as a project coordinator of consortia; however, it is a first as EU project coordinator. It is yet uncertain whether the researchers will reach their goal in this visionary project. «We know what we want, but nothing similar has ever been attempted before; we therefore do not know whether the molecules that we design and create will eventually function as desired. We do know, though, that if they will – it would have a great impact.»
Participation requests from the United States
The protein specialist has also participated in three projects sponsored by the renowned American National Institutes of Health (NIH), one of them is still running. He did not even apply for this NIH brain research project; the University of California had asked for his expertise in protein engineering and his support. The great reputation of the «Plückthun Lab», as his laboratory at the Department of Biochemistry is called, has been noted in the USA.
He also appreciates the explorative characteristics of these projects. Plückthun considers it crucial that researchers dare to «do without the familiar glow of the lamp» and embark on a journey into darkness, trying something new without having to deliver a predefined product. «Unfortunately, most funds are allocated to research projects with predictable results that are quickly achieved, even though the progress itself is only incremental. The high-risk basic research, by contrast, falls behind.» The unthinkable may only be achieved by explorative research, with much patience and the willingness to take risks.
He believes that the hope placed on genetic engineering for the development of new therapies is great and justified. The development of drugs by means of programmed micro-organisms or cell reactors he deems necessary; however, he considers genome modifications on humans completely irresponsible at this point in time. «We simply do not know enough about the possible consequences, about the interactions and relationships.» During the course of his research, he has become increasingly aware of the fact that everything is interrelated on multiple levels. At first glance, it seems surprising that such a complex organism like a human being is directed by a mere 20,000 genes. «But that is because it is not only the 20,000 genes piloting the organism; they are supported by an inconceivably large number of interactions.»
«If the molecules that we design
and create will function as desired –
it would have a great impact.»
A small mutation to a gene can trigger different effects at completely different locations and levels. «Instead of concentrating on the optimisation of the genome, we should step back and admit in all modesty that we simply know far too little at this stage – all we see is the tip of the iceberg, the major parts are still under water.» Editing the tip of the iceberg irrevocably is a complete taboo for him, but not the continuous research of the entire iceberg. And, as we have seen before: Plückthun is fascinated by the unknown, he is motivated by challenges.
Interview with Andreas Plückthun
Andreas Plückthun
Andreas Plückthun studied Chemistry at the University of Heidelberg and received his graduate education at the University of California at San Diego, where he obtained a PhD. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Chemistry Department of Harvard University (1982 to 85). From 1985 until 1993, he was group leader at the Gene Center Munich and the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried, Germany. He was appointed as a Full Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Zurich in 1993. His research achievements include fundamental contributions enabling the emergence of antibody engineering, studies on synthetic antibodies which led to the first fully synthetic antibody library, the development of ribosome display and the development of the Designed Ankyrin Repeat Protein (DARPin) technology. His research remains centred on protein engineering, combining protein design, directed evolution, biophysical basic research and biotechnological applications. In 1992, he co-founded the Munich biotech company MorphoSys AG, in 2004 the Biotech Company Molecular Partners AG in Zurich-Schlieren, and in 2014 the Biotech Company G7 Therapeutics in Zurich-Schlieren (now Heptares Zurich).
Major International Grants currently running
HORIZON 2020 FETOPEN 2017-2021
«PRe-ART: Predictive Antibody Replacement Technology»
Coordinator: University of Zurich, Switzerland
Partners: Aston University Birmingham, UK; Universität Bayreuth, Germany
Financial contribution from H2020: 3,588,125 € (1,428,750 € for UZH)
National Institutes of Health (NIH) 2016-2019
«Genetically Encoded Localization Modules for Targeting Activity Probes to Specific Subcellular Sites in Brain Neurons»
Coordinator: University of California Davis, USA
Partners: New York University School of Medicine, USA; John B. Pierce Laboratory, Inc., USA; University of Zurich, Switzerland
Financial contribution from NIH: 3,444,047 $ (404,478 $ for UZH)
Collaborative Project, Coordination, H2020, UZH
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Sofia Karakostas
Regina Notz
Rolf Probala
Denise Battaglia
English Proofreading
Franziska Brunner
Pascal Halder
www.naturPHotos.ch
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www.speckdrum.ch
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Interview with Novelist and Translator Eli K.P. William (author of “Cash Crash Jubilee” and “The Naked World”)
By locksleyu | October 14, 2019
Recently I posted a review of the science fiction novel “Cash Crash Jubilee” by Eli K.P. William, one of the most entertaining and thought-provoking novels I’ve read in a while. It is the first book in a dystopian trilogy called the Jubilee Cycle set in a future Tokyo where companies own all actions and you have to pay for everything you do.
Why interview a non-Japanese author on a blog about learning Japanese? Well, around page 40 of this novel I was so surprised by how elements of real-world Japan were authentically portrayed that I checked the author’s profile; I discovered not only was he living in Japan, but was working there as a translator. At that moment the idea came to me of interviewing him, although I had to first finish reading the book.
I tried to contact Eli shortly after posting my review of his book, and later that day he was kind enough to respond to my query, saying he would be glad to participate.
While “Cash Crash Jubilee” is a great novel, since I’ve already written a long review about it I’ve decided to focus this interview more on Eli himself.
Q: Eli, first I’d like to thank you very much for taking time out of your busy schedule for this interview. Let’s begin with a topic I think we have a shared interest in: Japan. I noticed how your website bio describes how you “suddenly” moved to Tokyo after finishing school, where you have been working as a translator ever since. Would you mind talking about what initially attracted you to Japan, what made you decide to move there, and what has kept you in Japan?
Thank you for reaching out to do the interview. It’s nice to see that people are still interested in a novel that came out more than four years ago. With any luck, it will live on even longer.
I guess that word “suddenly” in my bio does sort of beg for an explanation, doesn’t it…
What attracted me to visiting Japan originally was the language. In university, my interest in East Asian philosophy led me to take first year Japanese. I then quickly grew fascinated (or should I say obsessed?) with kanji and was lucky enough to receive a scholarship to study in Tokyo the following summer.
It was during that first visit of about 3 months that I decided I wanted to move to Japan. So I can clearly isolate when I made the decision. But as to why, my answer is constantly in flux. Partly this is because I’ve been asked so many times over the years that I keep second-guessing my reason. Partly it’s because people are extremely complicated and getting to the bottom of our motivations can be really hard, if not impossible. I actually wrote a whole essay about why I came to Japan for the Japanese literary journal, Subaru, but I had to simplify my answer considerably to fit within the word count and looking back I’m not really satisfied that I managed to nail the truth.
So rather than make a (probably futile) attempt to give you a definitive answer, let me list just three of the factors that brought me here:
1) The host family I stayed with when I was a student was awesome!
In addition to being kind, welcoming people with a deep respect for nature, the grandmother served delicious home-cooked meals, not skimping at all on fresh ingredients (as I’ve heard some host families do to make your stay more profitable for them). One meal that sticks in my memory was the temakizushi, basically sushi that you roll yourself at the table with vinegared rice, strips of nori, and whatever ingredients you like. I had always thought of sushi as something kind of fancy, where presentation is important, but this was really casual homestyle eating. And that tuna sashimi—wow!
They also lived in a beautiful green area near a temple complex in the west of Tokyo called Jindaiji. There were lots of little farm fields mixed in between houses. The farmers left their produce at unmanned outdoor booths with the price written on a strip of cardboard and you were expected to leave the correct amount in a basket on the honor system. Only in Japan…
2) I believed in tales of easy riches teaching English.
In the novel Generation X, the author Douglas Coupland writes about a man in Japan who “coasts along on his foreignness.” That perfectly describes the English teacher I met as a student in Japan who told me I could rake it in here, no sweat. He bounced rapidly from job to job, doing as little work as possible and disappearing as soon as the situation at work got troublesome or he found something with better pay. The Japan he described to 22 year old me sounded like the Yukon in the days of the Gold Rush. Yen signs made of pure gold literally protruded from my eyeballs.
When I actually moved here in 2009, Japan was still reeling from the Great Recession and the English-teaching chain, Nova, had just gone bankrupt, disgorging thousands of English teachers into an already saturated job market. I managed to string together enough part time English conversation gigs to pay for the 20 meter square cave I called home and feed on discounted supermarket bento boxes.
On the bright side, this miserable employment situation motivated me to study Japanese even harder and I managed to pass the JLPT N1 and shift into translation in a little under 2 years.
3) My fascination with the Japanese language and literature.
Before I moved here, I was doing kanji drills in my dreams. What better place to have such dreams than the land of kanji? (No, China is not the land of kanji. It’s the land of hanzi.)
As for my reasons for staying in this crazy country, I think they’re pretty standard: love, work, friendship, art, and the amazing train system! (I have never owned a car and hope I never have to.)
Q: Having lived in Japan for so long I imagine you are quite fluent in Japanese. How long did it take before you could use the language comfortably on a daily basis? Also, I’m curious how you studied Japanese before going to Japan, and how your study routine changed after moving there. Do you have any hints or techniques that helped accelerate your Japanese studies?
By the time I finished first year Japanese and arrived here as a student that first summer I mentioned, I was able to have very basic conversations. This sadly deprived me of the Lost in Translation experience; I never got to roam Japan as an incomprehensible wonderland the way many Western tourists and residents do in the beginning (or in some cases for decades).
But it wasn’t until the 3.11 earthquake, tsunami, and nuclear meltdown of 2011 that I finally became relatively fluent. Spending day after day listening to the news and reading articles for information about radiation levels as though my life depended on it (and maybe it did) was what finally helped me break through the language barrier.
I studied Japanese for two and a half years in university. This included that three month stint as a student in Japan plus another three months as a tourist the following summer. I then moved here and studied intensively for another two years on my own. I went on acquiring vocabulary for years after that, mostly through reading. I continue to learn new words and phrases to this day, in both Japanese and my native language English. No matter how long and hard you study, it never really ends…
My first tip to anyone who wants to learn Japanese is to study kanji using one of the parts methods as early as possible. While there are tens of thousands of kanji, there are only a few hundred parts. If you learn all of the parts, learning new kanji becomes a simple matter of building new combinations and you have drastically simplified the task. I discovered (or rather developed my own) parts method after about three years of study but wish I had learned it in the beginning. It would have saved me hours and hours of rote memorization exercises.
Also, once you’ve thoroughly learned the grammar and other basic linguistic elements through textbooks, study Japanese (or any language for that matter) through the aspect of it that interests you. For example, if you like movies, watch lots of movies. If you’re into manga, read heaps. Eventually you will have to branch out to other media if you want to become more broadly proficient, but you’re more likely to stick it out to advanced levels if you practice in the most enjoyable way possible. (In my case, I learned how to read by working through all of Haruki Murakami’s novels in order of publication, electronic dictionary in hand.)
Q: In recent years I’ve become more and more interested in translation, and always enjoy talking with experienced translators. Can you tell me what first got you into translation, and what kind of jobs you typically do nowadays?
What made me originally want to be a translator was a thread I found on the old Honyaku mailing list where a large group of veteran JE translators all told the stories of how they got into the profession. Very few of them had gone to translation schools and more than half of them had fallen into their jobs in one way or another. So I thought, if all you have to do is fall into it, well, I can do that. So that’s what I did, I fell into translation.
My first translation job was volunteer. I helped a professor prepare some slides. My first paying gig was the subtitles for a few NHK documentaries. After that, I got into pharmaceutical translation. Nowadays, I mostly do clinical trial related documents and literature. If those sound like polar opposites, that’s because they are. With technical translation, I tend to focus on a word-for-word precise rendering. With literature, I try to recreate the aesthetic, emotional and intellectual effect of the original. I could go on, but I see that your next question is about literature, so I’ll hold off for now.
Q: Continuing on the topic of translation, as research for this interview I read your translation of Kenji Miyazawa’s “Feline Office No. 6: A Fantasy About a Tiny Government Agency” (猫の事務所), and out of curiosity even compared a few paragraphs against the original Japanese text. I found your translation to be very natural, yet faithful to the source text without being fettered by Japanese words or sentence structure. For example, near the beginning you translated the simple phrase “どれもどれも” (referring to cats) as “big and small, fat and skinny”. Similarly, you translated “白猫” (in the context of cat secretary names) as “Meowster White Puss”. Can you tell us a little about your translation process, for example do you begin with an initial literal translation step and then gradually refine the language to be more natural, but less literal? Do you have any suggestions to tamago translators who are looking to achieve your level of proficiency?
Thank you for the kind words about my translation. That was a challenging but really fun story to translate.
With literature, my translation process tends to vary with the text; different texts demand different approaches.
With all texts, I start with a fairly direct translation. I need to get some text on to the page first before I can start doing the dirty work of making it sound natural; you’ve got to have clay before you can start molding anything. Generally my translation is tentative at this stage. I look up lots of words and phrases but don’t spend too much time mulling over the vague ones, instead highlighting them to deal with later.
In the next pass, I look up every phrase until I’m fairly confident I understand everything and rewrite the first draft into half-natural English. At this stage, I’m reorganizing clauses so that each sentence transitions smoothly to the next, being flexible with wording, and groping towards the right rhythm for the prose.
I find that as I translate more literature and become more experienced, the first pass begins to blend into the second. I develop an eye for identifying translation problems early and learn to anticipate where I’m going to need to be more playful. This reduces overall labor and speeds up the task because I’m able to do some of the work of stage two in stage one.
In the third stage, I focus entirely on the English without looking at the original at all. Not a peek! The goal here is natural writing in English. The syntax of the original becomes irrelevant. I move sentences and sometimes paragraphs around freely. The word listed as the English equivalent in a JE dictionary also becomes irrelevant as context turns into the sole determinant of word choice.
The third stage continues for a while. I’m pretty obsessive about editing. This is where, for me, the magic happens and the story begins to feel as though it could have been written in English all along, as though it is not a translation at all. Or at least that’s what I’m going for.
Once my deadline arrives, the story goes to the editor and further editing ensues.
Q: If you don’t mind one more question about translation, for some time I’ve been doubtful about making translation a career since it seems to take so much time to make natural renderings of literary fiction (at least for me). To put it more directly, literary translation doesn’t seem to be able to pay the bills as a primary occupation. I feel this is exacerbated by the so-called “three-percent problem”, which alludes to how only a very small fraction of books published for the US market are translated works. How do you feel about literary translation as a full-time job for the long term, and do you see any industry trends pointing to changes in the next few years? Finally, do you have any suggestions to improve output of fiction translation without sacrificing quality, or have you found that translation speed can only be increased through years of experience?
If you would like to make a decent living, I don’t recommend literary translation as your sole profession, especially not from Japanese to English. Nearly all the literary translators I know have other jobs. The few I know who have been doing it full time for more than a few years have gainfully employed spouses or other assets to keep them afloat.
I see no reason to believe that this will change any time soon unless there is a permanent, non-trend-driven explosion in demand for Japanese fiction, or unless everyone miraculously quits the internet and goes back to reading books (or we all work together to build a new economic system that fairly rewards creators).
Some academics are able to use translations to satisfy the requirements of their departments. Otherwise, you either do literary translation so that you can have your name on a book, or you do it for the love of it, or both. In my case, as an author/translator, I find that translation helps me develop skills as a writer. Of course you get paid and sometimes reasonably well, but no one in our racket does it for the money or expects to be financially stable with literary translation alone.
Q: Now that I’ve addressed the three topics that are central to this blog––Japan, Japanese language, and translation––I want to shift gears to talk a little about you as a novelist. How long have you wanted to be a novelist, and in the long term do you foresee yourself focusing on novel writing over translation? Also, would you mind telling us how many years it took “Cash Crash Jubilee” from conception to reality?
I never wanted to be an author. My father is an author and I wanted to do anything, absolutely anything, but follow in his footsteps. But I always enjoyed writing poetry and fanciful scenes in my school journals when I was a kid. And I was encouraged to try my hand at writing more seriously when I took a creative writing course around the end of high school and got a really positive response from both the teachers and the students.
In my gap year, I wrote a few short stories, all of which were failures. I came up with the idea that would become the Jubilee Cycle: a future in which all actions are owned by corporations and you have to pay for everything that you do. I tried writing that story too but couldn’t make it work any better than the others.
I don’t know if this was because I was too young and lacking in experience or what, but I remember feeling that I needed more knowledge to write this novel and that was the main reason I decided to go to university. So you can see I had my priorities straight. I didn’t go to university to one day get a good paying job or even for the parties. I did it for fiction.
But once I enrolled, I soon encountered philosophy and the Japanese language and got so seriously into studying that I basically gave up on writing. Though I did take a couple of creative writing courses and wrote articles for my school paper, the idea that would become Cash Crash Jubilee languished half-forgotten on my hard drive for about 7 years. It wasn’t until I moved to Tokyo after graduation and found work as a translator that I finally decided to revive it, though of course it had silently and secretly morphed into something very different by then.
Once I started writing Cash Crash Jubilee seriously in 2011, it took me three and a half years, not including the several additional months I spent polishing it up with my editor, so maybe four years is more accurate.
In the long term, I will continue to do literary translation, but I foresee myself always prioritizing writing from now on. I used to idealize Haruki Murakami’s daily schedule, where he writes in the morning and translates in the afternoon. But after translating a few novels, two of which are set to come out next year, I realized that my creative process is different. I need more time to read and to just live my life in order to be the best writer I can be.
Q: While it is not uncommon for a long list of names to appear in the acknowledgment section of a novel, for some reason I felt a complex mix of emotions when reading the acknowledgment section of “Cash Crash Jubilee”. One of the reasons was the appearance of Ginny Tapley-Takemori, a translator I had heard of due to her work on the English version of “Convenience Store Woman”. But all those people you acknowledged got me thinking about how it can take many people to make a literary work like this come to fruition, and this somehow led me to thinking that maybe even someone like myself could publish a novel like this someday (assuming a massive amount of time and effort, and perhaps luck as well). But enough of the personal sidebar––Do you have any hints for budding writers on how to find the “right” people to help make a book succeed? I’ve participated in some online writing groups, but I find I tend to get conflicting feedback from people, leading me down a rabbit hole of figuring out whose advice I should trust.
I know exactly what you mean about writing groups. Everyone has a different opinion. I think that sort of disagreement is on full display on a site like Good Reads. One person thinks a novel is too sensational. Another too boring. One hates the plot holes. Another digs the excitement.
All writers need advice and people to help us along the way. Often we need the perspective of others to show us something about our writing that we are too close to it to see ourselves. The best readers are those who appreciate what you’re trying to achieve with your work and know how to articulate their honest impression constructively.
But ultimately, I think finishing a novel comes down to having trust in yourself. You are the one creating each character, deciding between the different events, building the world, and finding the words to express it all. There are an infinite number of possible characters, events, worlds, and combinations of words, but you must narrow them all down. So in writing a novel, you have to make literally millions of decisions. You can’t rely on other people for 99.9% of those. And even for the remaining 0.1%, readers may disagree and you will have to decide which direction to take.
That has to come from you and it’s hard. I agonize over whether I’m making the right choices almost every day. But there’s no way around it.
I’m not sure what to say about finding people who can help you. The forces that draw people together are mysterious. I try to cultivate gratitude for the strange coincidences that lead to my meeting a friend or a kindred spirit. If you’ve done some honest soul searching, you’ve done enough writing to know that you love it, you’ve determined that you really are the sort of person who might hack it as a writer, and you keep on writing, I believe there’s a good chance you’ll meet them eventually.
Ginny has always been supportive of me. We originally met when I had no literary publications of any kind, but she recognized right away that I was serious about becoming a novelist and literary translator. I will be eternally grateful to her and the other people mentioned in the acknowledgments who believed in me back then.
Q: “Cash Crash Jubilee” leverages various cool technologies, not just to help paint a vivid picture of a dystopian Tokyo but also to help propel the story along. I was particularly impressed by how you integrated what seems to be a form of augmented reality (though I don’t believe this term actually appears in the book). We have seen some recent advancements in real-world AR, for example this year Lego introduced “Hidden Side”, an AR-enhanced game about ghost hunting that just came to shelves just last month. How do you feel about the direction AR is taking, and do you see any hints of this technology being used in “unpleasant” ways? On a related note, was giving a cautionary message to readers one of the reasons you chose a cyber-dystopian setting?
I intentionally avoided the term “augmented reality” in Cash Crash Jubilee and the rest of the Jubilee Cycle because I think it is a misnomer. It came into use by analogy with the term “virtual reality.” The term “virtual reality” makes sense. You create a sort of separate reality that is not quite our everyday reality but is “virtually” reality.
But so called “AR” doesn’t augment reality, it augments perception. That is, it changes our sight and hearing (and possibly in the future taste, feel, and smell). It doesn’t actually change what we are seeing and hearing.
The word “augmented” is likewise misleading. It suggests that reality (or perception) is always improved by these technologies. But as the wearable-computing pioneer Steve Mann has pointed out, they could also be used to diminish perception. For example, we could edit out features of what we see, such as advertisements we don’t like. Or we could apply an effect that turns everything black and white. That’s why I think his proposed term of art “mediated reality” is more accurate, (though “mediated perception” would be even better IMHO). The technology mediates our sensory experience and it is up to us (or whoever controls the technology) to decide whether and how we diminish, augment, distort or otherwise alter the input.
Getting to your second question, I think some people would call the Jubilee Cycle trilogy a cautionary tale about the possible future of capitalism. But I never intended it to have a message. Rather, I wanted to use the story to ask questions and make readers think in new ways. The central question of the series is “what is freedom?” I try to ask this question in as many different forms as possible. I don’t pretend to have the answer.
Q: I noticed the third and final book in your Jubilee Cycle series (beginning with “Cash Crash Jubilee” and continuing with “Naked World”) is titled “A Diamond Dream”. I really like this title! I guess you aren’t at liberty to say much, but could you give us any hints about what to expect or when it might be released?
I submitted the manuscript for A Diamond Dream to my publisher (Skyhorse) in June so the release date is dependent on when they edit it. My guess would be some time next year but I haven’t been given any specific timeframe.
A Diamond Dream is the final book in the Jubilee Cycle trilogy. Based on the comments of a number of readers, I think that everyone who reads to the end of book two, The Naked World, is expecting Amon to fix or destroy the action-transaction system somehow.
In A Diamond Dream, Amon will finally meet with Rashana Birla and get many of the answers he has been seeking. He will reunite with some of his friends and enemies, like the PhisherKing and Sekido. Ultimately, he has to decide whether to go to the forest from his dreams or go head to head with the system. If I told you any more, I’d be ruining it.
Eli, thank you again for participating in this interview. It’s been great talking with you. I hope this endeavor didn’t unnecessarily clutter up your AT readout, as a leash was a bit over my budget.
(Note: the terms “AT readout” and “leash” above are references to elements from “Cash Crash Jubilee”.
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Home > Topics > Drinking & Its Effect on Driving > Alcohol & Your Health
Alcohol & Your Health
What is responsible drinking?
In order to drink responsibly, an individual should plan ahead and consume alcohol in moderation. According to a variety of health agencies, consumption guidelines generally recommend no more than one drink per day for women (or no more than to nine drinks per week) and one to two drinks per day for men (up to 14 drinks per week) (Canadian Public Health Association, 2010). It should be noted responsible drinking does not mean abstaining from alcohol.
To develop a culture of moderation concerning alcohol consumption, the Canadian National Alcohol Strategy Working Group (2007) identified the need for a shift in public attitudes and thinking to develop a “culture of moderation” which includes “understanding when, when not, and how much to drink, appropriate motivations for drinking, and settings in which responsible drinking should take place”. In other words, individuals are encouraged to drink sensibly and avoid situations in which decision-making is impaired and they are likely to sustain injuries or experience harm, for example as a result of impaired driving. Responsible drinking is the opposite of excessive alcohol consumption or binge drinking.
What is binge drinking?
Binge drinking has been defined differently by different stakeholders. Most often, the definition highlights the consumption of large amounts of alcohol within a short period with the primary goal of becoming intoxicated or very intoxicated. In other words, binge drinking is a single occasion of drinking heavily. According to the Canadian Medical Association, a binge drinking episode consists of five or more standard drinks for men and four or more standard drinks for women on a single occasion. Binge drinking can overlap with social drinking and is a growing concern among youth, particularly college and university students. In this regard, a standard drink is considered to be one 355 ml bottle of beer, one 150 ml glass of wine or approximately 40 ml of distilled spirits (e.g., rum, vodka, whisky). It is important to note the amount of alcohol in each of these types of drinks is more or less equivalent, so the impairing effects are more or less the same.
What are the risks associated with binge drinking?
Binge drinking can lead to many negative consequences with potentially serious or life-long effects and possible death. Some of the risks associated with excessive alcohol consumption include:
Alcohol poisoning. Alcohol depresses the nervous system which is responsible for controlling involuntary bodily functions such as breathing. The nervous system also controls the gag reflex which prevents choking. Large doses of alcohol can interfere with, or prevent, these functions. Since alcohol irritates the stomach, consuming too many drinks can cause vomiting (Canadian Public Health Association, 2010). If the gag reflex is not working, it can make it difficult to breathe. Other symptoms of alcohol poisoning include unconsciousness, confusion, seizures, slow and/or irregular breathing, and pale/bluish skin (Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, 2010).
Impaired judgment. The consumption of large amounts of alcohol can impair decision-making and lead to risky choices (Canadian Public Health Association, 2010). Impaired judgment can result in individuals taking risks they would otherwise avoid if they were sober (e.g., having unprotected sex which increases the risk of sexually transmitted diseases). It can also lead to engaging in reckless behaviour which could foreseeably result in injury such as driving under the influence (Zeigler et al., 2005).
Mental health. Binge drinkers have a harder time focusing on tasks daily and for this reason, they are less likely to succeed in school or maintain employment (Zeigler et al., 2005). Excessive and prolonged drinking can disrupt sleep patterns which affect an individual’s ability to concentrate (NIAAA, 1998). It can also produce mood changes or mood swings, brain damage, and memory loss.
Alcohol dependence. Individuals who engage in binge drinking frequently (three or more episodes in two-weeks) may be classified as alcohol abusers and begin to exhibit some of the symptoms associated with alcohol abuse (NIAAA, 2007). These symptoms include stomach ulcers, sexual problems (i.e., impotency and infertility), cirrhosis of the liver, heart disease, nutritional deficiencies, and alcohol-induced dementia.
How does alcohol consumption affect youth?
Young people are vulnerable to alcohol-induced brain damage, which could contribute to memory loss and poor performance in the classroom (and later in the workforce) as well as behavioural problems. Adolescence is the transition period between childhood and adulthood. During this time, significant changes occur in the body including the formation of new networks in the brain. Frontal lobe development and the refinement of neural pathways and connections continue until during teenage years and into the early 20s (Begley, 2000). Damage from alcohol at this time can be long-term and irreversible affecting both memory and behaviour control (White, 2001; Brown et al., 2001). By exposing the brain to alcohol during this period, key processes of brain development may be interrupted which can cause damage.
Medical findings confirm this danger: the hippocampus, the part of the brain that is the centre for learning and memory, is smaller in adolescents who are alcohol-dependent (Nagel et al., 2005). These youth may never be able to catch up to their peers in adulthood because they will have learning difficulties, memory loss, and trouble maintaining employment and relationships.
The problem of youth drinking is cause for concern. According to Statistics Canada and the 2018 Canadian Community Health Survey, between 3% to 5% of Canadian youth aged 12 to 17 have consumed alcohol at a rate of five or more drinks per week, a number which has been consistent since 2015. Further, 5.6% of Canadian youth aged 12 to 17 reported consuming an alcoholic beverage in the previous 12 months. Among those who did drink, 37.8% of them did so at least once a month. This is despite the fact it is illegal to sell alcohol to persons under the age of 19 in Canada (18 in Quebec) (survey source: https://www150.statcan.gc.ca/n1/pub/82-625-x/2019001/article/00007-eng.htm).
Similar numbers exist in the US according to the National Institute for Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. They report that by age 15, about 29% of teens have had at least one drink and by age 18, this number increases to 58%. They estimate that, in 2018, 7.1 million young people ages 12-20 drank alcohol beyond “just a few sips”, despite the legal drinking age being 21 in most states. Further, they also report 4.3 million youth binge drinking at least once a month (survey source: https://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures-and-fact-sheets/underage-drinking).
Statistics such as these are disturbing given the earlier the age of onset alcohol consumption, the greater the likelihood usage may develop into addiction later in life. Youth who begin drinking at a younger age are more likely to drink heavily frequently and experience alcohol-related harm (National Alcohol Strategy Working Group, 2007), as well as drink and drive. People who begin drinking before age 15 are four times more likely to develop alcohol dependence at some time in their lives compared to those who have their first drink at age 20 or older.
The negative consequences associated with underage drinking are numerous:
poor academic performance;
behavioural problems;
involvement in dangerous situations (e.g., high-risk sex, impaired driving, violent altercations);
decreased cognitive flexibility;
decreased psychomotor speed;
impaired response inhibition;
increased risk of alcohol dependency;
increased risk of depression;
increased risk of suicidal thoughts; and,
involvement with the criminal justice system.
Given the serious nature of these consequences, sharing information with adolescents about the dangers of alcohol is quite important.
Is there a relationship between alcohol consumption and depression?
There is evidence linking alcohol consumption to depression (Davidson and Ritson, 1993; Gorwood, 1999). Alcohol consumption and depression often occur in combination and can have a cyclical relationship where one enhances the other. Research has shown alcohol dependence and major depressive episodes occur together, typically within short periods (Kessler et al., 1996; Kessler et al., 1997; Lynskey, 1998). The more alcohol consumed, the more symptoms of depression are likely to appear (Mehrabian, 2001). Depression is found more frequently in patients who are being treated for alcohol abuse than in the general populace (Lynskey, 1998). Similarly, a higher frequency of alcohol abuse is seen in patients who are being treated for depression (Alpert et al., 1999). It is difficult to isolate alcohol consumption as a cause of depression, however, excessive alcohol consumption may precede the onset of depression and symptoms tend to decrease during a period of abstinence. This suggests alcohol is a factor in depression (World Health Organization, 2004).
Further, the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) reports that alcohol and other substances can be used for non-medical reasons by the user in response to growing mental health issues such as depression. They note in these circumstances polysubstance use is common and dangerous to the user (CIHR, 2010). Currently, it is unclear if alcohol and substance use is a causal factor or a result of mental health issues, although there is a strong link between the two.
What are the consequences of alcohol when drivers are fatigued?
Drowsiness increases with the length of time a person has been awake. People who get inadequate sleep or experience poor quality sleep may experience acute or chronic sleepiness (Findley et al., 1989; Cohen et al., 1992; Young et al., 1997). Drowsiness or sleepiness normally refers to the urge to fall asleep as the result of a biological need. It is a physiological state of the body that is irreversible in the absence of sleep (Rani, Reddy, & Mounika, 2019). It is governed by a circadian sleep-wake cycle that makes most people feel sleepy twice a day, at night and in the afternoon (Dement & Vaughn, 1999).
Sleep loss can increase drowsiness and the risk of crash involvement. Alcohol and other medications are known to enhance drowsiness (Horne et al., 2003; Ray et al., 1992; Ceutel, 1995). More importantly, the use of alcohol can exacerbate the performance deficits associated with drowsiness creating a level of risk greater than either factor alone.
Low doses of alcohol relax individuals by slowing the activity of the sympathetic nervous system (Roehrs & Roth, 2001). With larger doses, alcohol can further slow reactions and diminish the ability to perform tasks such as driving. When combined with inadequate sleep, alcohol can become a potent sedative and increase the risk of being involved in a crash.
Prolonged alcohol consumption can potentially induce sleep disorders as it disrupts normal sleep patterns and the time an individual sleeps per night (NIAAA, 1998). The consumption of alcohol within an hour of bedtime may help one to fall asleep more quickly but it is likely to result in inadequate sleep during the second half of the sleep period. This is characterized with being awakened by dreams and having difficulty falling back asleep (Landolt et al., 1996). This disruption in sleep can lead to fatigue and drowsiness during the day as well as a lack of alertness.
Therefore, drivers under the influence of alcohol are at risk for involvement in crashes due to fatigued driving because alcohol has sedating effects that, when combined with fatigue or drowsiness, can exacerbate performance deficits (Horne et al., 2003; Lumley et al., 1987).
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Urban Sociologist Joins Arts and Letters Faculty
Author: Brian Wallheimer
Robert Vargas
Robert Vargas, an urban sociologist whose research focuses on violence and health care, is joining Notre Dame’s Department of Sociology this fall as an assistant professor.
Vargas, who will also be a faculty affiliate in the Institute for Latino Studies at Notre Dame, was previously on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a fellow at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation at Harvard University.
Rory McVeigh, professor and chair of the department, said Vargas is a “rising star” working at the cutting edge of the discipline.
“He is at the forefront of a group of young sociologists who are applying new tools and new ideas to examine the types of questions that once formed the core of what would become a uniquely American style of sociological analysis,” McVeigh said. “His work is generating new insight into these important questions, examining complex interactions involving community residents, nonprofit organizations, police, and politicians.”
Vargas’ first book, Wounded City: Violent Turf Wars in a Chicago Barrio (Oxford University Press), will be released May 1. In it, Vargas argues that competition among political groups contributes to the persistence of violence just as much as the competition among street gangs.
He contends that city ward boundaries were deliberately drawn to undermine the political power of poor residents, and these political acts have undermined collective efforts to reduce violence.
“The gerrymandered portions of the neighborhood I studied have the highest rates of violence, and we can see that going back three or four decades,” Vargas said. “These political conflicts have consequences for where violence is concentrated in the city.”
The Costs of Tough-on-Crime Solutions
While he was a graduate student at Northwestern University, Vargas realized that even the best-intentioned community aid programs are derailed by the threat of violence.
One particular incident he saw at a local neighborhood center stuck with him.
“All of the kids were scrambling to get a ride home because they had heard there was a gang initiation going on. The program was right in the middle of that turf,” Vargas said. “You can have all these great programs for kids, but if you don’t understand the geography of the neighborhood or the gangs, they can only do so much.”
That experience stoked Vargas’ interest in how local governments work with low-income populations to try and reduce violence.
Instead of confronting the deep political cleavages dividing the city, Vargas said, local governments have focused on reducing violence through programs targeted at residents or enhanced police crackdowns on gangs.
“The tough-on-crime approaches policy makers are taking, from a social science standpoint, are not working,” Vargas said. “The social and economic costs of imposing such a heavy-handed social order in Chicago’s communities are enormous.”
The Obstacles to Affordable Health Insurance
Vargas’ next project investigates the factors that keep people from utilizing the Affordable Care Act, one of the largest expansions of the social safety net in decades.
The law subsidizes health insurance for low-income citizens, but Vargas is finding that many are not taking advantage of it because of previous personal experiences with government programs.
Understanding the consequences of interactions between government bureaucrats and low-income citizens, Vargas believes, could lead to better implementation and outreach for the Affordable Care Act.
“The ACA arrived after decades of federal cuts to the social safety net for the poor,” Vargas said. “It presents this interesting policy problem of how to engage people to sign up for government-subsidized health insurance after decades of bad experiences, long lines, and stigma connected to the welfare system.”
Vargas said he believes being closer to Chicago will help his research, but he is most excited about the opportunity to work with the Institute for Latino Studies and a young core of highly regarded faculty across campus.
“I was just floored by all Notre Dame has been able to accomplish by recruiting top scholars to the Department of Sociology, becoming editors of the discipline’s premier journal, and showing a strong commitment to diversity,” Vargas said. “Notre Dame is becoming a premier place to conduct social science research, especially on Latino issues. I wanted to be a part of that.”
Originally published by Brian Wallheimer at al.nd.edu on March 31, 2016.
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Home Solar News Solar Energy Initiatives Provides Equipment For K Power Project
Solar Energy Initiatives Provides Equipment For K Power Project
Solar Energy Initiatives Inc. says that its wholly owned subsidiary, Solar Energy Inc., has supplied K Power Inc. with solar photovoltaic panels, inverters and ancillary equipment for the largest private solar system in northeast Florida. The 26 kW, 130-panel array, installed by K Power at its offices, provides approximately 30% of the building's electricity needs.
In addition, Solar Energy Inc. and K Power Inc. have entered into a strategic alliance whereby Solar Energy Inc. will be the preferred supplier of solar electric and solar thermal equipment to commercial and solar farm projects constructed by K Power.
SOURCE: Solar Energy Initiatives Inc.
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The Trouble with the Trump Administration’s Pakistan Policy
February 1, 2018 by Amina Afzal
Recently unveiled by Secretary of Defense James Mattis, the 2018 National Defense Strategy (NDS) of the United States builds upon President Donald Trump’s December 2017 National Security Strategy (NSS) and also sets guidelines for future defense spending. Although many aspects of Trump’s NSS are being likened to President Barack Obama’s in 2010 and 2015, the NSS 2017 is a departure from its predecessors on India and Pakistan. In light of this, it is important to assess the effect of these documents on the future of U.S. relations with South Asia, particularly Pakistan.
Not only does the NSS 2017 acknowledge India’s emergence as a global power, but it also envisages a greater Indian role in the Indian Ocean and the broader region, in cooperation with Japan and Australia. This quadrilateral collaboration, when viewed in the context of the NDS’s objective of favorable regional balances of power in the Indo-Pacific region, highlights India’s position as a counterweight to Chinese influence. However, this objective can have significant repercussions for Pakistan. With India vying for greater influence in the Indian Ocean Region (IOR) and receiving support from the United States, the strategic stability of the region will be influenced negatively, potentially resulting in an arms race that Pakistan can hardly afford. From a Pakistani perspective, the IOR has become more problematic following the induction of India’s ballistic missile submarine INS Arihant in 2016, which resulted in Pakistan responding by completing its nuclear triad with the launch of the Babur missile in early 2017. Moreover, the growing U.S.-India partnership in the IOR and India’s access to U.S. weapons technology to help narrow its “gap with China” have led to a trilateral security competition among India, Pakistan, and China. Thus, an augmented Indian role with U.S. support may fuel this security competition by inviting reactions from China and Pakistan and destabilizing the region further.
With regards to Pakistan-U.S. relations too, the NSS 2017 has exacerbated existing tensions. For instance, the NSS 2017 asserts that the United States “continues to face threats from transnational terrorists and militants operating from within Pakistan.” However, Pakistan maintains that it is doing all it can to end the problem of terrorism and has asked Afghanistan as well to take “simultaneous efforts” to restore peace on its territory. Pakistan also views the United States policies as having aggravated the terrorism issue in the region. For instance, Pakistanis have long argued that the U.S. drone campaign is counterproductive and has radicalized an entire generation. In fact, the references to Pakistan in the NSS 2017 are being interpreted in Islamabad as a prelude to the Trump administration considering extending U.S. drone strikes in the country. The recent drone attack in the Kurram Agency confirmed these fears, prompting Pakistan to announce that such attacks could break the Pakistan-U.S. relationship.
The NSS 2017 also states that the United States worries about an “Indo-Pakistani military conflict that could lead to a nuclear exchange” and claims Washington will “press” Islamabad to continue demonstrating that it is a responsible steward of its nuclear assets. However, not only does the NSS 2017 fail to mention India’s nuclear assets, it actually emphasizes growing U.S. support for Indian endeavors to expand their defense and security related programs. India is already enjoying the fruits of the U.S.-India nuclear deal that paved the way for its subsequent membership into various nonproliferation and export control regimes, including the Australia Group and the Missile Technology Control Regime. This support for New Delhi without mitigating Islamabad’s concerns may serve to further strain already tenuous Pakistan-U.S. relations.
Considered together, the NSS 2017 and the NDS provide a clear indication of things to come. Firstly, these documents further strengthen India’s position vis-a-vis Pakistan and help India pursue its agenda in Afghanistan. The effect of these developments for the already deteriorating Pakistan-U.S. relations would be detrimental as it would reinforce the belief in Pakistan that the United States is pursuing policies that are harmful for the country. Secondly, they signal that there are no longer any supporters of the Pakistan-U.S. relationship under the current administration, whether in the White House, the State Department, or the Defense Department.
However, the Pakistani government’s response to hostility from the United States remains unclear. While some circles in Pakistan claim that the United States is no longer an ally, others insist otherwise. The government’s policy towards the United States remains ambivalent thus far, with contradictory statements that further confuse the issue. Notwithstanding claims that the relationship can be salvaged, there is little hope for Pakistan-U.S. relations, at least in the short term. The NSS 2017 spells out clearly that no matter what Pakistan does, the Trump administration’s Pakistan policy during the current term will not change. In the longer term, alleviating the United States’s concerns would require a rethinking of Pakistan’s Afghanistan policy, which directly impacts its domestic stability. The United States also needs to realize that stability in Afghanistan would be possible only if it continues to work with Pakistan as well as admit its own mistakes. Political stability in Afghanistan may require greater Pakistani efforts but it also requires that both Afghanistan and the United States do more.
Editor’s note: With the recent release of the National Security Strategy by the White House and the National Defense Strategy by the Pentagon, the Trump administration articulated its strategic priorities at home and abroad. In this four-part series, SAV contributors Monish Tourangbam, Hamzah Rifaat, Amina Afzal, and Pooja Bhatt analyze how these policy formulations may impact South Asia. Read the entire series here.
Image 1: U.S. Department of State via Wikimedia (cropped)
Image 2: SS Mirza/AFP via Getty Images
Posted in National Security, China, Defence, Foreign Policy, India, India-Pakistan Relations, Indo-Pacific, NSS & NDS Review 2018, Pakistan, United States
Amina Afzal
Amina Afzal is a Canada based researcher. She holds an MA in Non Proliferation and Terrorism Studies from the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey and a Masters in Defence & Strategic Studies from Quaid-e-Azam University Islamabad. She has more than ten years of experience working at various Pakistani think tanks.
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آنے والے امریکی انتخابات نہ صرف امریکی عوام کیلئے فیصلہ کن لمحہ ہوں گے بلکہ بطورعالمی رہنما مستقبل میں ملک کے سفر کیلئے راہیں متعین […]
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Hotel Danube site of Mafia shooting
"We are going to do everything to forbid people from coming in with guns. We're going to have metal detectors like you see in airports."
Wagih Khoury, Director, Hotel Danube in BratislavaThe Danube Hotel, on the banks of the namesake river in downtown Bratislava, is wrestling with a high-profile problem due to its seeming appeal to mobsters who like to settle accounts in and around the hotel.
On September 24, an unknown assailant strolled in and shot two men in the Hotel Danube's groundfloor Amadeus bar, killing one and seriously injuring the other. After the incident, the suspect ran away through a nearby park on Hviezdoslavovo námestie, according to eyewitnesses. According to one eyewitness who was in the hotel at the time of the incident, the two victims were dealing with some paperwork when the man walked into the door and opened fire.
Wagih Khoury, Director, Hotel Danube in Bratislava
The Danube Hotel, on the banks of the namesake river in downtown Bratislava, is wrestling with a high-profile problem due to its seeming appeal to mobsters who like to settle accounts in and around the hotel.
On September 24, an unknown assailant strolled in and shot two men in the Hotel Danube's groundfloor Amadeus bar, killing one and seriously injuring the other. After the incident, the suspect ran away through a nearby park on Hviezdoslavovo námestie, according to eyewitnesses. According to one eyewitness who was in the hotel at the time of the incident, the two victims were dealing with some paperwork when the man walked into the door and opened fire. One man was shot in the chest and died immediately. The other was shot in the face, just below the eye, the eyewitness said.
He was identified as 27-year-old Róbert H., who according to police sources, was considered one of the strongest figures in the Košice underworld. While Róbert H. escaped death thanks to emergency surgery performed at Bratislava's Kramáre hospital, he was far from safe.
That's because as he lay in his hospital bed recuperating from the surgery, an assailant wearing a ski-mask snuck to Róbert H.'s hospital window via a nearby roof around 2 a.m on October 5 and machine-gunned him to death. The gun, equipped with a silencer, was manufactured in Yugoslavia. After the first shooting, the U.S. Embassy circulated an internal document, forbidding American government officials who are in Bratislava temporarily (TDY) from staying at the Hotel Danube.
"Until we are confident that adequate measures have been taken to ensure the safety of visitors at the hotel,... the U.S. Embassy will no longer lodge TDY personnel at the Danube Hotel," the statement reads. "For the same reason, no official Embassy functions will be scheduled at the Danube." The Embassy is not blaming the hotel, though.
"It's not the Danube management's fault," said an embassy spokesperson. "It's the Mafia's move to town. This happens in other countries, but if there are hotels there like this, the same [regulation] would be [adopted]."
"Unfortunately, this problem is not particular to the Hotel Danube," said Wagih Khoury, the Hotel Danube's director. "The problem is much bigger, it's Slovakia. I mean, if you have people shot dead in hospitals, where else can you feel secure? I can tell you, I don't feel any more insecure in my hotel than I do anywhere else in Bratislava."
Khoury said that the hotel is ill-equipped to fight the Mafia, adding that the only thing he can ensure is that customers won't carry guns inside the hotel. "We are going to do everything to forbid people from coming in with guns," he said.
"It's not nice to see, but we're also going to have metal detectors like you see in airports," Khoury continued. "We are going to have a safe outside, so a person who carries a gun will have to put it to the safe and than can take the gun back when leaving the hotel."
9. Oct 1997 at 0:00 | Daniel Borský
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Roma marginality and integration discussed at conference
"WE ARE simply not ready for integration," said sociologist Iveta Radičová. This statement seemed to ring true for many of the participants at the Assessment of Marginality and Integration Among Disadvantaged Groups conference held at the Faculty of Philosophy at Prešov University, in eastern Slovakia, between September 25 and 27.
Sociologists, anthropologists, pedagogues, and other scholars from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Canada gathered at the conference.
ATTENDEES considered problems facing Roma.
photo: Andrea Chalupová
Sociologists, anthropologists, pedagogues, and other scholars from Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Canada gathered at the conference. Topics for lectures ranged from the marginality of Inuit settlers in Labrador, Canada, to the conference's focal point: the problematic issues of the Roma in Slovakia. The third day of the conference was spent in the settlement of Svinia, where a Canadian-financed project has actively worked to improve the disastrous living conditions of the Roma. There have been successes as well as failures.
The initiator of "Project Svinia", professor David Scheffel, spoke about the failure of their main goal - to build flats for the Roma. After five years of intense cooperation with the municipal council in Svinia and the acquisition of 8 hectares of land with an EU grant, the new mayor rejected the project and ended all cooperation. The grant would have financed infrastructure not only in the settlement but also in the village.
"I'm very sad because I know that the situation there really is catastrophic and that it won't be resolved now," said Scheffel. "The municipality council says that it knows that the situation needs to be improved, but what exactly they are planning to do I don't know. They have no concepts. And now, because of this, Svinia is off the map. Who will do anything there now?"
Radičová highlighted other problems the Roma face. "Focusing only on the socio-economic situation of the Roma is not enough to improve their situation," she said. In her lecture, she stressed the fact that many Roma that are considered integrated are in fact assimilated. There is no social mobility within their own community. For a Roma to reach a high level of education and societal position, it often means giving up his or her native language and cultural identity.
Fedor Blaščák, another lecturer, delivered a more philosophical aspect of the topic of integration. "Integrating means listening," he said. "We often confuse integration with the offering of services. But building a school in a settlement does not change the relationships between the people. We have our own concepts and models that we want to apply to a living system. Are they really better than what this system can produce on its own? Integration means accepting what is different."
Blaščák also spoke on topics concerning mutual understanding between Roma and non-Roma.
"I learn a lot from my Roma friends. And maybe they learn something too. But if I consciously wanted to imprint a sense of responsibility and guilt in them that they simply don't have, it just wouldn't work. We are sitting here, talking about what the future will bring. If there is anything the Roma can teach us, then it is to see what IS."
Cultural differences and the challenges that these can pose to a Roma child's education were dealt with in the lecture by Ladislav Hornák from the Department of Special Pedagogy at Prešov University. "For example, in tests, a Roma child may know the answer and yet does not write it," he said. "Non-Roma children are taught to compete. Many Roma children simply don't have this upbringing."
The conference was rounded off by Monika Duždová, a Roma. "I have no academic research behind me, but what you are talking about I experience every day," she said. "In this society, it really doesn't matter whether you are integrated or not. As long as you are Roma, you will not be integrated until you give up your own identity."
Marking the end of the conference, Alexander Mušinka posed an urgent question regarding the issues of cultural difference. "Whom should we listen to?" he asked. "The assimilated Roma or the non assimilated? Then there are the ones, like in Svinia, who say, 'we want to live like [non-Roma]'. What should the Roma nation look like?"
20. Oct 2003 at 0:00 | Andrea Chalupová
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SARIO working on 40 new projects
THE SLOVAK Investment and Trade Development Agency (SARIO) reports 40 projects in the pipeline, chiefly in the field of the automotive industry.
In the event of their successful implementation, new investments of €2 billion could arrive in Slovakia, creating 6,000 to 10,000 new jobs.
SARIO director general, Roman Kuruc, told SITA that these projects also cover the wood-processing and chemical industries.
Investments from new projects would flow mostly to northern Slovakia, specifically in the area of the cities of Źilina, Martin, and Banska Bystrica. The first projects announced could be signed in early summer, said Kuruc.
Potential investors are chiefly from the United States, Germany, France, and Japan. At the moment, he sees potential problems in infrastructure and in the projects' implementation timeframes.
"Everybody wants everything all at once, leaving decisions to the last moment," said Kuruc, adding that new investors would like to start production by the end of this year.
SARIO registers 240 potential investment projects amounting to about €6 billion at the moment. These investments could create 29,000 to 55,000 jobs.
Compiled by Beata Balogová from press reports
22. Jun 2004 at 10:25
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TRANSPORT MINISTER PROKOPOVIČ SAYS 100 PERCENT OF CARGO TRANSPORT SHARES SHOULD GO
Privatisation on track
THE TRANSPORT Ministry hopes to sell cargo rail transportation company Železničná spoločnosť Cargo for a target profit of Sk15 billion (€376 million).
In July the Slovak government approved a plan to split the national railway company Železničná spoločnosť (ŽSSK) into two joint-stock companies: one operating solely passenger transport and the other cargo transport.
DZURINDA's cabinet gave the sale of Slovakia's cargo rail transport company the green light.
photo: TASR
It remains unclear how big a stake of the cargo transport company will be sold, but Transport Minister Pavol Prokopovič thinks the entire 100 percent should go.
The division should be completed by the end of 2004 or the end of March 2005 at the latest.
ŽSSK hopes to use the privatisation proceeds to reduce its debts and obligations.
According to Prokopovič, the ministry expects to see at least Sk15 billion in its pocket from the deal.
"On June 30, 2004 the debt of ŽSSK amounted to approximately Sk8 billion (€200 million). One of the aims of the cargo and passenger transport separation is to clarify where and how the debt, which represents a burden for the taxpayers in the end, is being created," Vladimír Drozda the head of the Transport Ministry's service office told The Slovak Spectator.
Prokopovič told the SME daily that the ministry had decided to separate passenger and cargo transport companies because their business activities were of a different character.
Cargo transport, he said, is profitable and the unprofitable transport of passengers, which is a public service, has been carried by it for a long time.
"However, this kind of subsidisation is not allowed by European law," added Prokopovič.
According to Finance Minister Ivan Mikloš, if ŽSSK remained one company, the support would result in the loss of cargo transport competitiveness.
Robert Nemcsics, a former economy minister and currently an independent parliamentary deputy, said he was surprised the information was presented in such a blunt way. He expected a discussion over the issue first.
"On the basis of the information published so far, I am not inclined to such a privatisation. Cargo transport is the more profitable part of the railway operation. I do not understand the main motive in this case," he said.
Prokopovič said the privatisation of the cargo company should be launched as soon as possible.
The minister cannot see any reason all the shares could not be sold.
The ministry will make a final decision on the volume of the stake to be sold only after it consults with a privatisation advisor, which will be chosen in an international competition.
"The announcement of a shortlist competition for the advisor in the cargo transport privatisation was sent to the official journal of the European Union and also to the Slovak journal of public procurement on July 12," Drozda told The Slovak Spectator.
He added that speaking concretely of possible buyers of the cargo transport company was premature.
"An advisor who would suggest the most appropriate way to privatisation will first be chosen and then an international tender for the selection of the most suitable investor will be organised," explained Drozda.
The cargo branch of ŽSSK posted revenues amounting to Sk15.7 billion (€393 million) for the transport of 50.5 million tons of goods last year, the daily SME wrote.
According to the Commercial Register, the share capital of all of ŽSSK is Sk26.8 billion (€671 million).
In the Top Trend chart of the Trend economy weekly, ŽSSK is a seventh biggest non-financial company in Slovakia and, by employing more than 19,000 employees, the second biggest Slovak employer. ŽSSK was established two years ago, when Železnice SR was separated into two companies. The railways of hte Slovak Republic operates tracks, railway stations and ŽSSK trains.
Jozef Schmidt, the head of the railway trade unions, sees certain risks in the privatisation.
Contrary to passenger transport, he said, cargo transport has the potential to be profitable. For this reason he will insist that the Transport Ministry clearly say in what manner the cargo transport will be privatised and how the state company that secures passenger transport will fund its operations.
The material on the ŽSSK transformation also hints that, after the privatisation, there will be a drop in the number of employees in both firms.
"At present it is not known how the process of the ŽSSK transformation and the consequent privatisation of the cargo company will influence the number of employees. However, we expect that the approach of a new investor will be standard and they will strive for higher effectiveness. This will probably result in higher security and higher incomes for the employees working in cargo transport," Drozda told The Slovak Spectator.
26. Jul 2004 at 0:00 | Robert Valjent
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FOUR NEW INDUSTRIAL PARKS HAVE SUBSTANTIAL INVESTMENT PROMISES IN PLACE - AND THEY ARE WAITING FOR MORE
Parks revving for business
THREE industrial parks in Eastern Slovakia and one in the western part of the country will get financial support from the EU and the Slovak state for their establishment and development.
European Union funds and the Economy Ministry will give an overall Sk489.8 million (€12.84 million) for new industrial parks in Javorinská (part of the town of Myjava, Western Slovakia) and Matejovce (part of Poprad town), Trebišov and Snina in Eastern Slovakia.
Economy Minister Pavol Rusko told the press that the volume of finances is approximately equal to the sums that individual towns asked for. The EU will cover 70 percent of the costs for the parks' construction, 25 percent will be paid from the Slovak state budget and 5 percent has to be covered by the municipality or an investor.
The Economy Ministry registered 7 applications for potential industrial parks. However, only four of them were successful in gaining funds. "Three projects were not of a sufficient quality. It reflected insufficient preparation by these towns and cities," the minister said. He was referring to proposed industrial parks for Michalovce, Hlohovec, and Jaklovce.
According to Rusko, the level of potential investment was the most important criterion in evaluating the proposals and their chance of getting the money. He said all four of the successful applications had investors already bound by contract. So far, some 12 to 16 companies are lined up for the parks. The final number depends on further talks.
Rusko pointed out that the investors should create about 6,000 to 8,000 jobs once the parks are up and running. This will be a significant step in fighting the regions' high unemployment.
Municipalities put in for funding following the ministry's call for applications.
The ministry is planning to launch another call at the end of this month or at the beginning of March. The minister added that the unsuccessful candidates from the previous round are welcome to reapply.
Towns that were granted financial support appreciate the decision and expect that the industrial parks will contribute to the overall development of the regions, as well as help fight high unemployment.
The deputy mayor of Trebišov, Pavol Flaugnatti, told The Slovak Spectator its industrial park will be spread across 10 to 15 hectares, on an area formerly occupied by a canning factory. The city obtained EU and state support of Sk228 million (€5.98 million). The money will be used mainly to build infrastructure.
So far, the Trebišov park has signed agreements with five future investors. That represents an investment total of an extra [in addition to the EU and state investments] Sk150 million (€6.55 million). The five investors cover 35 percent of the park's land and the town is open to other investors.
The companies will operate in fields such as the manufacture of wood for the furniture industry, briquettes for fireplaces, and natural-based fertilizers. They will also process industrial waste for the cosmetics industry. One foreign-owned foundry company that is currently based in Poprad will move to the Trebišov park.
Flaugnatti expects that production in Trebišov park will start in 2007. The five companies will create an initial 200 to 250 jobs.
Svätoslav Husták, chairman of the board of representatives of the Snina Industrial Park Association, told the Spectator that their industrial park will cover an area of approximately 110,000 hectares.
Investors in Snina will put in a total Sk100 million (€2.62 million) in additional investments and create about 100 working positions at the initial investment stage. Snina has so far signed memorandums with firms such as Del Casting, Mops Slovakia and is in talks with two others. The companies in the park so far are mainly allied to the machinery and metallurgy industries.
Poprad will get Sk157 million (€4.11 million) from EU and state resources for the industrial park located in one part of the town, Matejovce. Anton Danko, the mayor of Poprad said: "I am pleased with the decision. For our inhabitants it will mean an increase in jobs."
The industrial park in Matejovce will be built on an area of 32 hectares, though at the initial stage it will only cover 8.6 hectares. The town has concluded preparatory agreements with three companies: Brantner and REPP, both from Poprad, and LPH, from Vranov nad Topľou.
The town has now to decide on the form of administrating the park. It will either establish a firm fully owned by the town or it will pass everything over to a company, which will invest in and develop, as well as administer, the park.
The industrial park in Myjava, at Javorinská, will spread over 16 hectares. So far, six investors have agreed to establish their production there, creating an initial 250 jobs. Myjava asked for Sk77.5 million (€2.03 million) in support. Companies will invest an additional Sk132 million (€3.46 million).
40 percent of the park's area is already spoken for. It should be operating in 2007. Some companies, such as CEP Schredel Pružiny, Myjavská obchodná agentúra (Myjava commercial agency), and Slovarm may even start operating there in 2005. Myjava town authorities are in talks with other potential investors.
The industrial park will concentrate on light machinery, storage facilities and production services.
Last year the Economy Ministry made support and construction of industrial parks a priority. Pavol Rusko said in October 2004 that 12 industrial parks would be built in 2005.
Rusko named 2005 as "the year of industrial park development".
The Economy Ministry and Slovak officials are trying to attract investors to mainly Eastern Slovakia, which suffers the highest rate of unemployment. However, investors are expected also in the regions of Banská Bystrica and Nitra.
Michal Sýkora, the head of the Association of Towns and Cities, admitted that EU funds could speed up the creation of industrial parks in Slovakia but noted that the country's unfinished highway network often discouraged investors from coming to this Central European state.
21. Feb 2005 at 0:00 | Marta Ďurianová
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The country of 200 newspapers
JUKKA Leino represents a country of 1,000 lakes, 200 newspapers, widespread broadband internet access and students with exemplary reading and maths skills: Finland. While his country’s language and even geography might pose some minor barriers, the Finnish ambassador to Slovakia believes that there are many areas where Finns and Slovaks can connect. For example, Finland is ready to share its expertise in internet technologies, or in utilising sources of renewable energy.
Finnish Ambassador Jukka Leino. (Source: Jana Liptáková)
Leino believes that cultural barriers are much easier to cross in a globalising world and that the Finns are not quite the tight-lipped nation that their stereotype might suggest.
The Slovak Spectator spoke to Ambassador Leino about the high penetration of broadband internet, nuclear power and also the success of the Finnish education system.
The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands and Sweden are global leaders in terms of broadband internet access, according to a report last year by the European Commission. How has Finland achieved such success in high-speed internet penetration?
Jukka Leino (JL): We are a very large country and we want to make people connected. In 2004 the government adopted a countrywide strategy for the spread of broadband, which included 50 different points to make progress in this area. Then, on the local level, the so-called communes also passed their strategies for broadband. This has contributed to the fact that more than 70 percent of our people are now connected. Of course, people are curious and they want the latest technology, especially when it is easy to access.
TSS: The OECD’s student ability assessment programme, PISA, has consistently given Finland one of the highest rankings for reading skills, mathematics, science and problem solving. The World Economic Forum ranks Finland's tertiary education as being the first in the world, with around 33 percent of residents having a tertiary degree, one of the highest rates in the OECD countries along with Canada, USA and Japan. What is behind these achievements?
JL: Education is free for everyone from elementary to university level, and everybody has equal access. We have made our system very flexible and supportive towards the teachers, with the government supporting all kinds of education projects. We have also started promoting life-long education.
About one third of our population has a university degree, which is fuelled by two factors: it is free, and the system is very supportive. When you study you get different kinds of support, for example for your housing. We have about 20 universities and 29 polytechnics, which makes the network very tight.
TSS: One of Slovakia’s problems with its academic system is that it has been disconnected from the needs of business. Are there effective ties between the Finnish education system and research institutions and businesses?
JL: One of the reasons behind Finland’s good university education system is that the public and private sectors cooperate effectively. Educational authorities know what types of education are needed now and they know what businesses will need in five years and are hence able to innovate with their programmes.
Just to illustrate these efforts: we are establishing a new university in Helsinki, the Aalto. It will be a combination of three universities under one roof. One is the University of Arts and Sciences of Helsinki, the second is the Technical University of Helsinki and the third is the Helsinki School of Economics. We joined art, technology and economics, which is a very new concept in educational methods.
As for the number of foreign students in Finland, there is a substantial language barrier which makes the task of attracting them more difficult. However, our schools have invested in their image and would like to attract more foreign students. During recent years, the number of courses offered by Finnish universities has increased. As for the primary foreign language spoken in Finland, which is a bilingual country, it is definitely English, which is the most widely spoken.
TSS: There are about 200 newspapers in Finland, while the number of printed copies per capita is the highest in Europe and the third highest in the world. Are the Finns really such a keen newspaper-reading nation? What are the reasons for this?
JL: Finland is about four times bigger than Slovakia but the population of Finland is close to Slovakia’s. In the past every smaller town used to have a newspaper. It is really part of the Finnish lifestyle to start the day by reading a newspaper. If we look back 20 to 30 years everybody got the morning paper and in many places this habit has been preserved. Of course, today there is much progress in technology and people can read the news on the internet, but in Finland many people still want the ‘paper’ paper.
The Finnish press has always been independent. The main paper, the Helsinki Sanomat, is a high quality paper and I have often heard that it is the New York Times of the north. Its editorial content is on a very high level.
TSS: According to a Eurobarometer survey, citizens of Finland are best informed about their human rights (62 percent). Are there any specific reasons behind this phenomenon?
JL: In the background to all this there is Finnish or Nordic democracy. We are used to making decisions together with the public.
Secondly, I think one important reason is that in our education system human rights are included in every subject. You have everywhere this aspect of human rights. From the president to the youngest civil servant, human rights are stressed on every level.
We are at the northern corner of Western Europe and in a way we are very conservative. Because it is cold and dark, immigrants first go to Denmark or Norway. But of course when foreigners come to Finland we try to integrate them into society as early as possible.
TSS: What is the current situation on Finland’s labour market? Is your country facing any lack of qualified labour? If so, which are the most affected sectors?
JL: Our unemployment rate is about 6 percent, which is not too bad - but not too good either.
We already lack labour in some sectors and in the future, in a few years time, this will be even more the case. This is why we welcome trained and educated labour in health care and in some types of construction work. For example, we are now building a new nuclear power plant where we definitely need more foreign workers.
TSS: Several European countries have made a positive shift towards nuclear power as a way to tackle energy safety issues. What is the situation in Finland in this area?
JL: The positive shift towards nuclear power happened six or seven years ago and Finland has now decided to build a modern European power plant and is discussing the next steps. The government has basically said that we accept that nuclear power is environmentally friendly and has a future. We have said that new nuclear power is welcome but we are also discussing what the limit to it might be.
Ten years ago there was a strong movement against nuclear power but I think if we were to hold a poll today, the majority would vote for it. The argument is that if we are not building nuclear power plants we would be buying electricity from Russia produced at nuclear plants about 60 kilometres from our borders.
TSS: Your website says that the two most frequent pieces of advice given to foreign investors dealing with Finnish businessmen is: “Just go straight to the issue” and “Do not let the silence discourage you”. Could you explain why lies behind this advice?
JL: I will respond with an anecdote about two Finnish loggers. They went to the forest in the morning and after working silently all day, they went home. The next day they did the same without saying a word. In the evening they returned to their log cabin and went to the sauna and had a drink. When the younger one says to the older one ‘skol’ [‘cheers’], the older replies “hey, are we drinking or chatting?”
In a way this is the Finnish nature. But on the other hand, when you look at how much we use the internet and phones it seems misleading, since Finnish people communicate quite a lot.
TSS: Which areas of the Slovak economy are interesting for Finnish businesses? Has this potential in your opinion been fully explored?
JL: We have a lot of opportunities to explore in our economic cooperation and we have not yet used these opportunities. We have been following Slovakia’s efforts to grow into an information society and we have a lot of experience to share in this area.
There are many other areas where we can work together, for example renewable energy resources. We are both countries of forests and perhaps we can think about how we could exchange experiences in the forestry industry.
TSS: Are there intense academic contacts between Slovakia and Finland? Which are the preferred areas? And could you name some study or exchange programmes?
JL: I would like to see more such exchange programmes. However, we have a very active Finnish language section here at the Hungarian department of Comenius University and there are about 20 Slovak students being enrolled in Finnish studies.
There is a permanent Finnish lecturer who started her work last September.
For example representatives from the Economy University in Bratislava have also visited their counterpart university in Helsinki to develop some kind of cooperation. I very much support all these links.
TSS: Has the tourism potential between Slovakia and Finland been fully explored?
JL: This is another field where we could work together because we do not know much about each other yet. But Finns travel all around the world and are looking for new places.
The Slovak Embassy in Helsinki organised a Slovak Tourist Days event and it pleasantly surprised me that the whole city hall was filled with people, proving that there is an interest in Slovakia.
From Italy we have a lot of so-called mushroom tourists. They come to pick mushrooms and there is a company which collects the mushrooms and takes them back to Italy. Then we also have Santa Claus tourism in Lapland.
TSS: The health condition of Finnish citizens has improved considerably over the past decades. For example Finland has notably low smoking rates (26 percent among males and 19 percent for females). What has brought about such a shift in this area?
JL: We have done a lot to educate people and explain the damaging effects of unhealthy food and excessive drinking. We had very heavy eating and drinking habits and the ratio of heart diseases was very high. As a result of massive campaigns, people are now healthier.
A friend of mine, Dr Pekka Puska, started a campaign some 35 years ago and travelled around the country, almost from house to house.
Changing people’s habits is a slow process. The younger generation is much healthier. We also have new legislation according to which you are not allowed to smoke in public places.
Finland: general facts
Political system: republic
Capital: Helsinki
Total area: 338,145 square kilometres
Population: 5.2 million, 17 inhabitants per square kilometre
Official languages: Finnish (spoken by 93% of population); Swedish (6%)
Key exports: metal, engineering and electronics, forestry products
Number of Finnish citizens living in Slovakia: about 40
Sources: Portraying Finland (edited by Laura Kolbe); the Finnish Embassy in Bratislava
2. Feb 2009 at 0:00 | Beata Balogová
Theme: Foreigners in Slovakia
Blog: Five magic words
Coronavirus crisis decreases number of foreigners working in Slovakia
Equality only on paper. Migrants from third countries face many obstacles in Slovakia
The residence status of UK citizens in Slovakia will change
Pass a Slovak language dictation so you can work with foreigners
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Election survey finds 38.5 percent support for SMER party
The strongest ruling coalition party, SMER, would win parliamentary elections with support of more than one in three voters, according to a public opinion survey carried out by the agency FOCUS from August 4 to 11 on a representative sample of 1,038 Slovak residents over the age of 18, the TASR newswire wrote.
The survey participants were asked how they would vote if elections were held in August. Of those who would participate in the elections, 38.5 percent gave their vote to SMER, 14.3 percent to the opposition SDKU and 9.9 percent to the opposition KDH party. Eighteen percent of those polled said they would not participate in the elections and 17.8 percent said they did not know who they would support.
Ruling coalition member SNS would garner 8.5 percent and the third coalition partner HZDS would capture 6.8 percent. Opposition party SMK would enjoy the support of only 6.3 percent of respondents and the newly-established MOST-HID party would win the support of 5.2 percent people. Other parties did not make it to five percent threshold needed to enter parliament.
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Private equity firms show confidence
OPTIMISM continues to spread among private equity investors across central Europe, as they look to the future with greater confidence than at any time since early 2008. Deal levels remain below those of two or three years ago, however, and the deals are taking noticeably longer to conclude but private equity investors expect to continue pursuing new investment opportunities in the region. These are some conclusions from the Central Europe Private Equity Confidence Survey, which Deloitte presented in early June.
According to Garret Byrne, Deloitte partner and M&A Transaction Service Leader, 2009 was a tough year for private equity firms globally, including those operating in central Europe.
“2010 looks much more positive – the recovery in the stock markets and improved availability of debt has bolstered sentiment,” the survey cites Byrne as saying. “There is a continuing belief among economists in the convergence effect that should see economies in central Europe grow at a faster pace than in western Europe over the medium term.”
The survey asked a sample of respondents from professional private equity firms across the region 10 key questions relating to their expectations for the next six months from April 2010.
Sub: Experiences in Slovakia
“International private equity companies operating in the region of central and south-eastern Europe have invested in Slovakia only sporadically,” said Maroš Sokolovský, financial advisory director at Deloitte Slovakia. “The reason was – and I expect that this will continue – that there is a lack of big competitive opportunities here compared with other countries in this region. It is also true that Slovak investors know the local market conditions better and are better able to capitalise on opportunities.”
According to Sokolovský, general conclusions from the survey may be applied specifically to Slovakia. But in spite of the growing optimism and appetite, the ability of private equity companies operating in Slovakia to carry out new investments will be affected by the financial performance and stability of their existing investments, as well as the availability of capital and the ability of the investors to approach new investment opportunities in an innovative way.
Though Slovakia has never been a traditional destination for global private equity, investors can still find opportunities here but their realisation is more difficult that it has been in the past, according to Sokolovský.
“The so-called smart-buys, which mean that you buy cheap and sell high is pretty much a thing of the past,” he said adding that now investors need to put together these projects creatively. Some projects may involve, for example, finding a smart idea in a functioning company which lacks the cash to start up the new project.
The regions of central and eastern Europe are perceived as having bigger potential than in western Europe. But an individual approach to each project is necessary, according to Sokolovský.
With regards to expectations of acquisition opportunities in individual market segments the survey shows the biggest change was in the technologies, media and telecommunications sector, dropping from 25 percent in September 2005 to 13 percent now. Expectations in financial services decreased as well while in manufacturing they increased from 18.8 percent to 26 percent. The energy sector and the food industry are perceived as more or less resistant to such cyclical development, according to Sokolovský.
Biggest deals
Among the biggest recent deals by private equity companies in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, excluding global or international companies, Sokolovský cited the formation of an energy and industrial holding done by the J&T financial group, PPF, and Daniel Křetinský who had managed energy investments within J&T. The value of the investment was revealed only partly, when the announced investment of PPF was said to be 6 billion Czech crowns. The transaction took place in February 2009.
In December 2009 the German company SAG, owned by private equity firm EQT, obtained a majority stake in Elektrovod Holding. The company is engaged in construction, maintenance and reconstruction of power transmission systems.
In June 2008, private equity company Penta acquired windows producer Noves and incorporated it into the group Hassau along with the Polish company Okna Rabien. In May 2010 Penta also acquired the Czech electro-technical company Mezservis.
5. Jul 2010 at 0:00 | Jana Liptáková
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First charges laid in VOS wiretap case
THE FIRST charges have been brought in association with the interception last year of journalists’ telephone calls by the Military Defence Intelligence (VOS), Slovakia’s military counter-intelligence service, which operates under the Ministry of Defence. Deputy general prosecutor Dobroslav Trnka announced the charges while appearing on TV news channel TA3. Ľubomír Galko of Freedom and Solidarity (SaS), who was fired as defence minister after the bugging came to light, said that Trnka’s on-air announcement meant he was unfairly interfering in the election campaign in the lead-up to the March 10 general election.
While Trnka refused to say exactly who was being charged he confirmed that senior members of the VOS would be among them, and that they would be accused of abuse of the powers of a public official and violating the rights of citizens. Trnka did not specify the number of people who would face charges.
“Having collected all the evidence we have come to the conclusion after 10 weeks that the time to bring charges against people that probably participated in illegal activities within the VOS has come and this has actually happened today,” Trnka told TA3 on February 20. “There are at least ten charges, while it is possible there will be more of them and it is also possible that charges will be filed against other persons as well.”
The Pravda and Nový Čas dailies reported on November 21 that reporters at Pravda as well as the head of the TV news channel TA3, Michal Gučík, had had their telephones tapped by the VOS. Nový Čas reported that it had access to VOS transcripts of intercepted phone conversations dating back as far as February 2011. The alleged wiretapping ended after the fall of the government in October 2011, according to Pravda.
The applications to monitor the journalists’ phones was signed by the then head of the VOS, Pavol Brychta, and the wiretapping, purportedly to monitor the so-called “contact base” of three journalists, was approved by a judge.
In Slovakia military intelligence activities are performed by two organisations operating under the Defence Ministry: the Military Intelligence Service (VSS) and the Military Defence Intelligence (VOS), which conducts counter-intelligence activities.
Brychta, who was sacked on December 2 by Prime Minister Iveta Radičová, who has been acting as defence minister since she dismissed Galko, told the Sme daily that as of February 21 he had no knowledge of being charged. No charges can currently be brought against Galko since he is now an MP and consequently enjoys immunity from criminal prosecution.
Galko has argued that the wiretaps were performed legally and were intended to uncover criminal activity.
“The surveillance and wiretapping had nothing to do with uncovering any criminal activity and this is the greatest problem,” Trnka said on February 20.
Although court approval was sought and obtained for the wiretapping, Trnka said that the reasons used to justify covert surveillance should not be fabricated and that judges should not be deceived and misled by what he called “made-up legends”.
“In a country where 22 years have passed since the Velvet Revolution judges must not be lied to and misled,” Trnka told TA3.
On the question of whether Galko himself knew about the wiretaps or in fact personally ordered them, Trnka said this would be subject to further investigation.
“[Trnka] has been far exceeding his authorities,” said Galko, as quoted by the SITA newswire when commenting on Trnka’s statements, adding that the prosecutor had not said anything concrete. “These were only political statements and thus it is very difficult to comment on this issue. It is interesting that he has been unusually engaging only in this case, as though some other cases have not existed at all.”
Galko also said that he did not know about judges having been misled, Sme reported.
“The requests were prepared by specific VOS officers; I have not commented on them and did not approve or sign them,” Galko said, as quoted by Sme.
When presenting the preliminary results of a parliamentary inquiry on December 7, 2011, Radičová said that the VOS undertook wiretapping when it was not needed. She stated that most of the actions by the VOS did not relate to its primary functions under the law but rather to investigating its own operations and leaks from within, adding that the internal control system had been altered so that wide-ranging leaks of information became possible, SITA wrote.
27. Feb 2012 at 0:00 | Beata Balogová
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Lopinot: EU presidency is a chance for Slovakia
THERE is room for Slovak companies to invest in France and the French Ambassador Didier Lopinot is ready to focus on helping them do so in the new year. While the French are more aware of Slovakia thanks to Peter Sagan’s performance in the Tour de France, Ambassador Lopinot sees the upcoming Slovak EU presidency as the major opportunity for Slovakia to promote itself.
Ambassador Didier Lopinot (Source: Courtesy of the French Embassy)
The Slovak Spectator (TSS): Slovakia recently filed a lawsuit against the European Council’s decision to introduce quotas for the redistribution of refugees. How is this perceived in France?
Didier Lopinot (DL): For France, it is clear that EU member states have the duty to welcome people fleeing massacres such as the Syrian regime’s cruel bombings and the slaughter perpetrated by Daesh. France will, thus, take in 30,000 refugees as part of the relocation scheme. Besides, it is absolutely necessary to show our solidarity and not to confuse Islam with violence and terrorism. However, like Slovakia, we are also convinced that the EU must be responsible and better control its external borders. Therefore, we are calling for the implementation of “hot spots” in Greece and Italy, as well as for the setting up a true European border and coast guard system. At the same time, we welcome the discussions held between the EU and Turkey and we strive for the stabilisation of Syria.
TSS: In the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in Paris, French authorities asked Slovakia for military assistance. How is the cooperation proceeding?
DL: After the attacks, France decided to activate article 42.7 of the Treaty on European Union, which allows EU member states to ask for help if they are “the victim of armed aggression” on their territory. The other member states should then provide “aid and assistance by all the means in their power”. Our main goal is to encourage larger participation of our EU partners in order to facilitate the redeployment of some of our military forces from the Sahel region to the Middle East where we are fighting against Daesh. I’m very happy to say that Slovakia has answered positively to our request and will send five staff officers and military experts to the EUTM Mali mission, devoted to training members of the Malian army so that they can join the UN operations to restore the integrity of Mali. We are very grateful to Slovakia for its solidarity: it is a historical decision since it would be the first time that Slovakia actively participates in a military mission in Africa.
Slovak president Andrej Kiska (L) and French Ambassador to Slovakia Didier Lopinot (2L) commemorate victims of the Paris attacks in Bratislava. (Source: TASR)
TSS: The COP21 resulted in the Paris Agreement. In your previous opinion piece for the Sme daily together with the German and the UK ambassadors you wrote that “this is also an opportunity to make Paris a turning point in the fight against climate change if we want to pass on to our children a planet in which it is worth living”. Have the delegates and the politicians lived up to this?
DL: When the agreement was announced on December 12, we were all aware that we were living a historical moment. The Paris Agreement – universal, ambitious, balanced and legally binding – is definitely a turning point in the fight against climate change, “a revolution for climate” as President Hollande put it. In the first place, it retains the target of holding the increase in average temperature to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit this increase to 1.5°C. Secondly, it makes reducing greenhouse gas emissions everyone’s responsibility, through the submission or updating, every five years, of national contributions. Finally, it focuses on adaptation to the effects of climate change and provides for the resources needed to enable universal access to sustainable development. By adopting this comprehensive agreement, the international community lived up to its responsibility towards the citizens of the world and to our children. We can all be relieved that such decisions were made in Paris; of course, this agreement is also good news for Slovakia, which is exposed, as is every single country, to the negative impacts of climate disruption. Nevertheless, we have to keep in mind that the Paris agreement is only a first step on a long road in our fight against climate change and movement towards resilient, low-carbon economic development. In this regard, Slovakia will have an important role to play in 2016, since it will be presiding over the EU Council at the time of the next COP, in Marrakech.
TSS: Slovakia is preparing for its first EU Council presidency. How do you assess the preparations thus far? What can Slovakia learn from its predecessors?
DL: Slovakia has been fully and very actively engaged in the preparation of its first presidency of the Council of the EU for quite some time now. Within the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, many people are preparing the presidency, from the State Secretary Ivan Korčok to the secretariat of the EU presidency. I also note that during the past two years Slovakia has prepared more than 100 diplomats and nearly 1,000 experts for the presidency, including by improving their ability to work in French (an important asset in EU), with the support of the Institut Français de Slovaquie. We are also considering the secondment of a French diplomat to assist the Slovak presidency. And I know that Slovak authorities have been in close cooperation with the very experienced Netherlands that will hold the presidency just before them, in the framework of the so-called trio with Malta, as the following European president. Furthermore, Slovakia has benefited from its experience of the V4 presidency, one of the most active and fruitful in last years. So we are fully confident that the Slovak presidency will be efficient, successful, and ready to face the unexpected challenges that will probably show up during its term.
TSS: Your mission in Slovakia started during the second half of 2013 and in terms of your goals you singled out economic diplomacy including attracting more small and medium-sized enterprises to the Slovak market and cooperation in science and technology. Which of your goals have you managed to fulfil?
DL: Economic diplomacy as well as scientific cooperation are, indeed, two of my main priorities since I arrived in Slovakia in late 2013. On both accounts, progress has been made. Regarding economic diplomacy, our trade deficit with Slovakia decreased in 2014 compared to previous years and the trends are encouraging for 2015, but more work needs to be done. On the investment front, I’ve been glad to witness the reinforcement of some of our long established SMEs in Slovakia (Courbis, Steep, CCN, Pernoud and others) and to welcome new investments by bigger companies like PSA, but also in the retail (Decathlon) or commercial real estate sectors (Unibail-Rodamco), proving that Slovakia remains very attractive to French companies. I would love to see the reverse, meaning some Slovak companies investing in France. That will be one of our focuses for the year to come. As for scientific and technological cooperation, we are especially proud of the FabLab, a workshop offering digital fabrication, inaugurated one year ago in the premises of the Slovak University of Technology. In 2015, we focused our action on climate and energy, ahead of the COP 21. We organised many events, including scientific ones, and I trust that business opportunities will also increase quickly. In 2016, I would like to organise events on the digital economy, in order for French and Slovak (or V4) firms active in this field to know each other and cooperate.
TSS: Do you consider possibilities for French investors in Slovakia as fully tapped? Where do you see space for development?
DL: With 380 subsidiaries and 29,000 employees, in a decade France has become one of the main investors in Slovakia, just behind Germany and Austria. Most of the largest French companies are present in Slovakia, as well as many SMEs, in the main economic sectors: automotive (PSA and equipment), plastic (Plastic Omnium, Bourbon), energy (Veolia, Cofely), construction (Bouygues and Vinci), telecommunications (Orange), chemicals and pharmaceuticals (Sanofi), as well as services (AXA, Mazars, food vouchers). I’m convinced that a lot of opportunities for further French investments still exist, especially in the energy field (nuclear and renewables), infrastructure (roads, railways), as well as in food and luxury goods. Such investments are made easier by our integration into the internal market of the European Union and by our common currency.
TSS: In May the first francophone library was opened in Šaľa, at the Juraj Fándly Gymnasium, from two tonnes of second-hand books sent by French people. How do you perceive the creation of this kind of library?
DL: I am very impressed by this library opened in Šaľa, at the Juraj Fándly Gymnasium. It is an exceptional initiative, supported by the French region of Aquitaine, which contributes to the promotion of the French language in Slovakia. Beyond Šaľa, with nearly 19,000 students learning French, the French language is well represented within Slovak schools (five bilingual sections) and universities. The French Institute – with its many language courses, its rich library and its numerous cultural activities –, the French International School of Bratislava, as well as the Alliances françaises in Banská Bystrica and Košice are also very precious to promote our language and culture.
TSS: Milan Rastislav Štefánik, who also served as a general in the French Army, is a popular politician and scientist in Slovakia. How is his personality perceived in France? How does the perception of Štefánik differ in the two countries?
DL: Milan Štefánik is “both a Slovak hero and a French citizen”, as the French President said during his visit to Slovakia in October 2013. Even if the figure of Štefánik is not as famous in France as in Slovakia, obviously, he is perceived in the same way in France and in Slovakia, as a great statesman who fought for our common values, which are human rights, democracy and rule of law, as well as for a more united Europe. But I would like to take advantage of this opportunity to recall an other true Slovak hero who is very close to my country: Jozef Gabčík, who killed the infamous Heydrich along with Jan Kubiš, after fighting in France in the uniform of the Foreign Legion.
TSS: For several consecutive years now, thanks to Peter Sagan, the interest in cycling, especially in Tour de France, is on the rise among Slovaks. What does the Tour mean to the French? Has Sagan’s success perhaps influenced the perception of Slovakia among the French?
DL: French people are very proud of their Tour, which promotes not only sport, but also their country and its savoir vivre. Peter Sagan is of course very famous in France as well. After winning three years in a row the prestigious green jersey, and after he recently became world champion, Peter Sagan is definitely one of the best ambassadors of Slovakia abroad. But I would like to stress that the EU Slovak presidency will be the best opportunity to let people, in Europe and beyond, learn more about the country and its assets.
TSS: Have you had enough time to travel in Slovakia during your term so-far? Do you find Slovakia an interesting destination for French visitors?
DL: I have taken every opportunity to visit the country, and they have been numerous. Slovakia has an interesting potential for tourism and it deserves to be further developed, with adequate marketing and improvement of access to sites for foreign tourists, like more flexible opening hours in castles and museums and presentations in English, French, and German. Accommodation is improving but a lot still remains to be done to meet demanding expectations of today’s tourists. I understand that an active tourism policy is a priority of the government and it is important to support the local economy, especially in the eastern part of Slovakia. And of course more flights should connect our two countries.
15. Jan 2016 at 6:00 | Michaela Terenzani
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View Obituary Lake Geneva Regional News Obituaries
John W. Hauch
John W. Hauch 1933 - 2020 Of Williams Bay - John W. Hauch was born May 7, 1933 in Oak Park, Illinois to Walter and Agnes (Mayer) Hauch. He passed away on Monday, November 9, 2020 at Golden Years of Lake Geneva. After graduation in 1954 from Syracuse University, John served in the army during the Korean War (1954-56). He began his career as a CPA with Touche Ross Nevin Bailey & Smart in 1957, went on to become a partner at Main Lafrentz and eventually opened his own accounting firm. He married Marlene in 1960 and resided in LaGrange Park, IL for 30 years moving to Williams Bay, WI in 1990. While accounting was his career, his true passion was playing and coaching sports. He played basketball & baseball at Syracuse and baseball for the Army at Fort Ord. He spent years coaching and mentoring many kids on Robert's baseball & basketball teams as well as grandson Michael's teams. He was most proud of his five amazing grandchildren. He was a beloved husband, father and grandfather and will be missed by all. John is survived by his children Linda (L. Richard) Petracca and Robert D. (Bridget) Hauch; and grandchildren Michael, Laura, Heidi, Clare, Lindsey. He was preceded in death by his wife of over 50 years, Marlene (Hauptmann) Hauch. Due to the current pandemic, services will be scheduled in the spring. In lieu of flowers memorials may be made to Williams Bay United Church of Christ, 46 Stam St, Williams Bay, WI 53191. He was eternally grateful for their support and kindness during Marlene's illness. For more information visit www.ToyntonFuneralHome.com or call 262-275-2171
Toynton Funeral Home
328 Kenosha Street
Walworth, WI 53184
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Corgels make gift to endow Dillon Hall rector’s position
Author: Dennis Brown
Rectors at the University of Notre Dame play a pivotal role in cultivating the seamless integration of student life from classrooms to residence halls. They lead the residential communities that are a distinctive component of a Notre Dame undergraduate education and lie at the heart of students’ personal development and formation.
“Rectors work tirelessly to foster a community where students care for one another and grow spiritually, succeed academically and thrive socially,” said Erin Hoffmann Harding, vice president for student affairs. “The University is committed to forever preserving the important role rectors play in the lives of Notre Dame students.”
In recognition of the significance of these positions, Notre Dame has launched a new priority to endow all rector positions in the 29 residential halls. Alumnus James Corgel and his wife, Christine, have created the first such endowment with a $1 million gift for the rector’s position in Dillon Hall.
“The residence hall community has always been central to a Notre Dame undergraduate education, and the rector is a crucial figure in building that community,” said Rev. John I. Jenkins, C.S.C., the University’s president. “Through their gift, Jim and Chris support the continuation of an educational ideal at Notre Dame that joins moral and spiritual growth with intellectual learning in the residence hall and the classroom.”
The endowment will underwrite a portion of the rector’s salary, allowing the University to augment programming funds and ongoing refurbishment needs of hall community and study spaces. Each residence hall hosts annual community building, academic and service events and fields intramural teams. The current rector of Dillon Hall, a men’s residence, is Rev. Paul Doyle, C.S.C., who has served in that capacity since 1997.
“The rector role at Notre Dame is unique within higher education,” Hoffmann Harding said. “While they have other important responsibilities, rectors serve first and foremost as pastors of our cherished residential communities. They have the opportunity to know and support our students over a period of several years, which allows them to be even more invested in each student’s development and formation. This wonderfully generous gift from Jim and Chris is a powerful affirmation of the importance of this role to Notre Dame’s undergraduate education.”
Jim Corgel earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Notre Dame and was a member of the Irish Guard as an undergraduate. He serves as chair of the University’s Undergraduate Advisory Council after previously serving on the Graduate Studies and Research Advisory Council. He received the Distinguished Alumni Award from Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business in 2006.
“As a Dillon hall resident, I experienced great coaching and camaraderie that helped me prosper and grow at Notre Dame,” Corgel said. “This environment was created and nurtured by my rectors, Fathers Jim Flanigan and Dave Schlaver. Today’s role models like Father Paul Doyle will ensure that residential life at ND remains relevant, leading-edge and inclusive. To me, this is a smart investment.”
Corgel was a member of IBM’s senior management group responsible for strategy implementation, and served in a number of key general manager roles with global responsibility. He retired from the company in July 2013, serving successfully for 38 years.
In addition to his service to Notre Dame, Corgel is a Founding Partner in HUBSTART, a Westport, Connecticut-based investment and advisory group that actively assists early-stage companies and community organizations. He is a member of the board of trustees for the American Management Association and a partner in the Connecticut chapter of Social Venture Partners, a group dedicated to building business efficiency in nonprofit organizations.
Chris Corgel earned her bachelor’s degree from Michigan State University. In her more than three decades at IBM, she served in a number of executive positions. She currently is a board member at the Mercy Learning Center, serves on the Connecticut Advisory Council to the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights and is a mentor for at-risk high school students.
The Corgels reside in Westport, Connecticut, and are active supporters of the Diocese of Bridgeport’s inner-city Catholic schools.
Originally published by Dennis Brown at news.nd.edu on March 24, 2015.
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Who sets most of the norms and standards and holds most of the positions of political, economic, intellectual, and media power in most countries?
1. The “frog in the well” analogy illustrates:
1. a. that frogs start life as tadpoles.
2. b. that frogs are limited in perspective when trapped in a well, but once freed, they can see the whole world.
3. c. frogs change and evolve throughout their lives.
4. d. humans evolved from frogs.
2. The way people grow and change across the life span is referred to as ____.
1. a. development
2. b. evolution
3. c. change
4. d. growth
3. What is the pattern of a group’s customs, beliefs, art, and technology?
1. a. clan
2. b. society
3. c. culture
4. d. beliefs
4. ____ is the pattern of a group’s customs, beliefs, art, and technology.
1. a. Culture
2. b. Ethnicity
3. c Race
4. d Nationality
6. Who did developmental researchers focus on studying because they assumed that the processes of development were universal?
1. a. Mexicans
2. b. Europeans
3. c. Canadians
4. d. Americans
7. Which study would provide the best picture of worldwide developmental growth patterns?
1. a. Examining patterns of friendship in each grade level at an elementary school in Tokyo.
2. b. Watching a newborn turn into an adult.
3. c. Comparing children raised in Bangladesh to those raised in the United States.
4. d. Every two years, looking at a set group of subjects across 50 randomly chosen countries from birth to death.
8. What did the text define as the increasing connections between different parts of the world in trade, travel, migration, and communication?
1. a. globalization
2. b. social networks
3. c. the Internet
4. d. small world syndrome
9. Globalization is ____.
1. a. the number of births per woman
2. b. the ways people grow and change across the life span
3. c. the total pattern of a group’s customs, beliefs, art, and technology
4. d. the increasing connections between different parts of the world in trade, travel, migration, and communication
10. Which is the BEST example of globalization?
1. a. Jane immigrated from China to the United States.
2. b. Rita participates in a course online in which she is in daily contact with people all over the world.
3. c. The SARS virus spread from Southeast Asia to North America.
4. d. 19.4% of the world`s population lives in China.
11. According to the text, for most of history the total human population was under ______.
1. a. 1 million
2. b. 10 million
3. c. 100 million
4. d. 1 billion
12. For most of human history how many children did women typically birth?
1. a. 1 to 2
2. b. 4 to 8
3. c. 10 to 12
4. d. 13 to 15
13. The human population began to increase noticeably around 10,000 years ago. What has been hypothesized as the reason for the population increase at that time?
1. a. the discovery of medicine
2. b. the development of agriculture and domestication of animals
3. c. an increase in the size of women’s pelvic openings that assisted in labor
4. d. construction techniques that allowed for stronger homes that were better heated
14. When did the human population reach 500 million people?
1. a. 400 years ago
2. b. 1,000 years ago
3. c. 4,000 years ago
4. d. 10,000 years ago
15. How long did it take the human population to double from 500 million to 1 billion?
1. a. 150 years
2. b. 300 years
3. c. 450 years
4. d. 600 years
16. The human population doubled from 1 to 2 billion between 1800 and 1930. What led to this increase in population?
1. a. government-controlled farming
2. b. globalization and shared resources
3. c. medical advances that eliminated many diseases
4. d. people had more children
17. Which of the following fields had the greatest impact on the Earth’s population explosion in the last 10,000 years?
1. a. Medical
2. b. Agriculture
3. c. Architecture
4. d. Domesticity
18. The total fertility rate (TFR) is defined as the number of ____.
1. a. births per woman
2. b. conceptions per woman
3. c. fetuses that were spontaneously aborted
4. d. women on fertility drugs
19. What is the current total fertility rate (TFR) worldwide?
1. a. 1.4
2. b. 2.8
3. c. 4.2
4. d. 5.6
20. What total fertility rate (TFR) is referred to as replacement rate?
21. If a country wanted to decrease population, it would want which rate pattern to be in effect?
1. a. The world total fertility rate (TFR) to be equal to the country`s replacement rate.
2. b. The world total fertility rate (TFR) to be less than the country`s replacement rate.
3. c. The country`s replacement rate must be above 2.1
4. d. The country`s replacement rate must be below 2.1
22. If current trends continue, when will the worldwide total fertility rate (TFR) reach replacement rate?
1. a. 2020
2. b. 2050
3. c. 2080
4. d. 3010
23. ____ is the number of births per woman.
1. a. Total fertility rate
2. b. Expressive births
3. c. Implicit calculation of replacement
4. d. The sum of replacement
24. Nearly all of the population growth in the decades to come will take place in ____.
1. a. developed countries
2. b. developing countries
3. c. emerging countries
4. d. South American countries
25. What will happen to the populations of developed countries during the next few decades and beyond? They will _____.
1. a. increase more than developing countries
2. b. remain stable in population
3. c. decrease
4. d. increase slowly
26. What term is used in the text to refer to the most affluent countries in the world?
1. a. affluent countries
2. b. developed countries
3. c. developing countries
4. d. population-rich countries
27. What term is used in the text to refer to countries, which have less wealth, but are experiencing rapid economic growth?
1. a. impoverished countries
28. If a study randomly selected 100 participants from a global pool, where would the majority of participants come from?
1. a. A developing country
2. b. A developed country
3. c. A declining country
4. d. It could not be determined.
29. What percent of the current world’s population lives in the most affluent countries?
1. a. 18%
2. b. 34%
3. c. 51%
4. d. 68%
30. ____ refers to the most affluent countries in the world.
3. c. Collective cultures
4. d. Individualistic cultures
31. The United States, Canada, Japan, South Korea, Australia, New Zealand, and nearly all the countries of Europe are examples of ____.
32. Developed countries roughly make up ____ of the world’s population, whereas, developing countries make up ____.
1. a. 18%, 82%
2. b. 27%, 73%
3. c. 37%, 63%
4. d. 47%, 57%
33. Developed countries can be viewed as ____, whereas, developing countries can be seen as ____.
1. a. wealthy; populated
2. b. populated; wealthy
3. c. collective; individualistic
4. d. individualistic; collective
34. What developed country will have the steepest decline in population between now and 2050?
1. a. the United States
2. b. Germany
3. c. Japan
4. d. Canada
35. Between now and 2050, what will the increase in population in the United States be nearly entirely due to?
1. a. immigration
2. b. minority fertility
3. c. majority fertility
4. d. in-vitro fertilization
36. What country allows for more legal immigrations than most other countries and has tens of millions of illegal immigrants as well?
2. b. Canada
3. c. Germany
4. d. Japan
37. What portion of the United States’ population will increase from 16 to 30 percent by 2050?
1. a. African American
2. b. Anglo American
3. c. Asian American
4. d. Latino American
38. José was born in a country where his parents make less than $2 a day and he is expected to attend grade school but not college. Jose was most likely born in a ____.
1. a. developed country
2. b. developing country
3. c. collective culture
4. d. individualistic culture
39. What percent of the world’s population lives on a family income of less than $6,000 per year?
40. Although economic growth has been strong for the past decade, what region remains the poorest region in the world?
1. a. Africa
2. b. South America
3. c. Southeast Asia
4. d. Western Australia
41. What percent of individuals in developed countries attend college or other post-secondary training?
42. What percent of children in developing countries complete primary schooling?
43. Statistically speaking, a child born today will most likely be from ______.
3. c. an economically wealthy country
4. d. a high social economic status culture
44. Tim’s family has passed down and adhered to traditions that his ancestors practiced hundreds of years ago. His family believes in interdependence, and that he should help support his community and nation. Tim is most likely from a(n) ______________ culture.
1. a. individualistic
2. b. traditional
3. c. modern
4. d. developed
45. ____ cultures emphasize independence and self-expression, whereas ____ cultures emphasize obedience and group harmony.
1. a. Individualistic; collective
2. b. Collective; individualistic
3. c. Developed; developing
4. d. Developing; developed
46. What percent of children in developing countries are enrolled in secondary education?
47. Who attends colleges, universities, and other forms of post-secondary education in developing countries?
1. a. the wealthy elite
2. b. most of the population
3. c. about half of the middle class
4. d. about one fourth of the middle class
48. What term is used to refer to people in the rural areas of developing countries, who tend to adhere more closely to the historical aspects of their culture than people in urban areas do?
1. a. agrarian cultures
2. b. conventional cultures
3. c. traditional cultures
4. d. rural cultures
49. What general values do developed countries tend to regard highly?
1. a. collectivistic
2. b. individualistic
3. c. traditional
4. d. modern
50. What general values do developing countries tend to regard highly?
51. What percent of the world’s population lives in the United States?
1. a. 5%
52. Within any given country, which of the following sets most of the norms and standards, and holds most of the positions of political, economic, intellectual, and media power?
1. a. majority culture
2. b. minority culture
3. c. ethnic populace
4. d. subcultural groups
53. Who sets most of the norms and standards and holds most of the positions of political, economic, intellectual, and media power in most countries?
1. a. power culture
2. b. controlling culture
3. c. minority culture
4. d. majority culture
54. By position, power and prestige, the President of the United States and his/her family are members of the______.
1. a. minority culture
2. b. majority culture
3. c. developed culture
4. d. developing culture
55. What term is often used to refer to a person’s social class, which includes educational level, income level, and occupational status?
1. a. social class status
2. b. socioeconomic status
3. c. tax bracket status
4. d. education status
56. The expectations that cultures have for males and females are different from the time they are born. The degree of the difference depends on _____.
2. b. age
3. c. gender
4. d. socioeconomic status
57. ____ includes an individual’s educational level, income level, and occupational status.
1. a. Nationality
3. c. Sociohistorical index
58. Also referred to as a person’s social class, his or her ____ includes the level of education, their income, and occupational status.
1. a. socioeconomic status
4. d. sociohistorical index
59. In American culture, a physician spends 12 years in college and training, generally has a high income, and possesses a strong occupational status. In terms of socioeconomic status, a physician would most likely be _____.
1. a. low SES
2. b. middle SES.
3. c. moderate SES.
4. d. high SES.
60. LaWanda has a high school diploma and is currently working as a waitress but is attending school in hopes of becoming a pediatrician. Her current socioeconomic status is likely ____; however, when she becomes an established pediatrician, her socioeconomic status will be ____.
1. a. low; high
2. b. high; moderate
3. c. high; low
4. d. moderate; low
Denise Ford’s research on the families of people with schizophrenia suggests that development of the disorder
Shakespeare’s Macbeth says that life “is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing.” This would be an example of
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How Long Are The Longest And Shortest Days?
What country is always dark?
How many minutes of daylight do we gain each day?
Which months have the longest days?
Do the days get longer after the winter solstice?
Which country has 40 minutes night?
What are the longest and shortest days?
How long is the shortest night of the year?
Which country has longest day in the world?
How much longer do the days get after December 21?
What happens to the sun on December 25?
Which country has 23 hours of daylight?
Where would you find almost 24 hours of daylight?
What season has the most hours of daylight?
How long is the longest day of the year 2020?
Why is the 22nd December the shortest day?
Which country has no night?
What’s the shortest day of the year 2020?
Located over 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle, Tromsø, Norway, is home to extreme light variation between seasons.
During the Polar Night, which lasts from November to January, the sun doesn’t rise at all.
Then the days get progressively longer until the Midnight Sun period, from May to July, when it never sets..
3 minutesWe continue to gain daylight at the fastest rate of the entire year. Just over 3 minutes of daylight is gained each day through the month of March.
Just because June 21 is the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere doesn’t mean every location has its earliest sunrise or latest sunset on that day. If you live in Washington, DC, the latest sunsets will start on the day after the solstice, the 22nd.
As we move towards winter, the tilt of the Earth makes the days grow shorter. This naturally brings later sunrises and earlier sunsets. But as we approach the solstice, the second effect kicks in – the solar day starts getting longer.
NorwayThe town is the Hammerfest in Norway, where it is midnight. Here the sun hides at 12:43 in the night and rises at an interval of just forty minutes and the birds start chirping at around one and a half at night.
The December solstice marks the shortest day of the year in the Northern Hemisphere and longest day in the Southern Hemisphere.
When is the longest day of the year? The longest day and the shortest night of the year in the Northern Hemisphere occur during summer solstice which is usually observed on june 21st or sometimes on june 20 UTC (see table 1). In 2020 summer solstice is observed on june 20, exactly at 21:44 UTC.
IcelandFacts About the Midnight Sun in Iceland Iceland’s hours of daylight on the longest days of the year is 24 hours per day (May-July).
Even though the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, the change begins slowly after today. In Dayton, the amount of daylight received on Dec. 21 is 9 hours 21 minutes and 11 seconds. In just a month, our length of day increases by almost 30 minutes, picking up 9 hours 49 minutes and 57 seconds.
And after this time, on December 25th, the sun moves 1 degree this time north, foreshadowing longer days, warmth, and spring. And thus it was said: “The sun died on the cross, was dead for 3 days, only to be resurrected or born again.” THE BRIGHTEST= The one shining the most.
Abisko, Sweden During summer months, the sun bathes the town in up to 24 hours of sunlight per day.
FairbanksFairbanks, Alaska (For the Midnight Sun) Days start getting longer around March in Fairbanks, culminating around the summer solstice, when the area experiences almost a full 24 hours of daylight for about a month and celebrates its famous Midnight Sun Festival.
SummerSummer begins in the Northern Hemisphere on June 20 or 21 when the North Pole is tilted a full 23.5° toward the sun. On this day, the Northern Hemisphere has the most hours of daylight, while the Southern Hemisphere has the least hours of daylight.
June Solstice (Summer Solstice) is on Saturday, June 20, 2020 at 10:43 pm in London. In terms of daylight, this day is 8 hours, 49 minutes longer than on December Solstice. In most locations north of Equator, the longest day of the year is around this date.
Sunday 22 December marks the Winter solstice across the northern hemisphere. The date is the 24-hour period with the fewest hours of daylight in the year, which is why it is known as the shortest day and longest night.
NorwayIn Svalbard, Norway, which is the northern-most inhabited region of Europe, the sun shines continuously from April 10 to August 23. Visit the region and live for days, for there is no night. Don’t forget to get a peek of the northern lights when visiting.
In 2020 the winter solstice will occur on Monday 21 December. The 2019 winter solstice was on Sunday 22 December. The winter solstice occurs in December, and in the northern hemisphere the date marks the 24-hour period with the fewest daylight hours of the year.
Quick Answer: What Makes You A DC Resident?
How long do you have to live with someone to be considered
Why Can’T I Remember My Childhood And Teenage Years?
Can anyone remember being born? Despite some anecdotal
What Is Colorado’S Minimum Wage 2020?
What’s the minimum wage for 2021? The minimum
Quick Answer: What Salary Is Needed To Live Comfortably In USA?
What is a livable salary in the US? $16.07 per hourThe
Is Denver Expensive To Visit?
What is the cheapest month to fly to Colorado?
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Hollywood / guide (4)
Famous Attractions: Things to Do on Hollywood Boulevard
Hollywood Boulevard is a Los Angeles cultural icon, with museums, landmarks and other Hollywood attractions that celebrate L.A.’s rich film and entertainment heritage. so There are so many things to do in Hollywood, California! You can see the footprints of the stars at the TCL Chinese Theatre, gaze down at the stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, do some serious shopping at Hollywood & Highland, or visit the famous Hollywood Wax Museum. Along its stretch from Highland Avenue to Orange Drive, you can find a day’s worth of activities that will give you a true Hollywood experience. You never know who you'll run into! Arnold Schwarzenegger recently shocked fans by making an appearance at Madame Tussauds Hollywood. Watch what happened below.
A Walking Tour of Larchmont Village
Discover an intimate shopping district and community in historic Larchmont Village, the hub of many activities for the residents of one of L.A.’s most well-regarded neighborhoods. There’s been a recent surge of newcomers to the pedestrian-friendly area, but you'd be remiss if you overlooked the long-time favorites. Read on for a walking tour of Larchmont Village, from one of L.A.’s best coffee shops to unique stores and excellent restaurants.
Hidden Gems in Los Feliz
Whether it's the Hills, Estate, Knolls or Village of Los Feliz, this neighborhood is proudly inhabited by a diverse cultures, ages and incomes. Along with Griffith Park to the north, Los Feliz made up one of the first land grants in California, to Corporal José Vicente Feliz.
With Hollywood to the west, Silver Lake to the south and Atwater village to the east, the hillside neighborhood is home to some of the most outstanding architecture in Los Angeles County, but also the birthplace of many a motion picture and TV studio. Read on and discover the must-see, hidden gems of Los Feliz, from an architectural landmark to a red-hot dining destination.
Discover Hollywood Car Free
No doubt about it, Los Angeles is the Entertainment Capital of the World and you can delve right into it by exploring Hollywood on foot. The beauty of the region is that, while Hollywood covers a lot of ground geographically, many of its primary attractions are near each other. Plus the Metro Rail Red Line runs under much of the area, meaning that seeing stars doesn’t necessarily require driving cars.
Recommended Methods of Travel: Metro, Walking
Total Distance: .4 miles. Walking Distance: .4 miles
For more Car Free LA guides, click here.
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← TN Senate Judiciary hearing to include body camera legislation
AP: Tennessee officials told to avoid emailing about outsourcing →
TCOG executive director Deborah Fisher elected to NFOIC board
Posted on October 13, 2015 by Deborah Fisher
Deborah Fisher, executive director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government, was elected to the National Freedom of Information Coalition Board of Directors at the organization’s annual FOI summit in Denver Oct 9-10.
Deborah Fisher
Fisher was among three new additions to the NFOIC board. Also elected to three-year terms were:
David Cuillier, Director of the University of Arizona School of Journalism and chair of the Society of Professional Journalists,
Jeff Roberts, executive director of the Colorado Freedom of Information Coalition, and
Justin Silverman, executive director of New England First Amendment Coalition.
Fisher has been executive director of TCOG, a non-partisan non-profit organization devoted exclusively to promoting and preserving access to government information and proceedings, since November 2013.
Prior to that, she spent 25 years as a journalist, holding positions of reporter, city editor, business editor, managing editor and executive editor at newspapers in Texas and Tennessee. Most recently she worked 10 years at The Tennessean, where she was senior editor for news. She is a past president of the Middle Tennessee Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and is currently on its board as treasurer.
The NFOIC board also announced its 2016 officers. They are:
• Mal Leary, President Vice President, (Maine Freedom of Information Coalition)
• Katherine Garner, Vice President (Executive Director Florida First Amendment Foundation)
• Mark Horvit, Treasurer (Executive Director, Investigative Reporters and Editors)
• Megan Rhyne, Secretary (Executive Director, Virginia Coalition for Open Government)
Mal Leary has been a journalist throughout his life, working in both Washington D.C. and in Maine as both a reporter and editor. He has won numerous awards for his reporting, both in broadcast and in print and currently reports on government in Maine for the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. Mal has been a long time member of the Society of Professional Journalists.
Katherine Garner serves as executive director of the Florida First Amendment Foundation. She has also worked with Freedom of Information Foundation of Texas for more than 14 years. Katherine also has her own communications and nonprofit consulting firm. She has a background in reporting, copy-editing and layout design from several colleges and local papers.
Mark Horvit is the executive director of Investigative Reporters & Editors. He oversees training, conferences and services for more than 4,300 members worldwide, and for programs including the National Institute of Computer-Assisted Reporting (NICAR) and DocumentCloud. Mark also is an associate professor at the Missouri School of Journalism, where he teaches investigative reporting.
Megan Rhyne has worked for the Virginia Coalition for Open Government since 1998 and became its executive director in 2008. Before that, she served as an opinions editor for Texas Lawyer in Dallas, as a freelance writer and reporter for Androvett Legal Media and the National Law Journal, and as an adjunct professor of media law at Hampton University’s journalism school.
Veteran newspaper editor and FOI pioneer Pete Weitzel was inducted into the State Open Government Hall of Fame.
Recognizing the summit’s financial sponsors, NFOIC thanked Bloomberg and the Associated Press for their generous help to make the summit possible. NFOIC also thanks the official summit sponsors Ethics and Excellence in Journalism, Reynolds Journalism Institute at the University of Missouri, and the John S. and James L Knight Foundation, particularly for its support of the Knight Litigation Grant program administered by NFOIC.
Posted in Tennessee Coalition for Open Government | Tagged Deborah Fisher, NFOIC | Leave a reply
About Deborah Fisher
Deborah Fisher has been executive director of Tennessee Coalition for Open Government since 2013. Previously she spent 25 years in the news industry as a journalist.
View all posts by Deborah Fisher →
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Ram B. Gupta, Ph.D., associate dean for faculty research development and professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering. [View Image]
Ram B. Gupta, Ph.D., associate dean for faculty research development and professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering.
Ram B. Gupta, Ph.D., elected AIChE Fellow
Ram B. Gupta, Ph.D., associate dean for faculty research development and professor in the Department of Chemical and Life Science Engineering, has been elected a Fellow of the American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE).
Gupta, whose research focus areas include batteries, sustainable energy and biofuels, is the first faculty member at Virginia Commonwealth University to reach AIChE’s highest grade of membership. The honor reflects a member’s distinctive professional achievements and accomplishments.
“I am deeply honored to receive this recognition,” he said. “As a fellow of AIChE, I will be serving the global chemical engineering field in the direction of sustainable energy and materials for all.”
Fellow candidates are nominated by their peers. To be considered, candidates must be longtime chemical engineers and AIChE members who have demonstrated significant service to the profession. Gupta will be honored on Nov. 17, 2020, at the organization’s annual meeting in San Francisco.
A former professor of chemical engineering at Auburn University, Gupta served as the director of the Energy for Sustainability program at the National Science Foundation from 2011 to 2014, before joining VCU College of Engineering.
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Call Us Today! 1.215.768.5740|info@tunemasterz.com
Stem Mastering
Home/Engineers
Engineersblackkeybeats@gmail.com2019-12-28T18:25:58+00:00
Black Key BeatsChief Engineer
Philly-based Black Key Beats (a.k.a. Mickey Davis) is a multi-platinum selling music producer, composer and mix engineer with seven No. 1 albums to his credit, he has worked with hip-hop and R&B royalty, including Eminem, 50 Cent, Ludacris, Beyonce, Jay-Z, DMX, Jadakiss, Cash Money. In all, he has contributed to projects thathave sold more than 15 million copies. Black Key is the Founder of his own Black Key Productions, Inc., and of publishing imprint Fifty Four Vill Music, LLC. Black Key’s music has also been featured in movies, TV shows and video games.
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turkeygazette.com
Turkey Gazette|News|Research|Politics|Economics
Armenia, Azerbaijan, Russia met over Nagorno-Karabakh War
Moscow, Russia – The foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia, who landed in Moscow at the invitation of Russian leader Vladimir Putin, met. But while the meeting was expected, it was announced that Armenia had launched a ballistic missile at Mingechevir. Armenian Prime Minister Pashinyan said they were ready to return to peace talks with Baku, while Aliyev’s response was “no matter whose bases you lick, we will take back our land.”
As clashes continued in the Nagorno-Karabakh War, which entered its thirteenth day, eyes were turned on Russia after successive statements. Moments before the foreign ministers of the two countries met, Armenia launched a ballistic missile at Mingechevir in Central Azerbaijan.
Baku’s administration shared images from its official social media accounts of the day when an Armenian convoy carrying equipment to the front line was destroyed by an airstrike. In one day, 13 T-72 tanks and four Grad missile systems were shot down, the official statement said.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry also released video of tanks and armored vehicles seized from Armenian troops in the last 24 hours.
Azerbaijan’s Defense Ministry also denied reports that artillery was fired at the historic Gazançetsots Cathedral in Shusha, Nagorno-Karabakh.
Orla Guerin, the BBC’s famous war correspondent who follows the clashes, shared a photo of the grave of Guliyeva Tevfik, 63, who was killed in the Armenia attacks, on Twitter.
‘A new grave in decades of turmoil in Nagorno-Karabakh,’ Guerin wrote, adding a photo from inside Guliyeva Tevfik’s home on her social media account.
A famous war correspondent who wrote that an Azerbaijani woman was killed by a cannon shot fired by the Armenian army while sleeping in her bed in the house where she lived alone, said that her neighbors shed tears.
Local media report that another ballistic missile was fired by Armenia today in the city of Mingachevir in Central Azerbaijan, and the missile was shot in the air 20 kilometers away. Mingechevir has been hit by many missiles before.
The Reuters news agency reports that a farm belonging to Ilyas Ahmedov in the village of Karachynar near Goranboy was also hit by Armenia. Photojournalist Umit Bektas took pictures of the injured sheep to the world.
Kevork Hadjian, an opera singer who came to Nagorno-Karabakh from Lebanon to fight in the ranks of the Armenian army, was reportedly killed in clashes around Lulasaz.
Local media reported that Hadjian, who was killed by Azeri troops in clashes on October 6, had voluntarily joined the front line. Armenia has officially announced that 26 more soldiers have died in the last 24 hours, bringing their casualties to 376 since September 27.
Armenia has revoked the accreditation of Ilya Azar, a reporter for the Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta, who wrote that hundreds of militiamen who died in Nagorno-Karabakh were hiding. In an article titled’ The Battle at the southern gate’, Ilya Azar stated that the Armenian troops in Nagorno-Karabakh were in a deplorable state.
Azar announced in Telegram that he was accredited to follow the events in Nagorno-Karabakh on October 8, but “this was later changed in the process”: “the unofficial and main reason was the news I made from the cities of Shusha and Lacin (controlled by ethnic Armeni forces) in Nagorno-Karabakh. The Armenian Foreign Ministry said that I had created a negative public perception.”
In the field of diplomacy, the latest development was the invitation of Russian President Vladimir Putin to Moscow on Friday, the foreign ministers of Azerbaijan and Armenia. Russian media are reporting that planes carrying two ministers have landed in Moscow. Talks are expected to begin shortly.
The meeting, which is expected to start at 15: 00, will mark the first direct talks between Azerbaijani and Armenian officials since the clashes began on 27 September.
Russia, as well as other members of the Minsk Group, the United States and France have also stepped up efforts to prevent a larger war in the region. French President Emmanuel Macron has said he hopes the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict will end ‘soon’. Friday, Thursday, and Friday, with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev, the president’s office said in a statement that Macron had spoken with Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan. It was noted that all these conversations were aimed at continuing negotiations in the coming days.
Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Ceyhun Bayramov was scheduled to meet with representatives of the United States, Russia and France, which make up the Minsk Group, in Geneva on Thursday.
Armenian Foreign Minister Zohrab Mnatsakanyan, who said he would not participate in the talks as long as the clashes continue, was not expected to attend the talks. It was announced that Mnatsakanyan would instead meet with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov in Moscow on Monday.
There was no explanation for the results of the meeting in Geneva. The United States, Russia and France co-chair the Minsk Group, which the organization for security and cooperation in Europe established in 1992 to conduct mediation activities to find a solution to Nagorno-Karabakh.
A US spokesman said: “the US position is clear and unchanged. Both sides must urgently end the conflict and return to the negotiating table as soon as possible, working together with the co-chairs of the Minsk Group,” he said.
Sunday (September 27th) clashes in Nagorno-Karabakh began in the morning with Armenia violating the ceasefire. Nagorno-Karabakh is recognized as part of Azerbaijan by the United Nations (UN) and the international community. However, some areas in and around Nagorno-Karabakh, which accounts for about 20 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory, have been under Armenian occupation since the early 1990s.
The region was declared a ‘Nagorno-Karabakh Republic’ in 1991. But no country, including Armenia, has recognized this place internationally.
Nagorno-Karabakh (Upper Karabakh), which covers an area of 4,400 square kilometers in the South Caucasus, has been waiting for a solution for many years as the biggest problem between Azerbaijan and Armenia.
So, what is the history of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, both countries of the former Soviet Union? The word origin of the’ Nagorno-Karabakh ‘ region consists of a mixture of several different languages. Even a few languages found in its name show how the region has been exposed to the transition between different cultures throughout history.
Nagorny (or Nagorno) in English is Karabakh. The word’ Nagorny ‘means’ mountainous ‘ (нагорный), in Russian. In Azerbaijani, just like in Turkish, it is referred to by the words ‘dağliq’ or ‘yuxarı’, which means ‘mountainous’. Karabakh, on the other hand, is a common word in Turkish and Persian, meaning ‘black garden’.
When Azerbaijan and Armenia joined the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, Nagorno-Karabakh developed into a structure that seemed accepted, but was not adopted by Armenians. In Nagorno-Karabakh, which was granted autonomous region status under the Republic of Azerbaijan in 1923, the status quo was maintained until the end of the 1980s, when the Soviet system came to a standstill, although ethnic Armenians living in the region raised their discomfort with the Azerbaijani administration from time to time.
Along with the process of openness (glasnost) and reconstruction (perestroika), which Mikhail Gorbachev, the last leader of the Soviet Union, initiated in 1985 to pave the way for a blocked system, Nagorno-Karabakh, like all the problem areas of the Caucasus, came to light. Evaluating the ever-weakening authority of the Soviet administration, the Autonomous Administration of Nagorno-Karabakh demanded annexation to the Republic of Armenia in 1988. While this demand was not reciprocated, after Azerbaijan and Armenia declared their independence in 1991, the secession attempts of the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh also intensified.
During this period, the Azerbaijani population in Karabakh had fallen by up to 20 percent due to forced migrations. In a referendum held on December 10, 1991, which was boycotted by Azerbaijanis remaining in the region, Armenians voted to leave Azerbaijan. After the referendum, the independence of Nagorno-Karabakh was declared, but this initiative did not find a response in the international community. Tensions between the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh, supported by the Armenian army, and the Azerbaijanis living in the region increased with the declaration of independence. In 1992, the conflict turned into a hot war between the Armenian army and the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh and the Azerbaijani army.
At the end of the war, the Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh took control of the entire region, as well as occupied seven neighboring regions (Rayons). Thus, the direct contact points of Nagorno-Karabakh and Azerbaijan were quite limited. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict has been described in academic circles as a ‘frozen conflict’ for years. Despite the ongoing settlement negotiations at intervals, violations of the mutual ceasefire are frequently repeated both on the Nagorno-Karabakh-Azerbaijan contact line and on the Azerbaijan-Armenia border. August 2014 saw the bloodiest clashes in 20 years. Two days of fighting on the Nagorno-Karabakh border left 13 Azerbaijani soldiers dead. The Armenian Defense Ministry also announced that 20 soldiers were killed.
Half a million refugees took refuge in Azerbaijan and Armenia, and about a million people were forced to relocate. Some towns and villages that existed before the beginning of the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict were completely abandoned and destroyed. More than 14 percent of Azerbaijan’s territory is still under occupation. Azerbaijanis claim that the region has historically been under their control and therefore belongs to them, while Armenians claim that Armenians have always lived in the region and that Azerbaijani rule is illegitimate.
Other states were reluctant to intervene because it was seen as a domestic issue. Since 1992, the conflict has become interstate due to the fact that it took place between Azerbaijan and Armenia. Defense spending in Azerbaijan has increased by about 50 percent every year since 2003. In 2012, defense spending accounted for a fifth of Azerbaijan’s total public spending. Armenia also expanded its arsenal with the help of Russia.
Although the exact numbers are not known, it is believed that the population of Lachin and Kelbajar with small settlements totaled about 14 thousand people. According to the co-chairs of the OSCE Minsk Group, there has been no significant increase in the population since 2005. Ethnic Armenians settled in the region have limited access to infrastructure, economic activities and public services. Many of them are also missing identity documents.
The weakest part of the problem is the contact line, which is 175 kilometers long. This line, filled with minefields, resembles the trenches of the first World War. 30 thousand soldiers have been deployed to the contact line by the Armenian side and slightly more than this number by Azerbaijan. The negotiations, conducted through the OSCE Minsk Group, have been difficult, as leaders are approaching a compromise, but are backing down out of concern that their country may not meet the demands of the public.
Azerbaijanis and Armenians of Nagorno-Karabakh cannot influence the process. Armenian and Azerbaijani public opinion has more influence on the process than the locals of the region. The Minsk Group Co-Chairs have no spokespersons or media secretaries. For this reason, the talks have little media coverage.
Russia, having previously taken a position close to Armenia, now prefers to stand at an equal distance from Azerbaijan and Armenia. This strategy strengthened after the war with Georgia in August 2008. The strategic priority has become the isolation of Georgia. The Nagorno-Karabakh conflict is less important to the United States than the conflicts in the Middle East. The Armenian Lobby in Congress, the energy security of the Caspian Sea Basin, the ‘fight against terrorism’ and the ability to use Azerbaijani airspace on flights to Afghanistan are priority issues for the United States.
Azerbaijan’s expectation of a possible agreement is the return of the occupied territories. Armenia’s expectation of a possible agreement is to guarantee security for the Armenians of Karabakh and hold an independence vote. A worrying aspect of the agreement for Azerbaijan is that the option of ‘independence’ will be put to a referendum. A concern for Armenia is that the Lachin Corridor, which connects Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh, cannot be protected, and international security guarantees reduce their influence in the region.
Azerbaijani Vice President Hikmet Hajiyev: We are ready to live with the Armenian people
Turkey has announced a new Navtex on the island of Lesbos
TAGS: Armenia Armenia-Azerbaijan War Artsakh Azerbaijan Nagorno-Karabakh Conflict Nagorno-Karabakh War
Hungary seeks role in Karabakh reconstruction
OECD projects the Turkish economy will grow by 2.6% and 3.5% in 2021 and 2022
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu visits Pakistan, 13-14 January 2021
Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu: We will strengthen our ties with brother Pakistan
Pakistan – Turkey relationship is envied throughout the world
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Perkins Rowe to Launch Multi-Million Dollar Redevelopment
Erinn Sala
Marketing Manager, Perkins Rowe
esala@trademarkproperty.com
BATON ROUGE, Louisiana {Mar. 5, 2018) – Perkins Rowe is set to embark on the property’s first major redevelopment since opening nearly 11 years ago. The multi-million dollar investment will begin later this year and include a variety of projects across the entirety of the property, which encompasses 874,000 square feet of retail, office, multi-family and F&B.
“Lots of thought, anticipation and planning have gone into what we are now ready to unveil,” stated Tommy Miller, Managing Director and Chief Investment Officer. “The result will not only modernize and beautify Perkins Rowe but it will also make us better able to satisfy our commitment to the local community and the arts.”
One of the most notable aspects of the work will take place in Magnolia Park on the east side of the property next to Anthropologie, Paris Parker, Sur La Table and J.Crew. Activating Magnolia Park will include the addition of a building focused on innovative food & beverage concepts, an activated public space with gathering areas and game venues and plans to make this area more vibrant. The soon-to-be-complete Picardy Avenue Extension project will offer direct access to this segment of Perkins Rowe.
Other enhancements will include a renovation of the main Town Square, including a bandstand, water feature and new seating areas, and the addition of murals by local artists throughout the property. Additional storefronts will be added to East Market Street with fresh new facades perfect for service-oriented tenants. Visitors will also enjoy a more welcoming parking garage and updates to the directional signage.
Perkins Rowe is celebrating the announcement of the redevelopments by hosting an inaugural Food Truck Round Up at the Rowe on Friday, March 9 from 6 – 8pm. For more information visit PerkinsRowe.com.
For leasing inquiries please contact Daniel Goldware at dgoldware@trademarkproperty.com or 225-767-2001.
About Perkins Rowe.
Baton Rouge’s premier mixed-use destination, Perkins Rowe blends shopping, dining, entertainment, office, residential and grocery in a pedestrian-friendly environment that appeals to both regional tourists and local residents. Perkins Rowe features 375,000 square feet of retail space, including anchors Barnes & Noble, Cinemark, CVS, The Fresh Market and LA Fitness; 135,000 square feet of office space; and more than 306 multi-family units with an additional 340 units under construction. For more information, visit www.perkinsrowe.com or connect with us on Facebook and Instagram.
About Trademark Property Co.
Trademark Property Co. is an operator, investor and developer of award-winning, mixed-use town centers, specialty, community, power centers and enclosed regional malls. Having celebrated its 25th anniversary in 2017, Fort Worth, Texas-based Trademark has invested in or developed more than 11.8 million square feet of retail and mixed-use assets worth more than $2.5 billion. Trademark’s experienced team of 120 employees is responsible for approximately 6.6 million square feet of retail and mixed-use projects currently in operation or development/redevelopment, including: Alliance Town Center (Fort Worth, Texas), Burr Ridge Village Center (Chicago, Illinois), Glades Plaza (Boca Raton, Florida), Hillside Village (Cedar Hill, Texas), La Palmera (Corpus Christi, Texas), Market Street Flowood (Flowood, Mississippi), Market Street – The Woodlands (The Woodlands, Texas), First Street Napa (Napa, California), Perkins Rowe (Baton Rouge, Louisiana), Rice Village (Houston, Texas), Saddle Creek (Germantown, Tennessee), Victory Park (Dallas, Texas), Watters Creek (Allen, Texas), Waterside (Fort Worth, Texas), and WestBend (Fort Worth, Texas). For more information, visit www.trademarkproperty.com or interact on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
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A MEXICAN-AMERICAN CHRISTMAS
by Fabricio | posted in: Dance, Folk, Past Productions | 0
A NEW PRODUCTION BY THE ACCLAIMED DANCE COMPANY EXPLORES
BI-CULTURAL CELEBRATIONS AND IDENTITY
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company has developed a new production by Artistic Director Alberto Lopez Herrera and Co-Founder Juan Castaño celebrating the holiday traditions experienced by a young person of Mexican immigrant parents growing up in New York City that will be presented at the Thalia Spanish Theatre from November 30 through December 16, 2018. From Aztec-inspired dance to Christmas carols, the youngster tries to bring their two worlds together. In a dream, they imagine the fusion of Mariachi music with Tchaikovsky, folk dance with ballet, and the wonderment of their two cultures. But a tempting character preaches the separation of these customs, and the youngster must choose. The company of 16 dancers and core of musicians led by Calpulli’s Music Director George Saenz return to the Thalia Spanish Theatre with “NAVIDAD:A Mexican-American Christmas.” The entirely new program tells a story with commissioned works by Mexican and Mexican-American guest choreographers with new musical arrangements and original works.
FRIDAYS only TICKETS $40; STUDENTS & SENIORS $37
At THALIA SPANISH THEATRE
INFORMATION & TICKETS (718) 729-3880 www.thaliatheatre.org
“Audiences will see how someone born in the USA may experience their parent’s seemingly foreign culture and can be torn about their own cultural identity,” said Mr. Lopez. He continued, “That is, until they discover that these qualities make them stronger. We are so excited to show the traditions of Mexico like posadas and villancicos as well as popular holiday music from the USA and dances inspired by the famous Nutcracker. We also can’t wait to hear from audiences about how we blend these influences together in our world of fantasy.”
NAVIDAD will feature commissioned choreographic works by Grisel Pren Monje, Rehearsals Director with Calpulli; Francisco Graciano formerly of the Paul Taylor Dance Company; Javier Dzul, Artistic Director of Dzul Dance Company and Mr. Castaño, Co-Founder of Calpulli. Costumes are designed by Mr. Lopez with additional costume design by Amanda Gladu, Animation and Scenery by Ariel Rodriguez, and Lighting Design by Carolina Ortiz.
“Calpulli’s stories are told through dance and music and have always dealt with love,” said Managing Director Mr. Castaño,.“ NAVIDAD is no different, but it tells of love for family, for the multifaceted influences around us, and for oneself. We hope children of immigrant families see themselves reflected in our story, and we hope immigrants feel celebrated and also empathize more with identity formation when two or more cultures influence a young person.”
Angel Gil Orrios, Artistic/Executive Director of the Thalia Spanish Theatre affirms: “CALPULLI’s dancers and musicians are very talented. They are true ambassadors of Mexico’s art & culture. It’s a pleasure and a privilege for us to present a new production after our previous sold-out run. We’re happy our audience really wanted them back, as we say in show business, by popular demand”.
Calpulli Mexican Dance Company marks its 15th anniversary in 2018. The performances will mark the third season between the partners beginning in 2014. Up next for the Company will be the premiere of “Puebla: The Story of Cinco de Mayo” in April 2019, a new work funded by the New England Foundation for the Arts. It will make its European debut in May 2019 in Istanbul, Turkey.
CALPULLI Mexican Dance Company celebrates the rich diversity of Mexican and Mexican-American cultural heritage through dance and live music. Founded in 2003, the company tours from coast-to-coast in the USA and made its international debut in 2013 in the Kingdom of Bahrain in the Middle East. At its performance at Lincoln Center Out of Doors in August 2015, Calpulli was hailed a “terrific company” by Dance Critic Brian Siebert of the New York Times. www.calpullidance.org
THALIA SPANISH THEATRE is the only BILINGUAL Hispanic theatre in Queens, NY serving a community of more than ONE MILLION Hispanics from every Spanish-speaking nation in the world. For 38 years its mission has been to celebrate the vibrancy and diversity of Spanish and Latin American culture and heritage with unique productions of theatre, music and dance. Its more than 200 productions have been acclaimed by audiences and critics, receiving 207 AWARDS FOR ARTISTIC EXCELLENCE, including 106 from ACE (the Association of Critics of Entertainment), the 1997 and 1989 ENCORE Awards of the Arts & Business Council, the 1997 NEW YORK STATE GOVERNOR’S ARTS AWARD, and the 2009 MAYOR’S AWARD FOR ARTS & CULTURE. In 2007 its musical production of Maestro Jaurena’s TE AMO TANGO, recorded live at the theatre and released on CD, won the LATIN GRAMMY for BEST TANGO ALBUM. THALIA is under the leadership of the prestigious Spanish Director/Writer/Producer Angel Gil Orrios, producing every season Spanish, Latin American & Hispanic plays with BILINGUAL casts, alternating performances in English and Spanish, musicals, dance programs, workshops for children & youth, and the annual FREE THALIA OUTDOOR FESTIVAL in its local park.
0202_01_Navidad A Mexican-American Christmas_Flyer
Calpulli Xmas 3
0202_02_Navidad A Mexican-American Christmas
Calpulli Xmas
Thalia Spanish Theatre & Calpulli Mexican Dance Company Sponsors:
This program is made possible with public funds from THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS, THE NEW YORK STATE COUNCIL ON THE ARTS with the support of GOVERNOR ANDREW CUOMO and the NEW YORK STATE LEGISLATURE, STATE ASSEMBLYWOMAN CATHERINE NOLAN, and THE NEW YORK CITY DEPARTMENT OF CULTURAL AFFAIRS in partnership with the City Council. Additional support provided by THE HAROLD & MIMI STEINBERG CHARITABLE TRUST, THE HENRY & LUCY MOSES FUND, THE SHUBERT FOUNDATION, THE McGRAW FOUNDATION, and HISPANIC FEDERATION. Special thanks to CITY COUNCILMEMBER JIMMY VAN BRAMER, Chairman of the Committee on Cultural Affairs, Libraries and International Intergroup Relations, and to THE CITY COUNCIL CULTURAL IMMIGRANT INITIATIVE. Media sponsors and community partners include El Diario de México, Artist & Craftsman Supply, Dance/NYC, and Spaceworks.
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Class of 1971 remembers second African-American graduate, Joseph Shine
September 14, 2017 October 30, 2019 last updated on October 30, 2019 at 10:55 Alumni News Releases People
During Charles Foster’s sophomore year at The Citadel, Shine entered to blaze a new trail
Nearly 14 years to the date of the sudden loss of Citadel graduate Joseph Dawson Shine, two of his classmates, Tip Hargrove and Jim Lockridge, came back to The Citadel to share accounts of their time with him at the college.
In 1967, Shine became the second African-American cadet to matriculate to The Citadel (after Charles Foster in 1966) and the only African-American member of the Class of 1971 South Carolina Corps of Cadets.
Fifty years after his matriculation, his Kilo Company classmates hosted a lecture in Bond Hall to reminisce about Shine and describe the perseverance and class unity it took for him to complete knob year to join the Long Gray Line with them.
“I have always wanted to share the Joe Shine story, but frankly, no one seemed to want to listen,” said Hargrove.
Hargrove, a lawyer based in Texas, said the idea of bringing Shine’s story to the forefront came after speaking with members of The Citadel African-American Alumni Association and hearing the complaints he sees on The Citadel Alumni Association’s Board of Directors about distance between white and black cadets at the college. As a graduate, he felt compelled to take matters into his own hands and try to do some good.
“As hard as the [college] administration tries to work on these types of problems, in my opinion, it comes across better from those of us who were in the trenches with a man like Joe,” said Hargrove.
Shine came to The Citadel after graduating from Charleston’s Immaculate Conception School in 1967. Despite tough beginnings during his knob year both due to his race, and the rigor of the Fourth-Class System in general, Shine left a lasting legacy at The Citadel. He was a distinguished student, having served on regimental staff his senior year, and a founding member of the college’s African-American Society.
“The truth is, Joe Shine’s example made the Class of 1971 a tolerant, understanding bunch, and for that we owe him a great debt,” said Hargrove.
After graduating from The Citadel, Shine attended Harvard Law School and graduated in 1974. He later earned an MBA from Southern Illinois University and worked in the office of the Secretary of the Air Force. He was an attorney for the city of Charleston between 1976 and 1987 and then served as South Carolina’s chief deputy attorney general from 1987 until 1993 when he became the first legal counsel for the state’s Budget and Control Board. At the time of his death in 2003, he was general counsel for the Savannah River Site and newly appointed to the Citadel Board of Visitors by former Gov. Mark Sanford.
At the event, Lockridge, another 1971 graduate, shared his experience of being Shine’s friend and roommate for three of their four years at The Citadel. In the late 1990s, both he and Shine were interviewed by historian Alexander Macaulay for his book, Marching in Step, about their time together at The Citadel.
Lockridge recalled the story of being at a local bar with Shine, who was told that to be served he would need to move to the back of the establishment. The injustice Shine faced that night motivated Lockridge, editor of The Brigadier at the time, to pen a letter from the editor, entitled, “Rights Denied,” which called for a Corps-wide boycott of the bar.
According to Hargrove, plans to bolster their Shine tribute are in the works. Given the opportunity to speak about Shine’s legacy again, Dr. Larry J. Ferguson (Class of 1973) has agreed to be a part of the program as a close friend of Shine and the eldest living African-American graduate of The Citadel. Ferguson was also in attendance last week to pay homage to Shine.
Hargrove and his classmates could not let go the opportunity of getting a message out as “sorely needed” as that of class unity across color lines to The Citadel community.
“It’s funny, but to Kilo Company ‘71, Joe just became a classmate, not a black classmate, that’s exactly how it should have been,” said Hargrove. “When many of us got to school we saw the color of a person’s skin and made decisions because of it. But not when we left, for then we only saw one color—the gray of the Long Gray Line.”
Remembering longtime Democratic Party leader, veteran and Citadel professor, Don Fowler
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PewDiePie Named 2020's Most Handsome Face in the World
Nasima Khatun
PewDiePie is one of the most famous YouTubers on the planet, and the Swedish blogger has made quite a name for himself. Among all of his other accolades, he has recently won another one he can be proud of... The most handsome face in the world.
However, he definitely had some pretty stiff competition. Keep scrolling to see who else made it into the top 10...
For those of you that might not be aware, PewDiePie has become one of the biggest YouTubers of our time.
The Swedish vlogger, whose real name is Felix Kjellberg, became the first YouTuber to reach the seventy million subscriber mark, and now has over 108 million subscribers, making him the most successful person on YouTube.
He is best known for his commentary videos on various video games...
And his content has gradually expanded into coverage and commentary of internet memes and viral videos.
Though he hasn't been shy of controversy.
The vlogger has long attracted negative attention and criticism for some slightly questionable remarks that he has made in the past.
He has previously been accused of making anti-Semitic comments in several of his videos.
News surfaced in February 2017 that 9 videos published on PewDiePie's channel featured Kjellberg making anti-Semitic comments, and Youtube subsequently responded by canceling the second season of his original series on YouTube Premium.
And several of his other actions have ruffled feathers for the same reason.
Many of PewDiePie's other videos have sparked a similar outcry. In one of these, he performed a Nazi “heil" salute, and, in another, he hired a pair of performers from a freelancer website to hold up a sign reading “Death to all Jews."
But he defended himself and said that those videos were satirical...
Though many observers still condemned them as anti-Semitic. Big yikes.
Long story short...
The YouTuber doesn't have the cleanest of slates, but, regardless of all his controversy, he has reached ridiculous levels of success and still has a very firm and loyal fan-base.
But he recently admitted to feeling "very tired" of his job...
"I'm tired. I'm feeling very tired. I don't know if you can tell. Just so you know, early next year I'll be away for a little while. I'll explain that later but I wanted to give a heads up."
After a little hiatus early last year, he was back with a bang...
And ever since then, it has only been onwards and upwards for the social media star.
Recently, he has won an award that he'll be talking about for the rest of his life...
And it's gotten all of his fans talking!
That's right, ladies and gentlemen, PewDiePie's face has been named as "the most handsome" of 2020.
TC Candler, a YouTuber responsible for the list titled "Annual Independent Critics Lists of the 100 Most Beautiful and 100 Most Handsome Faces" released the newest one on December 27th, shocking a lot of people. But what else can we expect if only one particular audience voted?
Don't get me wrong, PewDiePie is pretty handsome, but just wait until you see who he beat to get to the top spot...
And just like me, not everyone agrees with the "controversial" ranking...
I bet you're curious to see who made it into the top 10, right?
So without further ado, let me introduce you to who else made the coveted list...
10. Paing Takhon.
This Burmese actor and model slid into the top 10 with his luscious locks and cool tattoos. I can see why he definitely made it as a new entry. We're off to a good start.
9. Timothee Chalamet.
The twenty-five-year-old baby faced actor took the number 9 spot. It must have been his jawline.
8. Jason Momoa.
Now, I expected Momoa to make the cut but definitely at a better spot than number 8. He deserves to be in the top 5, for sure.
7. Xiao Zhan.
After starting his career out in a boy band in China, Zhan suddenly gained popularity (I'm sure his face had something to do with it) and started a career in the world of acting. Here's another accomplishment he can be proud of. Spot number 7.
6. Jason Derulo.
We were actually doing pretty well and then this? Jason Derulo is an attractive man but ranking 6th in the world is pushing it a bit too much. Maybe number thirty-one would be more suited... Sorry, Derulo.
5. Henry Cavill.
If I had it my way, not that I'm anyone important, but I do know what the people want. And according to me, Henry Cavill should have taken that top spot. As if he's only number 5? This is the prime reason why I can't take this list seriously.
4. Jeon Jungkook.
The BTS star was last year's reigning champ and this year dropped 3 places to take the number 4 spot. A talented young man with a handsome, babyface. We can see why he made it into the top 10.
3. Chris Hemsworth.
Number 3? Correct. He is. And he's a nice guy. We have no choice but to stan.
2. Kim Taehyung.
Also known by his stage name, V. Another member of BTS who seems to be very popular with YouTube fans and it's pretty easy to see why. Charm, charisma... Still not as handsome as Chris Hemsworth though, but we'll let it slide because it's V.
1. Felix Kjellberg.
And of course, the number 1 spot was taken by the Swedish YouTube star, PewDiePie, who has made it onto this all-star list for the sixth year running. Never at the number 1 spot, but finally, the day has arrived.
And there we have it, guys.
Before I go though, I just want to make a few honorable mentions that didn't make it into the top 10 but definitely should have: Robert Pattinson, Harry Styles, George Clooney, Chris Evans, Avan Jogia, Nam Joo Hyuk, Alexander Skarsgård, Michael B Jordon, and of course, Brad Pitt, can't go wrong with the classics, can you? Keep scrolling to see some scientific evidence behind why we find certain faces more handsome than others...
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Rescue Dog Had Never Had His Own Yard Before so His Mom Built Him One
Chloe Rowland
The internet is pretty much obsessed with dogs - and with good reason. Canine cuties seem to be amongst the purest aspects of modern life. But that makes it all the more tragic when one is treated as anything less than the angel they are.
A rescue dog who never had a yard has made headlines this week after his owners built him one in record time.
The pictures are heart-melting. Keep scrolling to read this incredible story...
Is there anything better than a dog?
These adorable creatures are basically the best things on earth. If you’re ever feeling down in the dumps, a dog is guaranteed to make you feel better.
They are truly man's best pals.
Whether they’re causing mischief, giving us those puppy eyes when they want a treat, or taking up the entire sofa, many of us couldn’t live without our furry friends.
Once you become a dog-parent, there's no going back...
It’s hard to imagine a life without having a pooch to come home to.
In an age where the internet is so divided, there's one thing we can all agree on...
How utterly amazing (and adorable) our four-legged friends are.
Sadly, so many pooches are lost, abandoned or dumped - being left to fend for themselves.
Though there is some light at end of the tunnel for many of these doggos - who end up getting rescued and eventually adopted into new families.
Many animal shelters are simply overflowing...
And, according to statistics from the Humane Society, 6 to 8 million cats and dogs enter shelters here in the U.S. each year.
But these animal shelters aren't always the safest places for these animals.
Millions of these animals are euthanized every year due to the lack of space and people interested in adopting.
It's a devastating reality of animal homelessness.
And statistics show that, out of the 3 million cats and dogs euthanized in shelters every year, around 2.4 million are actually healthy, and would have been fit for adoption with a new owner.
It's unthinkable why anyone would be so cruel to an animal.
So many dogs are abused, abandoned, and neglected.
One rescue dog has made headlines this week.
And his story will melt even the coldest of hearts.
Meet Bentley.
When KaTarra Taylor adopted Bentley, he’d already lived in 4 other homes.
His previous owners had sadly been unable to handle his anxiety and medical issues.
But Taylor knew he deserved his forever home.
She refused to give up on him...
Together, the pair worked on Bentley's anxiety - and while he does still struggle - he's made so much progress.
He's getting better every day.
And his dog mom wouldn't trade him for the world. “He's half sweet doofus and half cranky grandpa," she told The Dodo.
When she first adopted Bentley, Taylor lived in a one-bedroom apartment.
At the time, she knew it wouldn't be enough space for Bentley in the long run, so she decided to upgrade. “I ended up buying a townhouse so we could stay together," Taylor said. “It had an enclosed patio that I knew he would like. I couldn't afford a house with a yard, but I thought I could turn the patio into a small yard with the right help."
Whenever the pair would go on walks, Bentley loved to be on the grass...
So Taylor desperately wanted him to be able to have some grass at home which he could lounge on whenever he wanted.
The task seemed pretty daunting at first...
But, with the help of her boyfriend, they were finally able to begin transforming the patio into a little garden for Bentley.
It only took a day to complete.
“I finally decided it was time to get this done last week," Taylor explained.“My boyfriend Nick was able to get it all done in one day for under $400."
$400 later...
And after a lot of hard work, the patio was complete.
Bentley's adorable reaction proved it was all worth it.
Now, Bentley loves lounging around on his new little yard. “Bentley immediately laid down and just stayed there for several hours. "He seems so happy with it." Want more like this? Keeps scrolling for more on a woman who returned from vacation with an unlikely sidekick...
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How Alabama’s Fines and Fees System Preys On The Poor
Terrance has been jailed repeatedly over court debt for fishing to feed his family.
Terrance Truitt
Alabama Appleseed
Maura Ewing Nov 01, 2018
Terrance Truitt is a self-described “all-around outdoorsman.” In and around Montgomery, Alabama, the father of two teens hunts deer and wild boar, and angles for fish. Sometimes fishing is a favorite pastime that ends in a fish fry with friends, and sometimes it’s a necessity to feed his family.
“I have to pay rent, and I have to feed myself, too. That’s part of the reason I go fishing,” said Truitt, who has at times been homeless. He doesn’t fish in public waterways, like rivers or lakes, because he doesn’t have a boat, a necessary asset for catching enough fish. Instead, to feed his family, he fishes at local ponds, which are typically privately owned, but without the required permit.
Foraging has sustained Truitt through hard times but also worsened his financial insecurity: He has been fined on at least three previous occasions for fishing in private ponds, a misdemeanor, for which he has has racked up about $1,400 in court fines and fees.
Last month, Truitt spent eight days in jail, including his 39th birthday, for missing court appearances related to a 2017 fishing conviction. His absences were no accident; he was behind in paying a $25 monthly court debt fee and knew that showing up for hearings would most likely mean he would be thrown in jail. “When they catch me, they catch me,” he figured.
This was at least the ninth time Truitt went to jail for falling behind in paying his court debt, according to records provided by the Alabama Appleseed Center for Law and Justice. Other court fines and fees stem from traffic violations and possession of marijuana.
“It always ends up costing me, it gets me off track,” he said of his stints in jail. “You hold a man … bills start to pile up. And they expect you to pay, I find that really difficult to deal with.”
In Alabama, people convicted of minor crimes are frequently slapped with large court debts, regardless of their ability to pay, according to a recent report released by Alabama Appleseed. Researchers there interviewed 980 people from 41 Alabama counties who were in debt to a court.
Among respondents, the median amount owed to courts was $2,700, a formidable sum for anyone living paycheck to paycheck, and nearly 70 percent of payees had been declared indigent by the courts. Over 80 percent of respondents reported forgoing other bills, including rent, medical bills, car payments, child support and food, to stay on top of their court payments.
The average amount of time respondents had been in debt was about four and a half years. Over half of respondents reported that the amount they owed grew over time because of interest, collections fees, and other financial penalties; roughly the same percentage didn’t think they would ever be able to pay off what they owed.
The report revealed a cycle of poverty compounded by the criminal justice system. “Often the first is a [violation] that they wouldn’t have done if they weren’t living in poverty,” said Leah Nelson, a researcher at Alabama Appleseed. “Like driving without insurance or with an expired car tag or a nonworking seat belt.” Poor people often can’t afford to keep up with the payments and maintenance necessary to avoid such violations, Nelson said, and this can lead to a suspended license, leaving a person with the difficult choice of commuting to work illegally or quitting a job. To pay off their court debt and disentangle themselves from the criminal justice system, nearly 40 percent of respondents said they resorted to illicit activity, such as selling drugs, theft, or sex work. For example, 1 in 5 people whose debt originated with a broken tail light or speeding ticket ultimately committed more serious crimes, including felonies, to pay their debt.
Some of the revenue generated by court fines and fees goes toward running the courts, but mostly it functions like a state tax. In fiscal year 2017, Alabama’s Unified Judicial System took in about $14 million from court debt, whereas noncourt-related entities received over five times that amount, around $75 million. The bulk of that revenue, about $37 million, went straight to the state’s general fund. The struggling public education system received about $1.9 million of the fines and fees revenue, the police officer’s retirement fund took in over $1million, and the state’s Department of Conservation and Natural Resources—the agency that ticketed Truitt for fishing without a permit—received over $800,000.
At the same time, state and local government collect fewer tax dollars from residents in Alabama than in any other state. Experts attribute this to a lower base of wealth in the state, but also to the state’s far-below-average tax rates. In a 2017 analysis, the Public Affairs Research Council of Alabama ranked the state 46th in the nation in tax collection as a percentage of total personal income earned by residents.
State lawmakers “would rather burden the poor, in Alabama particularly people of color, instead of raising taxes,” said Brock Boone, staff attorney at the American Civil Liberties Union of Alabama.
The legality of jailing those who can’t pay, like Truitt, is questionable. While Truitt was technically incarcerated for missing court appearances, practically speaking, he was in jail for his inability to make his court payments. Debtor’s prisons are illegal, yet Truitt was sent to jail on Oct. 8 on the condition that he be released, according to court documents, “upon payout of $500,” the total he owed for a 2017 fishing case, plus an additional $20 jail booking fee. It’s hard to imagine how someone who is in jail for missed payments would come up with that much money from behind bars. In Truitt’s case, RFK Human Rights paid for his release, but in the past, he said, he would have been jailed for a month. Boone, a former public defender, said that there isn’t a standard practice governing how long to keep a person in jail who can’t make their payout. Some judges will offer jailed persons a certain amount of credit toward payout–$25 per day in jail, for example. The Fifteenth Judicial Court of Alabama, where Truitt was tried, did not respond to a request for comment on how payout amounts were set, and how long a person would stay in jail if he or she was unable to pay.
Truitt is thankful that he was released, but he is still struggling to find financial stability. “I’m going to try to start working as much as I can,” he said. Of course, eight days in jail interrupted that plan and cost him his job at Costco. “It kind of puts bricks upon bricks on your life.”
Prosecutors Alabama Criminalizing Poverty Fines and Fees
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← Blattered!
Muslim balls →
World Cup footBALLS: parklife
Posted on July 18, 2009 by The Bristol Blogger
Still wondering where this £100m in revenue the city council reckons can be made from hosting a World Cup is actually going to come from.
We already know that all the big money from TV rights goes to FIFA, not to host cities. Similarly cash from ticket sales, another big earner, is divided between FIFA, the FA and the football clubs concerned, leaving no room for a significant return on the council’s investment in the tournament.
However, last week Gary Hopkins likened the costs of hosting the World Cup to those of the Bristol Harbour Festival. Was he referring to the fan parks that are required as part of the bid?
Perhaps these are the cash cows the council’s expecting to make big money from?
Let’s take a closer look then: the Harbour Festival costs approximately £400,000 for a three day event in a single location and it’s attended by around 250,000 people.
It’s seen as worthwhile because it attracts visitors from outside the city who might otherwise not come; it provides some local businesses with the opportunity to book stalls at the event; and local bars, restaurants, pubs and the like benefit because visitors can pop in and out of the event and have a drink or a meal in central Bristol.
No one really knows if it’s the big economic engine some claim but the arguments made for it at least stack up.
But the Harbour Festival is also an event that doesn’t make you stay in the same place for a long period of time. Unlike a football match, which is essentially a two-hour event where the spectators remain within an enclosed area for its entirety and then make their way home.
So how does a World Cup fan park compare to a festival?
The capacity of a fan park is likely to be at least 20,000 (as it was in Hanover and Leipzig although Hamburg’s was 50,000 and Berlin’s over 100,000) and there must be at least 1 sq metre for each individual. So a 20,000 fan park will need to be at least 2 hectares, roughly half the size of the existing Bristol City football club site, and will probably host around 600,000 fans over the tournament.
And – as with all costs associated with hosting the World Cup – the cost for setting up and running the park falls not to FIFA, not to the FA but to the host city.
Although there’s plenty of strict rules courtesy of FIFA. They say these publicly funded fan parks have to be open throughout the tournament – that’s for 31 days compared to 3. The fan park has to be fenced with a security perimeter and have an ‘exclusion zone’ around it where the host city must ensure that no commercially branded goods are sold except those of the FIFA’s official sponsors.
Because FIFA’s official sponsors have the fan parks included in their sponsorship deals. This means no competitors will be allowed to sell either in the parks or in the ‘exclusion zone’.
To enforce this, each host city must, as part of its Host City Agreement with FIFA, set up and staff – at their own expense! – a Rights Protection Programme Team to safeguard against any breaches of sponsorship agreements.
For example, Coca-Cola – a regular World Cup sponsor – will be allowed to sell soft drinks in the fan park while McDonalds – another regular sponsor – will sell the food.
Other second level “local” sponsors can be involved as long as the main sponsors do not identify them as “competitors”.
In South Africa there will also be “unofficial” fan festivals but even here the sponsors must not be competitors of the main FIFA sponsors and if other products are allowed to be sold (for example tea or coffee) they must be sold in unbranded containers.
So a strict comparison between the Harbour Festival and the World Cup might be that if it costs us £400,000 to run a three day event it might cost us £4m to run a 30 day event … And funnily enough … The South African town of Rustenberg has calculated that it will cost nearly £4m to run it’s 20,000 capacity fan park during next year’s World Cup in South Africa.
The revenues, meanwhile, look set to be heading not to local businesses – like the Harbour Festival – but to multinational interests.
Indeed, the more you look at this, the more it seems like the World Cup Bid is an excuse to spend public money tobenefit of major corporations like Coca-Cola, McDonalds and Anheuser-Busch.
The fan parks – that will be paid for by us – are a good example.
Many local pubs and bars in Bristol made quite a bit of money during the last World Cup by putting up big screens and showing the games so that the vast majority of fans who didn’t travel to Germany could still enjoy the match in a group atmosphere.
But the fan parks will be attracting these same fans away from local bars and pubs to fenced off areas where the food and drink on offer will be provided by the official FIFA sponsors or “non-competitive” local sponsors backed by a council “Rights Protection Programme Team”.
As a result of this, “premium” prices of up to 50% above normal prices can be charged. For example in the European Championships in 2008, the normal price for a beer in Austria was 3-3.5 euros (£2.50 – £3.00) but in the fan zones it was priced at 4.5 euros (nearly £4.00).
So the fans get ripped off while local businesses lose out to global interests. In Germany in 2006 around 18 – 21 million fans attended the fan zones, the overwhelming majority of whom were locals …
This entry was posted in Bristol, Culture, Economy, Harbourside, Local government, Politics, World Cup 2018 and tagged Bristol Harbour Festival, Euro 2008, Fan parks, FIFA, Gary Hopkins, Rights Protection Programme Team, Rustenberg. Bookmark the permalink.
1 Response to World Cup footBALLS: parklife
bristolboy says:
Blogger, you are clearly no football fan. Most real fans who turn up in official World Cup venues do not use the fan parks – for exactly the reasons you highlight. They don’t want to buy official merchandise, drink Coke and eat McDonald’s meals. Instead, they eat, drink and make merry in the local pubs and bars. That was my experience following England in Germany. In every German city I visited, the local bars were jam packed with fans. The fans zones were horrible sterile, corporate-feeling areas. It’s not that they weren’t busy – they were just a very poor alternative to the real drinking places. No, if World Cup football fans come to Bristol, city businesses will do very, very well out of it.
Arena: Private profit from public cash June 27, 2007
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The great recycling debate (pt. 7654) March 7, 2009
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Licensed, no bill September 19, 2008
Fancy that! August 18, 2007
Transport round-up November 9, 2007
New additions January 13, 2008
Are our politicians in danger of having to express a view in the near future? October 15, 2009
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Big Developments in the Sri Lankan Fishery sector
Sustainability Economics Politics
SRI LANKA - Around 301 houses have been constructed for fishing families in the Trincomalee district under the Diyawara Gammana programme. Over Rs. 550 million has been spent on the development of the fisheries industry.
Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources Development Dr Rajitha Senaratne said that the Diyawara Gammana concept was launched by President Mahinda Rajapaksa when he was the Fisheries Minister.
Minister Senaratne inaugurated a number of development projects is the Batticaloa and Trincomalee districts during an inspection tour in the East recently. Speaking at a function during this tour the Minister said that his Ministry has spent over Rs. 550 million for the development of the fisheries industry and uplift the livelihood of fishing families since the end of terrorism.
The Minister said that Trincomalee is the seventh trade centre of Sri Lanka and over 3,000 self-employment opportunities have been created in Trincomalee. He said that the Ministry has established six fish landing centres in the Trincomalee district to increase sea and inland water fish harvest in the district.
Speaking further, the Minister said the government is spending Rs. 3,600 million a year to grant fuel compensation to fishermen, and several other measures have also been taken to upgrade the living standards of fishermen while introducing insurance schemes, loan schemes and establishing district level fisheries organizations.
He said the country's fish harvest has also increased by 50 per cent during the past two years.
The Minister said that the Sri Lankan fisheries industry is showing a tremendous progress while making a vital contribution to the country's economy.
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st. john’s status of women council
Constabulary and Critics Continue Tense Coexistence
Published on March 1, 2020 in Featured/Investigation/Journalism/Longread by Rhea Rollmann
As International Women’s Day approaches, it’s been nearly a year since Jenny Wright stepped down as Executive Director of the St. John’s Status of Women Council. In October, the Independent revealed RNC and provincial government involvement in the sequence of events leading to her departure. Since that time, there have been a range of responses from community organizations, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, and state officials. Five months after the story emerged, and nearly a year after Wright stepped down, the Independent takes a look at what’s transpired in the wake of the revelations. The provincial government has maintained clear support for key figures involved in the overreach, including Royal Newfoundland Constabulary Chief Joe Boland and now-Deputy Minister for Status of Women Linda Ross. But many important relationships across the community remain strained. The St. John’s Status of Women Council, as well as the Provincial Action Network for the Status of Women…
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How U.S. Navy SEALs Lead and Win (New Edition)
Jocko Willink and Leif Babin
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TRADE BOOKS FOR COURSES NEWSLETTER
An updated edition of the blockbuster bestselling leadership book that took America and the world by storm, two U.S. Navy SEAL officers who led the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War demonstrate how to apply powerful leadership principles from the battlefield to business and life. Now with an excerpt from the authors' new book, THE DICHOTOMY OF LEADERSHIP.
Combat, the most intense and dynamic environment imaginable, teaches the toughest leadership lessons, with absolutely everything at stake. Jocko Willink and Leif Babin learned this reality first-hand on the most violent and dangerous battlefield in Iraq. As leaders of SEAL Team Three’s Task Unit Bruiser, their mission was one many thought impossible: help U.S. forces secure Ramadi, a violent, insurgent-held city deemed “all but lost.” In gripping, firsthand accounts of heroism, tragic loss, and hard-won victories, they learned that leadership—at every level—is the most important factor in whether a team succeeds or fails.
Willink and Babin returned home from deployment and instituted SEAL leadership training to pass on their harsh lessons learned in combat to help forge the next generation of SEAL leaders. After leaving the SEAL Teams, they launched a company, Echelon Front, to teach those same leadership principles to leaders in businesses, companies, and organizations across the civilian sector. Since that time, they have trained countless leaders and worked with hundreds of companies in virtually every industry across the U.S. and internationally, teaching them how to develop their own high-performance teams and most effectively lead those teams to dominate their battlefields.
Since it’s release in October 2015, Extreme Ownership has revolutionized leadership development and set a new standard for literature on the subject. Required reading for many of the most successful organizations, it has become an integral part of the official leadership training programs for scores of business teams, military units, and first responders. Detailing the mindset and principles that enable SEAL units to accomplish the most difficult combat missions, Extreme Ownership demonstrates how to apply them to any team or organization, in any leadership environment. A compelling narrative with powerful instruction and direct application, Extreme Ownership challenges leaders everywhere to fulfill their ultimate purpose: lead and win.
Book Excerpts About the Author
Jocko Willink
THE MALA’AB DISTRICT, RAMADI, IRAQ: FOG OF WAR
The early morning light was dimmed by a literal fog of war that filled the air: soot from tires the insurgents...
Read the full excerpt →
JOCKO WILLINK is author of Extreme Ownership, a decorated retired Navy SEAL officer, and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he is a leadership instructor, speaker, and executive coach. Jocko spent 20 years in the U.S. Navy SEAL Teams, starting as an enlisted SEAL and rising through the ranks to become a SEAL officer. As commander of SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser during the battle of Ramadi, he orchestrated SEAL operations that helped the "Ready First" Brigade of the US Army's First Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated Special Operations Unit of the Iraq War. Jocko returned from Iraq to serve as Officer-in-Charge of training for all West Coast SEAL Teams. There, he spearheaded the development of leadership training and personally instructed and mentored the next generation of SEAL leaders who have continued to perform with great success on the battlefield. During his career, Jocko was awarded the Silver Star, the Bronze Star, and numerous other personal and unit awards. In 2010, Jocko retired from the Navy and launched Echelon Front where he teaches the leadership principles he learned on the battlefield to help others lead and win. Clients include individuals, teams, companies, and organizations across a wide-range of industries and fields. Jocko is also the author of the children's book Way of the Warrior Kid and the New York Times bestseller Discipline Equals Freedom.
LEIF BABIN is author of Extreme Ownership, a decorated former Navy SEAL officer, and co-founder of Echelon Front, where he serves as leadership instructor, speaker, and executive coach. A graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, Leif served thirteen years in the Navy, including nine as a Navy SEAL. As a SEAL platoon commander in SEAL Team Three's Task Unit Bruiser, he planned and led major combat operations in the Battle of Ramadi that helped the "Ready First" Brigade of the US Army's 1st Armored Division bring stability to the violent, war-torn city. Task Unit Bruiser became the most highly decorated special operations unit of the Iraq War. Leif returned from combat as the primary leadership instructor for all officers graduating from the SEAL training pipeline. There, he reshaped SEAL leadership training to better prepare SEAL officers for the immense challenges of combat. During his last tour, Leif served as Operations Officer and Executive Officer at a SEAL Team where he again deployed to Iraq with a Special Operations Task Force. He is the recipient of the Silver Star, two Bronze Stars, and a Purple Heart. In 2011, Leif left active duty and co-founded Echelon Front, a leadership consulting company that helps others build their own high-performance winning teams. Clients include individuals, companies, and organizations across a wide-range of industries. Leif speaks on leadership, U.S. military strategy, and foreign policy matters. His editorials have been published in the Wall Street Journal and he has appeared on a variety of national television news and radio programs.
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News, reviews and opinion from the cheapest seat
About View from the Cheap Seat
Spotlight on FCUK’D writer and director Niall Ransome
Posted by Shanine Salmon
Niall is best known to audiences for his work with Mischief Theatre. He is part of the ensemble for plays such as ‘The Play That Goes Wrong’ ‘Peter Pan Goes Wrong’ and ‘The Comedy About a Bank Robbery’.
His new play, produced by Eastlake Productions, written entirely in verse is a candid one-man show switches seamlessly between the innocence of childhood and the very real struggle of being fcuk’d by an unfair system, shining a light on the all-too-real experiences of young working-class men in Britain today. It is The Bunker’s slightly alternative Christmas show. I spoke to Niall about working-class stories and Hull’s place in the world of theatre.
What made you write FCUK’D?
I’ve always been interested in writing and FCUK’D started as a 15-minute monologue for drama school. After performing it there a lot of people encouraged me to continue with it and see where it could go so I committed to making it an hour long play. I knew I wanted to write about Hull and it was after visiting home and going back to my old school I had the idea. It stemmed from seeing some old friends, they didn’t all have the supportive backgrounds that I was lucky to have but I always remember how loyal everyone was. No matter what, you had each other’s back. Anyone is capable of making a bad decision when backed into a corner and with over 100,000 children running away from home every year the two went together and the idea grew from there.
You are also directing this production. Did you find it easy to separate the roles or did you consciously work as writer and director in rehearsals with Will Mytum? Were you ever tempted to act in it as well?
I was originally the actor in the show and have performed it a few times in different work-shopped performances. It’s been nice to step back and direct Will. We’ve been friends for years and I always thought of passing the role onto him at some point when I couldn’t do it. It’s great to see someone else own the words and that in itself has helped me switch off that part of my brain and focus on directing. Occasionally a line changes here and there but that’s something me and Will work on together.
The play is a monologue, after working as an ensemble with Mischief Theatre Company (The Play Goes Wrong, Peter Pan Goes Wrong and The Comedy about a Bank Robbery) were you seeking something more intimate as a writer or did it just happen?
It sort of happened really. I’ve been in Mischief for years and worked on a lot of our shows but FCUK’D was a way of focusing on another side of myself. I love comedy but I feel heavily connected to my Northern roots and this was really to get back in touch with that. After years of living in London and people asking me to say the word ‘boat’ or ‘oh no’ for them, it’s nice to get back. I got into theatre by watching plays at the Hull Truck and the Stephen Joseph theatre in Scarborough, they spoke how I sounded.
There are a lot of diversity issues in theatre and the working classes get lost amongst race, gender and sexuality. Why aren’t their voices being heard and what more can theatres do to support working class stories being made.
I think all issues are important but do agree that the working class voice is being lost. What was great about theatres such as the Hull Truck when I was younger is they were doing plays about the people. Audiences recognized themselves on stage. I don’t think there are a lack of voices writing these plays they’re just not being given the chance. Luke Barnes is an example of a play write doing great work giving working classes a voice in theatre and recognizing that theatre doesn’t just live in London and the Fringe. Plays shouldn’t be ticking the boxes for the sake of it we should be creating the work and giving it a platform where all are welcome and where we can all work.
The concept of emotions and masculinity don’t go hand in hand. Men aren’t expected to show their emotions. Do you think writing is a way for men to show emotions without seeming flamboyant and, dare I say it, weak?
I think there is still a huge stigma with men speaking about how they feel. Particularly in the last few years in the news, there have been more people raising the issue of mental health and the importance to speak. I think the problem lies in that idea that showing emotions makes you flamboyant or weak. You want to remain in control but actually, you are taking control by being open. Writing has certainly helped me be more honest with myself and others. The boy in the play is forced to open up by explaining his actions to the audience and it’s only by doing this that he has an understanding of what has happened.
You are a member of the Mischief Theatre Company this play on appearances seems very different from their productions. How do you reconcile Mischief’s fun and comical output with something like FCUK’D, which seems quite serious?
I’ve worked with Mischief for years and although FCUK’D is a totally different thing and separate from the company I still approach this the same way as I have done with the Mischief shows. I focus on what the story is and the characters in that world. Although FCUK’D is a more serious play there are definitely lighter moments throughout and me and Will have had a great deal of fun working on the play. The boy, whose story we follow, is only young and the story is littered with moments where we’re reminded of this whether he’s chasing his little brother or playing in a thunderstorm. Although at Mischief we do big comedies we approach them as actors and invest in the truth. That’s what makes them funny and it’s the truth we find in FCUK’D that hopefully makes it compelling.
You grew up in Hull, which has a great theatre history and is the City of Culture 2017, do you think it is easier for working-class communities to access arts or are both sides affected by the cuts to their communities
I grew up on theatre in Hull and even did my work experience at the Hull Truck with John Godber when I was younger. I love flicking through actors CV’s when I see shows to see if anyone has worked there. City of Culture has been fantastic for Hull and has championed some great companies doing some very exciting work such as Middlechild, Silent Uproar and Bellow Theatre. It’s brought out the arty side of Hull which has always been there. It’s a very special city. I think the arts in working-class communities can be difficult to access as the money isn’t always there. I don’t think the importance of the arts are always valued as being great tools to bring communities together but they are. We must value them!
What are your plans, both as an actor and writer/director, in 2018?
I’m currently in Comedy About a Bank Robbery and finish that in Feb so once that’s done I guess I’ll dive back into the auditioning circuit which is exciting! There are plans to take FCUK’D on after the Bunker hopefully so we’ll see how that goes and I’m currently writing my second play at the moment so I’m excited to see where that takes me.
FCUK’D is on from 11th-30th December https://www.bunkertheatre.com/whats-on/fcukd/book-now
Eastlake ProductionsMischief TheatreNiall RansomeThe Bunker
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View from the Cheap Seat in the Media
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The Week, Oct 2 2017
Kathy Burke Interview
Eye Say, Eye Say, Eye Say - Online
Fanny and Stella, Garden Theatre, Eagle London
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Struggling to find the best seats in theatre? Seatplan has your back (and your bottom)
Spotlight on Our Voice, The Duke's Theatre Lancaster
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Beautiful Vulnerability
Posted on: November 6, 2013 Posted by: vudfc Comments: 0
Brene’ Brown is a researcher from Texas who stumbled upon the “underbelly of the soul.” She found that we, as humans, are wired up to feel connection. This sense is embedded deep in all of us and is made evident by how we form relationships, seek belonging, select hobbies that intertwine us, even in how we give our pets names, personalities, and dress them in little sweaters. Simply put: We are made for community.
However, she discovered that connection is based on love and belonging, yet it is stymied by shame. She defines shame as the fear of being disconnected, and found in her research that it too is at the root of us. It lives inside us and keeps our relationship-building from being as effective as it could be. This fear rules us and keeps us in the very state we fear being in the most!
Here is a bit of her TED Talk that is deeply compelling. If you have 20 minutes sometime, watch the whole talk and consider what affect shame has on your life? What do you feel about vulnerability and how does that feeling hamper or enhance your relationships?
“So where I started was with connection. Because, by the time you’re a social worker for 10 years, what you realize is that connection is why we’re here. It’s what gives purpose and meaning to our lives. This is what it’s all about. It doesn’t matter whether you talk to people who work in social justice and mental health and abuse and neglect, what we know is that connection, the ability to feel connected, is — neurobiologically that’s how we’re wired — it’s why we’re here. So I thought, you know what, I’m going to start with connection. Well, you know that situation where you get an evaluation from your boss, and she tells you 37 things you do really awesome, and one thing — an “opportunity for growth?” (Laughter) And all you can think about is that opportunity for growth, right? Well, apparently this is the way my work went as well, because, when you ask people about love, they tell you about heartbreak. When you ask people about belonging, they’ll tell you their most excruciating experiences of being excluded. And when you ask people about connection, the stories they told me were about disconnection.
So very quickly — really about six weeks into this research — I ran into this unnamed thing that absolutely unraveled connection in a way that I didn’t understand or had never seen. And so I pulled back out of the research and thought, I need to figure out what this is. And it turned out to be shame. And shame is really easily understood as the fear of disconnection:Is there something about me that, if other people know it or see it, that I won’t be worthy of connection? The things I can tell you about it: it’s universal; we all have it. The only people who don’t experience shame have no capacity for human empathy or connection. No one wants to talk about it, and the less you talk about it the more you have it. What underpinned this shame, this “I’m not good enough,” — which we all know that feeling: “I’m not blank enough. I’m not thin enough, rich enough, beautiful enough, smart enough, promoted enough.” The thing that underpinned this was excruciating vulnerability, this idea of, in order for connection to happen, we have to allow ourselves to be seen, really seen.
And you know how I feel about vulnerability. I hate vulnerability. And so I thought, this is my chance to beat it back with my measuring stick. I’m going in, I’m going to figure this stuff out, I’m going to spend a year, I’m going to totally deconstruct shame, I’m going to understand how vulnerability works, and I’m going to outsmart it. So I was ready, and I was really excited. As you know, it’s not going to turn out well. You know this. So, I could tell you a lot about shame, but I’d have to borrow everyone else’s time. But here’s what I can tell you that it boils down to — and this may be one of the most important things that I’ve ever learned in the decade of doing this research. My one year turned into six years: thousands of stories, hundreds of long interviews, focus groups. At one point, people were sending me journal pages and sending me their stories — thousands of pieces of data in six years. And I kind of got a handle on it.
I kind of understood, this is what shame is, this is how it works. I wrote a book, I published a theory, but something was not okay — and what it was is that, if I roughly took the people I interviewed and divided them into people who really have a sense of worthiness — that’s what this comes down to, a sense of worthiness — they have a strong sense of love and belonging — and folks who struggle for it, and folks who are always wondering if they’re good enough. There was only one variable that separated the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging and the people who really struggle for it. And that was, the people who have a strong sense of love and belonging believe they’re worthy of love and belonging. That’s it. They believe they’re worthy. And to me, the hard part of the one thing that keeps us out of connection is our fear that we’re not worthy of connection, was something that, personally and professionally, I felt like I needed to understand better. So what I did is I took all of the interviews where I saw worthiness, where I saw people living that way, and just looked at those.
What do these people have in common? I have a slight office supply addiction, but that’s another talk. So I had a manila folder, and I had a Sharpie, and I was like, what am I going to call this research? And the first words that came to my mind were whole-hearted. These are whole-hearted people, living from this deep sense of worthiness. So I wrote at the top of the manila folder, and I started looking at the data. In fact, I did it first in a four-day very intensive data analysis, where I went back, pulled these interviews, pulled the stories, pulled the incidents. What’s the theme? What’s the pattern? My husband left town with the kidsbecause I always go into this Jackson Pollock crazy thing, where I’m just like writing and in my researcher mode. And so here’s what I found. What they had in common was a sense of courage. And I want to separate courage and bravery for you for a minute. Courage, the original definition of courage, when it first came into the English language — it’s from the Latin word cor, meaning heart — and the original definition was to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. And so these folks had, very simply, the courage to be imperfect.They had the compassion to be kind to themselves first and then to others, because, as it turns out, we can’t practice compassion with other people if we can’t treat ourselves kindly.And the last was they had connection, and — this was the hard part — as a result of authenticity, they were willing to let go of who they thought they should be in order to be who they were, which you have to absolutely do that for connection.
The other thing that they had in common was this: They fully embraced vulnerability. They believed that what made them vulnerable made them beautiful. They didn’t talk about vulnerability being comfortable, nor did they really talk about it being excruciating — as I had heard it earlier in the shame interviewing. They just talked about it being necessary. They talked about the willingness to say, “I love you” first, the willingness to do something where there are no guarantees, the willingness to breathe through waiting for the doctor to call after your mammogram. They’re willing to invest in a relationship that may or may not work out. They thought this was fundamental.”
Quote via Brene Brown @ http://www.ted.com
Thought from Kody G
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Wake & Bake TV
Wake & Bake Features
Another Huge Bust In Spain Bringing In Suspects From Morocco & Dominican Republic As Well 16,000 Kilos Of Hash
TWENTY three suspects are under arrest as part of a major investigation into an international hashish trafficking network operating in Almeria and Seville, among other areas.
Most of the detentions were in Spain; one of the arrests was in the Dominican Republic and two were in Morocco.
Another four individuals in the Caribbean island are under investigation in the operation involving National Police, Guardia Civil and the Tax Agency, and with the collaboration of the Moroccan and Dominican police and judicial authorities.
Twenty properties with a combined value of €2 million have been embargoed as part of the operation. In addition, the authorities have seized €3.5 million in cash, eight top-of-the-range vehicles and 16,000 kilos of hashish.
Charges levelled against the suspects include crimes against public health, illegal possession of arms and money laundering.
The operation was first launched back in 2017 when more than €300,000 in €20 and €50 notes was found in a luxury vehicle owned by a French citizen with a record for drug trafficking. Working together, the Spanish and Moroccan authorities connected the Frenchman with the leaders of an organisation uncovered earlier in the year following the seizure of 7,400 kilos of hash on the border between Western Sahara and Mauritania which was destined to be transported to Spain through agricultural product import businesses.
Investigators established they were dealing with an international, highly structured network dedicated to trafficking large amounts of the drug into this country via lorries and transport companies.
As the investigations progressed the authorities developed the theory the drug trafficking profits were being laundered in the Caribbean after seizing a suitcases destined for the Dominican Republic in which there was hidden €165,000.
Source: https://www.euroweeklynews.com/2019/07/20/international-hash-trafficking-ring-busted/#.XTQD8ZMzZ-U
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Ireland – €1 million worth of cannabis seized in Kildare
Spanish Police seize 80 kilos of hashish from drug gang on the Costa del Sol
Busts of the Day
3.100 Kg Hashish, Weapons Seized, 10 Arrested In Sargodha
Bust of the Day
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Home > News > World Braille Day 2021
(4 January 2021 12:00 am)
Every January 4th the World comes together to celebrate World Braille Day.
Celebrated on the same day as founder Louis Braille’s birthday, World Braille day is an opportunity to reflect on the importance of braille and the impact it’s had on the lives of thousands of blind and visually impaired people worldwide.
Braille is a tactile reading and writing system that works through readers using their sense of touch on patterns of raised dots with each pattern representing a specific letter/group of letters, word, punctuation or number. The braille system uses a combination of six dots to represent each letter/sign, arranged in two columns of three dots. Now almost 200 years old, braille remains a crucial element of literacy and independence for a number of blind and visually impaired people.
Braille is hugely important as it means that blind and visually impaired people can enjoy reading independently for life. Additionally, learning braille is useful for understanding the elements of written language, such as punctuation, document layout, grammar and spelling.
Whilst used traditionally to transcribe books and publications, there are multiple areas outside and in public in which the application of braille is used daily to assist blind and visually impaired people in instances of written language. For example, braille can be found on supermarket packaging, medication labels, lift keypads, and door signs to help ensure that blind and visually impaired people are able to navigate as easily as possible.
Improvements in modern technology has also meant that braille is no longer restricted to printed literature and signage. Inventions such as the refreshable braille display, sometimes known as a braille terminal, have been created to transcribe the text on computer monitors, smart phones and tablets into braille, enabling blind and visually impaired people to access and read online content.
Being able to access and use the internet has slowly become crucial for freedom and independence in the 21st century. While audio transcribers for blind and visually impaired people do exist, they are not practical for those who suffer from deafness or those that are hard of hearing. The utilisation of braille in relation to the internet has empowered the lives of thousands of people and may be one of the most important breakthroughs in accessibility technology in recent years.
In spite of all of the international success braille has had for the blind and visually impaired community, World Braille Day serves as a harsh reminder that more work needs to be done to incorporate braille into modern society. The sad reality is that many organisations, establishments and public buildings aren’t equipped to accommodate braille users, making their services restrictive and inaccessible to a large group of people. If more work can be done to spread awareness of the importance of braille and how it can radically transform lives, then perhaps we can build a more accessible world for the future.
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Pacific Northwest Golf Association > PNW Golfer Magazine Home > PNW Golfer Writers
Since 1994, Pacific Northwest Golfer has been the Northwest’s premier golf magazine – it is the longest running golf publication in the region.
We thought we’d shed some light on a few of the award-winning writers and contributors who have made this possible. These are some of the finest golf and sports writers in the Northwest; and yes, they write about golf, but they also play it, breathe it, shout to the sky about it, and are otherwise knee-deep in it.
We, and they, wouldn’t have it any other way.
Jim Achenbach
After undergraduate and graduate studies at the University of Iowa, during which he also attended the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, Jim Achenbach worked 40 years for Golfweek magazine, with many years spent as that publication’s associate editor for equipment & technology. A winner of six first-place awards in the annual Golf Writers Association of America writing competition, Achenbach recently retired from fulltime duties at Golfweek, still contributing to its equipment editorial. He lives in Happy Valley, Oregon, where he competes in PNGA championships and volunteers for the OGA Junior Program.
Ron Bellamy
Ron Bellamy was the featured sports columnist at the Eugene Register-Guard for 20 years, from 1987-2007, and the newspaper’s sports editor from 2002 until his retirement in 2011. After spending 40 years in daily journalism, he continues to write the Guard’s golf section six months out of the year. His writings can be found at www.ronbwriter.com.
Bob Bostwick
A freelance writer, Bob Bostwick is a native Oklahoman and University of Oklahoma alumnus. He is formerly a sportswriter and member of the Golf Writers Association of America, a television news anchor, political reporter and editor, and a publicist. He has won numerous local, regional and national awards as a journalist and film maker. Bob and his wife Penny live in Spokane.
Crai S. Bower
A native of Canada who now lives in Seattle, Crai S. Bower writes scores of adventure travel articles a year for over 25 publications, including golf stories for American Way, Hearst Media and Journey magazine, among others. He appears regularly on the American Forces Network as a travel commentator. Visit his site at flowingstreammedia.net.
Steve Brandon
Steve Brandon was the sports editor for the Portland Tribune from 2001-20, and sportswriter for The Oregonian from 1982-2001. In 2002, he was named the Oregon Sportswriter of the Year. He helped create the annual Oregon Sports Awards, and serves on the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame selection committee.
Tony Dear
A former British PGA apprentice professional and member of the University of Liverpool golf team, Tony Dear is an award-winning golf writer now living in Bellingham, Wash. He contributes to numerous publications on both sides of the Atlantic, and has authored four books on golf, most recently The Golfer’s Handbook. His own website can be found at bellinghamgolfer.com.
Kent Gilchrist
Kent Gilchrist has been a Vancouver Province sports columnist specializing in golf since 1988. Before that he was a B.C. Lions beat reporter for 11 years, then sports editor for six years during the 1980s. He has covered Olympic Games, Stanley Cup finals, the Kentucky Derby, The Masters, U.S. Open, PGA Championship and many Grey Cups. Gilchrist was inducted into the CFL’s Football Reporters of Canada Hall of Fame in 2005. Recently retired, he is working on his game, which he claims needs it.
Zack Hall
The former golf writer for The Bend Bulletin in Bend, Ore., Zack Hall is now an award-winning freelance writer with 14 years of newspaper experience, writing on subjects ranging from real estate to college football. He pioneered the real estate and construction beat in 2005 at the Reno Gazette-Journal, covering the meteoric rise of that region’s real estate market and its subsequent collapse. He authored one of the Gazette-Journal’s first blogs, and then went on to develop the Central Oregon golf beat after becoming The Bulletin’s first full-time golf writer. Hall also led a team of reporters and multiple photographers from 2007 through 2010 during the Jeld-Wen Tradition, a major championship on the Champions Tour.
Todd Milles
A Washington State University graduate, Todd Milles worked for The (Tacoma) News Tribune for 23-plus years, serving as the lead golf writer during the 2015 U.S. Open at Chambers Bay. He has covered nearly 20 major championships all over the country. He is currently retooling his golf swing.
Steve Mims
A graduate of the University of Oregon, Steve Mims has spent the past 21 years as a sportswriter at The Eugene Register-Guard. He has primarily covered University of Oregon athletics in recent years, but also major golf events in the area including the NCAA Championships and U.S. Senior Amateur. Steve was a finalist for Oregon Sportswriter of the Year in 2017 and was honored by the Oregon Newspaper Publishers Association for Best Sports Story in 2012.
Blaine Newnham
Blaine Newnham started as a sportswriter for the Oakland Tribune, covering the Raiders from 1965-71. He was then the Sports Editor for the Eugene Register-Guard until 1982, before moving to Seattle to become the Times’ Associate Editor and sports columnist from 1983-2005. He covered the 1966 U.S. Open, following Ben Hogan around the Olympic Club. He covered his first Masters in 1987, when Larry Mize won it in a playoff with an unlikely chip shot. He covered the four majors of the “Tiger Slam,” when Woods won his four consecutive championships. Newnham authored the book “America’s St. Andrews,” about Chambers Bay and the 2015 U.S. Open.
Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield
Yvonne Pepin-Wakefield is an artist and author with a doctorate in Human and Organizational Systems, all of which have nothing to do with her performance on the golf course. She recently took up the game and actively seeks pastoral courses in out-of-the way places. The Dalles Country Club, at which she is a member, is only a few miles from her home and studio built on the Columbia River in The Dalles, Ore. View her work at www.yvonnepepinwakefield.com.
Bart Potter
Bart Potter has taught journalism at a public college and private university, and won awards for sports writing and news reporting as a daily journalist. He manages the golf and travel website, www.greygoateegolf.com.
Paul Ramsdell
A graduate of the University of Oregon, Paul Ramsdell has been a sportswriter for the Tacoma News Tribune, the Seattle Times, and the Eugene Register-Guard, an Online Editor for ESPN.com, and is a past Editorial Director for Pacific Northwest Golfer Magazine. Paul has also been the editor for many regional tournament programs, including the 2006 U.S. Amateur Public Links and the 2007 U.S. Girls’ Junior. He is a past president of Fircrest Golf Club (near Tacoma), and spent six years as President of the Northwest Golf Media Association. Paul is currently the Executive Director of the Northwest Turfgrass Association.
Bob Robinson started covering golf for the Oregonian in the mid-1960s. He has covered 24 major championships, two Ryder Cups, and more than 30 LPGA Tour events. With Robinson leading the way, the Oregonian had the most complete and detailed year-round golf coverage of any media outlet in the Northwest. His knowledge of the game made him one of the most well-known sportswriters in the region, if not the country. During his career, Bob has been named the Oregon Sportswriter of the Year, and has been awarded the Dale Johnson Media Award by the Oregon Golf Association and the Distinguished Service Award by the Northwest Golf Media Association.
Allen Schauffler
Allen Schauffler is a freelance writer, broadcast journalist and film producer. He spent 30 years in television news as an on-air news anchor, mostly with KING5, the Seattle NBC affiliate. A charter member of the Northwest Golf Media Association, Allen currently lives in Central Oregon and proudly carries a 19.3, which hasn’t dropped in decades.
Craig Smith was born in Seattle and attended the University of Washington. His career began as editor of the UW Daily. After graduating, he worked for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner in Alaska before moving on to the Associated Press, Seattle P-I, Charleston Gazette in West Virginia and Northshore Citizen in Bothell, Wash. Before retiring from the Seattle Times in late 2008, he penned a popular high school sports column under the byline “Sideline Smitty”, as well as being the newspaper’s golf reporter. A former caddie at Inglewood GC in Kenmore, Wash., Craig remembers shooting 142 the first time he played. He now shoots in the mid-80s (that’s what he says).
Art Thiel
An award-winning columnist at the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Art Thiel is co-founder and columnist at Sportspress Northwest (sportspressnw.com), a regional news website. In 2003 he wrote the definitive book about the Seattle Mariners, Out of Left Field, which became a regional bestseller. A Northwest lifer, Art is a graduate of Pacific Lutheran University as well as two dead papers and a live one (The Tacoma News Tribune), and his radio commentaries can be heard Friday and Saturday mornings and Friday afternoon on KPLU-FM 88.9.
Tim Trower
Tim Trower is a native of Corvallis, Ore. and attended Oregon State University. He worked for 10 years at the Albany Democrat-Herald, and has been with the Medford Mail Tribune for 28 years, 20 as the sports editor. Tim has been a member of the Northwest Golf Media Association for a number of years, and received the OGA Dale Johnson Media Award in 2013. He has written a regular in-season golf column for 15 years.
Bill Yeend
Bill Yeend spent 44 years as a news anchor on Seattle’s KIRO and KOMO Radio and for years has served as the emcee at the bi-annual PNGA Hall of Fame banquet. During his career he won five Edward R. Murrow awards for journalistic excellence. In 2006 he received the Distinguished Service Award from the Northwest Golf Media Association, and is a single-digit handicapper.
Brad Ziemer
During a 30-year career with the Vancouver Sun newspaper which began in 1985 and included the role of sports editor for five years before returning to his true passion of sports reporting, Brad Ziemer established himself as one of the premier golf writers not only in British Columbia but in all of Canada. He has covered virtually every significant golf event in British Columbia, both amateur and professional, over the last few decades, including seven PGA TOUR events in Surrey. In 2013, Golf Canada presented him with its Distinguished Service Award, making him only the second B.C. golf writer to receive the award, following in the footsteps of his esteemed colleague (and 2012 NWGMA Distinguished Service Award recipient), Arv Olson. Recently retired from the Sun, Brad now writes full time for British Columbia Golf.
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Home Blog Behind the Page Hockey Returning to Roanoke
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Hockey Returning to Roanoke
by Liz Long
SPECTRA VENUE MANAGEMENT AND BREAKAWAY SPORTS & ENTERTAINMENT ANNOUNCE HOCKEY RETURNING TO BERGLUND CENTER IN 2016!
October 20, 2015 (Roanoke, VA) - Spectra Venue Management, operators of Berglund Center, and Breakaway Sports & Entertainment, LLC, today announced professional hockey would be returning to Roanoke in the fall of 2016 as part of the Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL).
Mayor David Bowers and SPHL President Jim Combs were in attendance at a news conference to introduce the team’s ownership group. Majority owner, Breakaway Sports and Entertainment, LLC, includes President Bob McGinn and his sons, Jamie, Tye and Brock, all three of whom are currently under NHL contracts with Buffalo, Tampa Bay and Carolina, respectively. In addition to the McGinn family, premier sports artist Rob MacDougall, SPHL Chairman Tim Kerr, and several local investors are part of the group bringing hockey back to Roanoke.
"There is a strong fan base for hockey here in Roanoke and the SPHL is the best-kept secret in hockey," McGinn said. "We have a city and a league that wants us and we definitely want to be in Roanoke. Our five local owners were a must-have to complete our business plan and my family and I can't wait to drop the puck in a renovated facility that’s in a welcoming community to fill a much-needed niche in sports and entertainment."
McGinn, a retired sales and marketing manager from Toronto, Ontario, brings his passion for hockey to owning a professional team with a goal to grow the game in Roanoke and win championships.
More information about the team, including the name and logo, will be announced at a press conference to be held on the Berglund Center ice Nov. 19 at 10 a.m. The press conference is open to the public.
The team is now taking season ticket inquiries at this link: http://www.thesphl.com/view/thesphl/roanoke-hockey.
The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL), now in its 12th season, will have nine teams taking the ice when the regular season opens on Oct. 23.
The defending President's Cup Champion Knoxville (TN) Ice Bears, Columbus (GA) Cottonmouths, Fayetteville (NC) FireAntz, Huntsville (AL) Havoc; (Lafayette) Louisiana IceGators, Macon (GA) Mayhem; (Southaven) Mississippi RiverKings; Pensacola (FL) Ice Flyers and Peoria (IL) Rivermen.
For more information on the Southern Professional Hockey League, check out their website at www.thesphl.com.
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World | Phuket Gazette World News: Giving women rights could destroy society – Egypt’s Islamists
Phuket Gazette World News: Giving women rights could destroy society – Egypt’s Islamists
PHUKET MEDIA WATCH
– World news selected by Gazette editors for Phuket’s international community
Egypt’s Islamists warn that giving women some rights could destroy society
Reuters / Phuket Gazette
PHUKET: Egypt’s ruling Muslim Brotherhood warns that a U.N. declaration on women’s rights could destroy society by allowing a woman to travel, work and use contraception without her husband’s approval, and letting her control family spending.
The Islamist party of President Mohamed Mursi outlined 10 reasons why Muslim countries should “reject and condemn” the declaration, which the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women is racing to get a consensus deal on today.
The Brotherhood, which was elected to power in June, posted the statement on its website (click here) yesterday.
Egypt has joined Iran, Russia and the Vatican – dubbed an “unholy alliance” by some diplomats – in threatening to derail the women’s rights declaration by objecting to language on sexual, reproductive and gay rights.
The Muslim Brotherhood said the declaration would give “wives full rights to file legal complaints against husbands accusing them of rape or sexual harassment, and obliging competent authorities to deal husbands punishments similar to those prescribed for raping or sexually harassing a stranger.”
U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice last week touted at the commission – a global policy-making body created in 1946 for the advancement of women – progress made by the United States in reducing the rate of violence against women by their partners.
“All 50 states in our union now have laws that treat date rape or spousal rape as just as much of a crime as rape by a stranger,” Rice said. “We cannot live in truly free societies, if women and girls are not free to reach their full potential.”
The contrasting views show the gap that needs to be breached in negotiations on the declaration, which this year is focused on urging an end to violence against women and girls. The commission failed to agree a declaration last year on a theme of empowering rural women due to similar disagreements.
World is watching
Egypt has proposed an amendment, diplomats say, that would allow countries to avoid implementing the declaration if it clashed with national laws, religious or cultural values. But some diplomats say this would undermine the entire declaration.
The Muslim Brotherhood warned the declaration would give girls sexual freedom, legalize abortion, provide teenagers with contraceptives, give equality to women in marriage and require men and women to share duties such as child care and chores.
It said the declaration would allow “equal rights to homosexuals, and provide protection and respect for prostitutes” and “equal rights to adulterous wives and illegitimate sons resulting from adulterous relationships.”
A coalition of Arab human rights groups – from Egypt, Lebanon, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Tunisia – called on countries at the Commission on the Status of Women yesterday to stop using religion, culture, and tradition to justify abuse of women.
“The current positions taken by some Arab governments at this meeting is clearly not representative of civil society views, aspirations or best practices regarding the elimination and prevention of violence against women and girls within our countries,” said the statement issued by the Coalition for Sexual and Bodily Rights in Muslim Societies.
Michelle Bachelet, a former president of Chile and head of U.N. Women, which supports the commission, said the commission was unable to reach a deal a decade ago when it last focused on the theme of women’s rights and ending violence against women.
“Ten years later, we simply cannot allow disagreement or indecision to block progress for the world’s women,” Bachelet told the opening session of the commission last week. “The world is watching… the violence needs to stop.”
— Phuket Gazette Editors
News Categories:World
Phuket Gazette World News: Syria warns Lebanon; Myanmar in democracy drive; UN damns drones; Spain retirees hit
Phuket Gazette World News: Li voted China premier; Italy election gridlock; Pope cited in ‘dirty war’ book
Find more SE Asian News courtesy of The Thaiger.
Broke? Find employment in Southeast Asia with JobCute Thailand. Rich? Invest in real estate across Asia with FazWaz Property Group. Even book medical procedures worldwide with MyMediTravel, all powered by DB Ventures.
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PHOTO: TRT World
With Covid-19 linked to more than 336,000 deaths in the United States, American’s life expectancy will decline, especially among black and latino people, according to researchers from the University of Southern California and Princeton University.
The study published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences shows that life expectancy at birth for Americans will shorten by 1.13 years to 77.48 years, while blacks and latinos life expectancy is expected to shorten by more.
For blacks, their life expectancy would shorten by 2.10 years to 72.78 years, and for Latinos, by 3.05 years to 78.77 years. This is said to be the lowest life expectancy estimated since 2003. The disproportionate impact on the 3 groups of populations is believed to relate to social and economic advantages.
The study author Theresa Andrasfay, a postdoctoral fellow at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, says that why the study analyses the number of deaths and how it affects the life expectancy at birth, it also shows the consequences for marginalized groups.
“The Covid-19 pandemic’s disproportionate effect on the life expectancy of Black and Latino Americans likely has to do with their greater exposure through their workplace or extended family contacts, in addition to receiving poorer health care, leading to more infections and worse outcomes.”
The researchers say life expectancy is an important indicator of a population’s health and a tool for examining the impact of COVID-19 on survival.
SOURCE: USA Today | University of South California
UPDATE: At least 34 dead and 600 injured after Indonesia earthquake
PHOTO: Soumyajit Pattnaik via Twitter
UPDATE: At least 34 people were killed after a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shook Indonesia’s Sulawesi island just after midnight today. As of this evening, reports say more than 600 people were injured during the earthquake which caused buildings to collapse and residents to flee their homes in the dark.
Original story below…
Indonesian island Sulawesi was shook by a 6.2 magnitude earthquake shortly after midnight today, toppling over buildings and injuring hundreds. Reports are continuously being updated as rescuers search through rubble. As of early this afternoon, at least 10 people were killed.
Thousands evacuated their homes in West Sulawesi. The earthquake impacted the coastal city Majene where at least 3 people died and neighbouring Mamuju where at least 7 people died. Several buildings, including hotels, were severely damaged and many homes were flattened. A hospital was partially damaged and reports say more than a dozen patients and staff were trapped under the rubble. Others are trapped in rubble after their homes collapsed. A rescuer says “We are racing against time to rescue them.”
Videos have been released of those crying for help. A father crying, calling out for help to save his children under their home’s wreckage. In another, a girl’s voice cried out from a collapsed home, saying “please help me, it hurts.” The video was released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency. Rescuers say they need an excavator to say the girl and other people who are trapped under the collapsed buildings.
The area was first hit by a 5.9 magnitude undersea quake on Thursday. It damaged several buildings, but no deaths were reported.
Since the most recent earthquake is inland, the district’s disaster agency chief says it does not have the potential to cause a tsunami, but people in coastal areas ran to higher ground just to be safe.
The vast archipelago is located on the “Ring of Fire” of volcanoes and fault lines, prone to earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and tsunamis.
US President Trump impeached for a second time, releases video | VIDEO
US President Donald Trump has been impeached for “incitement of insurrection” relating to last week’s Capitol Hill insurgency. Armed National Guard troops guarded both the inside and outside the Capitol building following the riotous mob that invaded the hallowed halls of America’s democracy, almost precisely one week before the impeachment vote.
Wednesday afternoon, Washington DC time, the US House of Representatives voted to impeach the President by 232 votes -197 votes. Donald Trump is the first president in the US to be impeached twice. Notably, 10 Republicans crossed the floor to vote with the Democrats to support the impeachment vote.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said ahead of the vote… “We know that the president of the United State incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion, against our common country. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
President Trump will now face a formal trial in the US Senate. If convicted he will face being barred from holding executive office ever again. With less than a week to go before President-elect Joe Biden takes over as the next president, the Senate won’t have time to reconvene. So the trial will be undertaken by a Senate controlled by the Democrats.
President Trump was defeated in the election on November 4, 2020, losing to to Democrat Joe Biden.
Shortly after the vote to impeach him President Trump released a video (below) calling on his followers to “remain peaceful”. He also broadly mentioned his banning from Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, among other social media platforms, but didn’t refer to the impeachment proceedings or show any contrition to his alleged role in inciting the rioters over the past 2 months since the presidential election.
“Violence and vandalism have no place in our country. No true supporter of mine would ever endorse political violence.”
The President read the prepared speech in a calm tone and avoided his usual rancorous rhetoric.
The president was accused by the US Congress of inciting the storming of the Capitol with his January 6 speech to a huge rally of Trump supporters outside the White House. He urged his supporters to “fight like hell” against an election that he repeatedly told them had been “stolen”, a similar message he had been falsely claiming since the election. His supporters then marched to the Capitol, broke into the building, forced lawmakers to suspend the certification of the Presidential election results and seek shelter. Five people died in the melee and many more were injured in the violent insurgency.
The impeachment charge is political, not criminal. The articles read that Mr Trump “repeatedly issued false statements asserting that the presidential election results were fraudulent and should not be accepted”. It says the President then repeated these claims and “wilfully made statements to the crowd that encouraged and foreseeably resulted in lawless action at the Capitol”, leading to the violence and loss of life.
Donald Trump now makes history as the first US president to be impeached twice. A year ago, the move was opposed by the Republican Party in the Senate. This time, a handful of conservatives backed the move. The falling out with some members of his own party and senior staff, and Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s private support for the impeachment, is indicative of the President’s declining influence in the fading light of his administration.
Mr McConnell said in a note to colleagues that he had not made a final decision on how he would vote in the forthcoming Senate debate. No US president has ever been removed from office through impeachment. Mr Trump was impeached by the House in 2019 but acquitted by the Senate. Same with Bill Clinton in 1998 and Andrew Johnson in 1868.
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Transcript: MDMA, Healing Trauma, And The Future Of Psychiatry – Dr. Ben Sessa
Third Wave · April 28th, 2020
Please enjoy this transcript of MDMA, Healing Trauma, And The Future Of Psychiatry – Dr. Ben Sessa interview.
Dr. Ben Sessa, consultant psychiatrist and author of “The Psychedelic Renaissance”, sits down with host Paul F. Austin to discuss his recent MDMA trials for alcoholism, how Ben became the first person to legally take psychedelics in the UK since the 60s, and why MDMA is so good at healing core attachment-based trauma.
If you’re interested in why MDMA will be a key tool in the future of psychiatry, then join us for a deep dive into the story of one of the world’s foremost MDMA healers.
Why MDMA is the antibiotic of psychiatry. (and how its use will transform the industry)
Personal insight into Dr. Ben’s early days in the UK psychedelic scene with David Nutt and Robin Carhart-Harris.
MDMA’s usefulness at healing core attachment-based trauma – and the research Ben has carried out to prove this.
00:42 Paul Austin: Hey, listeners, and welcome back to The Third Wave Podcast. I’m your host, Paul Austin, here with another episode. This one with Dr. Ben Sessa from the UK. In October 2018, I did a brief trip to London, and eventually Bristol, where Ben lives, and had a chance to sit down with him and have a great conversation about MDMA, the state of MDMA therapy in the UK, the efficacy of MDMA for treating PTSD and addiction. Ben ran the first UK-based study on MDMA for addiction, which we talk about in the podcast as well, and generally just hear Ben’s perspectives on a various number of topics. He’s a well-spoken man, entertaining, engaging, thoughtful, diplomatic, pragmatic and just generally a pleasure to be around. So it was a real honor to be able to sit down with him and record this podcast. I really, really believe that you will find it insightful and enjoyable. So without further ado, I bring you Doctor Ben Sessa. So I’m sitting here with Dr. Ben Sessa in his apartment in Bristol. And Ben, I just wanna welcome you into the podcast. And thank you for being here.
01:49 Ben Sessa: Thank you very much and welcome to my flat. I hope you like this place.
01:53 PA: It’s beautiful. I see a few breaking convention posters, a lot of old books. You have a beautiful record player that we were just playing before. And it’s a nice… It’s homey, what you got here.
02:07 BS: Yeah. Thank you. Well, you’re very welcome.
02:08 PA: Thank you. Well, let’s get going with talking about the psychedelic renaissance. So this is a book that you wrote in 2012?
02:19 BS: ’12 was… The first edition came out in 2012 and then there’s a second edition in 2017. So updated.
02:27 PA: Updated, okay. I need to get my hands on this updated edition then. And what I wanna start with is just, what’s your take on the psychedelic renaissance because obviously this is a term that’s sort of become the nomenclature, the default way of referring to this resurgence of interest in psychedelics. And you were the one who published this book about it in 2012. So I’d love just to hear your thoughts about the name, where the name came from, why you chose it as a book title and just a little bit of context about that?
02:53 BS: Yeah. I’m really pleased to have that book title. I have to confess, I didn’t come up with the term. People were already talking about it. I think I’d heard it at lectures. I can’t remember where I first heard it. People had said in various talks, “This is a psychedelic renaissance going on.” So then when I came to write my book, I knew what my book was gonna be about. It was gonna be about the whole thing. But I looked around and the name hadn’t been used in a book or anything. So it being used as a phrase but no one had actually published under that name, so I thought, “Yes, I’m having that.” So that’s where the name came about. I wish I could say I came up with the phrase, I didn’t, but I did manage to get the first book with that name. So that’s pretty cool.
03:30 PA: That’s a big deal because now it’s basically every major mainstream media outlet that writes about what’s going on with the resurgence of interest in psychedelics refers to it as the psychedelic renaissance. Is there any… What does that mean to you, what is the psychedelic renaissance?
03:44 BS: Well, in terms of the book, when I wrote the book, what I noticed when I… ‘Cause I got so many psychedelic books, hundreds of psychedelic books on all the different compounds. And there’s lots of books on DMT or MDMA or psilocybin or cannabis or whatever, but there was no real general textbook that covered everything. And I’ve got lots of books on the history, all the stuff from the ’50s and ’60s, some books on the very latest research. But there was no book that covered the whole thing. So the whole point about The Psychedelic Renaissance book is it’s got all the stuff about the history, going back to Hofmann and earlier. And then it’s got all the stuff that went on in the ’60s and then the break down, and then the ’70s, and the dark ages in the 80s, and then the rise of MDMA and then… But what it’s got above other books really certainly at the time was a real showcase of the contemporary research.
04:33 BS: And so I just listed all of the studies that were going on in the last five to ten years and wrote a little bit about each of them. And in the 2017 edition, it’s got photographs as well. So there’s this whole section in the back with photographs of all these different players. Of course, since then, in the last two years, there’s a whole load of people who I’ve missed out ’cause it’s just grown so fast. But the idea at the time of writing it was, it would be the kind of go to textbook for students or people. There were other books that go into individual things in much more detail. If you wanna know all about just DMT, you won’t get it from my book. But if you wanna know about everything, there’ll be little bits in there. So it’s kind of a general textbook for the beginner in a way, to pick up the history and the story and where to start and very up-to-date contemporary research.
05:23 PA: Tell us a little bit about your history as a psychedelic researcher and clinician and psychiatrist. Where do your paths in psychedelics sort of intersect, professionally at least?
05:31 BS: I can go back before professionally. So as a teenager, I had psychedelic experiences. I grew up in a family that was very left-wing or liberal, as you might call it, and hippies, basically. I was the youngest of six. So I had all these older siblings who’d lived through the 60s, so I inherited all their Dylan and Hendricks records. So I grew up in that atmosphere. My dad was an English teacher, so I was really into literature. So as a teenager I read Kerouac and Ginsburg and Leary and knew about psychedelics. Then I had psychedelic experiences, got really into psychedelic music as a teenager. That was my cultural invitation into psychedelics. And then I went to medical school.
06:16 BS: Qualified as a doctor, then went on to specialize in psychiatry. And when I started doing psychiatry, I knew about Humphry Osmond and Timothy Leary and Stan Grof and all the work done in Canada and all the work done in the States and in the UK, Wynny Sanderson. I knew about all this and I would always go to my psychiatry tutors and say, “What can you tell me about the work done in the 50s and 60s?” This was gonna be a big thing in psychiatry and they all said, “What are you talking about? You’re crazy? What you mean psychedelic therapy? Are you mad?” And they’d never heard of it. And I thought it’s just so weird. So from my generation of psychiatrists, that whole part of that psychiatric history had just been wiped off the curriculum. So I thought I would write a brief editorial about this. It got published in the British Journal of Psychiatry. It was the first article on psychedelics since the 60s, published in British UK medical press. And, suddenly, I started getting calls from people all over the world like, “Oh wow this is really great that someone in the UK is interested in psychedelics.” Then in 2006, went along to…
07:20 PA: When was this? When did you…
07:21 BS: This is 2004. I was a trainee.
07:23 PA: Okay, and what did you write it about?
07:26 BS: It was called something like, “Is there a role for psychedelics in psychiatry?” And it was just kind of a very brief editorial about the history and the contemporary work. And at the time, there wasn’t a lot going on, there was Heffter and MAPS were beginning their work really. So then I went to a conference in 2006, the Albert Hoffman’s 100th birthday party conference in Basel, in Switzerland, and met Michael Mahaffey and Vic Dublin and all the people that were there. It was a very small scene at that stage in terms of medically, there was really not that many medics, half a dozen doctors around the world that were doing some… There was obviously heaps of hippies, lots of the culture was there, all though much smaller. That’s also grown enormously in the last 15 years. The medical part was really pretty small, and certainly no one else in the UK, no one.
08:10 BS: So I started just going to more conferences, started writing more editorials. I actually found… It was quite good actually, ’cause I found it was really easy to get publications because if you submitted an article on psychedelics to any journal, they’d be like, “Wow, this is interesting.” So if I was writing about SSRIs or something, I would have been a very small fish in a very big pond, but with psychedelics, I very quickly became both the authority locally because no one else was doing it. And not though any kind of a skills of my own, but just kind of luck that I chose this completely out there, esoteric subject, but what’s interesting… And you ask what’s happened to be professionally.
08:45 BS: So, for quite a few years, it was really hard, I felt very much in the wilderness. I got a lot of criticism from colleagues, people saying, “This is crazy, this is career suicide. Why you doing this?” And then 2007 I met David Nutt, who was a professor psychopharmacology at Bristol at the time. I joined his department. At the time, he wasn’t really that into psychedelics, but it was at the same time, there’s a chap called Robin Carhart-Harris was there just finishing his PhD in psychedelics. I worked with him on his study with psilocybin, and that became the UK’s first human psychedelic study since the 60s. And I became the lucky person to become the first person to be administered a psychedelic since the 60s, in a research setting. I was injected with intravenous psilocybin by David Nutt in the clinic with Robin. So that was quite an experience. I’ve got some great video of that actually.
09:32 PA: So, you three are like a trio?
09:34 BS: Yeah, so we all started out together because David wasn’t really into psychedelics at that point. He asked me to the department ’cause he’d read my paper, so he asked me to come and present at the department. And I came and presented and he was really fascinated, so he asked me to come and join the department. And Robin had just joined at the same time. And Amanda Fielding was just setting up the Beckley relationship with David, and this was all in Bristol. And then, of course, the whole thing moved to Imperial, and it’s sort of grown a lot, but it all started in Bristol with myself and David and Amanda and Robin. It all just kinda came together at the same time, and then there were more conferences. Then in 2010 at a conference, met up with these other people in the UK, and we formed this group called Breaking Convention and started this conference. And the first meeting was in 2011, and there’s now been five. The most recent one, this summer.
10:24 BS: So, it’s amazing how much it’s grown, but what’s the most interesting thing for me and the most validating thing is this sense of moving from in the wilderness and people being critical and saying, “This is crazy” into this position where suddenly it’s my day job and I’m getting paid for it. So, I’m now paid to be a doctor that studies psychedelics. Whereas in the past, I was a doctor doing other stuff and a bit of psychedelics on the side, quite criticized for it. And now it’s become my day job. So yeah, it’s really great that it’s moved in that direction.
10:54 PA: When did that shift happen for you? That shift from the doctor who is just doing psychedelics on the side to, “This is my full thing and this is what I’m committed to.”
11:00 BS: Well, in terms of getting paid for it, that’s only happened in the last five years when I started doing this MDMA study. The validation sort of has been growing over the last 10 years, as more and more people have got interested, but it wasn’t really until I got this opportunity to do this research study that was funded, that I could actually take time out of my day job to work with MDMA, and be paid for that. Now, of course, it’s moved right on. And now we’re… Now my full-time work is psychedelics within medicine.
11:29 BS: And yeah, it’s just great. It’s also… Part of me can’t help saying, “I told you so,” to some people because some of the people who were critical and hostile, five, eight years ago, and now are like, “Oh yeah, I think maybe there’s some… We got… Maybe psychedelics could be an important thing in the future.” It’s like, “Yeah, man, where were you like eight years ago when you told me I was mad?” And now it’s great that… It’s just great that it’s just becoming mainstream. It’s good.
11:54 PA: Tim Farris who sends out this five bullet Friday newsletter, in one of the recent ones, I think it was the same one where he had announced the Johns Hopkins 17 million dollar funding for the new research center they’re opening up. He emphasized in that newsletter, basically, if you’ve been on the fence about whether or not to come out about psychedelics, more culturally than medically, but up until this point in time, we’re like what? Mid 2019, late 2019. He’s like, it probably wasn’t worth it, but now all of a sudden, the shift has turned where if you’re coming out and you’re saying, “I am in support of psychedelics.” And you were then certain circles still, I wouldn’t say it’s totally mainstream yet, but certain circles, a lot of people will be curious and be asking questions. And I feel like it’s… Ever since Michael Pollan’s book, it’s really not this sort of… Like you were saying, “Fringy, esoteric practice,” it’s really like the future of psychiatry in many ways.
12:45 BS: Yeah, very much so. And that’s how I feel. And I was driven into the subject just because of the outside esoteric interest of it, my personal interest. But as I’ve grown as a doctor in the last 15 years, the other thing that drives me now is increasingly recognizing just how poor and ineffective current psychiatric treatments are. And I think that’s also what’s driving the whole psychedelic movement. Patients have had enough of sitting on SSRIs. They’ve had enough of ineffective psychotherapies. They’ve had enough of long-term maintenance medications. And I’ve actually seen that over the last 15 years developing. And now I sit there in front of a patient and I can’t be bothered to put them on an antidepressant. They don’t wanna go on an antidepressant. They know it doesn’t work, I know it doesn’t work.
13:29 BS: And so that’s also driven their progress towards the psychedelic renaissance, has been just the lack of efficacy of current treatments in psychiatry. And a good thing too, because psychiatry has been pretty stuck for a long time. It’s been quite stuck. And this is the most exciting new pharmacology in the last 75 years. It really is. It’s the most exciting thing to come out of psychopharmacology. And the other thing that is a really important part of my development here, is I’ve always been really interested in the dual interests of both psychopharmacology and psychotherapy. All the way through medical school and training as a psychiatrist, I was always really interested in drugs, but I was also really interested in Freud and Jung and psychotherapy with an equal amount.
14:14 BS: So, in a way, that’s the perfect marriage comes together in psychedelic therapies. It’s neither one or the other. You can’t be a staunch psychotherapist and reject the biological model and accept psychedelics. Nor can you be a staunch biological psychiatrist and reject psychotherapy. It really is equally both. 50/50 equally both. The two just don’t work without the other when it comes to the therapeutic effect. So, it really suits the way I see the best way to do medicine.
14:48 PA: And would you say then it’s accurate to say that most of psychiatry’s approach up to this point has been biological compared to psychotherapeutic? Has there been that balance necessarily?
14:58 BS: That’s a really good question coming from an American because the impression I get from American visions of psychiatry is it’s just biological. You go to your psychiatrist to get drugs. Now, that wasn’t how I was trained as a psychiatrist. I think, I was trained in London and a strong psychotherapeutic element, strong social element. And as a good psychiatrist, I think a good psychiatrist is like a social worker and a psychotherapist. And certainly, the way I was trained, psychiatry is all about psychotherapy, what person, what someone eats, whether they exercise, where they live, what their kids do, what job they do, what their future aspirations are, as well as what medicines I give them and what psychotherapies I give them.
15:40 BS: So I think in America, you’ve got quite a distorted view that psychiatry in America really does just mean drugs, isn’t it? We don’t do psychiatry like that here, at least not good psychiatry. So, in a way, yeah, there is that distinction between US and UK psychiatry or the rest of the world. I think America’s definitely got stuck on this biological model to the exclusion of other things.
16:00 PA: In 2016, I read Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker. This is just when I was starting to get involved in the psychedelic space. It was a few months after I started the Third Wave and about the same time I read the Psychedelic Renaissance, was digging into all these books. And a close friend of mine, she was like, “Look, if you wanna have more context about why psychiatry has failed so much, particularly in the United States, read this.” And it basically was like, at least when it comes to antidepressants and anti-psychotics and anti-anxiety medications that are over-prescribed ADHD medications as well in the United States, it basically said the models that those were built on were similar to the penicillin model, where it was like, “Okay, there’s this thing in our gut, that if we target the right thing then we can eliminate it and we’ll be healed.” And so they took that same model and tried to apply it to serotonin and dopamine in the brain without realizing that the brain-gut connection is much more complex than just killing bacteria, so to say, in the gut.
16:52 BS: There are a lot of simplicities within the biological model, there’s no doubt about that, and we need to be a lot more sophisticated than that. And you can’t apply a antibiotic model to psychiatry. The brain is so complex. There are so many different connections. One cubic millimeter of cerebral cortex contains 300 million neurons. 300 million. And each neuron can have potentially 10,000 dendritic connections in one cubic millimeter. That is immensely complex. The brain is by far and away the most complex machine in the known universe. And so some of the simplistic biological models that apply to other parts of medicine couldn’t possibly work in the brain because not only is the physical biological mechanism of the brain complex but it’s so influenced by social and cultural and psychological issues and it’s constantly changing.
17:46 BS: There is no single brain. The brain is a constantly dynamic organ, changing all the time. So you can’t ever apply a static biological model. But the other thing, just going back to my interest in pharmacology, I’m not one of these psychiatrists within psychedelics who also says there’s no place for medical models. I’ve always taken a very nuanced stance in terms of my understanding of the different disciplines. I believe that there are a certain number of psychopharmacology interventions that are very useful. I think antipsychotics certainly have their place in managing acute psychosis. You also need to manage acute manic states. ADHD is one of those interesting ones that, certainly in the States, the diagnosis is overused, the diagnosis is not used correctly, and far too many people are treated medically with ADHD medication.
18:34 BS: On the other hand, when the diagnosis is made accurately and correctly, I’ve seen ADHD medication transform lives, reduce prison sentences, reduce teenage pregnancies, reduce substance misuse, get kids back on track into functioning people and reducing many, many psychiatric problems further down the line. But it’s… We’re talking 1-2% of kids that have true ADHD. And I know that there are some schools in the States were like 40% of the kids are saying they’re on ADHD meds. It’s not feasible that they’ve all got ADHD. What this highlights for me is there’s a lot of misunderstanding around the whole psychedelic field because this is difficult, this is high level neuroscience and pharmacology.
18:42 BS: And sometimes a little bit of information can be mistreated and misunderstood. I don’t wanna sound like it’s an exclusive thing, and everyone’s open and able to study these things, but this is difficult. Brain science is tricky. And I think that’s why we have to not just throw things out. And I think a lot of the psychedelic community are often, “Oh, the whole medical model is wrong and all drugs are terrible apart from psychedelics.” That’s just not true. And when you study medicine, you can see the subtleties of it. Now, I’m not saying for a minute that we don’t need to vigorously challenge the medical model. There are a lot of abuses within psychiatry. Psychiatry has made a lot of mistakes over its kind of 7,500 years. But in my experience, psychiatrists and the psychiatric profession are some of the most… It’s one of the most self-reflective professions there are. I don’t know of that many other professions that’s so quick and able to criticize itself and be so keen to develop. Maybe I’m coming across as hopelessly optimistic and naive here, and I’m sure people have many experiences of very rigid models in psychiatry that have been damaging and that are still so. I’d like to think that I represent a generation of psychiatrists that are looking beyond that. I’m not gonna rubbish psychiatry. It’s my profession, I think it’s great. I just wanna see some reformation. And I think psychedelics are a really good way of doing that.
20:40 PA: How do you think psychedelics will reform psychiatry?
20:43 BS: Well, in many ways. Firstly, it’s kind of what patients want. Like I said, patients are pushing for this. Patients are sick of maintenance therapies. They’ve really shone the spotlight on the futility of maintenance therapies, taking an SSRI every single day, day in, day out, just to mask the symptoms of the illness but not cure the illness. That’s an outrageous, outrageous way of doing medicine. The analogy I often give when I’m talking about MDMA in my lectures is if you have an infection due to a bug, a microorganism, one of the symptoms is a fever, a high temperature. You can take a drug like paracetamol or ibuprofen or aspirin to bring your fever down, and you’ll feel a bit better, sure, but those drugs are not antibiotics. They’re not gonna kill the bug. And that’s what we do when we treat so many disorders with SSRIs. If you’ve got depression, or anxiety disorders, or addictions, or PTSD, and you take SSRIs every day in, day out, it’s like just taking away the fever, the temperature, but never killing the bug. You would never treat an infection like that. You’d take the antibiotics to kill the bug. So people get stuck in this daily maintenance model with SSRIs or even mood stablers or antipsychotics and hypnotic drugs, we’re never getting to the true core of the problem, which is the trauma. So psychedelics have really shone a spotlight on that, that that’s not the way to do it.
22:03 BS: I think the other thing about psychedelics and the reformation of psychiatry, and I often say this when I’m doing talks, is psychiatry has become this really negative, desperate, almost palliative care-type profession. And we’re almost taught that from the beginning at medical school, you can’t cure mental health patients. You can be alongside them for life, and we’ll look after you forever. And if you’re there in your early 20s with this severe mental illness, you’re probably gonna be still seeing your psychiatrist in your 70s with the same illness, that is not good enough. That’s rubbish. We should be doing better than that. And I can’t think of other branches of medicine that would fall for such poor outcomes and settle for those.
22:45 BS: So we’ve become this palliative care profession who just don’t use the cure word. Why can’t we use the cure word? Why can’t we be like the surgeons? Why can’t we mend the broken ankle and then discharge you and never see you again? I believe we can. And I believe that the whole model of maintenance therapies supports this palliative care chronicity of disorders. And the pharma industry seem to be facilitating that. I wanna be careful ’cause I don’t wanna slip into the whole conspiracy theory thing and there’s too much of that crap in psychedelics, but it does feel as if the pharma industry don’t really want people cured. It’s in their interest that their product is taken every single day for decades. I wanna develop psychiatric protocols that the patient comes in, they have a discrete, focused, effective, safe, clean, fast treatment with psychedelic therapies, and then they go, and we discharge them, and we never see them again because they are cured. Now I think some psychiatrists hearing that would just think that sounds mad, but why? Why is that so mad for a doctor to say he wants to see his patients cured and never come back? But it’s just not the way that we’re taught and the way we do psychiatry, but I think we can.
24:05 PA: Well, one of the things we were talking about before this podcast was the difficulty of, for example, alcohol use disorder, right? And alcoholism generally. And it feels a little bit like some of these mental health issues, so to say, addictions and PTSD and depression, that they’re are a lot gummier than for example if you break an ankle, you go and get that fixed, right? So there also seems to be a level of complexity that’s dealt with when it comes to these disorders, that it’s not, oftentimes, even with MDMA treatment or psilocybin treatment, it’s not just like you go and you do the drug and you’re clean 12 weeks later. It’s like there are people who relapse, there are people who might have conditions again, so I’d be curious to hear your thoughts on what are practices from a psychiatric perspective or a medical perspective or just a general self-care perspective, that you’ve seen work with the clients that you’ve dealt with, that you’ve healed, that you’ve treated? How does integration help with that process of keeping things unstuck so that they continue to kind of show up without the trauma and all the other things?
25:04 BS: Going back to the first part of your question there, I totally agree that most psychiatric disorders are more complex than a broken ankle, but in some ways not, not when it’s trauma. I mean, okay, you got people who everything would have been fine if they hadn’t been raped as a child. That is pretty simple in some ways. Their schooling would have been okay, their friendships would have been okay, they would have had a decent intimate relationship with their partner, they would have been able to bring up their kids okay, if they just hadn’t been raped that night when they were eight years old. So even complex things like mental health problems do often come down to fairly simple things, and that’s the bit we’re failing to do. Now, it’s that kind of severe childhood trauma that then results in a whole catalog of lifelong disasters. And then, of course, as teenagers, they get into all these things and they get into sexual exploitation and using the wrong kinds of drugs and exploitative relationships. And so it becomes really, really, really, really complex the longer they go through the system. But actually, there often is some pretty basic stuff. And I’m a child psychiatrist by training, and it so often does come down to that very early nurturing attachment relationship. If you get those early years right, you provide a sense of resilience and resourcefulness that will allow the teenager and the young adult or the older adult to overcome adversity.
26:29 BS: And if you mess up that very early relationship, then all of those other things become huge vulnerabilities that otherwise you would be able to manage. Whilst most mental disorders are indeed complex with multiple facets and multiple factors that create the end phenotype, there’s often a very simple root. And forgive me, this is a very long-winded answer to your question. But the point being that that simple root so often is this core trauma-based attachment relationship. And this is where psychedelics really come in. They get to the root cause of that. This is where psychedelics are the antibiotic that kills the bug. And all of those other treatments in psychiatry, patching people up with CBT and SSRIs and all the rest of it. Admissions into hospital, sectioning, all of this stuff, all of that is just paving over the cracks. And it’s the psychedelic therapies that can get to that root cause, the trauma. So if we can start targeting that, we can improve people’s lifelong outcomes. And so moving on to the question about integration, that’s where this work happens. The psychedelics are the springboard and the platform in which to start new lifestyle changes through new understandings of early attachment relationships and rebooting and rebranding how we look at ourselves.
27:46 PA: Great response. I wanna go a little bit deeper into that ’cause there’s a lot to unpack there.
27:50 BS: Sure.
27:51 PA: Can you just walk us through what’s going on in a neurobiological level when we take something like MDMA? Why is MDMA psychiatry’s antibiotic? Why is it so useful and helpful at helping to heal those early childhood attachments?
28:04 BS: Okay. So from a biological point of view, the way the drug works, it acts across a number of different receptors. A number of different serotonin receptors; the 1A and 1B receptors, that it increases the sense of positive mood and euphoria and reduction in anxiety and depression. And that’s the feel good effect. Now, that’s a really important tool clinically when you’re working with patients who’ve never felt positive. They’ve only felt fear and pain. It’s very useful for them to experience a positive mood. It has a mild effect at the 2A receptors, which is where the classic psychedelic drugs like psilocybin and LSD and DMT act, but nothing nearly as intense as the classics. Just enough to make you think a little bit outside the box and see things in a new way. But not the sort of distortion of ego and perceptions. It acts at the noradrenaline and dopamine receptors to increase sense of stimulation, and that’s good. That make… That engages you and motivates you to engage in therapy so you feel engaged with the therapist.
29:00 BS: Paradoxically, at the same time, it’s acting at alpha one and two receptors, which relaxes you. So anyone who’s taking MDMA would be familiar with that peculiar sensation of being speeded up and slowed down at the same time. It’s not like amphetamine and cocaine, where you’re just speeded up. And it’s not like something like cannabis or alcohol where you’re just slowed down. It’s weirdly a mixture of both. And then it has this hormonal affect at oxytocin… At the hypothalamus, which secretes oxytocin, which is the hormone secreted from the brains of breastfeeding mothers, which engenders this sense of attachment and bonding. And when you add up all these things together… I think my favorite phrase at the moment that describes MDMA is, it selectively impairs the fear response whilst leaving the other faculties intact.
29:43 BS: Now, that’s very, very important. That is… If you were gonna design a drug for trauma-focused psychotherapy, that’s exactly what you want. You want the patient to be able to talk and remember and reflect and debate and bring back old memories and remember the next day, and, basically, do psychotherapy. But you wanna take away the fear. Because the reason so many of these long term disorders like addictions or PTSD become long term is ’cause the patient cannot go there, to the fear. If you’ve been raped as a child, by the time you’re in your 20s, 30s, 40s, you’ve become an absolute expert at never going to that memory. You’ll do anything. You’ll drink alcohol, you’ll take heroin, you’ll self-harm. You’ll do anything but think about that night. And on MDMA, you can. You can go there and work through in real time, in clear consciousness, your traumatic experiences, and put it to bed and resolve it.
30:37 BS: A really good anecdote I like to share here is when I was like 18, and I think I was taking ecstasy with my friends after a rave. This is 1990, and this is before I went to medical school, o I can say this. We were all lying there after this rave, everyone was really high, and someone went, “Oh man, it’s so beautiful. Let’s think of the worst thing in the world.” And we all lay there and someone went, “Oh man, let’s imagine our mums dying.” And we went, “It’s not that bad.” And I didn’t know anything about MDMA therapy or anything then, but that’s a really good example of what’s going on. You can go there to a forbidden avoidant memory and actually dwell on it, and it’s not painful. But that is the holy grail of psychotherapy because the barrier in all psychotherapies is the avoidance stuff you don’t wanna go to ’cause it’s too painful.
31:22 BS: And indeed, it’s that avoidance that triggers this whole life of destruction with drugs, and alcohol, and violence, and promiscuous sex, all of these anti-social and difficult and maladaptive behaviors, which are all defense mechanisms around going to that painful place. And MDMA quite miraculously allows you to go there whilst leaving the other faculties intact. And that’s really important ’cause there’s lots of drugs that remove fear. A bag of heroin removes fear. A bottle of vodka removes fear. But those are messy, dirty drugs. You can’t do psychotherapy on those. You won’t remember the next day. So MDMA is unique pharmacologically in this ability to inhibit the fear response, but everything else is intact. That is essentially how it works in a nutshell.
32:08 PA: Thank you for explaining that so well, because it’s very clear. It’s something that I know our listeners will hold on to and enjoy. And I wanna deepen that a little bit because one of the things and one of the misconceptions, I would say, of MDMA is the come down effect. And you had a great post a few weeks ago and research that you recently published, and I’d love for you to just talk a little bit about…
32:27 BS: Yeah.
32:27 PA: What is the MDMA may come down effect? Why does it occur, and what are we finding out from clinical trials about the MDMA come down effect?
32:27 BS: Yeah. So it’s a very well-known narrative within the raver community that, A, you gotta come down towards the end of the night when the MDMA is wearing off. And, B, you get this kind of three-day later, post MDMA affect drop. And ravers call it things like Blue Monday and Black Tuesday and suicide Wednesday, and all this sort of stuff. Now, I’ve always thought… I’ve always thought this since my raving days, that is this the MDMA or is this other stuff? And look at the way people normally take ecstasy, they go to the pub, they’ll drink three pints, they’ll go to a club, they’ll pop a pill at midnight, dance a lot, drink some more, do a line of cocaine, do another pill or two, go back to someone’s house, do some more cocaine, do some amphetamine, smoke loads of spliffs, drink a bottle of wine, stay up all night, maybe Sunday night, if they’re lucky, have a cup of soup and then get three hours sleep.
33:28 BS: Then they’re going to work on Monday and Tuesday and they feel low. And they say, Oh man, it’s my ecstasy serotonin depletion.” It’s a fucking hangover, yeah? It’s a hangover. You’ve missed out on sleep, you’ve missed out on food, you’ve danced all night, you’ve done loads of other drugs. So, first thing this tells us is you cannot make influences about clinical MDMA based on ecstasy users, whatever they are. Most people take ecstasy… Now, not everyone. There are quite a lot of psychonauts, particularly, who will take ecstasy with no other drugs and no alcohol. And they’ll take it during the day and they won’t miss out on sleep, but that’s not the majority. The majority of people taking ecstasy, it’s a nighttime party thing, it’s all very externalized behavior.
34:09 BS: It’s loud, it’s lasers, it’s dancing, it’s shouting, it’s having sex, it’s this big party thing. When we give MDMA clinically, and the patient comes in at 9 o’clock in the morning, they’ve had a good night’s sleep, they drop the medicine at half-nine, they have their experience during the day, they’re back down to baseline by five or six in evening. They sit around, they have a nice meal, they sleep beautifully, and then they have this afterglow that lasts for a week. We don’t see any drop in affect at the end of the day. We just see a gentle tailing off as the experience fades. We don’t see any drop in affect in the following week. We ring them every day and we talk things through and we do mood and suicide scales with them. And we just haven’t seen it at all. I guess what I can’t say is the whole hypothesis of serotonin depletion sort of makes sense, you’re having this massive dumping of serotonin and it’s sort of arguable that that might take some time to refuel in the neurons, and the hypothesis being that you’ve got this affect drop three days later, but that’s never been tested prospectively.
35:14 BS: It’s never actually been tested with clinical MDMA. It’s something you hear from ravers, who are this very heterogeneous group with all kinds of confounding factors. So, certainly within our MDMA study, I think that… And there’s quite a lot of work on this that’s been done, a lot work in the London at UCL. The biggest factors seem to be missing out on sleep, concurrent drug use, particularly alcohol, and excessive exercise. In other words, all the things you do at a rave. And when you take MDMA in a facilitated environment, without the lack of sleep, it’s fine. So, more work is done, more work needs to be done. But what it really says is, let’s not talk about ecstasy when we’re trying to work out what clinical MDMA does.
35:56 PA: I had my own few MDMA experiences over the past few years, and what I’ve noticed is very similar to what you said. I don’t do the all rave thing. I usually have a small group of friends. We have a house, there’s maybe 8 to 10 to 12 of us, but it’s, typically, you know, we take it at 10 PM. We do a re-up at 12 to 12:30. There might be some psilocybin involved as well. And usually, I don’t get to sleep to 4 or 5 AM. And the sleep isn’t great, it’s a little jittery. And then I kinda wake up at 10 AM the next day, my jaw is a little sore. I don’t feel great. And one thing that I’ve been considering is if I do this again or when I do this again.
36:34 BS: You’re gonna invite me.
36:36 PA: First of all obviously invite you.
36:38 BS: Sounds great.
36:39 PA: Second of all, I’ll just start earlier and to basically get to a point where then I can get to bed at midnight, feel good and sleep because I’ve been sometimes up as late as 5 AM, 6 AM and it’s just like it wrecks you.
36:52 BS: Yeah, I mean the other thing that’s… This is quite interesting: If you look at the way people take MDMA recreationally, it’s very different from how we use it clinically, but if you look at the way people take classic psychedelics recreationally, it’s pretty similar. So I mean, I know it’s different, and, as I said, there’s this whole group of psychonauts who do things in a particular way. But typically when people take things like LSD or magic mushrooms, it’s a small group, they kinda sit in the dark, around a candle listening to Pink Floyd, they lie around, it’s all gentle. And it’s a very internal pseudo-clinical-type experience, not far from how we use it clinically. But the way people take MDMA recreationally, certainly in this country, is totally different. It’s this externalizing thing, and it’s at night, and it’s with all these other… It’s a party drug. And just imagine a rave where you had 5,000 people lying on their backs in the dark with eyeshades on not moving.
37:45 PA: It wouldn’t be a rave.
37:47 BS: It wouldn’t be a rave, exactly… So it’s interesting that the two drugs, LSD and psilocybin stuff, and then MDMA, the way they’re used recreationally are very different from the way they’re used clinically, when it comes to MDMA. Another interesting thing about that is if you look at the psychospiritual experience that we see so commonly, 80-90% of people on classic psychedelics, first time threshold dose LSD psilocybin, will report talking to God, spiritual experience, breakthrough, peak experience, oceanic boundlessness, all this kind of seeing the white light psychospiritual experience.
38:22 BS: Not so common on MDMA. About 5-10% of people will report that on their first time threshold dose experience with MDMA. But I think that’s because of the way it’s taken. I think if people took MDMA more like the way they take psilocybin and LSD, we would have higher levels of psychospiritual experience. And that’s actually quite interesting from what we’ve seen in our study, the study that we’re doing is the world’s first addiction study with MDMA. It’s never been done with MDMA. All of the addiction work so far has been LCD, psilocybin, and things like ketamine and ayahuasca and stuff. So, no one has ever done it with MDMA. All the work up to now has been pretty much PTSD. But the reason I chose alcoholism was because I know there’s high levels of trauma in alcoholism and we know MDMA works for trauma, so I kinda put two and two together and came up with five and said maybe it will work for alcoholism.
39:12 BS: But we knew going into it, that MDMA lacked the psychospiritual effect. And if you look at all of the studies that have been done with addictions and classics, all of them, whether it’s Blocker Jack’s work with alcohol, whether it’s Matt Johnson’s work with nicotine, whether it’s Krupitsky’s work with ketamine or going right back to Grof and Leary and Osmond in the work in the 50s and the 60s, with LSD and alcoholism. What they all have in common is, the higher the psychospiritual experience, the greater the sobriety. You have to blow the mind with this peak experience and see God, and then you’re more likely to not drink. And we knew going into this that MDMA doesn’t tend to do that.
39:53 BS: So we thought, it might not work, but we did know it works in trauma. But what we found is a lot of the people on the MDMA in our study are reporting what sounds very like a classic psychedelic experience. It’s interesting. A lot of people are saying, I’m seeing the light, I’m communing with spirits, I’m in a different state of reality, even a sense of ego loss in some of them. And that’s not typical for MDMA. So, I think that… I guess what I’m saying is, MDMA does have a greater capacity for psychospiritual effects when it’s used in that way. And I think the whole party thing doesn’t really… It doesn’t really do that. It does other interesting things. There’s not much God involved in a rave.
40:35 PA: Do people have visual experiences at all with MDMA or is it just usually just… Like with LSD or ayahuasca, you hear about the visions, is that common at all on MDMA for people to see things, have transpersonal experiences, or is that more like a classic psychedelic effect?
40:50 BS: Certainly visual effects are minimal. You get a saccadic eye movement shaking that can cause a mild visual effect. But in terms of actual hallucinations or delusions or illusions, it’s very, very young uncommon. It’s not typical with MDMA. But in terms of… Like I’m saying, in terms of transpersonal experiences or psychospiritual experiences, we are seeing them to some extent, more than we expected. But no, it certainly wouldn’t be accurate for me to suggest they were as strong and as similar and frequent as with the classic psychedelics. But I do think that they are possible with MDMA under the right circumstances.
41:25 PA: Is there any sort of research that is being geared up to understand that deeper or is that something that might be on the horizon but nothing’s in place yet?
41:32 BS: Well, I think the the perceptual changes and the ego dissolution changes that come with the classic psychedelics, the work that Robin and colleagues at Imperial have been doing the last 10 years in neuroimaging, has really been very important in looking at the neurobiological mechanisms of classics. And it’s all about the 5-HT2A receptor partial agonism in the cerebral cortex, and how that disengages the normal mechanisms that maintain consciousness, the how it shuts out the external world and it leaves you at the mercy of the internal world without this bottom-up experience of external perceptions.
42:06 BS: And that really accounts for the visual distortions and things you get with LSD, as well as the mental changes in terms of ego dissolution, which, of course, MDMA doesn’t hit that receptor group nearly as much; mild effect of the 2A receptors, but most of the action is within these serotonin 1A and 1B, and the dopamine, noradrenaline, and the oxytocin effects. So, there’s pretty well understood neurobiological mechanisms as to why MDMA differs from the others. But, another thing that comes up here is, sometimes people say, “Well, MDMA isn’t a psychedelic then.” And if you’re a purist about it, by definition, it’s not what we call a classic psychedelic…
42:47 PA: What are the classic psychedelics, technically?
42:49 BS: LSD, psilocybin, DMT, mescaline, 5-MeO-DMT and all those derivatives. If you define them as those that work on the 5-HT2A receptor primarily, are usually what we use is classic; what we define as classic psychedelics. MDMA is a entactogen, it’s in that group with other drugs like MDA, the 2C-series: 2C-I, 2C-B, those kinds of things. Where the ego distortion psychedelic effects are less pronounced, it’s more about the feelings. Now, obviously, as a purist you would say that, that it’s not a classic psychedelic. As a therapist, I very much consider it a psychedelic.
43:25 BS: If we define a psychedelic in the clinical sense as a tool that creates an altered state of consciousness that you can work in with a patient clinically, then it’s a psychedelic. It’s a different sort of psychedelic; it’s a heart opening psychedelic. Now, personally, clinically, I favor it over the others. I think it’s… One thing that’s so important about developing clinical protocols is that they’re tolerated. There are a lot of patients who just cannot tolerate a classic psychedelic, can’t even tolerate the idea of it. And this is reflected in the epidemiology of recreational use. We’ve got 750,000 kids every weekend taking MDMA in this country.
44:05 BS: Every weekend three quarters of a million doses of MDMA are consumed, and have been for the last 25 years. Nothing like that many people take LSD and psilocybin. There’s a reason why it’s more popular in that respect. So, when you look at that then in terms of clinical protocols, you want patients to be able to tolerate it. Now, of course, there’s enormous power and clinical opportunities in classic psychedelic therapy, of course. But, it requires a different sort of training and a different sort of rigor, and I think MDMA is more tolerated by most people. So, I certainly consider it a psychedelic, though not a classic, and it’s a very useful tool clinically.
44:48 PA: Like what you’re working on right now with the alcohol use disorder and MDMA study, I’d love if you could just go into a few details about that.
44:54 BS: Well, we started planning it about five years ago. It took a long time to get the MDMA and it took a long time to start. We were over 18 months behind. But we’ve been dosing clinically for about 18 months, and we’re gonna finish at Christmas. We’ve got 15 people in the study. All of them were daily dependent drinkers and they had to be detoxed of alcohol using a drug called Librium. And then they come into the study dry, and it’s an eight-week course, eight weekly sessions.
45:21 BS: They take MDMA twice sandwiched between non-drug sessions, and that’s very typical for most psychedelic studies. It’s never just take the drug. It’s always preparation sessions without the drug, then the drug, then integration sessions, then, in our case, a second dose, and then more integration sessions. So an eight-week course, and we follow them up for then three-six-nine months, and then we’re looking at outcome data. Now, because this is the first time MDMA is being used in alcoholism, it’s what we call an open label study. So there’s no placebo, there’s no control group. Now, that sounds a bit methodologically unsound, but actually, it’s what you have to do when you use a drug for the first time in a new condition. So our main outcome data is around safety and tolerability. Is it safe, do they tolerate it? And it’s passed with flying colors. Everyone’s found their treatment fine, they’ve all found it preferable to other treatments they’ve tried for alcoholism, and there’s not been any physiological problems, no adverse effects, everyone’s tolerated it.
46:16 BS: So now we can look at outcomes in terms of drinking, we can’t make any strong scientific influences because there’s no control group, but so far, about three quarters of the people are completely dry and have stayed dry. And about 25% have drunk something, but not necessarily back to the full levels. But I think when we get to the end of it, I’m anticipating we’ll be about 50-50, which is not as great and miraculous as I might have hoped, but if you look at the current treatments for alcoholism, they are so bad, so bad, which is why we chose this. 90% of people are drinking within three years after the very best that medical science can throw at you. Our treatment of alcoholism is so bad, we were better in the Victorian times at treating alcoholism than we are today. 90% relapse in three years, I can’t think of other parts of medicine that would put up with that kind of outcome, it’s outrageous. So even if we do find 50% are drinking, that’s still actually really miraculous results, so we’re pleased with that.
47:14 BS: So we’re winding that up in the next few months, we’ve just got the last few patients to get through. We’re dosing tomorrow actually, and every week for the next six weeks, to get that finished by Christmas. And then we’re gonna end that and then we’re gonna write up the data and get that published. And then we’re also starting a psilocybin study. We’re finishing our training next week, we got another session this week, so we’re gonna be, for a few months, gonna be doing MDMA and psilocybin at the same time in the same department here in Bristol. And then the other thing I’m doing at the moment is making plans to start a psychedelic therapy clinic here in the UK after Christmas or in the next few months, that’s still very much in development. We’re gonna be starting with ketamine because that’s the kind of the only legal psychedelic we have, so we’re gonna start training and start using ketamine assisted psychotherapy. But what we’re very keen to do is to not just make this a ketamine infusion clinic, ’cause they’re all over the place now, they’re all over the states and they’re starting to spring up in the UK. You just come along every week, you get an infusion of ketamine, you go home and you have to just keep doing that.
48:14 BS: Now, to me, that feels like an SSRI. That’s exactly what I don’t wanna do with psychedelics. I wanna combine ketamine with psychotherapy to get better, overcome the trauma issues, and not have to keep coming back. So we’re gonna start with the psychotherapy with ketamine, but we wanna stand apart from other ketamine clinics. And the idea being that when we launch this, in terms of the branding, it’s gonna be a psychedelic therapy clinic, ketamine now, LSD and psilocybin coming soon. So it’s not just a ketamine clinic, it’s a psychedelic therapy clinic that currently is just gonna be ketamine. But obviously, we work closely with MAPS and we work closely with COMPASS and we keep them on board and we keep working with them because we wanna be able to deliver MDMA and psilocybin therapy nationwide when the time comes.
49:00 PA: And when will that time be in the UK specifically?
49:03 BS: Well, Rick Doblin is looking at ’21, ’22 for the FDA license for MDMA. Hopefully, the EMA license, which is the European version of that, will be at the same time and psilocybin is a few years behind that. MDMA is in the phase three of development now, so it will become a medicine within the next two or three years. It can’t not really. And psilocybin is in the late phase two to go into phase three soon, so it’s all gonna be there within the next three to five years. What’s happening in the states, which is quite good, is you have this expanded access program whereby people can start providing MDMA therapy now even before it’s licensed, just because it’s shown to work and it’s safe. I’m really pushing to find a way, find a mechanism to get that done in the UK, so we can start actually providing MDMA therapy before its approval and licensing, not having to wait another three years. So…
49:54 PA: This is part of the expanded access program that they have in the States?
49:57 BS: Yeah, they have it in the States, but we don’t have it here yet. At the moment here, we’re only gonna be able to use psilocybin and MDMA when they get licensed, but that’s another five years down the line. How many more people need to die from suicide due to untreated PTSD? Need to die of alcoholism before then? So we gotta find a clever and creative mechanism to do this.
50:19 PA: Beautiful. Okay, one last question, and this is, I’ve started doing this on a few of the podcasts just as a way to humanize us. And the question is, for you right now, just on a personal level, what’s most difficult or most challenging for you about this work and about being involved with the psychedelic stuff? Because obviously, there’s tremendous upside, it is really exciting to be at the forefront of this. People are being healed that have never been healed through anything else, but there’s also other things that come with it. And I’d just love to hear from your perspective, what’s been most difficult or challenging in this process for you?
50:52 BS: I can’t think of one thing, I can think of three big things. Can I say that?
50:55 PA: Oh yeah, absolutely.
50:55 BS: Number one is the Misuse of Drugs Act and the war on drugs. It’s just a horrible, frustrating, irritating barrier, this ridiculous, unethical, unpoliceable, dangerous, unscientific piece of rubbish that has destroyed societies for the last 50 years, imprisoned perfectly fine people, made criminals out of people, increased access to dangerous drugs, reduced access to services, funded the mafia. It’s an awful, awful piece of legislation worldwide. We will look back and hang our heads in shame when it’s finally dismantled by the United Nations in the next 20 years or so. Individual countries are doing that thing already, and the States are way ahead of this. So that’s the first thing, the Misuse of Drugs Act and the war on drugs. Terrible, terrible piece of legislation. Second thing is I get very frustrated by the pseudo-science of the psychedelic community. As I said, it’s great that there’s so much cultural interest, but we also have to hold on to our heads. I meet a lot of nutters in this field. And it doesn’t help, it doesn’t help. We’ve… It destroyed it in the ’60s, it destroyed it when the idea of, “Oh man, let’s all drop acid and we’ll all live in chemical utopia.”
51:19 BS: It just doesn’t work like that, you know? You have to take a balanced and a medical view. And I know that makes me sound very boring, but we are not gonna get these drugs licensed if we don’t work with authorities. And there’s a lot of people, certainly in the last few years, who are a real backlash against MAPS, backlash against COMPASS. “You’re taking away our sacred medicines.” I don’t believe that. These sacred medicines are too good to languish in Peruvian jungles for rich trustafarians who can afford to fly out there and enjoy them. My patients deserve these medicines, my patients do not need to buy into the hippy subculture and grow their hair and wear rainbow t-shirts in order to be treated. We need to meet the people who need these medicines on their terms. We do not need to make them inaccessible unless you but into this subculture. I know that makes me unpopular with people, but I don’t care because I care about my patients more than that. So that’s the other thing, it’s trying to find a voice and a way to make this accessible to people, and that means moving beyond the old stereotypes. And that means, unfortunately, working with authorities ’cause that’s the only way to get drugs licensed.
53:18 BS: Now, we could just not do this, we could not work with the man, and they’ll just stay illegal forever and that 0.4% of rich hippies who enjoy them can enjoy them, or we can work with the authorities. And the third and final thing is money. Most pharmacology research is run by the pharmaceutical industry with millions to spend. If we had those kinds of millions in psychedelic research, we would be streaks ahead. This is all funded by charitable donations, philanthropy, and if we had that sort of money, the millions that they have in pharmacology research, we’d be moving on. So those are the three big things.
53:52 PA: Well, we hear the door buzz, right?
53:54 BS: Yeap.
53:55 PA: The girlfriend’s here.
53:56 BS: She’s here.
53:56 PA: So, I just wanna thank you, Ben, for all your work, for everything you’ve done. And we’ll put more details about where people can find about your work in the shownotes, so…
54:03 BS: Nice.
54:03 PA: I appreciate it.
54:04 BS: Thanks man.
54:04 PA: Absolutely.
Harm Reduction Transcript: Music and Psychedelic Medicine: Healing Through Sound – Mendel Kaelen
Mendel Kaelen, Founder and CEO of Wavepaths, speaks with Paul Austin about the beauty of randomness, primal sound, and the power of music to help create meaning.
Third Wave · January 8th, 2021
Harm Reduction Transcript: DMT and Addiction: Uncovering the Root Cause of Trauma – Timothy Ko
Timothy Ko, CEO of Entheon Biomedical, talks with Paul Austin about DMT as a safe and effective treatment for addiction.
Harm Reduction Transcript: Chemistry, Biosynthetics, and the Promise of Novel Psychedelic Medicines – Danny Motyka
Danny Motyka, CEO of Psygen Labs, talks with Paul Austin about the rapidly-growing psychedelic space and what it means for the future of health care.
Third Wave · December 23rd, 2020
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Third Wave » Transcript: MDMA, Healing Trauma, And The Future Of Psychiatry – Dr. Ben Sessa
THIRD WAVE
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At Third Wave, our mission is to share trusted, research-based content that helps you feel safe, supported, and empowered as you follow your path towards personal transformation. That said, we can’t offer medical advice and we don’t encourage illegal activities. Our community places trust in us – and we view that responsibility with reverence. Please speak to a health care provider if you have any medical concerns and always exercise caution and care.
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Snapchat launches Spotlight to take on Instagram Reels, TikTok
Snapchat is ready to take on TikTok and Instagram Reels with its new app called Spotlight. The app is not a standalone app like TikTok, it will be available in the Snapchat app just like Instagram Reels. However, what makes Spotlight different from the other app is that the company will pay creators to post on its platform.
Spotlight will have a separate tab in the Snapchat app. This means that along with other Snapchat features, users will now be able to post TikTok-like videos to Spotlight. “Today we’re introducing Spotlight to shed some light on the funniest Snaps created by the Snapchat community. Submit your best Snap videos to Spotlight for the opportunity to earn a share of over $ 1 million that we distribute to creators every day, ”the company said in a blog.
Yes, you read that correctly. Snapchat will give creators money to lure them to the platform. The company said it will be giving out up to $ 1 million among some of the famous creators on the app per day until the end of 2020. So to make money on Snapchat, you could post a viral video and take home $ 1 million. For this, you don’t need a large number of subscribers but should have more unique views than other viewers. There is no limit to the number of times a snap would be rewarded, if all your videos have the highest unique views, you will be rewarded every time.
However, before submitting a video, a user must be aware of the terms and conditions of the app, which requires the user to be over 16 years of age.
“We designed Spotlight to entertain our community while respecting Snapchat’s values, with the welfare of our community as a top priority. Spotlight content is moderated and does not allow public comment,” the company said in a statement.
Spotlight will be available in the United States, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom, Ireland, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and France, with more countries on the way. We could hope that India is also on the list of countries where Snapchat will launch Spotlight.
India recently witnessed an onslaught of TikTok-like apps after the short video platform owned by Bytedance was banned and blocked in India. The company has not closed its offices in India and is still hoping to return soon. Tiktok is in talks with the government and has taken note of the issues raised by the authorities.
Spotlight is not a standalone app like TikTok, it will be available in the Snapchat app just like Instagram Reels.
Snapchat is ready to take on TikTok and Instagram Reels with its new app called Spotlight.
Spotlight will pay creators for posting videos on its platform.
Spotlight will be available in the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland, Norway, Sweden and Denmark.
Delta calls 2021 a year of recovery after first loss in 11 years
Yale introduces Smart Delivery Boxes to protect and secure your deliveries
The Indian army officer develops a “microcopter” to track the terrorists inside the buildings
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Hiking in Ecuador Guide • The 15 Best Hikes in Ecuador
December 6, 2020 March 24, 2020 by Natasha
Wanting to go hiking in Ecuador? You’ll never be too far from a hiking trail in Ecuador, but when there are so many, and each is more beautiful than the last, how are you supposed to choose? Luckily, we’ve selected some of the best for you, so you don’t have to.
Whether you’re after a quick morning jaunt around a crater lake or you’re seeking a multi-day trek through mountain ranges, we’ve got you covered with this list of the best hikes in Ecuador. In a country so diverse in landscapes and with such a welcoming culture, it’s impossible not to fall in love with the country.
Hiking in Ecuador? Here are the 15 Best Hikes in Ecuador!
Rucu Pichincha
Lake Cuicocha
The Inca Trail
Yasuní National Park
Casa de Arbol
The Condor Trek
Rumiñahui Volcano
Sangay National Park
Mandago Loop
The Pululahua Crater
Pinãn Trek
Cotopaxi Volcano
Cajas National Park
Quilotoa Loop
Featured Travel Card
What to Pack For Your Hiking Trip to Ecuador
We’re starting the list off strong with a hike up a volcano. Rucu Pichincha is a volcano located right near Quito, the nation’s capital. It’s very easy to reach if you are staying in town. There’s even a cable car to take you right to the beginning of the trail to maximize your hiking time. Surprisingly, this hike isn’t frequented by many tourists, so it’ll be a relaxing trek free of crowds.
The cable car drops you at 3945 meters, and it’s an additional 755m to the top. This part of the hike takes around four hours, leading you through grassland and rocky patches. You’ll need to get used to the altitude, but once you’re at the top, the views of Quito are unreal.
Location: Just outside Quito
Insider Tip: Watch out for the sacred Incan bird, the Curiquingue.
If you’re going hiking in Ecuador you have to check out Lake Cuicocha. Only an hour or so away from the town of Otavalo is a beautiful crater lake that makes for a perfect day hike in Ecuador. It’s a four-hour trip around the lake, and there’s plenty to look at, so you definitely won’t be bored. From the two islands nestled in the middle of the lake (supposedly shaped like guinea pigs) to the rich diversity of flora and fauna in the region (keep your eyes peeled for beautiful exotic butterflies), you’ll be glad you carved out some time for this beautiful hike.
Though it’s not a terribly long Ecuadorian hike, start early to wrap up before the sun gets too hot. Because this lake is situated quite high, be sure to have enough water and snacks and a rain jacket in case of sudden drizzle.
Location: Otavalo
Insider Tip: Don’t miss the massive weekly market for which Otalavo is famous.
For those unaware, the Inca Trail marks an ancient path that used to connect Quito to Cusco, Peru. This particular leg of the route follows the Inca Road to Ingapirca, which takes around three days to complete. The trail has a lot of difference in altitude – 4200m at its highest – and starts from Achupallas. As the name suggests, it finishes at Ingapirca, the site of some 1000-year-old Incan ruins.
Aside from the legendary ruins, you’ll pass stunning lagoons and the ancient but impressive water system ruins from Incan times.
Location: Alausi, Chimborazo Province
Insider Tip: This is another route where you’ll want to acclimatize to the altitude before setting out.
This is a small village in the province of Napo, northern Ecuador. It sits at an impressive altitude of 3300 meters—a city in the clouds! The region is well known for volcanic hot springs, and the wealth of wild mammal life in the area makes this a very unique place to hike in Ecuador. Watch out for possums, weasels, and the rare pampas cat.
Back in the city, there are quaint hostels, cozy restaurants, and the well-known Termas thermal resort, which is a hot springs spa perfect for a bit of relaxation after a day of trekking. Boiled trout caught fresh is a common local dish; be sure to sample this while you’re here for a taste of the cuisine.
Location: Napo Province
Insider Tip: If you partake in the resort pools, the water will be freshest in the morning.
If you’ve been waiting to see a jungle trek on the list of best hikes in Ecuador, this one’s for you. Yasuní National Park is definitely tricky to get to (you’ll probably need to fly from Quito to Coca, the nearest city to the park, and then a boat to the specific area you want to hike), but given that the Amazon is one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet, it will be worth the journey.
The tourism here is well-managed, so there are tour groups and guides available to ensure not only your safety but the preservation of the park. You’ll see animals you’ve probably only seen on a screen, like toucans, parrots, spider monkeys, and anacondas.
Location: Coca, Ecuador
Insider Tip: Most of the hiking routes are pretty digestible, only around two hours, so it’s worth staying a few days and doing several.
This gorgeous hike is situated on the outskirts of a jungle near the town of Bãnos. While the surrounding valley has several hikes to choose from, the Casa de Arbol is a four to five-hour climb up to a well-known treehouse (how cool is that?), from which you’ll have some pretty awesome views of the town below. If you visit on a cloudless day, you’ll be able to see all the way to the Tungurahua volcano.
The trail starts right in the city, just follow the signage. Entrance into the treehouse is $1, and there’s even a swing that soars out over open valley (for that Instagram snapshot).
Location: Bãnos, Tungurahua
Insider Tip: This region is famous for its hot springs, which are a great way to relax after this uphill hike.
This is a three or so day hike in Ecuador, where you will pass through beautiful rainforest terrain between each evening campsite. The hike ranges in elevation, some of it through lowlands and some as high as Santa Lucia Lake, which sits at a staggering 4,500 m. The scenery ranges from lush greenery to huge glaciers, giving you a wide range of landscapes to experience.
You’ll arrive in Papallacta, head to the village of El Tambo, and from there begin your trek. The route finishes with the Mica Lagoon before heading back into Quito.
Location: East of Quito
Insider Tip: If you hadn’t planned on an equipment-heavy expedition, many options for guide-led tours will include gear rental.
This volcano often gets ignored in favor of its much larger neighbor, Cotopaxi. It’s a great option if you want something a little tamer, or you need to acclimatize yourself before tackling Cotopaxi. The volcano is fully extinct, and thanks to a year-round absence of snow and relatively forgiving terrain, it actually is quite popular as a Ecuador hiking route.
Though not as famous as Cotopaxi, the views of this volcano from Rumiñahui are impressive. You’ll also get an incredible vantage point to see El Corazón, Los Ilinizas, and Sincholagua.
Location: Cotopaxi Province
Insider Tip: Don’t miss nearby Limpiopungo, a stunning lake ideally situated for 360° views.
Occupying a hefty territory in the middle of Ecuador is the largely-unvisited Sangay National Park. From extinct volcanoes to crashing waterfalls and lush, sweeping valleys, this national park pretty much has it all. There are also glaciers and tropical rainforest, two landscapes you typically wouldn’t think of as existing in the same region, let alone the same country.
There aren’t a lot of human settlements here, so it’s a rich tapestry of wildlife – think pumas, foxes, bears, guinea pigs, jaguars, and more. There are a few peaks to climb and some volcanic craters. Do your research ahead of time because the difficulty ranges wildly from one area of the park to another.
Location: Morona Santiago, Chimborazo, and Tungurahua provinces
Insider Tip: Skip Tungurahua for climbing, as the volcano has become quite active in recent years and is no longer considered sufficiently safe. Admire from a distance!
The town of Vilcabamba is becoming a popular relocation spot for ex-pats, but fortunately, it hasn’t lost any of its charms. The Mandago Loop is the town’s most popular Ecuador hiking route and also its most challenging—so much so that we recommend undertaking this one with an experienced guide. The way up is steep, rocky, and often with dangerous drop-offs, so it’s especially not recommended for new hikers or those afraid of heights.
Find the start of the path behind the town bus station (it costs $1.50 to do). The full loop is around four hours, and you’ll get some beautiful views of the surrounding valleys.
Location: Vilcabamba, Loja Province
Insider Tip: Hikers occasionally get lost, so a compass & map is recommended for this hike.
This is the crater of an extinct volcano—the largest on the continent! It’s four kilometers wide and 300 meters deep, and surprisingly, it’s full of extremely fertile soil, so it’s a haven for growing crops. It’s located in a geological reserve, thanks to a staggering diversity of plant and animal life unique to this region (particularly birds and insects).
There are homes located within the crater, which in turn has its own kind of magic—a lush oasis with a small community tucked within. It’s so close to Quito, yet has very few visitors. Take an hour-long bus ride for less than $0.50 to get there; most paths are around five-hour loops.
Location: One hour north of Quito
Insider Tip: Rain clouds tend to roll in towards the late morning, so this is a Ecuador hike best done early in the day.
This is a challenging trail but worth the effort. Located north of Quito in the Cotacachi Cayapas reserve, the Pinãn Trek takes you up Churoloma Mountain, through the Andean forests, and down along the edges of the Yanacocha Lagoon. There really is a little bit of everything on this hike.
The full hike in Ecuador is around four to five days, and guided tours are available. It’s recommended for at least an intermediate-level hiker, due to the range in elevation and difficulty. But if you can swing it, the views you’ll get of glaciers, mountain ranges, and verdant valleys are absolutely worth it.
Location: North of Quito
Insider Tip: The route technically starts in Otavalo, but many guides will meet you in Quito.
Calling all adventurers, this is a hike to the world’s highest active volcano. The Cotopaxi volcano is a couple of hours south of Quito, the capital city, and there are always transport options to get you there if you aren’t staying in the nearby countryside.
The climb to the top (which is usually snowy!) needs to be guided, since it’s a whopping 5000m elevation, and symptoms like altitude sickness are common. Be sure to pack sunglasses and a hiking hat because the sun reflecting off the snow can be blinding! Despite these minor inconveniences, if you visit on a clear day, you’ll have some pretty unreal views from the highest point.
Insider Tip: Little to no ATMs in the surrounding areas outside of Quito, so make sure you’ve got cash.
This national park is a UNESCO heritage site, so you know it’s going to be amazing. This isn’t so much a specific route as an enormous region covering some 280 square kilometers, and trails that alternate between moderate and high altitude, just to give you options.
Natural wonders include ancient volcanic rock, cloud forests, and endless lakes. There’s even a section of the famous Inca Trail that passes through the park. The most popular route is only eight km and winds past three of the most-visited lakes in the area.
Location: Azuay Province
Insider Tip: The park is absolutely huge, meaning lots to explore, but also a higher chance of getting lost. Either grab a guide or do research in advance.
If you want to see some of the more rural parts of Ecuador and really immerse yourself in the culture, this is a great place to start. The Quilotoa Loop is more of a trek than a hike and spans around three days. There are guesthouses and homestays along the route, and food and water can be refilled. This trek is the definition of roughing it, but will give you a new perspective on life in a South American country as you make your way quietly through the farming communities.
Despite the length of the hike, it’s not an arduous journey. It’s fairly level aside from the odd climb here and there, and you still get incredible views of the valleys and mountains.
Location: Cotopaxi
Insider Tip: This isn’t a loop, so you can start from either end—Quilotoa or Isinlivi.
Insider Tip: Overnight accommodations are possible along this route.
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Hiking/Daypack Backpack
You’re going to need something to carry your belongings in while you’re traveling around Europe in the winter. Even if you’re not doing extensive hikes you need at least something small for day trips. My favorite daypacks are from Camelbak.
The Best Hiking Backpacks
I ALWAYS have a down jacket with me when I’m traveling in the winter, fall, or even spring. Sometimes even the summer depending on where I’m at. They aren’t just good for hikes, but doing anything outside and great for nighttime in Europe.
Down jackets pack up light and small so there is no reason NOT to have one in your bag. Seriously it could save your life in a bad situation. We wrote a whole post on our favorites (hint –Feathered Friends, Arc’Teryx Cerium LT Hooded Jacket, Patagonia Down Sweater, REI Coop Down Jacket)
The Best Down Jackets
Please consider purchasing a travel water bottle before your trip! We hate to see one time use plastic bottles ending up in the ocean. The tap water is so good here – seriously please don’t be one of those tourists that buys plastic water bottles. It’s a waste of money and plastic!
Grayl Waterbottle
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Variety Read Next: These Below-the-Line Contributions Could Be Awards Contenders This Season
Nov 25, 2015 10:00am PT
Ridley Scott Praises His Out-of-This-World ‘The Martian’ Crew
By Tim Gray
@timgray_variety
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Courtesy of 20th Century Fox
Ridley Scott likes to storyboard every scene in his movies. He spent seven years in art school, and can draw vividly and quickly, in pencil and then gray felt-tips. When the boards are finished, he’s essentially shot the film on paper, but is quick to point out he’s far from finished with the creative process. “The boards are a starting point,” he explains. “Nothing is locked down; I’m always leaving room for the actors and for the team.” He spoke with Variety about some of the key below-the-line contributors to Fox’s “The Martian,” an awards contender and a box office hit.
Cinematographer: Dariusz Wolski
“Dariusz has a great eye and great taste. He is a great camera operator. I think any cinematographer should operate the camera occasionally; if you don’t, you don’t understand the frame. Dariusz likes the storyboards; he loves to know what we’re doing, because he has to prep it. We always work with multiple cameras. With Dariusz, it’s usually four, but if it’s complicated, it’s five to eight cameras. It’s knowing where to place them. We shot ‘The Martian’ in 72 days. Normally it would be 100 to 110. Part of that is multicamera, part of it is knowing what you’re doing. You can’t walk in every morning and say, ‘Let’s talk about this scene.’ Are you kidding me? You can’t do that.”
Editor: Pietro Scalia
“The important thing for the editor is coverage. That’s why I always have multiple cameras, so I can shorten the scene. Half the time it’s about shortening and refining. Drew Goddard’s script was very well done. But if you have a scene that’s four minutes and you think it’s got to be two minutes, you can’t do that unless you’ve got cuts. Pietro understands the process. He has brilliant instincts.”
“The important thing for the editor is coverage. I have multiple cameras so I can shorten the scene.”
Production designer: Arthur Max
“The key is to always kick off a creative conversation on what each scene can be. Then Arthur will go away and research it with the digital artists; they’ll come back with a digital representation of the set. That also happened for the spacesuits. They’re tricky; they’re industrial design because they have to breathe. I didn’t want to repeat ‘Alien’ or ‘Prometheus.’ I never want to repeat anything. We also set up 30 GoPro cameras inside the habitat. Those took the form of being a buddy or companion to Mark Watney (Matt Damon). So there was Matt talking to the camera — what I called ship’s log, like Captain Kirk. We wanted to avoid voiceover because it’s tricky. It’s better to have Matt talking to himself. To represent NASA, there was a building on the edge of the Danube, the most modern building in Budapest. I would drive past it and think, ‘We better look at that, because I can’t find NASA.’ It was perfect — a giant space, used for events, with a giant tube roof.”
Vfx: Richard Stammers
“For the ending, we needed a massive sense of space, with Melissa Lewis (Jessica Chastain) going after Watney outside the ship, and Watney losing it. The constant interplay and evacuating all the chambers of the ship was tricky because they’re all on bloody wires; everyone’s got four wires to stop them from pendulum-ing; you can’t have that. The gliding has to be perfect, and you’ve got to be acting while gliding.”
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Tag: ursula k le guin
Review: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin
Reviewed by Nick Hubble. This review first appeared in The BSFA Review.
The Left Hand of Darkness is set on the planet Gethin, also known as Winter where there is no sexual difference between people apart from a monthly period of kemmer. When the androgynous Gethenians meet in kemmer, hormonal secretions increase so that either male or female dominance is established in one and the partner takes on the other sexual role:
Normal individuals have no predisposition to either sexual role in kemmer; they do not know whether they will be the male or the female and have no choice in the matter. (Otie Nim wrote that in the Orgoreyn region the use of hormone derivatives to establish a preferred sexuality is quite common; I haven’t seen this done in rural Karhide.). Once the sex is determined it cannot change … If the individual was in the female role and was impregnated, hormonal activity of course continues, and for the 8.4 month gestation period and the 6 to 8 month lactation period this individual remains female. … With the cessation of lactation the female … becomes once more a perfect androgyne. No physiological habit is established, and the mother of several children may be the father of several more. (91)
Thus read the field notes of Ong Tot Oppong of the Hainish Ekumen on her initial observations concerning the sexual life of the Gethenians. These notes are in the possession of Genly Ai, who has openly come to Gethen as an ambassador from the Ekumen with the purpose of inviting the Gethenians to join the wider interstellar community. ‘The Question of Sex’ – as the chapter in which Ong’s notes appear is titled – is the aspect of The Left Hand of Darkness which has attracted most attention over the near half century since its original publication.
I was going to begin this review by arguing that ‘if Heinlein’s line “the door dilated” is often presented as an example of the cognitive estrangement of 1940s Golden Age SF, then Le Guin’s “The king was pregnant” is representative of a more profound late 1960s countercultural and feminist defamiliarisation’. But then I read China Miéville’s introduction to this new edition of Le Guin’s 1969 classic and discovered to my horror that not only does he make the exact same comparison, he also sums up its significance more effectively: ‘Heinlein renders one corridor strange: Le Guin reconfigures society’. For Miéville, the novel’s defamiliarisation of gender makes it unquestionably a precursor of the gender queerness and sexual fluidity of our twenty-first-century present.
However, as he acknowledges, it was not always seen in such a radical light. Le Guin’s use of universal male pronouns to denote a society without a permanent sexual divide and therefore without a gender division, led to Joanna Russ, among others, criticising The Left Hand of Darkness for only containing men in practice. In In the Chinks of the World Machine (1988), Sarah Lefanu argues that the lack of sexual difference means that there is no historical dialectic and that the novel’s popularity is due to it simultaneously offering women a retreat from conflict back to the pre-Oedipal imaginary order while offering men the opportunity to roam freely unconstrained by the difficulties that arise from sexual difference. Adam Roberts went as far as to say, in Science Fiction (2000), that The Left Hand of Darkness is remarkably non-binary as a novel, with an appealing spirituality but an unengaging storyline, and mainly dependent on the quality of its world-building to attract readers’ imaginative and emotional investment.
In fact, The Left Hand of Darkness has long had all the hallmarks of one of those novels which one feels guiltily ashamed of uninhibitedly enjoying in private while publicly pretending indifference in order to fit in with the apparent critical consensus. There is something about all that apparently non-existent narrative tension concerning the fate of Genly’s mission and his relationship with the mysterious and enigmatic King’s Ear, Estraven, that makes one need to keep turning the pages even on the umpteenth rereading. The plot is not negligible by any means. The central irony that the rather backward kingdom of Karhide does eventually turn out to be more important to Genly than the apparently more modern and democratic Orgoreyn, is the inspiration for Iain Banks’s Culture-related planetary romance, Inversions (1998). And, of course, the Culture is also a society in which it is possible for the mother of several children to become the father of several more.
Continue reading “Review: The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin” →
The Editors BSFA Review, review 1 Comment December 24, 2020 December 28, 2020
Top Ten Writers
As was noted back at the start of the week, and by a good number of people casting their votes in the poll, the popularity of series in the sf field can make it hard to single out individual books. Moreover, many writers are prolific — if someone’s written one outstanding novel in a decade, they may have an advantage, in this sort of poll, over someone who’s written three. So here’s another way of looking at the data, counting up the top ten writers who were nominated for multiple books, ordered by total nominations received.
1. Gwyneth Jones
Not a surprise, given her three appearances this week. But two other books were also nominated: Castles Made of Sand, the follow-up to Bold as Love, and Siberia, one of Jones’ YA novels (published as by Ann Halam).
2. Justina Robson
Natural History did well, of course, but plenty of people also nominated Living Next-Door to the God of Love, Mappa Mundi and Keeping it Real.
3. Tricia Sullivan
As noted in this morning’s post, in addition to Maul, nominations were sent in for every other novel she’s published this decade — Double Vision, Sound Mind, and Lightborn.
4. Elizabeth Bear
The first writer to appear on this list who hasn’t appeared in the main top ten, Bear received nominations for Hammered (often as a proxy for the whole Jenny Casey trilogy), standalones Carnival and Undertow, for Dust, and for By the Mountain Bound.
5. Elizabeth Moon
In addition to Speed of Dark, Moon picked up nominations for Trading in Danger and Moving Target.
6. Jo Walton
Farthing‘s placement low in the top ten certainly doesn’t reflect the strength of support Walton received, with many nominations for the second Small Change novel, Ha’Penny, and for Lifelode.
7. Liz Williams
Like Bear, Williams hasn’t made it into the main top ten; but she achieves the distinction of having more novels nominated than any other writer, six in total:Ghost Sister, The Poison Master, Empire of Bones, Nine Layers of Sky, Banner of Souls, and Darkland.
8. Karen Traviss
In addition to the nominations for City of Pearl, Traviss picked up a few nods for her tie-in work — Gears of War novel Aspho Fields, and Star Wars novels Hard Contact, 501st, and Order 66.
9. Ursula K Le Guin
Lavinia accounted for the bulk of Le Guin’s nominations, but a few enthused about the Western Shore novels, in particular Gifts and Voices.
10. Connie Willis
And finally, Willis picked up nominations for both Blackout/All Clear, and for Passage — both not that far off the top ten.
Ranking calculated from 101 responses to a poll run during October, November and December 2010.
Niall Books, SF 2 Comments December 10, 2010 December 10, 2010
Future Classics: #8
Lavinia by Ursula K Le Guin (2008)
Le Guin’s revisioning of the later parts of Virgil’s Aeneid from the point of view of Aeneas’ wife was widely hailed as a masterpiece; within the genre, it picked up a Locus Award for best fantasy novel, made the Tiptree Award honor list, and was nominated for the Mythopoeic and BSFA Awards. Adam Roberts was as effusive as anyone:
Ursula K. Le Guin’s beautiful, haunting new novel, due out in the UK in May 2009, has already been published in America. Accordingly, the bound proof I read came pre-endorsed for the Britreader: “a winning combination of history and mythology featuring an unlikely heroine imaginatively plucked from literary obscurity” (Booklist). That rather undersells it, actually. “Deserves to be ranked with Robert Graves’s I Claudius” (Publishers Weekly). That’s more like it. Although Le Guin’s pre-Roman first person narrative has a very different flavour to Graves’s Imperial Roman first person narrative, they are of a similar stature: classics in essence as well as theme. “Arguably her best novel” (Kirkus). Arguably so. Certainly I enjoyed this novel more than any Le Guin since the 1970s; and that (it’s almost tautological to add this) means that I enjoyed it more than pretty much any novel since the 1970s. It possesses a depth, clarity and wonder greater than most of the fiction being published nowadays.
Other reviews: Charlotte Higgins in The Guardian, Tobias Hill in The Observer, Cecelia Holland in Locus, John Garth in The Telegraph. See also a four-part discussion of Lavinia started here last year, and continued here, here, and here, with follow-ups here and here.
Niall Books, Fantasy, Future Classics, SF 18 Comments December 7, 2010 December 7, 2010
2009 BSFA Awards Shortlists
Ark by Stephen Baxter (Gollancz)
Lavinia by Ursula K Le Guin (Gollancz)
The City & The City by China Mieville (Macmillan)
Yellow Blue Tibia by Adam Roberts (Gollancz)
Best Short Fiction
“Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast” by Eugie Foster (Interzone 220)
The Push by Dave Hutchinson (Newcon Press)
“Johnnie and Emmie-Lou Get Married” by Kim Lakin-Smith (Interzone 222)
“Vishnu at the Cat Circus” by Ian McDonald (in Cyberabad Days, Gollancz)
“The Beloved Time of Their Lives” [pdf link] by Ian Watson and Roberto Quaglia (in The Beloved of My Beloved, Newcon Press)
“The Assistant” by Ian Whates (in The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction 3, ed. George Mann)
Best Artwork
Alternate cover art for 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (art project), Nitzan Klamer
“Emerald” by Stephanie Pui-Mun Law
Cover of Desolation Road by Ian McDonald, by Stephan Martinière, jacket design by Jacqueline Nasso Cooke
Cover of Interzone 220, Adam Tredowski
Best Non-Fiction
Canary Fever by John Clute (Beccon)
“I Didn’t Dream of Dragons” by Deepa D
“Ethics and Enthusiasm” by Hal Duncan [Note: withdrawn from consideration]
“Mutant Popcorn” by Nick Lowe (Interzone)
A Short History of Fantasy by Farah Mendlesohn and Edward James (Middlesex University Press)
Congratulations to all the nominees! Note that there are only four nominees in the Best Novel category, and six nominees in the Best Short Fiction and Best Artwork categories due to ties for fifth place. The Awards will be presented at this year’s Eastercon, Odyssey.
Niall BSFA, BSFA Awards, Fantasy, SF 54 Comments January 25, 2010 January 28, 2010
A Discussion About Lavinia
A little while ago now, I pointed to Lavinia as being one of the best books I’d read so far this year, and suggesting that (since this year sees its first UK publication) it should end up on the BSFA Award ballot. But I didn’t back up my praise. In part that was because I was rushing out the door to go on holiday, having meant to write slightly more and been caught out by a lack of time; and in part it was because I was aware that this discussion was (very) slowly gestating. Because it ended up being so (very) long, I and the other participants have split it over our respective blogs; so you can, or will shortly be able to, find part two hosted by Adam Roberts at Punkadiddle, part three hosted by Abigail Nussbaum at Asking the Wrong Questions, and the concluding part hosted by Nic Clarke and Jo Coleman at Eve’s Alexandria. In the meantime, enjoy:
Niall Harrison: There are two reasons, initially, why I wanted to organize a discussion about Lavinia. One is that for all that I enjoyed it, I found myself in a similar position to Adam at the end of his review: “We might ask, in what ways is this book so very good? But the temptation would be to reply: in all the ways. There’s a quality to this fiction that I cannot capture in a review.” I’d like to try to pin down its strengths and weaknesses a bit more. But the other reason, and the main one if I’m honest, is that I’m very conscious that I’m a long way from being the book’s ideal reader.
Once you get beyond a general, holistic picture of the book, there are at least two obvious ways of approaching it — as an Ursula Le Guin novel, or as a response to the Aeneid — that are closed to me, in that I haven’t read much Le Guin, and I haven’t read Virgil. What’s left, I find, is to approach Lavinia as a fantasy novel; but I can’t help feeling that I’m not responding to the heart of the book. How about the rest of you?
Adam Roberts: I’m curious where everybody else stands on this, because of course it will have a bearing on how we react to Lavinia.
So: Le Guin is one of the three most important SFF writers in my own relationship with genre. I’ve read everything she has written, some of it many times; and if I haven’t liked some of her more recent things (like the later Earthsea books or the rather stiff and, to me, unconvincing The Telling) this may have meant that I’ve fallen rather more hungrily on Lavinia precisely as a return to form.
So: Vergil. My university education was English/Classics (I did a PhD on Browning and the Classics), and I’ve been pretty familiar with the Aeneid for a long time: I have, for instance, taught it to undergraduates. Knowing it as well as I do meant that my reading of Le Guin’s version was shadowed throughout by my sense of the original. Without that, I do wonder what I’d have made of it.
(Of course, been pretty familiar with the Aeneid was so completely the norm, for so many centuries, that it wouldn’t have been worth boasting about. People of all classes across Europe used to treat Vergil’s poem as almost a sacred text: it was second only to the Bible for bibliomancy. See Wikipedia on the Sortes Virgilianae.)
Jo Coleman: I fall somewhere in the middle, as I’ve read (and loved) some of Le Guin, and bits of the Aeneid were wonderfully engraved into my mind at school but never got back to reading it fully. I’m quite interested to see that I may be the least enthusiastic of us. I certainly enjoyed it, particularly in parts, but I wouldn’t rave over it in the way that I would over some of Earthsea, for example.
Nic Clarke: Le Guin: I’ve read quite a few of the novels — beginning with Earthsea, which was recommended to me by a school librarian when I was 13 or 14 — and three of her short fiction collections. I’ve always felt more at home with Le Guin than with most SF writers — I should probably note here that my genre preferences generally lie with fantasy, and always have — because the SFnal possibilities she’s interested in are the ones that interest me: different social and cultural configurations, and how the individual interacts with them. Social science rather than hard science.
Virgil: I studied the Aeneid in A-Level Classics, and again as part of a Classics module I took as an undergrad. I adored it — definitely one of those texts that just gets more fascinating the closer you look at! — although for whatever reason I’ve never got round to reading either the Georgics or the Eclogues. Reading Lavinia gave me a whole new appreciation for just how good my A-Level teaching was — I was astonished by how much of the poem I remembered, given that it will be ten years this summer since I took that exam.
Abigail Nussbaum: I think that within this group, my credentials are the least impressive. Like Niall, I haven’t read the Aeneid, but having grown up and been educated in a non-English speaking country I feel that I’m perhaps even farther away from it than he is, since my education placed a lesser emphasis on Western literature and its founding texts than it did on Hebrew literature (plus, having been in a math and science track in high school, I took only the very basic literature classes). On the Le Guin front, Lavinia is only the second of her novels that I’ve managed to finish (the other is A Wizard of Earthsea, though I’ve never felt compelled to seek out its sequels). I bounced hard off Always Coming Home and The Left Hand of Darkness, though the latter, I think, has to do with having been too young when I picked it up, and I have enjoyed some of her short stories. I’ve been aware for a while that this a major gap in my reading, and Lavinia seemed like a good place to start a second attempt at Le Guin because of its excellent reception (Adam’s SH review was a major factor in my deciding to give the book a try) and because it seemed like a fairly simple, straightforward concept which I would either love or at least be able to get through quickly and easily.
In the end, my response is somewhere between these two extremes. I enjoyed reading Lavinia very much — it’s beautifully written and an almost effortless read, which I was able to appreciate all the more because I came to it right after finishing a rather poorly written novel. But appreciating and enjoying the experience of reading a novel aren’t quite the same as loving it, and I can’t put my finger on one thing that Lavinia does or is trying to do that makes it particularly excellent. As Adam says, this is a book that’s easier to praise as a gestalt than it is for its parts.
Niall Harrison: So can you pin down which elements of Lavinia you find yourself responding most strongly to — for better or worse?
Jo Coleman: What I enjoyed was Le Guin’s portrayal of early Italian religion. I loved Lavinia’s visit to Albunea, and particularly that scene of the Ambarvalia, which seemed to typify that ability Le Guin has to, as Adam put it, make the magic feel natural. She never makes a big deal about it, and simply makes a quiet, clear assumption that people live according to magic, whether it be “fantasy” magic or magic of pre-Christianity. To me, it’s that quiet, clear assumption that brings the day to day rituals she describes to life, and makes them seem both absolutely normal and wonderful at the same time.
She also deals very lightly with the values of Lavinia’s world — I love the way piety is explained, for example, or fas and nefas, what is the right and what, on the other hand, is against the right. I also agree with Adam, in his review, that Lavinia and Aeneas’ marriage is wonderfully portrayed.
On the other hand, I thought the very existence of Lavinia was uncharacteristically heavy-handed. I’m looking forward to disagreement here, but I didn’t think Lavinia’s meditations on whether she existed or not were necessary. Such metaphysical ponderings seemed to me to clash with the grounded practicality with which Lavinia and her world are brought to life. They didn’t seem part of its values, with its deep piety and respect for ancestors. Admittedly I don’t know much about pre-Roman Italian philosophy, but I’m hesitant as to whether Lavinia would, as Le Guin has painted her, so self-respecting and so pious, be willing to accept without a fuss the fact that she was only a creation of a Poet and therefore exempt from normal life and death, remaining a shadowy fictional ghost.
Which brings me to my second quibble, which is harder to pinpoint — and that is that despite the fact that Le Guin renders beautifully a pre-Roman Italian world, and that the battle scenes are certainly violent and tragic, it all felt to me a bit polished. Perhaps the polish is the quality of epic poetry which finds its way into the novel, or rather which Le Guin borrows, as I think she was certainly clear about exactly how she wanted her novel to be shaped by epic poetry and how she didn’t. But I’m not sure if I entirely believed in Lavinia’s world as a whole. Take the moment when she is telling us about her idyllic childhood exploring the hills with Silvia, who seems a bit like an early Italian Dicken with her tamed foxes and beribboned stag. This, Lavinia’s childhood, “the golden time of the first days when there was no fear in the world”. But is this a rendering of childhood, or a peculiarly idealized rendering of pre-Roman Italy? Is Ascanius’ shooting of the stag meant to symbolize its end? If so, it seems to me that Lavinia’s five years in the wood in her old age, surrounded by a herb garden and willing help and yet known as Mother Wolf because she shows no fear of the wilderness, seem a peculiarly cosy exile.
Le Guin’s writing (or, what I’ve read) is often beautifully calm, often fable like, in its evocation of the relationship between man and nature. But in this instance I think the historical novel and the fable like lullaby of its telling are at odds.
Nic Clarke: I think I read Lavinia primarily as an Aeneid fan, noting what was added, what was left out (several instances where the gods swoop in to save people, Iliad-style, which I guess we’ll discuss later), and what Le Guin did with certain scenes and themes. I also thought she mediated the poem’s transition between Odyssey and Iliad modes very well.
My litmus test, I suppose, is the death of Turnus, which haunted the novel — very properly — even if Le Guin’s, or Lavinia’s, desire to idealise Aeneas perhaps dulls some of its sharper edges. Or at least the sharper edges I think it has. (As in Marion Zimmer Bradley’s The Firebrand, I was struck by the portrayal of Aeneas as the thinking woman’s Classical crumpet. But, again, that’s a topic for later!) Which is, I think, my verdict on the novel as a whole: for the most part, a wonderful reading experience, but there were just a few aspects that seemed to me to lack bite.
I’m with Jo on the portrayal of pre-Roman religion and daily life, and I would broaden it to encompass the novel’s entire sense of place. The world was wonderfully lush and rich; I swear there were places where I could feel the sunshine radiating from the page. It is idealised, there’s no doubt, but I think this fits with the concerns of the poem — Virgil, too, is intensely interested in all things bucolic — and of our narrator.
Niall Harrison: So perhaps I should try to talk a bit more about how and why Lavinia worked for me in as someone who hasn’t read the Aeneid, and also about the world of the book. Certainly, I was apprehensive before I started the book — I’m generally wary of retellings and riffs of this sort, because I often find they can be irritating, and result in works with little identity of their own. You might even say there’s something perverse about sitting down to read a novel when it’s explicitly dependent on an earlier work with which you are unfamiliar, and I couldn’t entirely disagree.
In the first instance, I was won over by the reviews. Actually, wait, in the first instance I was put off by a review, specifically Cecelia Holland’s review in Locus, which stated:
And to which my response was: speak for yourself. Not only do I not believe in any such time, I do not fervently long to believe in it. Had Holland said “Le Guin manages to make us long for a time which may never have existed…” I’d have been fine with it; and, having read the book, I’d say that Le Guin actually does achieve something quite close to that. As Jo and Nic noted, the sense of closeness to nature, of the magic of nature, is full and almost overwhelming at times. There’s a very simple and attractive physicality to the book.
But I didn’t know that originally, and what won me over to the book was Adam’s review, and Gary Wolfe’s, which emphasised precisely the narratorial games that Jo expressed reservations about. I do have some reservations of my own (which in a sense relate to the sense of polish Jo mentions), but I also think it’s a brilliant conceit. Most importantly to me, Lavinia’s self-awareness gives Le Guin an excuse to fill in all the context I felt I was missing in a completely non-annoying way. I really don’t think I can emphasize how impressed I was by that, given how sceptical I usually am of such devices. She won me over entirely.
But I also think Lavinia ‘s self-awareness actually helps to create the attractiveness of Lavinia’s world, or perhaps to throw it into relief. Consider a passage like this:
It is only too likely that little Publius Virgilius Maro might have died at six or seven, ashes under a small gravestone in Mantua, before he was ever a poet; and with him would have died the hero’s glory, leaving a mere name among a thousand names of warriors, not even a myth on the Italian shore. We are all contingent. Resentment is foolish and ungenerous, and even anger is inadequate. I am a fleck of light on the surface of the sea, a glint of light from the evening star. I live in awe. If I never lived at all, yet I am a silent wing on the wind, a bodiless voice in the forest of Albunea. I speak, but all I can say is: go, go on. (65-6)
To me, the “We are all contingent” — which comes from Lavinia’s anxiety about her reality — and “I live in awe” — which speaks to the luminous world Le Guin is creating — are inextricably linked. The one reinforces the other. Similarly, I think the intrusion of Virgil allows Le Guin to very carefully control her reader’s response to the events of the book, in terms of what expectations it creates, which parts of the story it emphasizes, and so on — and I think that is one of the tricks that meant I, as someone who hadn’t read Virgil, felt at home in Lavinia.
Niall Book Discussion, Fantasy 10 Comments September 9, 2009 September 9, 2009
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Did The Australian Media And Military Collude To Launch An Infowar Attack On Russia?
December 1, 2020 Web Editor Geopolitics, International Affairs, Opinion Leave a comment
By Andrew Korybko
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation appears to have colluded with the Australian Defence Ministry to launch an information warfare attack on Russia under the pretext of responding to Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova’s scathing comments condemning the island nation for the war crimes that Canberra itself recently concluded that its soldiers carried out in Afghanistan, which also served to mislead the Australian public and therefore violated the publicly financed media outlet’s first editorial standard to “maintain [its] independence and integrity”.
Australia tries hard to present itself as a beacon of so-called “Western Democracy” in the Asia-Pacific, largely in order to contrast itself with new rival China nowadays, but the reality is that the country’s reputation in this respect has been ruined by none other than its own hand after a government investigation recently concluded that its soldiers were responsible for unlawfully killing at least 39 people during the ongoing War on Afghanistan. These findings predictably led to a flurry of condemnation across the world, including from Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Zakharova who remarked that “It makes us reassess the true meaning of the official line pronounced by Canberra to protect the rules-based world order.” This in turn prompted the publicly financed Australian Broadcasting Corporation’s (ABC) Andrew Greene to publish a response under the title “Russia accused of ‘hypocrisy’ after attacking Australia over Afghanistan war crimes report”.
The article quoted Australian Strategic Policy Institute (ASPI) executive director Peter Jennings who claimed that Russia’s alleged actions in regards to the MH17 tragedy, Crimea, and Syria discredit Zakharova’s statement and supposedly shows “the height of hypocrisy that the Russians are prepared to go to in their sustained attack on the Western democracies.” What’s incredibly ironic about Jennings’ comment is that it might actually be him and Greene who are carrying out a sustained attack on none other than Australian democracy through this article. The ABC’s first editorial standard according to its own website is to “Maintain the independence and integrity of the ABC”, but Greene arguably violated his professional ethics by not disclosing some crucial facts about Jennings’ biography and think tank that are relevant to his audience. Had he done so, then Australians might have rightly wondered whether this expert had ulterior motives in sharing the commentary that he did.
Jennings’ official biography on the ASPI website describes his long professional career in the Australian government, in particular its Department of Defence. It notes that “Peter has worked at senior levels in the Australian Public Service on defence and national security. Career highlights include being Deputy Secretary for Strategy in the Defence Department (2009-12); Chief of Staff to the Minister for Defence (1996-98) and Senior Adviser for Strategic Policy to the Prime Minister (2002-03).” His biography also states that “Peter has previously held a number Senior Executive Service positions in Defence including First Assistant Secretary International Policy Division and First Assistant Secretary Coordination and Public Affairs.” Unaware Australians who might took the ABC’s editorial standards at face value would have therefore been under the false impression that he was an independent expert, not a former high-ranking official of the Defence Department.
In addition, Australians also weren’t informed that Jennings’ think tank is partially funded not only by the same Defence Department that previously employed him and which he was asked to comment about in Greene’s article, but also the American and Dutch embassies, as well as NATO’s Strategic Communications Centre of Excellence, among others. As ASPI’s executive director, Jennings would have been aware of this financing but either he declined to disclose it or Greene was professionally negligent and didn’t bother to investigate it. The possibility also exists that Jennings did indeed inform Greene and/or Greene somehow or another found out about this, but the latter chose not to share these facts with his audience despite them obviously representing a potential conflict of interest in respect to his interviewee’s comments criticizing Russia’s alleged actions in regards to MH17, Crimea, and Syria.
Regardless of however it came about, and only Greene can account for this if publicly challenged by Australians to do so, the fact of the matter is that this journalist failed in his professional duty to the public. By either not doing his job properly like the taxpayers expect him to do as a representative of the ABC or outright violating his employer’s code of ethics for inexplicable reasons, the outcome is the same, and it’s that Australians were deceived into thinking that Jennings was an independent expert with no possible ulterior motives behind his commentary. The reality, however, is that this expert isn’t independent, but is part of the Australian military establishment. ASPI is also partially funded by his former employer, NATO, and the two foreign countries that have an interest in denigrating Russia for its alleged actions in regards to MH17, Crimea, and Syria. Whether intentional or not, this amounts not only to an info-war attack on Russia, but also on Greene’s fellow Australians.
At the very least, Greene failed to do his job properly, but an investigation should also be commenced to determine whether the worst-case scenario transpired wherein he as a representative of the ABC might have colluded with the Australian Defence Ministry via Jennings to deliberately mislead the public, perhaps at his employer’s behest or with its tacit approval. Australia’s reputation as a “Western Democracy” was seriously harmed by his actions since it wouldn’t be surprising if they raise suspicions among the public about the government’s intentions towards them. If it turns out to be the case that the ABC did indeed collude with the Australian Defence Ministry to simultaneously launch an info-war attack on Russia while also misleading the Australian public, then that means that the publicly financed media outlet violated its first editorial standard to “maintain [its] independence and integrity” and should therefore face the appropriate consequences.
Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Voice of East.
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Tag: President Trump
House Votes to Impeach Trump (Again)
Speaker Nancy Pelosi presides over the impeachment vote. Photo from the AP.
Lawmakers in the House of Representatives have cast votes to impeach President Trump again in a historic first, according to CNN. The final vote was 232-197. “On this vote, the ayes are 232; the nays are 197. The resolution is adopted,” said Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, banging her gavel. The impeachment resolution charges Trump with a single article, “incitement of insurrection,” for his role in last week’s deadly Capitol riot.
In the end, 232 House members voted to impeach the President, including 10 (!) Republicans. They are: Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), Rep. Anthony Gonzalez (Ohio), Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (Wash.), Rep. John Katko (N.Y.), Rep. Adam Kinzinger (Ill.), Rep. Peter Meijer (Mich.), Rep. Dan Newhouse (Wash.), Rep. Tom Rice (S.C.), Rep. Fred Upton (Mich.), and Rep. David Valadao (Calif.). “This is the most bipartisan impeachment vote in the history of the United States,” said CNN reporter Phil Mattingly.
The next step is a trial. But the soonest Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell would start an impeachment trial is next Tuesday, the day before Trump is set to leave the White House, McConnell’s office told the Associated Press. Though Trump won’t be convicted before his term is up, impeachment is also intended to prevent Trump from ever running for office again. (If convicted, Trump would lose funding for traveling and office staff, according to lawyer and View co-host Sunny Hostin. Trump would also lose the presidential pension: $200,000 a year, for life.)
McConnell believes Trump committed impeachable offenses, a Republican strategist told The Associated Press on Wednesday. McConnell told major donors over the weekend that he was through with Trump, said the strategist. But in a note to colleagues Wednesday, McConnell said he had “not made a final decision on how I will vote.”
As soon as the gavel came down, Trump became the only President in history to be impeached twice. The vote took place after hours of vigorous and often heated debate.
At around 11:15 am, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi opened debate with a poignant seven-minute speech. In her remarks, Pelosi noted that “in his annual address to our predecessors in Congress in 1862, President Abraham Lincoln spoke of the duty of the Patriot, in an hour of decisive crisis for the American people. ‘Fellow citizens,’ he said, ‘we cannot escape history. We will be remembered in spite of ourselves; no personal significance or insignificance can spare one or another of us. The fiery trial through which we pass will light us down in honor or dishonor to the latest generation. We, even we here,’ he said, ‘hold the power and bear the responsibility.’ In the Bible St. Paul wrote, ‘Think on these things.’ We must think on what Lincoln told us,” Pelosi said.
“We, even here — even us, here — hold the power and bear the responsibility. We, you and I, hold and trust the power that derives most directly from the people of the United States, and we bear the responsibility to fulfill that oath that we all swear before God and before one another: that oath to defend the Constitution against all enemies, foreign and domestic, so help us God.
We know that we face enemies of the Constitution; we know that we experienced the insurrection that violated the sanctity of the people’s Capitol and attempted to overturn the duly recorded will of the American people. And we know that the president of the United States incited this insurrection, this armed rebellion against our common country. He must go. He is a clear and present danger to the nation that we all love.”
Pelosi continued: “Since the presidential election in November — an election the president lost — he has repeatedly lied about the outcome, sowed self-serving doubt about democracy, and unconstitutionally sought to influence state officials to repeal reality. And then came that day of fire we all experienced.
The president must be impeached, and I believe the president must be convicted by the Senate, a constitutional remedy that will ensure that the Republic will be safe from this man who was so resolutely determined to tear down the things that we hold dear, and that hold us together.
It gives me no pleasure to say this. It breaks my heart. It should break your heart. It should break all of our hearts, for your presence in this hallowed chamber is testament to your love for our country, for America, and to your faith in the work of our founders to create a more perfect union.
Those insurrectionists were not patriots. They were not part of a political base to be catered to and managed. They were domestic terrorists, and justice must prevail. But they did not appear out of a vacuum. They were sent here by the president with words such as a cry to ‘Fight like hell.’ Words matter. Truth matters. Accountability matters. In his public exhortations to them, the president saw the insurrectionists, not as the foes of freedom, as they are, but as the means to a terrible goal, the goal of his personally clinging to power, the goal of thwarting the will of the people,” Pelosi said.
Pelosi asked her colleagues: “I ask you to search your souls and answer these questions. Is the president’s war on democracy in keeping with the Constitution? Were his words and insurrectionary mob a high crime and misdemeanor? Do we not have the duty to our oath to do all we constitutionally can do to protect our nation and our democracy from the appetites and ambitions of a man who has self-evidently demonstrated that he is a vital threat to liberty, to self-government, and to the rule of law?”
Rep. Jim Jordan answered none of those questions. Instead, he talked about a four-year-old article in a local paper. “On Jan. 20, 2017, 19 minutes into President Trump’s administration, at 12:19 p.m., The Washington Post’s headline was ‘Campaign to impeach President Trump has begun.’ Now, with just one week left, they are still trying.” Jordan argued that the impeachment was an example of “cancel culture”, that Democrats were trying to cancel the president.
Jordan offered little commentary about the riot itself. Instead, he threw out false equivalence between the Capitol riots and the Black Lives Matter protests this summer: “Riots are OK for some,” he claimed. “Democrats can raise bail for rioters and looters this summer. But somehow when Republicans condemn all the violence, the violence this summer, the violence last week, somehow we’re wrong.”
EDITOR’S NOTE: 93% of Black Lives Matter protests this summer were peaceful. Yet black protesters were met with chemical dispersants, rubber bullets and hand-to-hand combat from police. More than 14,000 arrests were made, per the Associated Press. But when pro-Trump white people stormed the Capitol — swarming steps, climbing walls, smashing windows, breaking glass, throwing fire extinguishers, acting like BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD — police welcomed them through barricades and in some cases took selfies with them. Barely more than a few dozen arrests. Members of a wild mob were escorted from the premises, some not even in handcuffs. But Rep. Jordan didn’t mention that.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy was more measured. He not only condemned the riots but held Trump accountable for them. “Madam Speaker, let me be clear: last week’s violent attack on the Capitol was undemocratic, un-American and criminal. Violence is never a legitimate form of protest. Freedom of speech and assembly under the constitution is rooted in non-violence. Yet the violent mob that descended upon this body was neither peaceful nor democratic. It acted to disrupt Congress’s constitutional responsibility.” He, too, quoted Lincoln: “A young lawyer named Abraham Lincoln famously said, ‘There is no grievance that is a fit object of redress by mob law.’ Yet for several hours last week, mob law tried to interfere with constitutional law.”
McCarthy added: “The President bears responsibility for Wednesday’s attack on Congress by mob rioters. He should have immediately denounced the mob when he saw what was unfolding.” But he added: “I believe impeaching the President in such a short timeframe would be a mistake.” That line was echoed by Republicans throughout the day.
Trump Banned From Twitter; House Dems Prepare to Impeach Him (Again)
US Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Democrat of California, holds her weekly press conference at the US Capitol on January 7, 2021, in Washington, DC. Pelosi called for the 25th Amendment to the Constitution to be invoked, following the attack on the US Capitol. (Photo by BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP via Getty Images)
“In calling for this seditious act, the President has committed an unspeakable assault on our nation and our people. I join the Senate Democratic leader in calling on the Vice President to remove this president by immediately invoking the 25th Amendment. If the Vice President and Cabinet do not act, the Congress may be prepared to move forward with impeachment.”
With these words, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi made clear her intention to hold the President accountable for inciting a deadly, seditious riot on Wednesday afternoon. But Democratic Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Ted Lieu of California and Jamie Raskin of Maryland have already distributed a draft article of impeachment titled “Incitement of Insurrection,” according to NBC News. The article, which at present is singular, begins: “Resolved, that Donald John Trump, President of the United States, is impeached for high crimes and misdemeanors.”
Article I: “Incitement of Insurrection,” reminds the reader that the House of Representatives has the sole power to impeach a President, based on the rather nebulous “high crimes and misdemeanors”. It continues as follows: “In his conduct of the office of President to the United States — and in violation of his constitutional oath faithfully to execute the office of President of the United States,” they write, “Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanors by willfully inciting violence against the Government of the United States.”
On Jan. 6, 2021, Trump addressed his supporters at a rally, ahead of a congressional vote that would cement the victory of his opponent. During that rally, he repeated a variety of false claims. “We won this election, and we won it by a landslide,” he lied. “They rigged it like they’ve never rigged an election before.” He encouraged the crowds to march on the Capitol in protest of what he insisted was a “stolen” election: “If you don’t fight like hell, you’re not going to have a country anymore.” He spoke to the misplaced anger and victimhood the supporters felt, inflaming it further: “Our country has had enough. We will not take it anymore […] You’ll never take back our country with weakness. You have to show strength, and you have to be strong.”
While Congress was meeting to certify Biden’s win as President-Elect,, the mob of Trump supporters showed their strength — by swarming the Capitol building and bursting inside. The House members credit Trump with emboldening the mob, writing that he “willfully made statements that encouraged — and foreseeably resulted in — imminent lawless action at the Capitol.”
“Incited by President Trump, a mob unlawfully breached the Capitol, injured law enforcement, menaced members of Congress and the Vice President [and] engaged in violent, deadly, destructive, and seditious acts,” the Article of Insurrection reads. Indeed, the mob stormed the steps, forced their way into the building, and even scuffled with law enforcement (on video!). They climbed the walls and broke glass windows. They trespassed into government offices and put their feet up on desks. They vandalized doors and even stole furniture. In the end, five people died in the melee yesterday, including a Capitol Police officer.
But far from being upset by the fracas, Trump seemed to relish it. A video has emerged of him and his family watching the carnage onscreen, with son Don, Jr. live-streaming the event; his girlfriend Kimberly Guilfoyle is seen dancing to the ’80s hit “Gloria”. And CNN reporter Kaitlan Collins said the President was “enthusiastic” about it: “He did not come out outright and condemn it. Actually, they had to convince him to send in the National Guard. He was very resistant to that at the beginning. And I’m told by one person that he was borderline enthusiastic over watching people wearing his sweatshirts, waving his flags going up to Capitol Hill and derailing the certification process, which is what the president wanted,” she told Don Lemon.
One Republican senator backed up Collins’ account. “As this was unfolding on television, Donald Trump was walking around the White House confused about why other people on his team weren’t as excited as he was as you had rioters pushing against Capitol Police trying to get into the building,” Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Nebraska) told conservative talk show host Hugh Hewitt in an interview. “That was happening. He was delighted.”
House Reps. Lieu, Raskin and Cicilline write that Trump’s actions were part of a pattern of behavior intended to subvert the election. “Those efforts include, but are not limited to, a phone call on Jan. 2, 2021, in which the President of the United States urged Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” enough votes to overturn the Georgia presidential election results and threatened Mr. Raffensperger if he failed to do so.” Now, a bombshell CNN report reveals that Trump made other calls to achieve his goal.
CNN says that while riots raged at the Capitol, Trump was calling senators in yet another attempt to overturn the election. Trump called Sen. Mike Lee (R-Utah) Wednesday afternoon, thinking he was calling Sen. Tommy Tuberville (R-Alabama). “Trump first called the personal cell phone of Lee, a Utah Republican, shortly after 2 p.m. ET. At that time the senators had been evacuated from the Senate floor and were in a temporary holding room, as a pro-Trump mob began breaching the Capitol. Lee picked up the phone and Trump identified himself, and it became clear he was looking for Tuberville and had been given the wrong number. Lee, keeping the President on hold, went to find his colleague and handed Tuberville his phone, telling him the President was on the line and had been trying to reach him.”
Tuberville spoke with Trump for less than 10 minutes, CNN says. Trump tried to convince him to object further to the Electoral College vote, in a futile effort to block Congress’ certification of President-elect Joe Biden’s win, according to a source familiar with the call. The call was cut off because senators were asked to move to a secure location.
In the wake of this seditious activity, social media platforms are taking action. After temporarily suspending him, Twitter announced today that it is banning Donald Trump from posting on the platform. “After close review of recent Tweets from the @realDonaldTrump account and the context around them we have permanently suspended the account due to the risk of further incitement of violence,” Twitter said. “In the context of horrific events this week, we made it clear on Wednesday that additional violations of the Twitter Rules would potentially result in this very course of action.” The ban does not apply, however, to the @POTUS account.
But it’s the latest in a series of blows to Trump on social media. After Trump recorded a video urging protesters to go home — saying, “We love you. You are very special” — Facebook and YouTube took down the video, with Facebook also banning Trump from posting for 24 hours. Snapchat and Instagram locked Trump’s account.
UPDATE: Trump has begun tweeting from the @POTUS account, insisting that “We will not be SILENCED!!!” He added that he would “also look at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future.” Twitter has taken the tweets down.
Trump returns, on the @POTUS account, and says he is looking "at the possibilities of building out our own platform in the near future." pic.twitter.com/AhbICQ82OM
— Josh Wingrove (@josh_wingrove) January 9, 2021
UPDATE (Jan. 11, 2021): The representatives have introduced an updated version of the impeachment resolution. The language is largely reminiscent of the earlier draft. As in the previous version, this version alleges that Trump’s incitement of the riot is part of a pattern of behavior: “President Trump’s conduct on Jan. 6, 2021, followed his prior efforts to subvert and obstruct the certification of the results of the 2020 presidential election. Those prior efforts included a phone call on Jan. 2, 2021, during which President Trump urged the secretary of state of Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, to ‘find’ enough votes to overturn the Georgia Presidential election results and threatened Secretary Raffensperger if he failed to do so.”
UPDATE (Jan. 12, 2021): A bombshell new report from the New York Times alleges that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is actually pleased with House Democrats’ impeachment of President Trump. “Senator Mitch McConnell, the Republican leader, has told associates that he believes President Trump committed impeachable offenses and that he is pleased that Democrats are moving to impeach him, believing that it will make it easier to purge him from the party, according to people familiar with his thinking. The House is voting on Wednesday to formally charge Mr. Trump with inciting violence against the country,” the Times reports.
At the same time, House Minority Leader, Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-California), has asked other Republicans whether he should call on Mr. Trump to resign after the riot at the Capitol last week, according to three Republican officials briefed on the conversations. Despite being one of Trump’s most steadfast allies in Congress, McCarthy is considering joining fellow Republicans like Sen Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) and Rep. Adam Kinzinger in requesting the President’s resignation. While Mr. McCarthy has said he is personally opposed to impeachment, he and other party leaders have decided not to formally lobby Republicans to vote “no,” the Times added. An aide to Mr. McCarthy said he was open to a measure censuring Mr. Trump for his conduct.
And one House Republican says he will even vote for impeachment. According to syracuse.com, U.S. Rep. John Katko said today he will vote to impeach President Donald Trump for inciting a riot last week at the U.S. Capitol. Rep. Katko is the first House Republican to acknowledge that he will join at least 218 House Democrats who signed onto an impeachment resolution. “To allow the president of the United States to incite this attack without consequence is a direct threat to the future of our democracy,” Katko said in a statement.
BREAKING: Republican Rep. Liz Cheney (of Wyoming) says that she will vote to impeach the President. The President of the United States summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack. Everything that followed was his doing. None of this would have happened without the President,” Cheney said in a statement. “There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”
JUST IN (7:11 pm): In a letter to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, Vice President Mike Pence says he will not invoke the 25th Amendment to have Trump removed from office: “Every American was shocked and saddened by the attack on our Nation’s Capitol last week, and I am grateful for the leadership that you and other congressional leaders provided in reconvening Congress to complete the people’s business on the very same day,” Pence writes. “But now, with just eight days left in the President’s term, you and the Democratic Caucus are demanding that the Cabinet and I invoke the 25th Amendment.”
“I do not believe that such a course of action is in the best interest of our Nation or consistent with our Constitution,” Pence declares. “I will not now yield to efforts in the House of Representatives to play political games at a time so serious in the life of our Nation.” Pence argues that invoking the 25th now would “set a terrible precedent”. He concludes:
“I urge you and every member of Congress to avoid actions that would further divide and inflame the passions of the moment. Work with us to lower the temperature and unite our country as we prepare to inaugurate President-elect Joe Biden as the next President of the United States.”
This move sets up a showdown in Congress, as the House is set to vote on impeachment tomorrow. Today, Rep. Adam Kinzinger joined fellow Republicans Liz Cheney and John Katko in saying that he would vote for impeachment. They join over 100 House Republicans who have pledged to do the same.
Tonight, in a statement on her website, Speaker Nancy Pelosi named Impeachment Managers. “Tonight, I have the solemn privilege of naming the Managers of the impeachment trial of Donald Trump,” said Speaker Pelosi. “It is their constitutional and patriotic duty to present the case for the President’s impeachment and removal. They will do so guided by their great love of country, determination to protect our democracy and loyalty to our oath to the Constitution. Our Managers will honor their duty to defend democracy For The People with great solemnity, prayerfulness and urgency.”
The Impeachment Managers include:
Congressman Jamie Raskin, Lead Manager: Congressman Jamie Raskin is a member of the Committee on Oversight and Reform, where he serves as Chair of Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Civil Liberties and on the Judiciary Committee, where he serves as Vice Chair of the Subcommittee on the Constitution. Before his time in Congress, Raskin was a three-term State Senator in Maryland and a professor of constitutional law at American University’s Washington College of Law for more than 25 years.
Congressman David Cicilline: Congressman Cicilline is a member of the Judiciary Committee. He also serves on the Foreign Affairs Committee. He is serving his sixth term in Congress. Early in his career, Cicilline served as a public defender in D.C. He served two terms as Mayor of Providence and four terms in the Rhode Island House of Representatives.
Congressman Ted Lieu: Congressman Lieu serves on the Judiciary Committee and the Committee on Foreign Affairs. He is a former active-duty officer in the U.S. Air Force who served as a prosecutor in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and currently serves as a Colonel in the Reserves. He is serving his fourth term in Congress.
Congressman Joaquin Castro: Congressman Castro serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and on the Foreign Affairs Committee, where he is also Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. He is serving his fifth term in Congress. Prior to his election to Congress, he served five terms in the Texas Legislature and served as a litigator in private practice.
Congressman Eric Swalwell: Congressman Swalwell serves on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence and on the Judiciary Committee. He is a former prosecutor and is the son and brother of law enforcement officers. He is serving his fifth term in Congress.
Congresswoman Diana DeGette: Congresswoman DeGette serves on the Energy and Commerce Committee as Chair of the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations. She is serving her 13th term in office. Before serving in the U.S. House of Representatives, DeGette was an attorney focusing on civil rights.
Please watch this space for any continuing updates.
Terrance Turner Uncategorized Leave a comment January 8, 2021 January 12, 2021 10 Minutes
Pro-Trump Mob Storms U.S. Capitol; National Guard Activated
A pro-Trump mob storms the U.S. Capitol following a rally on January 6, 2021 in Washington, DC. Trump supporters gathered in the nation’s capital today to protest the ratification of President-elect Joe Biden’s Electoral College victory. (Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
Demonstrators breeched security and entered the Capitol as Congress debated the a 2020 presidential election Electoral Vote Certification. (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS / AFP) (Photo by ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)
A horde of pro-Trump protesters insurrectionists have descended on the U.S. Capitol in Washington, D.C. They breached police lines to gather on the Capitol steps and have now entered the building. Their presence en masse has interrupted Congressional proceedings on certifying President-Elect Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election. Violence has erupted; the Virginia state police and the entire National Guard have been activated.
According to Axios, “Capitol police ordered lawmakers and reporters to shelter in place within the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday, as protesters at a “March for Trump” breached the building following Congress beginning to certify Electoral College votes for Joe Biden. Where it stands: The House and Senate are in recess and all the doors are now closed in the House Chambers, per Axios reporters on the ground. Vice President Mike Pence, overseeing the certification of Electoral College votes, left the Senate chamber shortly after 2 p.m.” (All times are in Eastern Standard Time.)
CNN is now reporting (as of approx. 2:50 pm EST) that an armed standoff is occurring at the door of the front door of the House building. That detail has now been confirmed by Bloomberg News reporter Erik Wasson:
Armed standoff on House floor. Police pointing guns at protestors who have broken glass door
— Erik Wasson (@elwasson) January 6, 2021
Shortly afterward, some of the protesters have begun scuffling with law enforcement:
Rioters have broken into the Capitol building and are fighting law enforcement. Video by @ElijahSchaffer: pic.twitter.com/vfafgJU6YX
— Andy Ngô (@MrAndyNgo) January 6, 2021
Video has emerged of police ALLOWING these insurrectionists to breach police blockades and enter the Capitol, which laid the groundwork for them to gather near the Senate chamber:
https://twitter.com/kylenabecker/status/1346938352138903552
This is happening pic.twitter.com/MNDC2Nh1Cg
UPDATE (2:25 pm): Live on CNN, rioters were shown breaking into the Capitol building, breaking a window and climbing inside:
Video of Trump supporters breaking into the Capitol pic.twitter.com/imwGubWPEB
— Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) January 6, 2021
The incident occurred roughly 40 minutes ago. In the past hour, word broke that shots had been fired inside the Capitol building. A woman is reportedly in critical condition after being shot in the chest while inside the building.
BREAKING (4:13 PM): President-Elect Joe Biden is speaking live on the violent siege at the Capitol: “This is not dissent. It’s disorder, it’s chaos. It borders on sedition, and it must end now. I call on this mob to pull back and allow the work of democracy to go forward,” he says. He calls on President Trump to address the nation on television and call for an end to the violence: “”I call on President trump to go on national television now ,and demand an end to this siege,” he says. “I call on the president to go on national television right now and uphold his oath to defend the constitution.”
Biden continues his remarks by quoting Abraham Lincoln: “We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best hope of earth. Other means may succeed; this could not fail. The way is plain, peaceful, generous, just — a way which, if followed, the world will forever applaud, and God must forever bless.” He concludes: “I’m not concerned about my safety, security or the inauguration. The American people are going to stand up now. Enough is enough is enough.”
As he speaks, more is developing. The News Station Managing editor Matt Lasslo tweeted at 3:11 pm: “BREAKING: PROTESTERS JUST BREACHED THE NORTH DOOR OF THE CAPITOL. AGAIN. ‘Really? Again?’ one of the heroic, exhausted and frustrated Capitol Police officers escorting me and a crew of others out of the complex just said to his colleagues.”
The President has spoken — finally. In a recorded video message, he urged supporters to go home — and repeated the lie about his election loss. “This was a fraudulent election,” Trump insisted. “But you have to go home now. We have to have peace. We have to have law & order.”
It s a cruel irony that the “law and order president” somehow presided over a violent insurrection that endangered scores of elected officials and the officers who were injured trying to control the crowds. “Where are the arrests?” asked CNN commentator Gloria Borger. “When it was Black Lives Matter, they had people in riot gear ringing the Capitol, as if it was gonna be stormed,” Anderson Cooper noted. By contrast, mostly white pro-Trump protesters stormed the Capitol steps and broke into the building, and police were shown on camera observing.
Many are noting the contrast in how these protesters are acting — and have been treated — versus Black Lives Matter protesters. When Black Lives Matter protesters were blocks away from the Capitol, a massive National Guard presence was there on the steps. Police were quick to subdue and arrest them. But when pro-Trump white people stormed the capitol — climbing walls, breaking glass, stealing podiums, acting like beasts of the Southern wild — it took hours for the National Guard to arrive. Police let them in and in some cases stood by, watching, as they ransacked the Capitol.
When BLM protests broke out over the summer in response to the killings of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, pundits (many conservative) assailed the protesters as violent thugs. Arrests, tear-gassing, and even rubber bullets became commonplace. Peaceful protesters were tear-gassed in D.C. so that Trump could pose with a Bible for a photo-op back in June. But it was these pro-Trump protesters who stormed the Capitol and breached barricades in a thuggish display of opposition. And they were allowed to do so. CNN anchor Don Lemon pointed out the dichotomy:
They allow these people to run rampant in Washington but they gas peaceful #BLM protesters?! WOW pic.twitter.com/k6GUoJRkE6
— Don Lemon (@donlemon) January 6, 2021
Police have done basically nothing about this mob that has overtaken the Capitol. Maybe pretend the Capitol is a Target and the people storming the "Target" are Black
— Kirsten Powers (@KirstenPowers) January 6, 2021
Here’s a looter stealing a podium from inside the U.S. Capitol and not getting shot, tear gassed, or thrown in an unmarked police van. #MakesYaThink pic.twitter.com/LX6PVddqCe
— Tom Morello (@tmorello) January 6, 2021
This was the US Capitol during the BLM protests and this is it today. pic.twitter.com/BhpZd6pw8e
— O M (@oliviamunn) January 6, 2021
UPDATE (app. 5pm EST): Riot gear police have FINALLY arrived on the scene and are assembling on the Capitol steps. They are walking, slowly, down the stairs and dispersing the crowds from the stairs. This has only occurred after HOURS of mayhem by the MAGA crowd.
UPDATE: 5:13 pm CST: The woman who was shot in the chest during today’s melee has died. That’s according to two officials familiar with the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday on condition of anonymity because they weren’t authorized to speak publicly.
Nancy Pelosi says that Congress will proceed with today’s scheduled vote on certification. Congress will certify Joe Biden’s victory, she says. It is unclear whether or not the 13 senators who pledged to object will continue to do so. It remains to be seen whether those senators will commit to the idiotic and futile plan that engendered today’s violence.
In the meantime, Donald Trump faces criticism for encouraging the rebellion: he had, after all, told his supporters at a rally today to march to the Capitol. But instead of apologize for ginning up this melee, Trump sent a tweet that justifies the violence and mayhem this afternoon. “These are the things and events that happen when a sacred landslide election victory is so unceremoniously & viciously stripped away from great patriots who have been badly & unfairly treated for so long,” he tweeted. Twitter removed the tweet due to a violation of its rules. But the damage is done.
The publication Mother Jones is declaring Trump a “terrorist leader“. There is talk of enacting the 25th Amendment, which removes a president from office if he proves to be unfit. But one menber of Congress has other plans for Trump. Rep. Ilhan Omar says she is drafting articles of impeachment. “Donald J. Trump should be impeached by the House of Representatives & removed from office by the United States Senate,” wrote Omar, a Democrat from Minnesota. “We can’t allow him to remain in office, it’s a matter of preserving our Republic and we need to fulfill our oath.”
UPDATE: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser has declared a state of emergency in D.C. for 15 days — extending through the end of Trump’s term.
Terrance Turner Politics, Television Leave a comment January 6, 2021 January 14, 2021 9 Minutes
Biden Nominates Merrick Garland for Attorney General
Photo from Politico.
President-Elect Joe Biden has selected Judge Merrick Garland to serve as Attorney General. Politico confirmed the news with two sources familiar with the decision.
In 2016, then-President Barack Obama nominated Judge Garland to serve on the Supreme Court, filling the vacancy left by late Justice Antonin Scalia. But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R) blocked Garland’s nomination. McConnell refused to even bring the nomination up for a vote, letting him languish in limbo for a whole year. When President Trump took office, he nominated Judge Neil Gorsuch to fill that seat.
McConnell blocked Garland on the pretense of not filling a Supreme Court seat during an election year. But that excuse went out the window after the death of legendary Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. McConnell sped through Justice Amy Comey Barrett’s confirmation within mere days — despite it being mere weeks before the election. Now, however, McConnell faces the prospect of being Minority Leader, and Garland has been selected for the nation’s highest law enforcement slot.
Garland, 68, is a graduate of Harvard Law School. According to Axios, he has served on the U.S. District Court of Appeals in the District of Columbia since 1997. He served as chief judge from 2013 to Feb. 2020, according to The New York Times. He is a moderate, and he has gotten praise for high-quality opinions — clear, reasoned, and attentive to precedent — per the Times.
In a press conference on Jan. 7, Biden introduced Garland as his pick. Observers noted that Garland has prosecuted domestic terrorists such as the Oklahoma City bombers and the Olympic bombing in Atlanta. That experience proves especially valuable in light of yesterday’s terrorist attack on the Capitol. Biden spoke at length about the riot in his remarks today. “They weren’t protestors. Don’t dare call them protestors. They were a riotous mob […] domestic terrorists,” Biden asserted. He also noted that Garland had pointed out a little-known fact: the Department of Justice was originally formed to combat the Ku Klux Klan, to enforce the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.
Biden emphasized that Garland would serve “not as a personal attorney for the president, but the people’s lawyer.” Biden added: “You won’t work for me. You are not the president or the vice president’s lawyer. Your loyalty is not to me, it’s to the law, the Constitution, the people of this nation to guarantee justice.”
This is the latest in a series of game-changing personnel choices by Biden. On Nov. 24, 2020, he announced a number of high-profile nominations for key positions. Biden selected Antony Blinken for Secretary of State. Antony Blinken served as National Security Advisor to Biden (2009-2013). He also was Deputy National Security Advisor (2013-2015). Then he became Deputy Secretary of State (2015-2017). Biden described him as one of his most trusted advisors. Blinken returned the compliment in spades during his remarks, telling Biden: “Working with you, having you as a mentor and friend, has been the greatest privilege of my professional life”.
But he also opened up about his history: his grandmother fled Communist Hungary. His mother was chairwoman of the American Center for Students and Artists in Paris; his father was a U.S. Ambassador to Hungary. Blinken’s stepfather was a Holocaust survivor — one of 900 children at his school in Poland, but the only one to survive. His parents and sister were killed during the Holocaust.
Blinken told the story of his stepfather as a teenage boy in Bavaria. “At the end of the war, he made a break from a death march into the woods in Bavaria,” Blinken continued. “From his hiding place, he heard a deep rumbling sound. It was a tank. But instead of the Iron Cross, he saw painted on its side a five-pointed white star […] He ran to the tank. The hatch opened. An African American GI looked down at him. He got down on his knees and said the only three words he knew in English that his mother had taught him before the war. God bless America. The GI lifted him into the tank, into America, into freedom.”
“That’s who we are,” Blinken emphasized. “That’s what America represents to the world, however imperfectly.”
For Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Biden nominated Alejandro Mayorkas. Mr. Mayorkas, 61, was born in Havana, Cuba. Like Blinken’s family, Mayorkas’ family emigrated from Communist countries. “My father and mother brought me to this country to escape Communism. They cherished our democracy and were intensely proud to become American citizens, as was I,” Mayorkas said on Nov. 24.
Mayorkas served as U.S. Attorney for California for 12 years. He served as Director of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services from 2009-2013. USCIS oversees the naturalization process that helps people obtain green cards and become American citizens. As head, Mayorkas oversaw DACA. He later served as Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Dept. of Homeland Security (2013-2016). If confirmed, he will be the first Latino (and first immigrant) to lead the Department.
For Director of National Intelligence, Biden nominated Avril Haines. Ms. Haines, 51, earned a J.D. from Georgetown University. She served as the first female Deputy Director of the CIA (2013-2015). Haines assisted the Director of the Central Intelligence Agency in carrying out his duties and responsibilities, including gathering and processing national security information. She then replaced Blinken as Deputy National Security Adviser (2015-17). “She always calls it as she sees it,” Biden says.
For Ambassador to the United Nations, Biden nominated Linda Thomas-Greenfield. Ms. Thomas-Greenfield, 68, grew up in segregated Louisiana. “My parents had very little,” she said on Nov. 24, “but they gave me and my siblings everything they had.”
Terrance Turner Politics, Uncategorized Leave a comment January 6, 2021 January 8, 2021 4 Minutes
Nov. 7, 2020 (updated Nov. 15)
Joseph Robinette Biden Jr. has been elected President of the United States.
The former Vice President was formally named as the winner this morning, after an agonizing four-day vote counting effort. Biden won the election after winning Pennsylvania — a result that was called by the Associated Press and NBC News at around 10:30 am. Pennsylvania’s 20 electoral votes gave Biden a total of 273, just above the 270 electoral votes needed to win the presidency.
The victory in Pennsylvania came after a slow but surprising surge by Biden. Donald Trump had led the state by nearly 15 percentage points days ago. But Biden steadily chipped away at that lead. Over the past few days, a steady stream of mail-in votes pushed him forward. Within the past 24 hours, Biden pulled ahead, leading with 49.6% of the vote to Trump’s 49.1%.
“I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris,” Biden said in a statement. “With the campaign over, it’s time to put the anger and the harsh rhetoric behind us and come together as a nation. It’s time for America to unite. And to heal. We are the United States of America. And there’s nothing we can’t do, if we do it together.”
Biden’s victory makes him the oldest man to be elected president. It makes his running mate Kamala Harris the first woman to become vice president. She is also the first Black person and first Indian to become vice president. Harris reacted to her historic achievement via tweet: “This election is about so much more than @JoeBiden or me. It’s about the soul of America and our willingness to fight for it,” she wrote.
In an intriguing note, CNN reporter Jeff Zeleny revealed that it was on this day — 48 years ago today — that Joe Biden won election to the Senate for the first time. Today, he becomes 46th President of the United States. This victory also comes after a long, long, long saga that involved laborious vote-counting. For a closer look at the process, check out the brief recap below.
Inside the Process
Nov. 4, 2020 (approx. 12:00 pm): After 16 agonizing hours of poll-watching and TV-viewing and number-crunching, we STILL don’t know. CNN’s John King has been telling us to “be patient” since last night. And we still don’t know who’s president. This election hinges on Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, and Nevada. If Joe Biden maintains his narrow lead in those four states, he becomes the next President of the United States.
But it’s still razor-thin. Those four states are still too close to call.
UPDATE (Nov. 4, 2020, 4:00 pm): Joe Biden has won the states of Michigan and Wisconsin. CNN reported the news this afternoon. Those two states are among the three in the “blue wall” that Biden was seeking to rebuild. His opponent, Donald Trump, won the presidency in 2016 largely due to his narrow victories in those three states. Biden sought to regain those states in his path to victory.
UPDATE (Nov. 5, 2020, 12:35 pm): The presidential race has narrowed.
Overnight, Joe Biden’s lead in the state of Arizona has narrowed. Biden maintains his lead in the states of Arizona and Nevada; if he wins those states, he wins the presidency. Significantly, however, Trump’s lead has also narrowed in some states. One of them, crucially, is Pennsylvania.
The president enjoyed a sizable lead of nearly 600,000 votes yesterday, leading 56.7% to 41.9% at midnight Wednesday. By 3:00 pm that day, however, the lead was nearly cut in half: Trump had 53.1% to Biden’s 45.6%. By 11:00 pm Wednesday, the lead shrunk significantly again: Trump led 50.8% to 47.9%. Now, on Thursday afternoon, President Trump’s lead has shrunken yet again, from 600,000 to 114,000 votes. (Trump has 3,231,147 votes at this point; Biden has 3,117,136.)
Trump now has 50.2% of the vote in Pennsylvania; Biden has 48.5%. Between midnight Wednesday and noon Thursday, the president’s lead shrunk from nearly fifteen percentage points down to 1.8. Pennsylvania is crucial. If Biden wins Pennsylvania, he wins the presidency. Trump must win Pennsylvania to win the election. As CNN’s John King put it: “Biden can win without it; the president cannot.”
According to CNN, 92% of the vote in Pennsylvania has been counted. There is now a legal battle over election ballots that were sent by or before Election Day, but arrived after the date. The Trump campaign filed a lawsuit over these ballots. Roughly 550,000 ballots in Pennsylvania have yet to be counted. Penn Secy. of State Kathy Boockvar said she expects that most of the ballots will be counted by the end of the day. “Why is it taking so long?” CNN anchor Jake Tapper asked. Boockvar answered that people “are working as quickly as they can. But as you know, these things take time.” She explained that staff are working on “reconciliation” of the votes.
UPDATE (6:50 pm): The race in Georgia has tightened dramatically. At midnight on Wednesday, Trump led by nearly ten percentage points (54.1% vs. 44.7%). By 9 am, however, the lead narrowed (50.5% vs. 48.5%). A day later, the margin once again tightened: by Thursday at 9 am, Trump had merely 49.6% to Biden’s 49.2%. Then the president’s lead again dwindled — this time to nearly nothing. With 99% of the votes in Georgia counted, Trump has 49.4% to Biden’s 49.3%. The president is only ahead by 3,486 votes.
According to CNN, the reason for these surprising shifts is that the mail-in ballots were counted last. Some states counted in different orders; Ohio, for example, counted mail-in ballots first. Pennsylvania, by contrast, counted Election Day votes first, then counted the votes cast by mail (similar to Georgia). This is how it works. This is NOT fraud (as the president has suggested).
Meanwhile, the race in Pennsylvania continues to evolve. Trump leads there by only 64,000 votes; he has 49.8% of the vote, to Biden’s 48.9%. However, the opposite is occurring in Arizona. Biden had enjoyed a comfortable lead of up to four percentage points. But the link has gradually shrunk over the past two days. Currently, Biden leads 50.5% to 48.5%.
UPDATE (Nov. 7): Everything has changed.
What had been a close race in Georgia became a virtual dead heat — Biden with 49.4% of the vote, Trump with 49.4%. But Biden has the edge, with just over 1,600 votes (as of this writing). On Wednesday at midnight, Trump led by nearly ten percent of the vote (54.1% to Biden’s 44.7%). But by 9 am, the lead had narrowed (50.5% to 48.5%). That lead continued to shrink the next morning. By 9 am Thursday, Biden trailed by less than half a percentage point. The race was 49.6% to 49.2%. By 6 pm, it was 49.4 to 49.3. Slowly but surely, the lead shifted to Biden.
The “Keystone State” Hands Biden Victory; Jubilance Ensues
Biden’s narrow win in Georgia surprised many observers. But it was Pennsylvania that would hand him the presidency.
It was a fitting win, given that Biden was actually born in Pennsylvania. Biden, 77, was born in Scranton, PA, in 1942. He was the first of five children, according to AZ Central. The family didn’t move to Delaware until 1953. But that is where Biden has made his home. Now, he has a new home: the White House.
Reaction to the victory has been resounding and widespread. Celebrations have broke out across the country. According to ABC 13 Houston, “Just after The Associated Press and other news organizations declared that former Vice President Joe Biden beat President Donald Trump, fireworks erupted in Atlanta. In Maine, a band playing at a farmers’ market broke into the ‘Battle Hymn of the Republic’.”
“Neighbors ran out of their homes in Manhattan and assembled into an unplanned street party, whooping, dancing and high-fiving strangers. In Louisville, Kentucky, Biden supporters gathered on their lawns to toast with champagne. In Harlem, they danced in the streets, banged cowbells and honked their car horns.” Thousands gathered to celebrate in Washington, D.C., the nation’s capital. Massive crowds gathered on the other side of the country, in San Francisco. People were literally dancing in the streets.
CNN commentator Nia-Malika Henderson pointed out that there was a sense of relief and happiness in the air. But she also noted the historic nature of the win — and its significance to her, as a Black woman. “I’m not that old [she’s 46], but I grew up at a time when I couldn’t even find black dolls, find books with, you know, reflections of black kids growing up,” she said. Now, a black (and brown) woman is Vice-President-Elect of the United States.
“I’m so excited to see a black woman in the White House, a brown woman in the White house, an Indian American woman in the White House,” said singer Lizzo, who campaigned for Biden in Michigan. “I am so ready to see if America can hold itself accountable.”
That night, both Biden and Harris gave addresses that matched the moment. Harris, dressed in suffragette white, addressed the crowd first. She opened by citing the legendary John Lewis: “Democracy is not a state; it is an act,” Harris began. “America’s democracy is not guaranteed. It is only as strong as our willingness to fight for it.” She thanked those who waited in lines to vote. “And when our very democracy was on the ballot in this election, with the very soul of America at stake,” she said, “you ushered in a new day for America.”
Harris lauded Biden as “a healer and uniter, a tested and steady hand”. She described him as “a guy with a big heart, who loves with abandon”. She noted that she first got to know him as the father of her friend (and Biden’s late son) Beau Biden. Harris and Beau Biden simultaneously served as attorneys general for their respective states (California and Delaware, respectively).
Harris thanked her husband and family, remembering her mother (who immigrated to the United States at just 19) in a poignant moment. And she commended women of all stripes and colors, with a special shoutout to one group: “Black women, who are so often overlooked, but have so often proven to be the backbone of our democracy.” Harris noted that many young girls (especially Black and brown ones) were watching. And she gave them hope for the future: “But while I might be the first woman in this position, I will not be the last.”
“I will strive to be a vice president like Joe was to Barack Obama: loyal, honest and prepared,” Harris went on. She vowed her running mate would be “a Commander-in-Chief who respects our troops, and a President for all Americans.” With that, she introduced the President-Elect of the United States: Joe Biden.
Biden jogged onto the stage, situated in front of a drive-through rally on the Christina River in northern Delaware. He began by recognizing familiar faces in the crowd, as well as his family. He devoted a portion of the speech to his wife, Dr. Jill Biden. But Biden also thanked election officials and poll workers who risked their lives in the midst of the pandemic.
At the outset of his speech, Biden struck a familiar, unifying tone: “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide, but unify — who doesn’t see red states and blue states, only sees the United States.” Biden stressed the need to unite as Americans: “We may be opponents, but we’re not enemies. We’re Americans.”
“I’m proud of the campaign we ran,” he said. He took pride in the coalition that helped him win: “Democrats, Republicans, independents, progressives, moderates, conservatives, young, old, urban, suburban, rural, gay, straight, transgender, White, Latino, Asian, Native American.” But he reserved special thanks to the Black voters who helped seal his victory: “Especially in those moments where this campaign was at its lowest, the African American community stood up again for me. You’ve always had my back, and I’ll have yours.”
In a move that would’ve been impossible for his predecessor, Biden reached out to those who didn’t vote for him. “To those who voted for Donald Trump: I understand the disappointment tonight. I’ve lost a couple of times myself. But now, let’s give each other a chance,” he said. He added: “It’s time to put away the harsh rhetoric, lower the temperature, see each other again, listen to each other again, and to make progress.” Speaking of progress, Biden announced a policy directive aimed at helping Americans cope with the coronavirus: Biden closed by saying he would announce on Monday a group of scientists and experts as transition advisers who would help combat COVID-19.
In a moving moment that reflected his Catholic faith, Biden said: “The Bible tells us that to everything there is a season — a time to build, a time to reap, a time to sow. And a time to heal. This is the time to heal in America.”
Biden concluded: “I’ve always believed we can define America in one word: possibilities. That in America, everyone should be given the opportunity to go as far as their dreams and God-given ability will take them […] With full hearts and steady hands, with faith in America and in each other, with a love of country — and a thirst for justice — let us be the nation that we know we can be.
A nation united.
A nation strengthened.
A nation healed.”
UPDATE (Nov. 13, 2020): It’s official.
Politico is now reporting that every state has been called in the 2020 presidential race.
President-Elect Joe Biden has won the state of Arizona, Politico says. Biden has also won the state of Georgia. With these two victories, Biden has flipped two historically Republican red states. The last Democratic president to win Georgia was Bill Clinton in 1992. The last Democrat to win Arizona was also Clinton, in 1996.
Biden’s win in Arizona was razor-close. Politico reports that the final count in Arizona gave Biden 49.4% of the vote to President Trump’s 49.1%. (That’s roughly 1,670,000 votes to Trump’s 1,659,000.) 99% of the vote in Arizona is in, making the final tally unlikely to change substantially. In Georgia, the results are similarly close. Biden wins with 49.5% of the vote; Trump has 49.2%. That equates to roughly 2,472,000 votes for Biden and about 2,458,000 for Trump.
The New York Times confirmed the news today, adding that President Trump won North Carolina. (Georgia and North Carolina were the last states to be called.) However, Trump’s win in North Carolina gives him merely 232 votes in the Electoral College. Biden has 306. Ironically, that’s the same total Trump had in 2016. Tellingly, Biden flipped five states that Trump won four years ago: Georgia, Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin. Mr. Trump did not flip any state that Hillary Clinton won in 2016.
UPDATE (Nov. 30): Biden’s wins in Arizona and Wisconsin were confirmed by election officials today, confirming a victory that is readily apparent to virtually everyone (except, perhaps, the current president). That adds to a historic vote total that Biden achieved last week, on Nov. 24:
Joe Biden set another record: He just passed 80,000,000 votes. The first in the history of the United States. @NBCNews
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) November 24, 2020
Biden’s vote total now exceeds his opponent’s by a historic margin of more than 6 million votes. Joseph Biden has 80 million votes — the most ever by a presidential candidate. He won.
UPDATE (Dec. 14, 2020): It’s official. Joe Biden reached the required 270 Electoral College votes today. This seals his victory in the 2020 presidential election. He WILL be the next President of the United States when he takes the oath of office in January 2021.
Terrance Turner Politics, Television, Top 10 Leave a comment November 7, 2020 December 25, 2020 10 Minutes
The President and First Lady Have Coronavirus.
Oct. 1, 2020 (UPDATED Oct. 2)
The President of the United States has tested positive for COVID-19. He announced just before midnight that both he and First Lady Melania Trump have tested positive:
Tonight, @FLOTUS and I tested positive for COVID-19. We will begin our quarantine and recovery process immediately. We will get through this TOGETHER!
This development poses a risk not only to the president’s reelection campaign, but also to his health. He is a 74-year-old-man of considerable girth; older Americans are more likely to face complications from COVID-19. Houston affiliate ABC 13 cited the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in writing that “people in the 65-74 age range face a five times greater risk of hospitalization and a 90 times greater risk of death from Covid-19 compared to young adults between the ages of 18-29.”
Excess weight is also likely to cause complications from the virus; CNN reported in June that Trump weighed 244 pounds and is 6 feet 3 inches tall. “That gives him a body mass index of 30.5, making him technically, if mildly, obese,” ABC 13 added. Obesity triples the risk of hospitalization from Covid-19, according to the CDC. These factors would appear to place the president in particular peril.
Accordingly, his schedule has been adjusted. According to the New York Times, “The White House did not say how long Mr. Trump would have to remain isolated, but it canceled his plans to fly to Florida for a campaign rally on Friday, stripping his public schedule for the day of everything except a midday telephone call ‘on Covid-19 support to vulnerable seniors’.” If the president remains in quarantine for the recommended 14 days, he would have to miss a second debate with Joe Biden, scheduled for Oct. 15.
Hope Hicks — one of the president’s closest advisers — tested positive for COVID-19 last night. Hicks flew with the President on Air Force One, both to and from the debate on Tuesday night. Then she flew to Minnesota with him on Wednesday for a rally (!). Bloomberg News reporter Jennifer Jacobs delivered the news last night:
NEWS: Hope Hicks, who traveled with Trump aboard Air Force One to and from the presidential debate on Tuesday, and to his Minnesota rally yesterday, has coronavirus, sources tell me.
— Jennifer Jacobs (@JenniferJJacobs) October 2, 2020
According to the Associated Press, Hicks began having symptoms while on the plane ride home on Wednesday. “Hicks began feeling mild symptoms during the plane ride home from a rally in Minnesota Wednesday evening, according to an administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to disclose private information. She was quarantined away from others on the plane and her diagnosis was confirmed Thursday,” wrote Zeke Miller and Jill Colvin in their AP column.
The president and first lady entered quarantine within hours. Trump tweeted last night that he and First Lady Melania Trump were awaiting results from a COVID-19 test. “In the meantime, we will begin our quarantine process,” he wrote on Twitter. “Whether we quarantine or whether we have it, I don’t know,” Trump said during a call-in interview with Fox News’ Sean Hannity last night. “I just went for a test, and we’ll see what happens.”
Now we know what happened. The President has tested positive.
It is a stunning reversal for a man who routinely downplayed the severity of the pandemic. Jokingly referring to it as the “Kung Flu”, Trump blamed China for the virus. He mocked people for wearing masks (he did that just yesterday, the New York Times says). And he once claimed that it would disappear, “like a miracle”, from our shores.
The question now is how the president (and first lady) became infected. If the president’s exposure to COVID-19 was days ago, a positive test is still possible in the future. “If it was even five days ago, and he tests negative now, he still may end up testing positive tomorrow,” said Dr. Leana Wen. “And so this is why that quarantine period is so important,” she explained on “CNN Tonight” last night. The program aired footage of Hope Hicks and other advisers boarding the plane Marine One
During the broadcast, host Don Lemon pointed out that no one in the group was six feet apart OR wearing masks. Hicks was reportedly maskless during her flights with the president. White House spokesman Judd Deere stated that the White House will “incorporate current CDC guidance and best practices for COVID-19 “to the greatest extent possible”. But nobody on Marine One was wearing masks.
Interestingly, both Vice President Mike Pence and Second Lady Karen Pence have tested negative, per CNBC. “As has been routine for months, Vice President Pence is tested for COVID-19 every day,” said Devin O’Malley, the vice president’s press secretary, in a tweet. “Vice President Pence remains in good health and wishes the Trumps well in their recovery,” he said.
UPDATE: Former Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, have both tested negative for the coronavirus. ABC News announced the news in a “Breaking News” update roughly an hour ago; the news has been confirmed by MSNBC.
Breaking on @MSNBC: Joe Biden and Jill Biden have tested negative for the coronavirus.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) October 2, 2020
UPDATE (5:10 pm, Oct. 2): The president is now being flown to Walter Reed Medical Center. He will be flown there aboard his Marine One helicopter, which is standard procedure (according to CNN). “Out of an abundance of caution, and at the recommendation of his physician and medical experts, the President will be working from the presidential offices at Walter Reed for the next few days,” press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said.
The New York Times quoted two sources who said the president has been experiencing a low-grade fever, nasal congestion, and a cough. His doctor issued a memo, cited by the Times, that said Mr. Trump remains “fatigued but in good spirits”. The memo also revealed that Trump is receiving an experimental drug — an antibody cocktail developed by the biotech company Regeneron.
The president just boarded Marine One, according to NBC News.
UPDATE (10/5/2020): The President has left the hospital and returned to the White House. According to the Associated Press, “Trump gingerly climbed the South Portico steps, removed his mask and declared, “I feel good.” After putting the mask in his pocket, Trump “gave a double thumbs-up to the departing helicopter from the portico terrace, where aides had arranged American flags for the sunset occasion. He entered the White House, where aides were visible milling about the Blue Room, without wearing a face covering.” Just yesterday, Dr. Sean Conley, the president’s doctor, said that he was still contagious and not “fully out of the woods” yet. But here he is, back at the White House.
From @Acosta and @AlliemalCNN :
A couple minutes after POTUS entered the WH, he came back outside with several people and a camera crew to apparently reshoot his entrance into the White House. He was not wearing a mask at any point during this.
— Kristin Wilson (@kristin__wilson) October 5, 2020
This is a developing story. Please watch this space for further updates.
Terrance Turner Politics, Television, Uncategorized Leave a comment October 2, 2020 October 29, 2020 4 Minutes
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On The Ground > Good practice > Projects > Aquaponics to produce fish and tomatoes
Good Practice Project
Aquaponics to produce fish and tomatoes
Official Title:
Pecka’s greenhouses with fish and tomatoes
To reduce the impact of fish farming on the environment, a group of local actors, with initial LEADER LAG support, has developed the symbiotic production of fish and tomatoes into a highly successful business.
After many years of farming fish in the Baltic Sea, Pecka Nygård realised that the process was damaging to the environment and decided instead to produce fish alongside vegetables in an on-land circular cultivation system. The challenge was to create an innovative system which allows this process of aquaponics, the simultaneous farming of fish and plants, to take place on a larger scale.
Pecka started the project as a hobby, with a small greenhouse. He tried several different fish species and cultivated plants from melons to spices. He teamed up with some students and staff from a nearby Agricultural College to obtain LEADER funding from the Höga Kusten LAG for some of the tests. The LAG also supported some experiments with the production of biofuel from algae. The emerging aquaponic system gave good quality products and the fish population remained healthy over the years, due largely to the bio-beds’ ability to quickly break down unwanted foreign organisms and bacteria. However, to ensure economic viability on a larger scale, the system needed to be tested in a commercial production unit to evaluate different production methods, species and techniques to garner the best economic results.
After many years of testing, the company (Peckas Naturodlingar AB) has built a large-scale facility for the cultivation of tomatoes and rainbow trout. Rainbow trout is a long-established food source in the area and tomatoes are among the most popular vegetables. The new system will be implemented in a 4km2 greenhouse with a yearly production of 20 tonnes of fish and 200 tonnes of tomatoes. The water from the large fish tanks is filtered into the tomato beds where it is purified by the roots before being recirculated back into the fish tanks. The heating of the greenhouse is mainly supplied by renewable energy. The system requires no chemical controls or antibiotics; any biological problems that arise in the greenhouse can be combated with organic methods such as the introduction of insects.
The successful production of vegetables and fish in an aquaponics system without any nutrient leakage to the environment is a step towards a more sustainable food production. The aim is now to franchise this aquaponics system across Sweden. The project led to the launch of the company, Peckas Naturodlingar AB, which has created eight jobs. There is already a growing interest in the system from new investors.
Transferability:
Seed money to trial aquaponics is potentially of interest to many FLAGs across Europe and indeed, Pecka’s model is already being franchised in several locations. However, those interested in duplicating the model will have to test the technology and establish what crops are most appropriate for their areas. Deciding on the fish species used is also fundamentally important, as is identifying an optimal water tank temperature and being able to sell the fish at a good price.
Lessons & contribution to CLLD objectives:
While aquaponics has been tried in multiple locations, only a few of them have reached commercialisation. A key lesson learned from this project is that the main production of an aquaponics system is vegetables, so selecting a product with a large demand, such as tomatoes, is essential. It is an added value that the system is circular and also produces fish, making it possible to achieve a higher combined price for the two products. It is also important to establish and develop distribution channels and logistics at an early stage of the project.
Two grants from the Höga Kusten LAG (2007-13 period): ca. €15 000 and ca. €90 000 to cover some of the costs of the initial tests
More recently, the company received support from EAFRD and the European Innovation Partnership (EIP AGRI).
Total investment cost from 2016-2018: approximately €900 000.
Timeframe of implementation
From Jan 2016 to Jun 2018
Sea Basins
Type of area
Höga Kusten LAG
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The Planters
Meet Daniel Hovey
Daniel Hovey’s Family
The family of Daniel Hovey may be traced back to Richard, a glover who lived at Waltham Abbey, Essex County in England, and died there, being buried March 7, 1636/7. age 61 or 62. He left a large family consisting of nine children, of whom Daniel was the youngest.
The ancestor of the American Hoveys, Daniel, was born at Waltham Abbey early in August 1618, and was baptized there on the ninth of that month. He spent his boyhood in England, but at the early age of 17, immigrated to Ipswich where he married Abigail Andrews about 1642. Their seven children were born at Ipswich.
Soon after his arrival in Ipswich, Daniel set his sites on acquiring an estate in land. Although only 19 years of age at the time, the Town granted him on February 5, 1636/7, a house lot and one acre of ground on the south side of the river, and six acres of land on Muddy Creek. Two years later, on March 27, 1639, he was allowed six acres of planting ground on Sagamore Hill. On April 10, 1639, he acquired from William Holdred, another six acres of planting land adjoining his other plot, a half acre of land to enlarge his house lot, and another dwelling on a house lot “and all the fencing belonging to both lots”. On March 4, 1649/50 he was granted a highway to his lot, and on December 22, 1652: “Daniel Hovey hath liberty to set his fence down on the river, at his ground bought of William Knowlton, making a stile at each end, the two rods still not withstanding is the Town’s”.
At a town meeting held February 14, 1658/9 he was granted liberty “to build a wharf against his ground that he bought of William Knowlton, and also such buildings as may tend to the improvement thereof”.
There is no positive evidence as to the occupation of Daniel Hovey, but it seems fair to assume that living in Ipswich he may have derived his living from the sea, directly or indirectly. That he should build a wharf with adjacent buildings would seem to indicate that he was linked to the fishing industry, either as a dealer or packer of fish. We find nothing to substantiate his owning of boats or fishing equipment. Whatever his occupation at Ipswich, he seems to have done very well at it, and had acquired a considerable estate before his death.
He was very active in the affairs of the town and was paid three shillings on February 10, 1643/4 for having killed three foxes. In 1648, he subscribed three shillings three times a year to Major Daniel Denison” so long as he shall be their leader, to encourage him in his military helpfulness”. In 1649, he was juror at the Ipswich Court; on December 12, 1650, was one of a committee to view a certain parcel of land for the town; and in 1656, served on a committee to set up a sawmill on the Chebacco River. He held several town offices in Ipswich, being elected Surveyor of Highways in 1648, and 1649; Constable in 1658, and a selectman on February 14, 1659/60.
In June 1660, Daniel purchased 20 acres on Pye Brook in Topsfield from Sarah Stone of Watertown (former grant of Richard Lumpkin).
He removed with his family soon thereafter, and remained there until the settlement at Quaboag. In 1664, he was granted a share (3 acres of marsh land) on Plum Island. He continued his mercantile and real estate interests in Ipswich, and in August 1666, was granted liberty to fill trees for his son James to work at his trade, and to build a shop; and also enough to build a house for John.
Mr. Hovey seems to have spent more than the average amount of time in various courts as will be seen during the course of this biography. His first experience with this instrument of the law occurred on January 29, 1641/2, when he was plaintiff in 3 civil actions. More important, however, was his appearance as defendant in Ipswich court on September 24, 1667, accused of “speaking falsely to the prejudice of General Denison.” He was fined 20 shillings for his offense, which consisted of criticizing the actions of the Magistrate in court procedure. This action may have been one of the factors which influenced his removal to Quaboag Plantation.
And so it was that in the summer of 1668, Daniel and Abigail Hovey packed their belongings and set out for Quaboag accompanied by their five younger children: Thomas aged 20, James 18, Joseph 15, Abigail 13, and Nathaniel 11. The older children, Daniel Jr. and John remained in Ipswich with their families.
By the time of his removal to Quaboag, Daniel Hovey had acquired the title of “Deacon”, was a man of wealth and influence and was certainly an asset to the young plantation. The inhabitants of the town wisely granted him a large tract of 100 acres, and an entry in the Account Books attested to the price he paid: “To the purchase of Quabaug from the Indians for himself and his sons 06 05 00”. This was the largest single grant made to any inhabitant and reflects the high regard in which he was held by the Planters.
The arrival date of the Hoveys of Quaboag can be estimated fairly accurately by the beginning of their account with John Pynchon, the only merchant available to them within a reasonable distance. The first item is dated September 16, 1668, and is for 4-1/2 bushels of ground corn meal and 1/2 peck of salt, two essential staples of the diet of that period. Perusal of the accounts, in addition, provided much information concerning the activities of the family. Probably the most interesting item is the following: “November 4, 1670. For eighteen yds 1/4 of trading cloth six shillings 4 pence. Three yds and 3/4 of shag cotton 3 shillings 4 pence. This to pay for in beaver: I allowing him to trade with the Indians, he paying for it as I do six shillings per skin, etc., 06 02 02.”
The permission to trade with the Indians for furs was a rare privilege accorded to few people. It was strictly forbidden by the General Court to deal directly with the Indians without license from a magistrate. Several credit items are for beaver skins sold to John Pynchon. Other items on the credit side of the ledger show payment for work on the construction of the Quaboag Mill.
During their stay Quaboag, several events transpired in the Hovey family. On November 2, 1670, James married Priscilla Warner. and established a homestead soon after. His account with John Pynchon begins on December 27, 1670, and is for the usual household items. He balanced his account by working at the millhouse and selling pork to John Pynchon in exchange for commodities. James was active in the community and was one of the signatories of the Petition for Incorporation dated October 10, 1673. James and Priscilla had three children born at Quaboag. Priscilla, Daniel, and James. All of whom were orphaned when their father was killed by the Indians on August 2, 1675.
Abigail daughter of Deacon Daniel, married John Ayres, Jr. on August 28, 1672 and settled at Quaboag.
Deacon Daniel, sold some of his real estate holdings while living at Quaboag. On June 13, 1671, he conveyed to his son John, his farm in Topsfield, a piece of marshland and other property. On may 8, 1672, he sold to Abraham Perkins, some of his holdings in Ipswich (Ips. deed 3:227). This latter is the last recorded transaction while he was still in residence at Quaboag. The names of Deacon Hovey and Thomas Hovey do not appear on the Petition for Incorporation in 1673, and we know that they had by then left Quaboag.
Although it has been written by other authors that Thomas had preceded his father to Hadley, evidence seems to indicate this to be unlikely. It seems more probable that Daniel and his family, including his unmarried son Thomas removed to Hadley at the same time, the name of Daniel appears on a petition for enlargement of the Hadley plantation dated October 1672. It is fair to presume that the entire family, with the exception of James and his family, and Abigail who had married John Ayres, Jr., established themselves at Hadley in early October, 1672, soon after the wedding of Abigail. Thomas first appears on the record as a defendant at the court held at Northampton on March 25, 1672/3. He was not a petitioner at Hadley on October 1672, probably therefore, not a householder at that time.
Deacon Hovey, while living in Hadley, suffered much at the hands of the Indians. He also contributed generously to the defense of the town, and was later reimbursed by the Governor’s Council in the amount of 11 pounds. In 1675, he held the office of selectman, but was not re-elected in the following year.
Daniel Hovey made several appearances in court during his stay in Hadley, and one of these may have been responsible for his return to Ipswich. The first entry on the court record after the removal to Hadley was on march 31, 1674 when he was selected for jury duty, alongside his former fellow inhabitant at Quaboag, Richard Coy. On September 26, 1676, Daniel was complained of for failure to pay rent to the estate of Henry Clerke of Hadley. He was ordered to pay 14 pounds in back rent due plus cost of court, all to be paid in 1676. He apparently defied the court order and refused to pay so that the executors of the estate brought suit again in Hampshire County Court held at Northampton on March 27, 1677. He was again ordered to pay the 14 pounds rent plus court costs of one pound, ten shillings, six pence, which he apparently did. On the same date, Daniel Hovey is plaintiff and John Russell Jr., one of the executors of the estate mentioned above, the defendant, in an action of: “unjust molestation and uncharitable charges to the defamation of or slander of the said Daniel Hovey and his wife, charging the said Daniel to be a man of a scandalous life, in an open assembly and was therefore denied church communion and this threat too he made but to the church that he belonged to and all the churches thereabouts.”
The jury returned in favor of Deacon Hovey. However, the implications and unpleasantness of the whole situation must have weighed heavily on the elder Hoveys, for soon thereafter, in 1678, they returned to Ipswich with their younger son, Nathaniel, now 21.
The name of Daniel Hovey Sr. is among a list of commoners in Ipswich dated February 13, 1678/9 and also on the list of those eligible to vote in town affairs on December 2, 1679. Nathaniel is listed as a resident of Ipswich in 1678. The family was now dispersed in several areas of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. As mentioned above, Daniel Sr. and Nathaniel were in Ipswich along with Daniel Jr. and the family of James, killed at Brookfield. In nearby Topsfield in the former family homestead dwelt John and his family. Abigail, the wife of John Ayres Jr., had died at Brookfield before the massacre and had been laid to rest in the burial ground there. On the other extremity of the colony in Hadley lived Thomas prominent in the affairs of that community.
During the remainder of his life at Ipswich, Deacon Daniel continued to dispose of some of his real estate. In 1688/9, he sold three parcels of plowing and pasture land in Ipswich, but in spite of this, died with a considerable inventory in real estate. He died at Ipswich on May 29, 1695, having been predeceased by his wife Abigail, sometimes between 1676 and 1683. The exact date of her death has not been found.
He left a large estate valued by the executor, Thomas Hovey, on October 5, 1700 at 606 pounds, 10 shillings. The inventory included among other things, his homestead in Ipswich with three acres of tillage land worth 30 pounds; eight acres of tillage and marsh land in Ipswich and on Plum Island; a house, home lot and wharf in Ipswich; and a plot of eighteen acres of upland and salt marsh known as “Hovey’s Island” and valued at 80 pounds.
The Will of Deacon Hovey makes interesting reading and yields a great deal of information concerning the contents of his household and make-up of his family. One item of particular interest in the will is that relating to his interests at Brookfield which he left with the children of Joseph and Nathaniel . It should also be noted that the will allots nearly the entire estate to the grandchildren, his own surviving children receiving but small stipends for their services as executors or overseers. However, indications are that they acquired most of the real estate by right of inheritance, since Thomas sold the family homestead to William Fuller on January 18, 1719/20. The deed stated “the Daniel Hovey Homestead which has been owned by his heirs for many years”. Previously, on April 13, 1703 another homestead and lot with wharf was sold to Thomas Hodskins.
Copyright 2001 West Brookfield Historical Commission Last modified: November 14, 2008
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AARP Lobby Week Goes Virtual Amid Pandemic
Members, volunteers will go online to press key 50+ issues with lawmakers
by Dena Bunis, AARP, November 30, 2020 | Comments: 0
En español | Thousands of AARP members and volunteers will begin attending virtual meetings and emailing their members of Congress Tuesday to make it clear what issues they expect their elected officials to act on.
Traditionally, lawmakers would see these constituents walking the halls of the nation's capital and sitting across from them at conference tables. Activists from across the country would fly to Washington and join AARP staff on Capitol Hill.
But the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated a change of plans. The organization had its first virtual lobby effort in April. “This is an opportunity for folks to speak directly to their members of Congress,” says Bill Sweeney, AARP senior vice president for government affairs. “It's also a great opportunity for members of Congress to hear from their constituents, so it's a win-win for both.” In the end, Sweeney adds, members of Congress will actually speak to more people than they would have for an in-person event.
Save 25% when you join AARP and enroll in Automatic Renewal for first year. Get instant access to discounts, programs, services, and the information you need to benefit every area of your life.
Lobby Week, Sweeney says, is a way for AARP members and volunteers to highlight issues that may have been overshadowed by other concerns during the election campaign, such as the pandemic. The three major issues on the agenda, he says, are nursing home safety, food insecurity and a glitch in Social Security that could hurt Americans who turn 60 this year.
Protecting nursing homes
High on AARP's list of priorities is the need to ensure that nursing homes and other long-term care facilities have the testing capacity and personal protective equipment that residents and staff need to keep themselves safe and prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
More than 97,000 nursing home residents and staff have succumbed to the coronavirus, making these facilities the source of 40 percent of COVID-19 deaths.
AARP is also concerned about the isolation that the pandemic has caused. While nursing home visits had recently resumed, in many states they're being halted again because of the coronavirus surge. That illustrates the need for families to be able to communicate with loved ones in these facilities virtually.
"Certainly, as COVID rages all across the county and we're seeing another staggering resurgence in nursing homes, we really think it's important for Congress to hear from AARP members about why it's so important that we protect people who are living and working in nursing homes,” Sweeney says.
Food needs increasing
As cars line up for miles at food banks across the country, AARP members will also be urging Congress to temporarily increase the minimum and maximum benefits for the SNAP program, formerly known as food stamps. Currently, the maximum federal SNAP monthly benefit is $204 for an individual and $374 for a couple; the average benefit is $138 a month for an individual, $260 for two people.
The inability to afford food particularly affects Americans over age 50 because of increased challenges for those seeking employment and the limitations of the fixed incomes many older Americans face, meaning they have limited financial resources to pay for such necessities as food, housing and prescription medications.
"We've heard from people all over the country about the challenges with getting food during this pandemic, and I think Lobby Week gives us an opportunity to talk about the issue of food security,” Sweeney says.
A glitch in Social Security's wage formula
For the 4 million Americans turning 60 in 2020, the fact that the average wage level for American workers could fall significantly this year because of COVID-19 means that those workers could lose up to $70,000 in Social Security retirement benefits over their lifetime.
The problem of being born in 1960 lies in a quirk in the way benefits are calculated. The Social Security Administration (SSA) determines a person's initial benefit using the national average wage index two years prior to their being eligible for benefits. Typically, the index rises from year to year, but if the index falls for any reason — in this case, due to the economic impact of the pandemic — so does the projected benefit. Since beneficiaries can start collecting retirement benefits at age 62, the average wage index for 2020 is particularly important to people turning 60 this year.
What's the solution? AARP wants Congress to act so these 4 million Americans won't be unfairly affected by any dramatic drop in the wage index. “AARP is showing up. We're fighting to defend Social Security, as we always do,” Sweeney says.
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Chief Financial Officer of Huawei Meng Wanzhou arrives at B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on November 20, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Jonathan Hayward
Canadian officials also obtained security code for Meng’s home, court hears
Const. Gurvinder Dhaliwal said Monday American officials asked that Meng Wanzhou’s devices be seized
Nov. 24, 2020 11:50 a.m.
The RCMP officer who took custody of Huawei executive Meng Wanzhou’s electronics on the day of her arrest two years ago says foreign law enforcement never asked him to obtain the passcodes or search the devices.
Const. Gurvinder Dhaliwal said Monday American officials asked that Meng’s devices be seized and stored in special bags to prevent them from being erased remotely, which he considered to be a reasonable request.
He said he wasn’t concerned when the Canada Border Services Agency officer handed him a piece of paper with the passcodes written on it after the immigration exam adjourned and she was being arrested by RCMP.
“I didn’t even think about it, I just put them with the phones and I thought, this is her phones and these passcodes belong to her phones and eventually these phones and these belongings would go back to her once the process is complete,” Dhaliwal told the B.C. Supreme Court under examination by Crown counsel John Gibb-Carsley.
Meng was arrested at Vancouver’s airport in December 2018, nearly three hours after CBSA officials began questioning her as part of a border exam.
Dhaliwal told the evidence-gathering hearing that he never asked officers from border services to obtain the passcodes or to ask any particular questions during Meng’s immigration exam.
Meng is wanted in the United States on fraud charges based on allegations related to American sanctions against Iran that both she and Chinese tech giant Huawei deny.
Her lawyers are collecting information they hope will support their allegation that Canadian officers improperly gathered evidence at the request of U.S. investigators under the guise of a routine border exam.
For the first time, the court also heard that security codes to at least one of Meng’s homes were also recorded on a piece of paper.
Dhaliwal described a photo to the court that showed the paper on top of boxes she travelled with as having the key to her residences and a “security code” for her house.
Dhaliwal said the paper was passed to him by an RCMP officer who was based at Vancouver’s airport.
“I have no idea where he got it from,” Dhaliwal said, adding he has not been involved in any discussion about those security codes.
Dhaliwal assumed the role of “exhibits officer” in Meng’s case, meaning he was charged with ensuring anything seized from her was documented, safe and secure.
After her arrest, Meng’s case was transferred to the financial integrity branch of the RCMP’s Federal Serious and Organized Crime unit because it was a “complex” case, he said.
Dhaliwal received a request from Staff Sgt. Ben Chang indicating that the United States was asking for certain information in anticipation of an application through the mutual legal assistance treaty between the two countries, he said.
Dhaliwal was asked to record the electronic serial numbers, makes and models of her electronics, he said.
He did so with help from the RCMP tech unit, he said. But at no point did he ever use the passcodes on the devices, nor was he asked to search the devices, he said.
Later, he was contacted by a senior CBSA officer inquiring about the piece of paper with the phone passcodes, he said.
“She had indicated to me that the codes were given in error to us,” Dhaliwal said.
As the codes were already part of an exhibit, he testified that he told her they were under the court’s authority and he could not return them.
Amy Smart, The Canadian Press
Assisted-death bill sends wrong message to Indigenous people, advocates say
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Ian Brownhill Joins Chambers
Home // Ian Brownhill Joins Chambers
News Ian Brownhill 22nd June 2020
We are delighted to announce that Ian Brownhill has joined Chambers from No. 5 Chambers.
Ian has a broad public law and human rights practice which focusses on mental capacity, education law, criminal justice, prison law and community care. Much of Ian’s regulatory practice complements his public law work and he is often instructed in cases which involve safeguarding, social care or healthcare. In recent times, Ian has increasingly advised on regulatory matters related to sport.
Ian’s international practice is varied but primarily focusses on matters relating to mental capacity, criminal justice or wider human rights issues. He has been instructed by, or worked on cases with, lawyers from: Canada, the United States, Germany, Cyprus, Greece, the Netherlands, Spain, Thailand, Ireland and the Isle of Mann. In addition, Ian is often instructed by charities, NGOs and companies with an international reach, especially in respect of safeguarding matters.
Ian recently appeared (as junior to Parishil Patel QC) in the Court of Appeal in JB v a Local Authority in respect of issues around capacity to make decisions about sex and in the High Court in EG in respect of prisoners who lack capacity to participate in their parole processes. Ian continues to act for the mother of Ben Needham and the family of Damien Nettles.
He joins Chambers with immediate effect.
Ian Brownhill
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US, Japanese Military Wrap Up Exercise Keen Sword
US and Japanese military forces recently concluded Keen Sword 17, a large-scale interoperability exercise that included members from all branches of both nations’ forces. Some 11,000 US military personnel participated in the exercise, which kicked off on Oct. 30 and included operations on mainland Japan, Okinawa, and surrounding islands of Guam and Tinian, according to a press release. The exercise involved training scenarios for air and sea, air and missile defense, and ballistic missile defense. The Japan Air Self-Defense Force’s 31st and 33rd rescue squadrons also trained with USAF’s 353rd Special Operations Group in coordination with an ad hoc mobile command unit in order to simulate operations in a deployed environment.
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Uptons help send Little League parents to World Series
At a big screen viewing party in Chicago, fans of The Jackie Robinson West Little League team celebrate a victory during the first round of the Little League World Series being played in South Williamsport, Pa., Thursday, Aug. 14, 2014. (AP Photo/Sun-Times Media, Michael Schmidt)
Credit: Michael Schmidt
Sports | Aug 23, 2014
By David O Brien
CINCINNATI — The Braves' Upton brothers, outfielders Justin and B.J., helped assure that a group of Chicago Little League parents would be able to see their kids play in this week's Little League World Series in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
The Uptons, along with fellow major leaguers Latroy Hawkins, Torii Hunter and Wesley Wright, contributed $20,000 to help send the parents of the Jackie Robinson West Little League team to the World Series. Hawkins organized the effort by the five players, who are all represented by the same agent, Reynolds Sports.
Little League covers the travel expenses for players and three coaches to the World Series, but not families.
Jackie Robinson West beat Philadelphia 6-5 on Thursday in a game between inner-city teams at Williamsport. Philadelphia featured phenom Mo’ne Davis, the girl who this week became the first Little Leaguer ever featured on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
She didn’t pitch in the game against Jackie Robinson West, but played some at first base and third base.
The Chicago team will play Las Vegas in the U.S. title game on Saturday, with the winner advancing to play the international winner for the overall title. Jackie Robinson West is a powerhouse program in Illinois, but this is their first appearance in the Little League World Series in 31 years.
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Although the phenomenon of life counts as the most precious of gifts and its loss is extremely grievous and terrifying, none can doubt that just as surely as man embarks on his life involuntarily to spend some time in this guesthouse we call the world, he must ultimately confront the painful and frowning face of death when the scroll of his life is rolled up.
Our world is a world of turmoil and instability. The wheel of birth and death keeps constantly turning; do not believe that anything can come into being in the sphere of this cycle without being subject to change.
Whatever comes into existence must traverse a path leading to death; it makes no difference whether it be man or one of the other countless forms of life. Every phenomenon the limits of whose motion are set by matter is ephemeral, for it is precisely its defining characteristic that draws it on toward non-existence; the end of its affair is disappearance. The funeral dirge of finiteness resounds throughout the world of being.
We must first raise the complex question of the end of life, attempt to analyze it and to answer some of the questions that may be raised in this respect.
Is life restricted to this present terrestrial existence which stretches from the moment of birth to the moment of death? Is it confined to the brief interval during which those who have come to this world take, one after another, the place of those who have left it? Should it be imagined that there is no existence other than the three-dimensional existence of this world, and that our individual characteristics and personalities bear the imprint of non-being? Or is it true that beyond this existence an eternal morrow awaits man, which will enable him to perceive anew himself and the world? Will the physical system of this world be transformed into another world and manifest a new and perfected form?
Finally, in all these arrivals and departures, in these assumptions of form and annihilations, is there some divine purpose at work? In other words, did God's will determine that man, the choice part of His creation, should live in this world as a traveler, a transient, and move ultimately to another world which will be his eternal abode?
If we conceive of death in the light of the first set of possibilities, then life, under whatever circumstances it is spent, will be full of misery and pain, for the anticipation of annihilation and non-being inevitably arouses dread in man and paralyses him with the undeniable torment it induces.
The second vantage point is that of a person who finds refuge in the concept of a world beyond nature which enables him to place this world in perspective. He is convinced that man and the universe advance together in a pattern determined by God's unity and that their forward movement is unending. For such a person death is simply the breaking of the narrow and confining cage of the body and his being liberated from it, entering thereby an ideal and enrapturing realm. For such a person death is merely the substitution of one form to another, a change of outer garb. When death arrives man abandons this garb and his form of clay and puts on the garment of the transitional realm. Then, ascending from that stage to the next and flying toward infinity, he casts off in turn the garb of the transitional realm and puts on the raiment of eternity.
For those who hold this exalted and precious belief, the end of life is a transformation overflowing with good, a transformation that enables all things to recover their identity and to be purified.
Dr. Carrel the well-known scholar says:
“The answer given by religion to the anxiety man feels when confronted with the mystery of death is infinitely more satisfactory than that given by science; religion gives man the answer his heart desires.” (Rah-u-Rasm-i Zindagi, p. 142)
The bitterness and unpleasantness of leaving this world are seen as natural and inevitable by those who imagine that their passage through the wall of death spells an end to all dimensions of their existence and that there is no life beyond that frontier. But for those who believe that this world is nothing more than an elaborate game, similar to that in which children or artists engage, and that quitting this world of matter is a form of progress and ascent in the direction of infinity, the matter takes on a quite different aspect. Not only does the countenance of death lose for them its horror and awe; they even long impatiently for release from their body of clay in order to be joined in union with Him.
Such an understanding of the nature of death impels man to pursue pure and exalted aims, to the point of heroically sacrificing his life for their sake. Then, like a moth freed from its prison he circles over his former place of confinement; like a warrior on the field of battle he accepts a bloody death. He sacrifices his personal motives and desires in order to attain a morrow filled with pride, glory, and lofty and positive ideals.
In the view of such a person, man has a two-dimensional life as an attribute that is uniquely his. One of the two dimensions is his material life, in which he is subject to biological circumstances and social necessities, and the other is his inner and spiritual life, a life in which he engages in thought, inventiveness, creativity, and the cultivation of ideals, gives external existence to his inner ferment and enthusiasm, and moulds to his will the society in which he lives and even history.
Lack of awareness and the failure to comprehend adequately the nature of death induce fear, dread and insecurity in man, for they make death appear to be a terrible nightmare.
Imam al-Hadi, upon whom be peace, once went to visit one of his companions who had fallen sick. The fear of death had robbed him of all tranquillity and calm, so the Imam addressed him as follows:
“O servant of God, you fear death because you do not understand it correctly. Tell me: if your body were soiled with dirt so that you were pained and discomforted and afflicted with running sores, and you knew that a washing in the bathhouse would rid you of all that filth and pain, would you not wish to avail yourself of the bath house to cleanse yourself of the dirt? Or would you be reluctant to do so and prefer to remain in your polluted state?”
The sick man replied:
“O descendant of the Messenger of God! I would definitely prefer to wash myself and become clean.”
To this the Imam responded:
“Know, then, that death is exactly like the bathhouse. It represents your last chance to rid yourself of your sins and to purify yourself of evil. If death embraces you now, there can be no doubt that you will be freed of all sorrow and pain and attain everlasting happiness and joy.”
Hearing these words of the Imam, the sick man changed completely and a remarkable tranquillity appeared on his face. Then in dignified fashion, he surrendered himself to death, in the shroud he had drawn around himself, full of hope in God's mercy. He closed his eyes which had now seen the truth and hastened to his eternal abode. (Ma'ani-al-Akhbar, p. 290)
The Master of the God-fearing, upon whom be peace, was one of those rare human beings who had truly understood the meaning of life and had caused death itself to fear him. Few men have advanced the claim that `Ali made:
“I swear by God that the son of Abu Talib is more at ease with death than a suckling infant with the breast of its mother.”
The whole of his life turns out on examination to be a proof for this claim. Why should that extraordinarily pure man, who never exaggerated concerning his love for God, not long day and night for the meeting with God Almighty, for hastening to His supreme presence? With his pure nature and exalted mind he had understood that death means liberation from the dark fetters of matter and the opening of the gates of eternity; why then should he fear death?
History does not record a noble hero other than the son of Abu Talib whose hand wielded the sword for almost fifty years and who encountered without spilling a single drop of blood unjustly, countless incidents which normally arouse feelings of hate and vengeance in man and rob him of his humanity.
This was his concept of life:
“Even if I were to be given the whole world and all it contains, I would not unjustly remove the husk of a single grain from the mouth of an ant.”
For this pious and strong commander who throughout his life granted the weak and the powerful their rights in equal measure, who showed care for the feeding of his murderer while suffering the pain of his fatal wounds, warfare and struggle represented a means for reform of man, not his destruction.
The vile murderer calculated that he would be able to carry out the assassination of `Ali, upon whom be peace, only when he was standing in worship before his Lord, with the whole of his being effaced in the splendor of the Creator; it was this that enabled him to implement his plan.
When he was struck with the wound that severed the cord of his life, `Ali bade death welcome like a dear one he had long been awaiting, and said:
“I am free, by the Lord of the Ka'ba! I have no fear if death should carry me off or death should befall me.”
The relatives and companions who gathered round the bed of `Ali had never seen the same amazing tranquillity that they now saw in that ocean of courage, generosity, justice and piety, as he endured the painful wound that had been inflicted on him.
It may furthermore be said that the one who denies life after death looks on man from only one vantage point: he imagines him to be a creature wandering in the realm of matter and supposes that all of his existence is exhausted by the few passing moments his earthly body spends in this world. Such a view of things implies that the entire destiny of man consists of helpless exposure to a whole range of factors, known and unknown: he enters this world with great pain, maintains himself in it for a few days by enduring all kinds of oppression and injustice, and then finally departs in the embrace of death and annihilation.
Such a life would indeed be miserable, and to remain in the world under such circumstances would be painful. Whoever reaches this distressing conclusion about the destiny of man must view the nature of existence itself in the same way.
For in his opinion it is not only whose life is spent in the whirlpool of pointlessness and injustice; whatever comes into existence must also traverse the path of meaninglessness and oppression until the moment of its annihilation. All things are engaged in injustice: whether it be man in his struggle for survival, an insect that inflicts a sting, or the drops of a rainstorm that destructively beat down on a hut. To take matters still further, this would mean that this transitory world lacks all legitimacy, that it is simply an assemblage of absurdity and injustice.
This is the view of the person who has severed his link with the eternal and everlasting being that is the source of all existence, and who thereby commits an error for which he must pay the price.
With such a person, sickness, deprivation, the inability to fulfil wishes and attain goals (or the loss of them after attaining them), fear of a dark and unknown future, all these serve to break his spirit and torment him.
Victor Hugo says:
“If man thinks that he is faced with annihilation, that absolute non-being awaits him after this life, life itself will have absolutely no meaning for him. That which makes the life of man pleasant and enjoyable, makes his labor joyful, gives warmth to his heart, and broadens the horizons of his vision, is none other than what revelation and religion give man, belief in an eternal world, faith in the immortality of man, the conviction that `You, O man, are not destined to non-being; you are greater than this world, which is nothing more than a small and impermanent nesting place for you, a cradle for your infancy, the era of your splendor and greatness still lies ahead.' “
The feeling of pointlessness, the lack of belief in the occurrence of resurrection and reckoning after this earthly existence, has become a source of crushing fear for man in this age of the progress of science and technology. With the strong inclination to material life that results from the one-sided development of man's capacities, he has now come to regard it as his ultimate goal.
All the innovations that are meant to protect man from so many dangers and errors, to liberate him from fetters and restrictions, have in fact robbed him of peace and tranquillity and cast him into the whirlpool of anxiety. Our world has become a stage on which men rush madly forward in a single direction, for the sake of prosperity and power which they have made the source of their happiness and the aim of their strivings.
The result of this constricted view of things, the belief that the world has no owner, that man wanders through these ruins accountable to no one, is that the world is filled with fear and rapine. The smell of blood rises up from every corner of this abode of terror. This is the state of affairs that man has now reached; he is no longer himself, but a being filled with greed, cupidity, hatred and envy. It is unclear how matters will proceed. The emergence of new schools of philosophy is in itself a sign of the painful predicament in which man finds himself and of the intellectual and spiritual vacuum.
A psychiatrist writes:
“Two thirds of the patients that have come to me from all over the world are educated and successful people who are tormented by a great pain, the feeling that life is pointless, meaningless, and incomprehensible. The reason is that as a result of technology, the stagnation of beliefs, short sightedness and prejudice, twentieth century man has become irreligious. In bewilderment he searches for his soul, but he will have no peace until he rediscovers religion. Lack of religion is the cause for the emptiness and meaninglessness of life.”(Quoted in Kayhan, no. 8196)
Evil deeds form another reason for fearing death; it is obvious that they make death appear extremely fearsome and terrifying to the wrongdoer.
As Mawlana Jalal ad-Din Rumi says:
O you who attempt to flee death in your fear,
It is yourself that you fear, use your intelligence!
It is your countenance that is ugly, not the visage of death;
Your soul is a tree on which death is the leaf.
Yes, it is the fear of one's deeds that causes men to stand in terror of death. In this connection, the Qur'an remarks concerning the Jews:
“Say: `O Jews, if you imagine that you alone are the friends of God, to the exclusion of all others, then desire death for yourselves, if you speak truly.' But they will never desire death, on account of the deeds they have freely performed. God is well aware of the deeds of the wrongdoers.” (62:6-8).
The Noble Qur'an depicts for us the fruitlessness of the lives of those who turn their back on the truth and struggle helplessly in the whirlpool of meaninglessness:
“Those whom they invoke other than the Creator can create nothing; rather they are themselves created. They are dead and lifeless, lacking all feeling and awareness, and they do not know when they will be resurrected.” (16:20-21).
“O Messenger, you cannot make these people whose hearts are dead hear through the word of truth, nor can you convey your summons to these deniers who avert their faces.” (30:52).
By contrast, the Qur'an calls living and immortal those who are killed while seeking to elevate God's word:
“Do not call dead those who are killed in God's path; they are living in the presence of their God receiving sustenance from Him, although you do not perceive it.” (2:154).
‹ About the Author
Lesson Two: Two Views Concerni... ›
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Aphria excited about Biden, U.S. legalization as it reports Q2 loss
The Aphria Inc. logo is shown in an undated handout image. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Aphria **
TORONTO — Aphria Inc. chief executive Irwin Simon is seeing green as Democrat Joe Biden prepares to be sworn in as president of the United States next week.
Simon said Thursday that he has his sights set on the burgeoning U.S. pot market for the Leamington, Ont.,-based cannabis company.
"The recent election will likely provide a stronger near-term potential for change of federal cannabis regulations and at Aphria we are ready and well-positioned for it," he told a conference call with financial analysts to discuss the company's latest financial results.
"We expect change to happen faster and decisions to be made sooner under the new Democratic leadership."
Simon's excitement around the market matches many of Aphria's competitors who have been brimming with anticipation ahead of Biden's inauguration.
Biden's party is behind the Safe Banking Act, a bill that will allow financial institutions to work with cannabis companies without retribution, and he and runningmate Kamala Harris have spoken in favour of decriminalizing pot and expunging criminal records related to its possession.
Through U.S. ballot questions, five states — Arizona, New Jersey, South Dakota, Mississippi and Montana — also recently voted in favour of legalizing recreational or medical cannabis.
Simon is positioning Aphria to take advantage of these developments with scalable infrastructure it got its hands on through a US$300-million acquisition of Atlanta-based SweetWater Brewing Co. in November.
Sweetwater has also given Aphria access to network of mostly U.S. relationships that include 29,000 retailers, more than 10,000 restaurants and bars and even Delta airlines.
Simon believes both will come in handy as sentiment around cannabis changes in the U.S. He says at least 68 per cent of Americans are already in favour of legalization
Simon's remarks came roughly a month after he announced his company will soon merge with Nanaimo-based rival Tilray Inc. and together become the biggest cannabis company by revenue.
If the deal closes as expected in the second quarter of 2021, Simon will lead the new company, which will use the Tilray name and will trade on the Nasdaq under the ticker symbol TLRY.
In the months leading up to the deal, Aphria said Thursday that it incurred a loss of $120.6 million or 42 cents per share, compared with a loss of $7.9 million or three cents per share a year earlier.
Net revenue in what was the second quarter of Aphria's financial year totalled $160.5 million, up from $120.6 million.
On an adjusted basis, Aphria says it earned $3.2 million a penny per share for the three months ended Nov. 30 compared with an adjusted loss of $48.8 million or 19 cents per share in the same quarter a year earlier.
Analysts on average had expected an adjusted loss of three cents per share and $154 million in revenue, according to financial data firm Refinitiv.
The results pushed Aphria's stock up to $15.25, an increase of almost 20 per cent or $2.55.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 14, 2021.
Companies in this story: (TSX:APHA)
Concerns over Site C hauling plan
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Dear Friends of ARSP:
I am excited about beginning 2012 as the new president of the American Friends of ARSP and I look forward to connecting with each of you about the work of our small, but important organization in the coming year.
Let me start by thanking my predecessor, Nick Lane, for his ten years of service. He has worked hard - and far longer than he initially intended - to promote the work of ARSP in the United States and to support the staff and volunteers in their peace and reconciliation work.
Like many of you, my own journey with ARSP began as a project partner. The small non-profit organization that I direct - Interfaith Hospitality Network - organizes religious congregations of many faiths to house homeless families in Philadelphia. Like ARSP, it seeks to create understanding and promote sharing between people from different cultural and socioeconomic places in life. For several years now we have had an ARSP volunteer help us in this work.
My encounter with these volunteers changed me. As a daughter of an American Jewish soldier who served in Germany during the Second World War, I grew up suspicious of all things German, including the people themselves. While not learning to “hate,” I was definitely taught not to forgive and not to forget.
But the reality of these young ARSP volunteers, who came here to quietly serve the same people I wanted to help, directly confronted my deep-seeded image of Germany. Ultimately, it was the concept of “reconciliation,” with no requirements beyond the meaning of the term, that enabled me to open up to a different view of Germany and its people. In 2008, I decided to become more involved, and joined the board of the American Friends to look for ways to involve my own Jewish community in the work of reconciliation - as well as promoting more understanding between all people who are different.
ARSP's core program brings young German volunteers to the United States and sends a smaller number of American volunteers to Holocaust memorial sites in Germany. Our goal as the American Friends is to support that program financially and through expanded mentoring of the current volunteers.
But equally important, we want to create opportunities for all of us to directly engage in ARSP's work of reconciliation, intercultural understanding and social justice through new programs - seminars, workshops, presentations and discussions - in the cities where ARSP and the American Friends have a presence. We also want to find ways for Americans to directly experience ARSP's work in Europe and Israel.
I look forward to meeting and working with you in taking the next steps to strengthen ARSP.
Rachel Falkove
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LGBTQ+ rights in the USA today and what that means for the community
Throughout Trump’s presidency in the US, reputable newspapers all over the world have been publishing articles reporting a difficult situation for LGBTQ+ rights in the US. Headlines announced “Trump has a devastating record on LGBTQ rights. Don’t deny the truth.” (Washington Post, Michelangelo Signorile, August 20, 2019), “Trump trims back LGBTQ rights. Betrayal of all Americans” (Der Spiegel original “Verrat an allen Amerikanern”, Marc Pitzke, June 28, 2019) and “Trump has declared war on LGBTQ rights. Here’s everything he’s done so far.” (LGBTQ nation, John Gallagher, July 29, 2018).
As a current volunteer with ARSP, I did my peace service with the Jewish Family Service in Cincinnati, OH. My main task was to support the Jewish organization in the Holocaust department.The work was very multifaceted as I visited the elderly seniors at their homes and offered companionship, organized groups and helped in the office. My six months passed very quickly and just when I had settled in Covid-19 struck. Like all of my fellow volunteers I had to leave the USA much earlier than expected due to the Corona virus outbreak. Nevertheless, I still follow with great interest what happens in the US.
To find out more about the current situation concerning the rights of the LGBTQ+ community, I met via Skype with Luis Abolafia Anguita from the Victory Institute in Washington DC. We talked about his team’s support of the LGBTQ+ community in political participation not only in the US, how queer people’s rights get dismantled easily and why the November elections will play a key role for the queer community’s legal protection.
Mr. Abolafia Anguita is the director of international programs at the Victory Institute in Washington DC. He has worked on LGBTQ+ issues for twelve years. Originally from Spain, he got involved with the Victory Institute in 2012 through a one-year-long scholarship and started working there afterwards as they asked him to come on board as a staff member.
Rücker: Can you briefly introduce the Victory Institute and your work there please?
Abolafia Anguita: The Victory Institute’s mission is to achieve equality through the increase of political participation of LGBTQ people. We do exactly the same in the international office. We partner with local LGBTQ organizations in the countries where we are working.
We work in four main areas. We train people to participate and make a difference in democracy. We also work with political parties to try to open the door for political participation. There are many people that are ready to run but the institutions are not ready. Then we have an achieved match. We are also doing research to basically understand how queer people participate and engage in politics and what they expect from democracy. All the information will help us and the political parties. And lastly, we also work towards more visibility to inspire people with our mission. We know that it is important to reach the population and make sure we do not talk to the same people over and over again.
In the international programs department we have a team of three people and currently do active programs in Central America, the Dominican Republic, Colombia, Peru and South Africa. Right now we are running a virtual leadership academy in the Dominican Republic which has several modules throughout the year. It was supposed to be done in person but now we are doing a virtual one (due to Covid-19). The same applies to what we are doing in Peru. We are working together with parties and are helping create a network for LGBTQ people. In South Africa, we are working to train political parties and the electoral commission in diversity and inclusion.
Rücker: How do these active programs and trainings look like? Can you be more specific please?
Abolafia Anguita: It depends on the country, it depends on the need. In places in that the working environment consists of a huge queer population that is ready to engage in politics as in Colombia we do a “candidate and campaign” workshop which is a three day long intense workshop. Our team teaches how to run a successful campaign with the aim to provide for them the right tools to do so. In other countries like Guatemala, Honduras and the Dominican Republic we do a “leadership academy”. There the queer population is not much involved in politics yet so we want to expand the leadership base of LGBTQ people and plant the seed of political participation.
Rücker: I can see your work is successful. I read in one of your newsletters that LGBTQ+ people trained by the Institute frequently get elected in offices throughout the US, for example in 2017 into the New York City Council.
Abolafia Anguita: Yes, of course we cannot take credit for all queer people getting involved in politics anywhere in the US but it is true that we are contributing to the chance. We have been training people in the US since 1993. People that have taken our training include for example Senator Tammy Baldwin. We have been supporting her career since she was a City Counselor years ago and the numbers keep growing. We published our annual report some weeks ago and we had our 850th elected official. We are also conducting a huge search for queer people wanting to run after Trump’s election. I think everyone realized the importance of making sure that our voices are heard. That is what we do. Expanding leadership of LGBTQ people, we have queer voices all over the places where decisions are being taken.
Rücker: When we look at the political situation in the US, there has been an emancipation movement which started among others with the Stonewall riots in 1969. Is there legal equality for LGBTQ people in the USA today? How do you evaluate the current situation?
Abolafia Anguita: The US is a very complicated legal system. I do not think there is legal equality in any of the states right now – certainly not at the federal level. Very few states have full protections for LGBTQ people, especially for trans folks. It is a working process. There are still states in the US where discrimination in housing, in work is legal. There are gains but change needs to happen. Lately, there was a Supreme Court decision that makes sure that LGBTQ people get included into the protection against sexism. But we still have to trickle it down to the state level. We still need a full comprehensive bill that would prevent all LGBTQ people from discrimination that has to be passed by congress. There have been several attempts by the LGBTQ caucus and the allies in Congress to pass the Equality Act that has created a conflict with Republican law makers. So it is super important that visible legislation is passed. That is why we need to make sure that more queer people get elected at the state level so that they are able to make a change which will then trickle down to the federal level.
Rücker: So discrimination against the queer population is still legal. How does US-president Trump react to this fragile situation?
Abolafia Anguita: Because of the inability of Congress to pass legislation protecting LGBTQ people most of the things that have been achieved around equality for LGBTQ people in the US have been through the Supreme Court or through the executive office, in other words presidential orders. Trump has been dismantling all the previous’ administration gains for equality, including transgender people. Because of the polarization of Congress, Trump could dismantle the previous presidential orders. Targeting LGBTQ people is also targeting key legislation that has the Affordable Care Act. It is affecting LGBTQ people who can be discriminated against throughout their lives. This applies when we talk about housing, job access, and healthcare.
Rücker: To help estimate the legal situation: How is it compared to Europe and other countries?
Abolafia Anguita: I think the US is still lagging behind many European countries when it comes to protections, hate speech, housing and healthcare. One principal component in this regard is the complicated US constitution. It will be very difficult to limit hate speech in the US because of how the constitution is built and has been interpreted. But the hate speech is not only against LGBTQ people, it is against Black people, Native Americans, women, Jews. I think the US can learn from other countries, not necessarily in Europe but countries in Latin America, like Argentina that are doing better when it comes to protecting minorities.
Rücker: You mentioned that limiting hate speech in the US will be very difficult. But when we look at discrimination in housing and healthcare, do you think it will be possible to make changes in the near future?
Abolafia Anguita: Yes, I think so – November elections will play a key role. Our sister organization, the Victory Fund, is endorsing a lot of queer people that will be able to make a difference at state level. We also have a lot of people running for Congress right now, many of whom have taken our trainings. If there was a progressive majority in both Houses, the LGBTQ community could introduce the Equality Act again. This act will hopefully be passed because that would mean that discrimination against LGBTQ people in all the spheres like housing and healthcare would be banned forever.
Rücker: Is there something on the non-political side that you would like to share?
Abolafia Anguita: We need more young people, we need more LGBTQ people, we need more people of color, we need more people of any underrepresented minority – I know it is very easy to say – who participate. We need to take back our democracy that represents us and that works for all of us. We need to make sure and take the time to go to and beyond those spaces where decisions are being taken.
Rücker: Do you have advice for young people? How can young people who want to participate in society – especially from underrepresented minorities – be heard and engage in politics?
Abolafia Anguita: It is important to protest. Being in the streets, holding governments, institutions, politicians accountable is really important. Being in the streets is not enough either. It has to be combined with running and being present and making sure that you can be elected. You need the support from the communities. If you really want to make a long-lasting change, you need to combine both.
Rücker: Luis, thank you very much for the interview!
For more information about the Victory Institute: victoryinstitute.org or contact Luis victoryinstitute.org/team/luis-abolafia-anguita/
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Food Labeling Continues: COOL Regulations
Bird's eye view of field (Photos by Edwin Remsberg).
Have you looked at the packaging on your meat lately? Have you ever asked the question, “Why is that label there? Why must it say that?” Today, I am going to walk you through what is known as the country-of-origin labeling (COOL) regulations on meat and other covered commodities. Also, if you’re in the business of selling these products, you should make sure you’re in compliance if the regulation applies to your business.
The provisions of the COOL regulations for the mandatory labeling of beef, pork, lamb, chicken, goat meat, wild and farm-raised fish and shellfish, perishable agricultural commodities, peanuts, pecans, ginseng, and macadamia nuts became effective on March 16, 2009. The regulation was published in the Federal Register on January 15, 2009, and requires designated retailers to label covered commodities for country of origin and, in the case of fish and shellfish commodities, method of production. On May 23, 2013, the USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) issued a final rule that made changes to the labeling portion of COOL to provide consumers with more specific information and revised the definition for “retailer.”
The original COOL regulations for meat derived from animals born, raised, and slaughtered in the United States allowed for the origin to be designated as ‘‘Product of the U.S.’’ Under the new rule, the U.S. country of origin designation for meat would be required to include location information for each of the production steps (i.e., ‘‘Born, Raised, and Slaughtered in the United States’’ or “Born in Brazil, Raised and Slaughtered in the United States”). Additionally, this rule eliminates the allowance for commingling of meat of different origins.
Cows on a field (Photos by Edwin Remsberg).
Further, a retailer is now defined as any person subject to be licensed as a retailer under the Perishable Agricultural Commodities Act of 1930. Retailers (primarily grocery stores and supermarkets) are required to make country of origin information for covered commodities and if applicable, method of production, available to consumers. Food service establishments (cafeterias, restaurants, etc.) are excluded from COOL requirements. Since COOL is solely a U.S. labeling law, exporters and exported commodities are not subject to its requirements.
The full text of the original and amended COOL regulation can be found at: www.ams.usda.gov/cool
The World Trade Organization Dispute
On October 20, 2014, the World Trade Organization (WTO) issued its final ruling on the 2013 COOL regulations after Canada and Mexico challenged the treatment of imported cattle and hogs from their respective countries. The WTO found that the 2013 COOL regulations violated an article in the WTO agreement because it treats Canadian and Mexican livestock less favorably than U.S. livestock. The WTO further explained that the 2013 COOL requirements increased the original COOL requirements’ detrimental impact on competitive opportunities of imported livestock into the U.S. market. In short, the WTO panel found the labeling requirement unfair because it gives consumers incentive to chose domestic meat over imported meat creating segregation in the meat market. Further, the WTO also found that there would be an increased burden on recordkeeping and a new potential for label inaccuracy.
On November 28, 2014, the United States decided to appeal the WTO’s decision. On December 12, 2014, Canada filed another appeal in the same dispute. What does that mean? Now we wait and see how the appeals go and whether the Appellate Body will decide differently. Until then, retailers continue to support COOL because they argue that their consumers deserve to know where their food comes from and Canada, Mexico and even the U.S. beef industry continue to strongly oppose COOL regulations because they argue it burdens sales and recordkeeping efforts. Keep your eye out for updates here on the blog!
#WTO #COOLregulations #USDA #foodlabeling #foodlaw
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